Mintfest

Minfest is an annual celebration of street art, based in Kendal over a whole weekend. There was so many crazy things going on (that weren't necessarily my thing) but I took some inspiration from the wacky costumes, and the interesting characters among the crowds of people. Much more up my street was the vintage fair, part of the 'Wool Is Our Bread' event, which on the Sunday included yarn bombing. It was interesting to observe how people reacted to street art in what is (on most days of the year) a rather quiet Cumbrian town.

Art House Co-op print Exchange

Over the summer I worked on an entry for the Art House Co-op's Print Exchange, where 500 different artists created an edition of 12 prints based on the theme 'The Drive Home'. I decided to use lino cutting at my chosen medium, as I thought this would create a bold print that would stand out. After being so inspired by Angie Lewin's work, I used my own photographs of seed heads to create this stylised design. I really enjoyed lino cutting as it was quite a speedy process that created instant results, and I think I would really like to use it again in my summer project.

Another Space Project

Manchester Museum

Visiting the museum again with my family gave me a chance to look at different exhibits in a new light, especially from the sense of colour, pattern, shape and texture.

I like the terracotta and blue hues coming through in both the eygptian and butterfly pieces. The formation of butterflies had a wonderful sense of pattern, in a rigid way; and in contrast I liked the flowing gradation of the pottery pieces.

And I particularly liked how these beetles were grouped by size, creating a neat pattern.

Maryport carnival

I saw several cultural events throughout the summer, but one of the most fun and colourful was the Maryport carnival. Every year, different groups of people get together to create pieces of street art and dance as part of a parade through the town, but there is always rivalry and competition to see who can be the most hilarious, ridiculous and outrageous.

Favourites included the local rugby team who arrived dressed as mexicans, but soon undressed and launched into an amazing dance routine to LMFAO's 'Sexy and I know it'; and perhaps more inventive was 'Adam Ant and his Army of Ants' featuring various 'ants' in morph suits lead by a middle-aged Adam Ant.

As well as the main dance groups, there is always a fancy-dress style competition for individuals in Flemming Square, who later join the parade. My favourite was this bed bug below, wearing a ludicrous concoction of foam and black plastic.

The carnival is always fun as it brings the whole town together, uniting Maryport and its often un-PC sense of humour. From a creative sense, I love the element of costume which is always the bigger, the bolder, the brighter, the better! Often much more interesting than the parade itself is catching the performers beforehand, various beer-bellied men in morph suits wandering around drinking from cans, women dressed in army gear huddled around having a fag and various wild characters posing for photos. A bizarre experience but a fun day by the sea none the less.