White Corolla – Casiotone for the Painfully Alone from Julia Pott on Vimeo.

This is one of the prints I made for the project with Thyssen Museum, it was preselected along with another two, but if finally didn’t make it to the production phase, so that’s why I can show it around.

I’m so happy, thank you UO!

The Royal Factory of Tapestry in Madrid (please excuse my very free translation) organises short guided visits of about 40 minutes. There’s just about a dozen of people working but it is really something incredible to watch them hand weave those huge tapestries with the same techniques that were used three centuries ago, for the sake of keeping them alive and because no machine can give the same exquisite result as they can, which is quite comforting in a way, don’t you think?

The place is wide and full of light and of skeins in hundreds of colours and tones. If taking pics was allowed, everyone would make the same photo, such was the eye-catchyness (I think I made up a word).

Across the patio which is like a park there is a school where a few pupils spend maaany months practising. That’s what it takes to be able to deal with that swarm of threads you see in the photo and create a very complex drawing; besides, they are on the back side, and have to use a mirror to see how their work is coming along. Crazy… and a real privilege that this is preserved so that we get to know it.

Oh they’re beautiful. Do you sell them?

And sure, of course I sell them. No matter how much I love them, no matter the fact that I won’t make the same artwork again, I have to sell the paintings… otherwise I’d end up living in my own museum! So I took a big effort to make better pictures -my weak spot- and made a minisite in a bit -my strong spot.

The shoppe is small, would you like to take a look and tell me what you think about it?

Be welcome!

What, you don’t speak german? So I’m gonna have to translate it… ok. Here we go, it says:

Art Supermarket

Friday 3rd Bliss to June 5th 2011

In an AEG centrifuge (not so sure about this)

I go on:

Artelier gallery presents an art event, superclassy: 27 artists zeigen ihre werke small artwork at an affordable price in supermarket atmosphere, zu, oh yeah!

Amazing artworks. Art clubbing. Fashion.

Aha, then the name of all the artists featured, and then below, in blue:

Don’t miss last artists in the list’s works!

And then, in small, the address and stuff. You coming over?

More info coming soon…

Well if you only look at the illustrations that’s well worth it also, because this edition is featuring my birds and colour drops! Singing Ronette’s classic:  be my be my be my be my babyyyy oh oh oh oh ...

Congratulations to the whole team, and see you next time!

So there we were at Matadero art & design center. You might wonder what the decoration was like? Well, obviously we were inside some page of ikea’s catalog, section: talks-workshops, (which should be right after offices and working spaces). We were surrounded by nice candles, nice lamps and a lot of books about Ikea, those thick-and-full-of-pictures styled ones.

We had the exhibition manager and head of strategy of IKEA Spain; the designer of Lillangen, you know that washstand that everyone likes, that my sister and probably your cousin both own, and guess what, she’s spanish, ha! (Inma Bermúdez); two danish designers who had made a lot of great stuff, and a textile designer whose work I admire and whose job I’d kill for. All of them tall, charming and willing to answer our questions even if they were: “Why do you name the products like that”. My friend Miren and I were this close to ask the textile designer the fabric she was showing to have a look at it with the magnifying glasses we always carry on now. Half super professional half moron, I know.

There’s another one next tuesday, Decoration inside IKEA: job opportunities, so if you’re interested don’t miss it… you don’t have to be a fan fatal like me to enjoy it!

More news: I got an email this morning from a magazine called Absenthe, which I didn’t remember at all, saying my submission was featured. Well I sent it in october, no wonder it was gone of my mind. Well here it is, Charlotte, Jarvis and Lily say hi.

More stuff: as I promised, I’ve been through all the cards I picked at Nómada Design Market and I’d like to tell you about two things:

One,  Mei jewellery, combining metal and textile. What do you think? For me it’s really some fresh air.

And another one, a courageous french girl, what is she doing here? Like you didn’t know the crisis is worse here than in France. Same as Cécile, who also lives here and makes cute stuff. Besides, this girl makes textile design, just what I’m studying, so I was most interested and went to visit her blog. Quite amusing, with DIY tutorials and inspirations. I want to make those tulips. Best of all? The name: Arrête de rêver = Stop dreaming. Irony… like!

So. The final day is here, and I have my presentation of the masters proyect for Thyssen-Bornemisza museum shop. There you are all my stuff packed and ready to go in a while, when I have to set up a mini stand. I reinterpreted very freely the painting “The garden of Eden” by Jan Brueghel I; I loved it, full of little animals all around. There’s even a cat on the top of a tree. Or maybe it’s a lynx or some other animal, who knows…

I have really enjoyed making this project and have made things I’d definitely buy. Only one of the twenty students will see her designs produced and sold at the museum shop, along with a little tag with her name. Same as always, here’s my motto: expect nothing but give everything. This time I’m quite proud.

Fingers crossed, wish me luck!