my friend Henrik Hedinge is making the news with is performance art

I'm so excited to see Henrik's art featured in newspapers! Internet fame is fantastic, but newspaper-fame is more a part of real tangible life somehow. This is only a couple of recent articles, I know he's been featured several times before. I'm so impressed with the way he manages to get himself out there as an artist, he's so good with media, finding places to show his art, and finding other artists to network with. He's done performances worldwide! It's been good fun following his work since I got to know him. I've seen him doing live performances a couple of times, and it's been such cool experiences. Henrik's art is way far out and heavy with theory - yet he somehow manages to not be pretentious and alienating, but engages the audience in what he's doing no matter what their background is.



Some of Henrik's newer work deals with gender-flux. Good stuffs.
Check out his blog to see more of his art: http://henrikhedinge.blogspot.com/
I will also post some of my favourite works of his at some point.
Henrik and I did ArtProjectMjøsa2008 together, and I think ArtProjectMjøsa2010 would be a good thing to do was well..

DraculaClothing design contest - win a corset of your own design!

My friends at DraculaClothing are having the most amazing and well thought out contest ever, and so I thought I'd spread the word about it.

What you have to do is to design a corset for them. They are especially looking for steampunk corsets, burlesque corsets and creatively designed corsets.

You need to use this template as a backdrop for your design (click picture for full size):You don't have to figure out how the corset is actually constructed, you just need to draw how it will look like.

Post your design to http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=10418434039&view=all and click add photo, they will keep the best pictures in the folder.

If they like your corset enough to make it, you will win the corset you designed!

There will be as many or few winners as there's designs that they like enough to use, and there will also not be an end date for the contest since they are always looking for new designs. A no-stress contest. I like the sound of that.

This is the entry they posted in their blog about the contest: http://draculaclothing.com/blog/design-contest
And this is their shop, if you'd like to take a look at what they're already selling: http://draculaclothing.com/
There's also lots more photos on their Facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/#!/DraculaClothing?ref=sgm

So, are you going to give it a go?

nature

I haven't been blogging in ages! My friends Andy and Julie came to visit me from the UK, and we looked at nature together. It was very green and full of friendly animals and lengthy distances to walk.


Andy asked me to find a moose for him to look at, but this was the best I could do for him:

Look, it's nearly a moose.. a small white fluffy friendly moose..:

Epic:


Andy & Julie visitors = <3

The Black Kat Designs

Kat is very lovely and cool, and she also makes the most interesting and beautiful beaded jewellery. It's inspiring to have friends who makes awesome stuff!


She makes a lot of her own beads using polymer clay, they're very swirly and psychedelic with special effects like glitter and glow in the dark bits.


She uses a lot of reclaimed beads from old jewellery in her work. I think it's a super idea for finding unique beads, and I'm totally going to do the same if I can find some old jewellery that deserves being taken apart. Taking things apart is nearly as good as making things.





Kat sells her stuff through a little shop in Afflecks Palace in Manchester. She has also sold her jewellery from stalls, and have recently opened up an Etsy shop as well, so her beaded jewellery can travel the world. I made sure some travelled to Norway.

Check out my super cool and strange bracelet from The Black Kat Designs!
I've worn it all the time since I got it, and the more I look at it, the more I love it. The green beads are handmade and have both glitter and glow in the dark bits. - Kat and I both agree that more is more!

You can follow Kat's crafty adventures in her blog, where she documents her experiences with making beaded jewellery and selling online and at stalls: http://theblackkatdesigns.blogspot.com/

And most importantly, you can buy her jewellery in her Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Theblackkatdesigns

nurse Johanna Gullin

I love this photo I snapped of my friend Johanna after I helped painting her all white before a video performance of hers some years ago. I like that even her mug and her cigarette is white. She was looking funky.

Check out my blog post about a leaf dress performance Johanna did if you want to see some of her art.

dracula clothing

my friends truls and ida owns this ace internet shop called dracula clothing. it started out more as a devotion to goth fashion and subculture than a quest for money. and i'm really impressed with what they've achieved. the people making the clothes are paid a fair price, the quality of the work is outstanding - and yet they sell the clothes for such an affordable price - and they're even tailor made for perfect fit!? they can do this as everything is made to order, so there is no unsold lacy goodness going to waste. everyone wins :)

the last time i visited ida and truls, they were just finished with a photo shoot for some of the new corsets, and a couple of the models were still around- wearing the gear. they looked absolutely fabulous.

my favourite corset that night was this one.. it looked so great on, and rannveig, the girl wearing it, said it was really comfy as well. that sort of sold me. see, the older i get the more i like to slouch and be fluffy cozy comfy. but apparently corsets are really comfortable to wear + they give you a good posture. it wouldn't hurt to have a better posture.. maybe i could wear a corset while i'm using my laptop to avoid the slouch. i'll have to try it. maybe this will be my first:


ahh industrial cyber coolness! i also like the really fairy-tale old fashioned extravagant corsets. i'm a sucker for extravaganza.. like these corsets:



lots of corset talk in one go - it's because most of their new stuff is corsets, and they've started specializing in it. they do have other clothes as well that i love, like this lolita skirt:


and i already picture myself wearing this cool top with lace detail at the bottom and lacing on the back, like a corset top:

the ultimate challenge for me now, is that truls and ida has asked me to design some new things for their shop. i've been asked this ages ago, and i've done a bit of sketches but still haven't given them any.

i'm thinking leopard print, spikey fake fur, psychedelic fractal print, lace, velvet (rød+lilla fløyel=sant), tulle.. and lots of fancy old fashioned sleeves and silly puffy skirts..

it would be totally amazing to see a design of mine in their shop, but every time i try to draw them something, i end up making humorous sketches of outlandish costumes that nobody - not even i - would buy.

so i hope i can have enough self discipline soon to stay serious for as long as it takes me to come up with some extravagant, cool, beautiful - and sellable - clothes! wish me luck!!

oh, and please come with suggestions; what sort of stuff do you think i should include in the designs?



check out my other blog post on dracula clothing
and, of course the shop itself.. www.draculaclothing.com

eva + janos =

My boyfriend has magic powers, he turns my sketches into 3d computer loveliness!

This is my initial drawing:

And Janos' 3d version of it:


Check out the rest of his portfolio at janosdc.cgsociety.org

my friend katie armour makes amazing paintings!

i like the way she integrates real stuff like glitter and candy and pills and bows and stickers and whatnot with her masterly painting technique. her art is a colourful explotion of creativity.





they say people look like their dogs, but i say they look like their art. especially katie. i think she's an artwork in her own right, so i'm including some photos of her:



come see me in norway, katie!

if you want to see more of her art, you should check out her myspace profile. myspace is fantastic for finding new and interesting art.

my friend Johanna Gullin's art

my friend johanna gullin makes well cool art. these are photos from a performance she did with a dress made of leaf.









and with that i'm leaving norway and blogger for a week of italian niceness. i shall drink wine and swim in the ocean- both at the same time, while taking photos with my underwater camera!

the garden gnome liberation front

garden gnomes are nature creatures. they need to breathe free. my friend jake sent me this gnome he liberated from carlisle. he needed some peace and quiet in his old days, and was keen to explore the norwegian countryside. i bet his family is worried for him now, but as soon as they get some photographs of him enjoying his freedom, they will understand.


travelling gnome prank on wikipedia
the garden gnome liberation front on wikipedia

dracula clothing

often when i've been at a party at my friend truls' house and i've see an amazing outfit, i've been told it's from his online shop, dracula clothing. the clothes are custom made by good tailors, but are still actually quite affordable!

wooo i'm an actual model! here's me posing for the website in my favourite dress; the velvet doll dress! it's the bestest dress with lush velvet and lovely detailing and it's all mine and it makes me feel fit for fairytales!!

here's ida posing in a beautiful bustleskirt that made me very envious when she wore it at a party.

i've also seen ida in this austen blouse, it has prettyful and practical(yes, it's a possible combination!) lacing in the back for perfect fit and looks even better in real life. i want it.


no, it's not dracula, that's truls showing off the officer coat. he does look a lot like dracula in bram stoker's dracula though!

www.draculaclothing.com

janos 3d

my ace boyfriend janos di croce made this 3d model based on one of my drawings. i'm so amazed at the result; he made my creepy flie-pixie beautiful.



he's got an online 3d portfolio, although it's more serious for work stuff and not full of faery things. i hope it will be in time though, as i'd love to see more of my drawings come to life!

janos di croce's portfolio