Spaced Out Exhibition

After a lot of hard work (why did I think giving myself two months to prepare for my first solo exhibition was a good idea?), my show Spaced Out went up at the Cambridge Art Salon last week and doors were opened to the public on Saturday 5th November. In keeping with Bonfire Night and the chilly autumnal weather, I put on a bit of a spread, with honey-mustard glazed sausages, toffee popcorn 'bark' (amazing) and autumn fruit punch, to give my visitors what I hoped would be a multi-sensory feast (thankfully the smell of burning came from outside the gallery).

I'll give you a little photo tour. Please excuse my reflection creeping into places where it wasn't welcome...

Outside the front of the gallery.

View through the left window.

View through the right.

Here's a clearer view of that painting, taken at home.

A detail.

A bit closer...

As you first walk in, to the left are three paintings of nebulae.
Green (acrylic), blue (oils) and red (acrylic).
You can also see three lovely metal pieces by my friend
Stephen Bedrikovs, inspired by the cosmos and swirling galaxies.

A close up of the beautiful copper dishes.

The Flaming Star Nebula.

The Bubble Nebula.

The Great Carina Nebula.

View across the gallery to the right corner.

The Orion Nebula.

A detail.

Along the right wall hang six digital illustrations - three A2 and three A3. I will blog pictures of these (and the snacks, those oh-important snacks) tomorrow as I'm in need of some shut eye!

The last day of Spaced Out is tomorrow, 10am-2pm at the Cambridge Art Salon, 29 Cromwell Road, Cambridge, CB1 3EB (which is just off Mill Road/Coldhams lane, depending on which direction you come from for any Cambridge locals). Please head down if you'd like to see these paintings, illustrations and metal creations up close and personal, before it's too late!

** A day later than advertised, but here are the digital illustrations that were also on show.

Space Ship, as seen on all the Spaced Out fliers.

A detail.

Meteor Shower

A detail.

The Omniscient Observer

A detail.

The Sky's the Limit
(You may recognise this from my Society6 page.)

Crossing the Asteroid Belt

Catching Stars

A detail.

All prints are available to purchase directly from me, either framed or unframed. Please contact me via email hello@loupeajeux.co.uk for details.

Last but not least, the toffee popcorn bark...

Very simple to make. All you need to do is carefully melt a 200g bar of milk chocolate and a 200g bar of white chocolate (I went for a slightly smaller bar of white with crispy bits in). Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, poor over 80% of the milk and then white chocolate, swirling it together slightly with a spoon. Scatter over two or three handfuls of toffee pop corn and a generous splattering of M&Ms (I went with red, yellow, orange and brown for an autumn colour palette). Next, use a spoon to drizzle over the remaining melted chocolate. Chill until hard and then snap into pieces. Divine.

A Parliament of Owls

A new arrangement of treasured possessions on my chest of drawers. I shall tell a small story about the objects. The jug on the left is by my old graphics tutor Amanda MacPhail. She taught me on my art foundation course before university - she's since left my old college and set up a ceramics business in her home (which is AMAZING I might add) called Create-A-Plate, where you can go to her house and decorate your own ceramics with special vinyl sheets that you cut out, arrange and Amanda then fires in her kiln. She also creates her own unique pieces, the likes of which I bought in jug-form when I visited her one summer. So that's the jug. The image on it I believe comes from an old 1950s cookbook, which Amanda added a bit of colour and a love-heart to - very much up my street.

I have fond memories of Amanda. She was an inspirational lady, not afraid to speak her mind. Indeed, I remember her ripping one of my design sheets up in sheer despair one day, and with very good reason too in hindsight. I was going through a bit of what could politely be called "an experimental collage" phase with, erm, coloured feathers... or, as Amanda called it, a "Take this shit off, this is not design!!!!", plucking at my paper as if she were an enraged farmer's wife, absolutely livid with one poor chicken, who just happened to have landed on her freshly baked apple pie. Lesson learnt. No more feathers.

This becomes slightly ironic when I've just noticed what I'm storing in her jug, ha! The, er, feathers are actually the plumage of my red Flapper's headband, complete with Arabian-esque black jeweled centre and glossy ruby sequins. Obviously you can't see all of that, but I thought I'd point it out. It's not design, it's just for fun. *Does the Charleston*

The little owls I picked up in one of my favourite rummaging spots, Emmaus, all bar the green owl, which my friend Lou (another Lou, I'm not talking about myself in the third person) bought me. He used to sit on the kitchen windowsill at uni and watch all the washing-up/late-night cracker eating/hot-water bottle making/boyfriend greeting. They're quite jolly little souls, are they not? I was pleased when I came across the other three, sitting on a big dusty oak dresser, in a cluttered group of other grubby owl ornaments. I would've purchased them all, of course, had they been as nice as those three, but they were a little ugly, poor hoots.

The cheap glass paper weight is actually the object I've had the longest in that little collection. I picked it up in a shop down Mill Road in Cambridge with my pocket money when I was about nine or ten. For those of you who don't know Mill Road, it is probably the most multicultural place in Cambridge; I think almost every nationality of the world must be represented in some shop, cafe or restaurant down that road, and it remains until this day one of my favourite places of all time. I grew up just a few streets away, so cycling down on my small white bike, complete with Tom & Jerry bell, wheels rattling with Kellogg's reflectors and colourful spoke beads, and coming back with a few goodies in my plastic, flower-fronted basket was quite a usual pastime for me! I'd sometimes pop into the corner shop for a paper bag of sweeties or the fancy dress shop next door to rummage through their tall rows of fur coats and glittering one-pieces before I raced home. The fish inside reminded me of the tiny darting Danio fish I had four of in my little fish tank at home.

Last but not least, the turquoise, shining lump of ceramic is not a vase, but the base of my favourite lamp, picked up at a car boot sale some ten years ago. I was as chuffed with it then as I am now. The top has a cylindrical, gold, hole-punched shade, bought separately from Robert Sayles (the old name for John Lewis here in Cambs). Looking at that picture, all I want to do now is get rid of my horrid chipboard furniture (bought in haste when money was tight) and find a nice, real wood dresser. I might even indulge it with a bit of a strip and a polish.

A small corner of my bedroom, but quite a lot of memories popping up. That's what I love about building collections and searching for thrifty treasures, mixing the old with the new, some objects with a purpose, others just with a beauty, but all with a little story.

Made-It Market

What a weekend! I attended my first (and in fact the first) Made-It Market in Cambridge on Saturday and it was brilliant! A very slow start though, it must be said, which I think was really down to it being the first one and people not actually knowing we were there. Surprise! But a little later the sun came out, albeit briefly, and along with it some customers, a combination of utmost joy! Here's some pics of my stall:

So yes! I shall be there next month too, all being well, so anyone within traveling distance should make their way down to The Shop, Jesus Lane, Cambridge (exact date to be confirmed) to see some Lou Peajeux work in the flesh. And Lou Peajeux herself. With a few secret ideas up her sleeves... And there's lots of other beautiful crafts by other people too. Plus cakes!

Where I'd Like To Work

Having finished university quite some months ago, the small remains of my student loan have been eaten up buying badge machines and card supplies and tickets to see My Fair Lady (this might need a blog of its own!). Obviously my dream is to make enough money being a full time illustrator. The reality, however, is proving somewhat different. 

Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that my ideal place to work at the moment would have to be somewhere like Ark, a gorgeous vintage gift shop in Cambridge. It's full of inspirational, beautiful things, and I could fit part-time shifts there around my drawing and craft making. And as it's such a gorgeous shop, I thought I should post a few photos up here too! 

Outside their Norfolk Street shop. (Photo found on their website.)

And outside their St Mary's Passage shop, off the market square. 

(Again, photo found on their website.)

I'd rather like one of these travel rugs to take on an Autumn picnic. 

© Ark Home & Garden Ltd 2008

If you'd like to see more of their splendid things, visit their website.

And try not to drool over your computer screen like I did! They've got a brilliant vintage clothing section on the top floors of each shop too, which is always good for a rummage - some wonderful glasses and umbrellas! Oh, and they play 1940s music, which I always want to dance to with the nearest available HYM (handsome young man). Which also reminds me - Polka Dots and Moonbeams, my favourite song of the moment, which is ironic  considering how old it is!