Hello The Mushroom

art, Style

Style – Weekend in Cologne

December 17, 2019

It’s been a while since the last time that I have done a style post on here, so here it goes. I received an email from Femme Luxe recently, requesting collaboration and offering me four outfits of my choice. I thought to myself, “I do miss a bit of blogging and four outfits would really come in handy for the trip to Cologne”, so I said yes. The thing is, I hate packing and I hate planning outfits in advance so I thought this would actually be a perfect idea to resolve that problem.

I went on their website and managed to find a few things that did fit my current style. They have a great variety of things, such as the Bodycon Dress that I got. I was also trying to find a Jumpsuit or a Body Suit but unfortunately, I couldn’t find something in my current size. I’ll have to keep looking, as some of them were pretty cool!

So back to the trip and the outfits: I planned to strip to come and visit my friends in Cologne, plus participate in a group show featuring a few select urban artists. Basically a two for one situation! I needed a nice dress (not too nice, it’s an urban art exhibition, not a hoity-toity gallery, after all) and I found the perfect one:

I’ll have to admit that it wasn’t easy to squeeze into it but with the help of Spanx, I managed, haha. Forgive my dorky face but I was quite happy that evening, met lots of people and put faces to a lot of Instagram names! Plus my friend Swenja (who I was staying with) did my hair. Doesn’t happen every day and it was super fun! You also get to see the skateboard I created for this show – I know I am biased but I am not the only one to say that it looks even better in person as you can see the glitter that I added to some of the areas.

The second outfit I picked was a lounging set. I figured that considering that some of the plans for the visit would be to go pasting, I needed something that was practical. So here’s what I picked:

Outfit Description:

Black Short sleeve loungewear set– Femme Luxe

Pink Boots – Dr Martens

Mustard Yellow Rollneck Top – eBay

Checkered Over thing – Some pop-up store up in Brick Lane, near Rough Trade Records a few years ago

Black Beanie Hat – H&M

That day I went pasting in the Ehrenfeld area, with Planet Selfie and 8armstohug and we had a lot of fun until someone decided to threaten to call the police on us and ruined the mood. Ha well, it’s what you get for being a paste-up artist, I suppose. As I have moved all of my photos to my laptop which has since died on me, I am unable to post some more photos of the area. Hopefully, I will be able to get them back at some point, but just not in time for this post, unfortunately.

On the third day, we stayed home most of the day, except for a quick local paste-up mission in Opladen and meeting with friends in the evening for drinks in Cologne. I am afraid I didn’t get to see much of Cologne, as most of the time was spent hanging out with friends, making food and eating it plus rummaging through the local charity shop (where I found a wonderful 70’s dress). So this is what I wore on that day:

Outfit Description:

Oversized Khaki T-shirt Dress– Femme Luxe

Pink Boots – Dr Martens

Black Rollneck Top – Primark

Black Beanie Hat – H&M

Onwards to the forth and final outfit, on the last day. I have to note that it was raining so much and so badly that we decided to stay in and take the photos in the living room instead, plus try on a pair of my friend’s shoes for a slightly different look, haha.

Outfit Description:

Black loungewear set– Femme Luxe (yes, a different one, this one has a ribbed texture to it)

Patterned Rollneck Top – Orla Kiely for Uniqlo

Black Beanie Hat – H&M

High Heel Boots – from my friend, I can’t remember the name of the brand.

I have to say that it was also really cold and we froze our asses off, so not very inviting to go out and be a tourist (not to mention that my chronic fatigue requires me to have to take things nice and slowly). At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter, as we had a great time and the main goal of the visit was to spend time with friends.

As for the Femme Luxe outfits, they served their purpose well, I like some of their designs but I would caution that even though I ordered the 12-14 size (my current size), some of them felt a bit on the small side.

PS: the Femme Luxe outfits were gifted and my opinions are my own.

art

Art – Creating a Photo Album as a Reminder

August 26, 2019

In this digital age, it can sometimes be hard to remember every single thing you’ve posted on social media. The way it’s presented it can sometimes be a little bit awkward and in my opinion, nothing beats a physical book, whose pages you can touch, feel and smell and go through at your own pace.

When Colorland approached me with the proposal of testing their photo book making tool and printing website, it occurred to me that it would be nice to have a book with a few highlights of what I have accomplished in the last 3 years that I’ve been working on my urban art project.

The image selection process was easy and I was able to pull out images I had already used on Instagram, making it a lot easier than having to sift through thousands of photos on my hard drive (which you can do too). Going through all these images made me realise that despite the impression I usually have that I never get enough done, it’s actually not true. I’ve laid the imagery out chronologically and it makes for interesting viewing – plus the realisation that my work hasn’t been stagnant for these past few years, I can see some sort of evolution in it and that makes me happy.

I think it was a great idea to have this book made, so when I have those low mood moments when the “imposter syndrome” hits (I honestly don’t know any artist who doesn’t suffer from this, at least not anyone who isn’t self-aware), I can just go through the book to remind myself of all I’ve done and how far I have come. Sometimes it can be difficult to realise how much progress you’ve done when you’re constantly working so hard in the present moment, that it can feel that you’re not moving forward. Looking at all of these photos made me realise that it’s not true, I am moving forward (or somewhere, not sure where yet).

Colorland were graceful to also not only give me the sample book but also created a personalised discount code for my UK readers. By using this code, you will be able to order a Photo Book Classic A4, 36 pages for 5,99 GBP + shipping. Just go right on to Colorland.com, create your book and enter the code MUSHROOM at checkout! Let me know if you get one, I’d be curious to see all of your creations!

Disclaimer: I have received my book as a sample, no payment has been received.

travel

Travel – Hiking in Nittedal, Norway

May 29, 2019

Lately, I have been feeling a bit tired… of social media, of the constant pressure to produce new artwork, making rent etc. As certain things cannot be helped – like paying the rent, for example – I’ve taken a step back on artwork and eased up on social media. This has been great as I have been dedicating myself to other creative projects that have been on hold plus spending more time tidying the space around me… Which is also important in order to restore the balance.

That said, I find that nothing is better to feel better in yourself and in your mind than travelling and spending some time in nature… and that’s exactly what I did the last time I visited Norway to see my boyfriend’s family!

We went on a hike on the mountain around Nittedal, which is fairly close to Oslo. As you can see, the views were glorious… but then all of Norway seems to have been designed to be perfect and beautiful looking!

We followed some of the easier trails, as I haven’t been on a hike for years… It’s something I used to enjoy a lot and I am glad that I will be doing more of, when I spend time in Norway, particularly.

One thing that I can’t help doing anywhere I go is taking pictures. I am far from being a nature photographer but I have to say that I really enjoyed this. This time I only used my phone but I am hoping that I can bring my DSLR the next time I fly in for a visit.

I can’t complain too much about lack of greenery in London, as it’s one of the cities that has the most trees, but somehow, being in the middle of nature, in the middle of nowhere can’t be beaten by all the London parks… I think that not being around millions of people has quite the calming effect!

Another thing that I realised is that if we continue going on hikes like this often, I will definitely need some appropriate clothing. We picked up a pair of snazzy purple hiking books this time as it was the most important thing… I haven’t had a pair of proper hiking boots for years… but I guess that I will slowly have to build a hiking wardrobe as my city clothes aren’t at all fit for this purpose!

We walked up to the little mountain shelter, this was built back in the 1960s and it’s for communal use… and people are respectful and keep it tidy, as well as leave coffee and other things behind for others to enjoy. How nice!

I had fun checking out all the little details, such as the wooden fish or the old pots and pans hanging in the shelter.

Besides flowers and bees, we didn’t get to see much wildlife but we did spot a bunch of moose droppings, so we know they’ve been around. They’re usually very shy animals and keep away… and that you have to be careful not to annoy as they can get angry and dangerous.

It’s a shame that the photos don’t really convey how beautiful the sunlight looked, coming through the trees…

This is the kind of thing you only see in an actual forest and it’s beautiful… The colours and the shapes are definitely inspiring and very stimulating to the imagination.

There is a little lake at the bottom and that’s where we got the water to make tea and coffee… a change from getting it from a tap haha.

So here we are, at the end of a glorious yet tiresome day. It was all worth it, though and I would love to do it all over again!

art

Art – Brexit?

February 15, 2019

Where to start on a subject such as this? I wouldn’t want to pretend to be an expert in the political and economical ins and out of the whole thing but I have to say that I am against Brexit. I say this not only as a European citizen living in this country which I have called home for nearly 9 years and where I have built a life and an art career for myself… but also as someone who has grown to love this country and the people in it. I believe that this is a big mistake and mostly because of greedy politicians who are looking for their next meal… rather than look after the good of the people who have elected them.

I know this is a very divisive subject, even within families and that there are many emotions involved but somehow the majority of the arguments for it don’t make much sense to me… particularly when you start hearing that due to this whole mess there is going to be a shortage of food, medicine etc. I’m starting to think that we should start buying gold and silver such as from Golden Eagle Coins, as the pound is also due to lose (even more) value. Or even start stockpiling tinned foods for us and our pets, as I have heard being suggested in the media. Great!

As I feel fairly strongly about the issue, it was with a lot of happiness that I have agreed to participate in the Brexit Art Machine project, from the makers of Artobotic. I created original mini art pieces that will go in a vending machine, which will hopefully get to tour the country. Even if you don’t see it or get to purchase one of the art pieces from myself or the other participating artists, you can at least see them now! These are tiny painted collages, no bigger than the palm of your hand, so they could be fit in the vending machine.

I am not allowed to vote… but I am allowed to make political art… for the time being, at least. Who knows what the grim future brings?

Style

Style – 90’s and personal style revival

January 11, 2019

I haven’t been blogging for a while as you might have noticed. I rarely post things on my blog these days but one of the things that I used to blog about and you may remember was personal style late.

In the last couple of years ago, my personal style has changed a lot, for a variety of reasons. One of them was that I became ill- I had cancer and that changed my ability to sometimes have the energy to spend on figuring out what to wear, so clothes became an afterthought a lot more than they used to be.

Also because of my illness, I stopped being employed full-time so I stopped having enough money to spend on updating my wardrobe as I used to. On top of this, there’s the fact that in the last year or so I have put on a lot of weight due to you now getting old, the medication that I’m on etc… That meant that a lot of my clothes stopped fitting and it took me a little while to get used to my new size and shape. What was something that used to be easy (shopping for clothes online or even in the shops) became a harder task. I didn’t need to try more sizes on and figure out what was now fitting for my shape and size and it took a while to get there.

I have recently discovered that I am now able to pick clothes that are fun and fit me and don’t make me look like I’m trying to break out of them like the Hulk. Liking wearing clothes was something that I missed.. one of the turning points that made me realise that I needed to find joy in the way I get dressed again was after visiting the exhibition about Frida Kahlo’s clothes and style. This has been on for a few months and it’s been very successful at the V&A and Museum.

One of the things that I remember it from the exhibition was a quote on how important it was for her to have a mirror and for her to see herself. That made me realise that not having a mirror currently because my current room due to lack of space is also hindering me from expressing myself with the way I dress. At this point, I still don’t have a mirror but I’ve decided that I needed to get colourful again have fun with my clothes.

There aren’t that many reasons to be happy these days, with my health and constant tiredness always getting in the way of things… But I decided that I did not want to be boring or feel boring and that I would like to carry on feeling like myself when I get dressed rather than just having whatever is easy.

I’ve always liked a style challenge and to pick up and mix some unlikely pieces and somehow make them fit together. I picked this dress from a selection of evening dresses from ever-pretty.com as I thought it would be something that could be worn also to events such as weddings but it can also be dressed down. I liked the colour, which I knew would go well with my hair colour and for a bit of fun and seeing that it’s a strappy velvet dress, it would fit a 90’s theme. Should be noted that I didn’t have a full-length mirror so it was a bit of a surprise to see the photos haha. I think it worked out OK. I might have to restyle it again at some point but I liked what I did for now. I also thought it was a fun opportunity to style one of my t-shirts into a look here on the blog! The reason was that although they had evening dresses with sleeves and it’s a bit too cold to go out in straps, this was definitely the dress that best suited my style and that I see myself wearing again.

I also looked at 90’s makeup – which I really dislike, let’s be honest – but I made something I do like inspired by it – the dark chocolate lip being the main reference. I also checked out hairstyles and decided to try this one – I’ve never been big on spending too much time on my hair – but I really liked it and I’ve worn it again since!

So without further ado, here are the outfit details: Earrings – Ali Express / Dress – Ever Pretty / Knitted jacket – Vintage, bought from a shop in Hamburg 3 years ago / T-shirt – Hello the Mushroom (my own design) / Boots – Dr Martens.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did putting it together. Thanks to Zabou for nipping out with me in the cold to take these photos!

How has your style evolved in the last few years?