Leonie's residency

Leonie was awarded the second prize in The Abbott & Holder Drawing Award and her work will be shown at the Works on Paper Fair from 3 - 6 February 2011 at the Science Museum in London. She was also selected to be the artist in residence at the fair. p's & q's are not showing this year but Leonie will be there with her books.

Happy New Year 2011

This is to wish everyone a Happy New Year! (I was told that New Year cards are OK as long as they arrive before the end of January.) It's a chine collé print made with bits of recycled Christmas cracker hats and stamp-printed tissue, overprinted with a drypoint printed from cut-out plastic onto which I scratched my version of one of Natalia Goncherova's hat designs for the Ballets Russes. I have now seen the V&A exhibition for a second time just before it closed. The hat is in quilted silver paper and is part of a costume for a sea princess. Why are there paper crowns in Christmas crackers? Are they to do with the Three Kings or more likely are they a hangover from the Roman festival where masters and servants swapped places and the 'lord of misrule' held wild court until the 25 December? I have become very interested in the interpretation of hats, as will be seen at the central library in Cardiff this March in an exhibition of books by artists for the whole of March celebrating International Women's Day (8th March). I am showing versions of the new books Hatbox and Recovered. There will be special events on Saturday 12 May and you will be able to handle the new books.