i heart crafts

took a big step today and left the house. phew. it was fun - j,c and i went to the "i heart crafts" fair at a ukranian cultural centre near china town. it was packed out with funky hippy artsy people selling funky hippy art. many strange and beautiful things, like the cuffs in the shapes of bats, made from the artist's old leather coat; t-shirts with ghost ships on, goldfish made of felt, paint-by-numbers tops that came with little kits of fabric paint, furry canvasses with screen printed birds and some very disturbing stuffed toys. i got the best top ever. thus:
it has random stuff written underneath the face, and across the back, that tweed at the front is a little pocket and a mate of hers made the felt on the side. oh yes.

the girl who made it (who also made those fabulous wrist warmers i got at the last fair, with the feathers on) told me it's a homage to joseph bueys, who was a german artist. he seems to be a complete nutbag, but that's all good. the world needs more loony artists. i realised i saw a sculpture of his at the tate modern:
Das Rudel (The Pack), 1969; Volkswagen bus with twenty-four wooden sleds, each with felt, belts?, flashlight, fat and stamped with Braunkreuz (brown oil paint); Staatliche Museen Kassel, Neue Galerie
(image and text stolen from the telegraph)

it's all to do with his possibly mythical rescue from a german fighter plane by tartar tribesmen. each sled holds the basic requirements for survival in the wilderness. if i'm remembering correctly.

a very satisfactory day out. the girls also bought pretty things, then we went for lunch and now i'm back at the computer, coughing.