Lady Windermere's Fan

 

 

Here are some of my designs used in the programme for 'lady Windermere’s fan' at The Tabard Theatre. Directed by Linnie Reedman, this production opened last week with a 30s themed evening. Linnie's expertise in all things Oscar Wilde comes across in her adaptation of this classic and though I have yet to see the production at The Tabard I did catch it a few months ago at The Kings Head Theatre. It is a story that stayed with me long after I saw the play and filled with such brilliant quotes and life lessons. The 30s is such a visually inspiring period that designing the borders for my illustrations was most fun.

CSI: Crime Scene Improvisation

This is one of the quick posters I made for the improv group I'm part of 'The chandeliers'. We meet weekly to rehearse and always have a great time inventing absurd narratives and characters. The main show we work on and have performed once ('The Ophelia' in Dalston) is 'CSI Crime Scene Improvisation'. This is a murder mystery style play that is made-up as we go along! With the help of the audience we discover the name and occupation of a victim and with help of a detective find out who committed the murder and why!! Its a great chance to develop a plot rich in detail, quirks and subplots. We are a group who love creating realistic characters and believe in creating an entertaining but strong play that is not just farce/nonsense but silly enough to still be fun. https://twitter.com/CrimeSceneImpro

September

September has included yet more fun outings for Danielle.

 

Pink balloons and U.S.A flags adorned the foyer of The Royal Opera House for the Grand opening of ‘Anna Nicole’ the Opera where tackiness reigned. A mob of hungry video cameras pecking at the remains of Anna Nicole’s trash made a visually alluring ending.

I visited Spitalfields farm with 2 lovely friends and enjoyed meeting some animals and eating some cake. Pigs, Watson and Holmes were delightfully big and covered in mud. My friend Kyrill threw an apple which led to them squabbling. The bug hotel wasn't very good but the name was. The donkeys and cows and goats were very nice. When meeting the goats I was reminded of a quote from my friend Eva who disliked them because they only had 'lines for eyes'.

On Friday 12th September Jack and I went to the screening of 'Wish I was here' with a Q&A after with Zach Braff. Our friends in Canada had got these tickets but as they were for London at the O2 they gave them to us. I really really enjoyed the film, it had a great mix of reality and fantasy. There were some really playful scenes such as the ones at comic con which contrasted beautifully with the more emotional hospital scenes. Zach Braff sighted 'Her' as a film he had really enjoyed and I can see how a similar dreaminess has been explored in 'wish I was here'. I don't think I wouldve seen the movie had I not got the tickets, the poster is not very appealing which is a shame as the film is really worth watching. I loved how when things got hard the parents went out on an emergency date night to discuss the next steps rather than drift apart/make the stress internal.

Last Saturday I danced/ran my way through a 5k track at the Excel 'Electrodash'. My favourite part of the run was when we entered the carpark and there were giant glowing jellyfish!! When you completed the run you came to a warehouse rave/dance. This was my first warehouse rave and I'm suprised to say actually very enjoyable. Running by the water with view of the O2 was really nice and it was a lovely warm evening :)

Amsterdam Red Light

Visiting museums and galleries in Amsterdam was really pleasurable. I found the Van Gogh museum particularly inspiring as all the paintings there were done in the last 10 years of Van Gogh's life. Ive always been captivated by his evocative style and being up close to his work really made me itch to paint again. I made this painting based on the red light district in Amsterdam... its not how I wanted it to be and there's much to improve on but I enjoyed painting again and this time on quite a large piece of board.
I'm not sure which version I like more colour wise so just put them both

Amsterdam

Some photos from my lovely visit to Amsterdam at the end of July.

Beer and Bicycles

Canals and a cat

 Proud Jack posing with (Bruce Wayne) Batman in museum square

 We went to an amazing museum 'Yab Yum' which used to be one of the best-known and most exclusive brothels in Amsterdam. This was me posing by a bubble bath in one of the girl rooms.
I really liked the bath tub and wall paintings, it reminded me of the bathroom described in the Harry Potter books (when Harry opens the wailing egg).

Trying the local breaded delicacies

Jack and I on our hotel balcony

pancakes swimming in ice cream and coffee syrup

August

Ive been working on a few exciting illustration projects, been to the theatre a few times, had my birthday and also visited Amsterdam since last writing on here. I have plenty of photos and facts to share but for now I will post a few pics of work in progress :)
I'm also involved in a comedy improv group that has our first show next week! exciting

Touluse and the swimming cossie

My cat Toulouse has a fascination/obsession with bleach. Whenever we clean the bathtub with bleach, minutes later we will find him in there rubbing his body everywhere and having himself a pleasurable time. Tonight, Id just come home from my lovely aqua aerobics class and put my 2 piece cossie on the radiator. I left the room to get a drink and when I returned Toulouse had managed to pull my pants down and was now lying on them, rubbing himself and licking them. The bleach from the swimming pool was making him crazy.... so I left him to his fun but took a couple of pictures during the session.

'Les Saisons Russes' at The ENO

I have always been attracted to the traditional Russian clothing and architecture and fortunately this show featured this greatly. The set designs were rather playful, at times similar to a pantomime backdrop but executed with more precision and the glittering, vibrant costumes were a feast for the eyes. The Russian dancers lived up to their immaculate, disciplined reputation and delighted us with a variety of dance styles and moods. 

What was also a first for me was seeing a female conductor. From behind I could see Alevtina Ioffe’s glittering hair clip and vigorous arm movements, which at times mimicked a ballerinas. The way such wildness and ferocity was kept controlled was startling to behold.

  But my favourite part of the show was the final piece ‘Polovtsian Dances’ by Borodin. This piece from Prince Igor is incredible but when the singers appeared in the boxes and started singing it really did give me shivers. With the dancing on stage and the singers so close to us, the entire piece was unbelievably passionate, tribal, frenzied and powerful!!!

My bedroom

Since I have come back from Canada I have been trying to sort out my room, clear through some clutter and organize boxes ect. I painted my some walls white to make it more neutral but then I couldn't resist painting on the walls. I painted a silly sketch of me and my 2 cats and some inspirational words/quotes surrounding it. Around my mirror I've stuck tickets from events Ive been too and looking at these theatre tickets each morning makes me happy.