I heart Hong Kong!

Hey all!

It's been almost four months since I updated my blog and finally I have a bit of time to give it some attention! Since my last blog I have been super busy...so now I'll let you know why...

I'll start in the present and explain my blog title...I'm now living and working in Hong Kong! It all began at New Designers which I posted about back in the Summer. I met a lady there who works for a well established bedlinen design and manufacturing company in Central, Hong Kong. We had a chat which led to an interview in Lewes, a small design project and ultimately a job as a Graduate Designer (which I am absolutely loving!)

So, that last couple of months have been quite hectic for me...I've had to condense my life down to one (very big) suitcase and leave all of my friends and family for what could quite some time. It was definately a big step but I am very pleased that I came over here! It's just great!

Anyways I've been here for a month now and am just about settled and hoping to continue with my own illustrations when I am not at work, so hopefully I will have some new work to show soon. Hong Kong is an absolutely amazing place and there is so much that I can say about itThere are so many amazing places here that I probably won't know where to begin in terms of drawing. It should be exciting though, and a big change from the kinds of illustrations I usually do.

I think that's it for now...I'll leave you with a few of my pics and hopefully I'll have some more news soon!

Bye for now!

Victoria Peak

Macau (technically not Hong Kong!)


Out to Sea on a Junk Boat

Botanical Gardens

Bird Market

Comments and messages...

Not a lot of time to say much at all today! But I did get some exciting news which I will tell you about when I have a chance. I thought I would upload the comments that were written in my book that travelled around to each exhibition I did in June and July. A very-well travelled book it is indeed! I've taken out any surnames in respect of the people who left the messages.

If you have any comments to add please leave them here-they are always very appreciated!

I should hopefully be updating my blog very soon with updates on the website (which are still ongoing...almost there!) Please visit if you haven't already! It's www.dottynoggin.co.uk

That's all for now!

Kirsty :)

Finally Free Range...

Finally the last of the exhibitions as part of the Norwich School of Art and Design is all done. I like to think that I got the hang of the whole exhibition thing by the time Free Range rolled around!

We arrived at the Truman Brewery (just off Brick Lane) on July 16th and began constructing the space, painting and putting our work up. I was lucky this time as I got a great space which was a really big white brick wall which had this cool chunky white painted industrial pipe running up part of the wall, which I think must have been something left over from the buildings days as a Brewery. Yes, so I loved my space and really liked how my work looked against the brick wall.

It took two days to get everything perfect and the Opening Night was Thursday 17th July. We had lots of people visit and it got steadily busier as the night wore on. A few off us left a little bit before closing as we were so tired from all of the early morning commutes we had been making from Norwich! Little did I know that after I would leave someone would go on to pinch two of my scrolled original drawings which were lined up in front of my hanging pieces. How nice of them.

The next morning some of us went in to invigilate after another stay at the Generator (a free room next time perhaps? hehe) That's when I discovered the theft..but on a brighter note I did get to chat to some people about my work which is was interesting. Then it was off home for a whole 2 days, which were apparently super-busy because of all the markets open at the weekend.

I came back on the Monday, this time with the company of my Mum and my Sister who had decided to join me for a day out in London. We did LOTS of walking that day! Then it was off to the Truman Brewery to take my work down and bundle it all back on a train to Norwich.

All in all, I think that out of the three exhibitions this one was my favourite. I liked each one for different reasons and in this case I loved the space that I had and how I was able to present my illustrations. I've decided to create a page on my website (www.dottynoggin.co.uk) for all the comments that I got in my little book-it made me so happy that other people enjoyed looking at my drawings. It really did mean a lot to me, so I think it would be nice to have them on the website.

Speaking of the website I will hopefully be doing lots of updates this week as there are still lots of things that I want to do with it! I would like to have some stuff for sale along with lots of other little ideas that are floating around in my head. Lot's of other things in the pipeline at the moment, so will write about theme if and when they fabricate.

Hopefully more to write very soon...bye for now :)

New Designers and a trip to London!

Have just got back from New Designers in London, which was very exciting! It's all a bit of a blur at the moment because it was such a busy week for us all. The photos above are of the event-most of which were taken before the Business Design Centre opened (which is where New Designers was held).

But first...the Degree Show. It was held at the Norwich School of Art and Design and it went really well! The Private View night was great and the whole school was packed with people coming to see our exhibitions. It was just really nice to see so many people taking interest in our work and looking at pieces that we have all been working hard on for the last year. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take any photos as it was so crowded...so I guess you'll just have to imagine how busy it all was...unless you were there of course :)

Anyways, I invigilated on the Saturday which was almost as busy as the Private View evening. I made some little business cards which I ran out of quite quickly and had a little comment book which was nice to read afterwards. I also had a look round at other course's exhibitions and was completely in awe of the work in Illustration-it was just amazing.

That Tuesday was set-up day for New Designers, (http://www.newdesigners.com/) which was fun but difficult because our Degree show was still up. This meant making some more prints and selecting bits to take to London without compromising the quality of the Norwich exhibition. After a busy Tuesday we all headed back on the train ready for graduation the next morning, which flew by and before we knew it we were back on another train to London to attend the Open Evening.

That's when my stint in London truly began, and I think I managed to visit quite a lot into the 5 days that I was there, and I also learnt how to navigate myself around the city (which I was a little concerned about!) I spent a lot of time at New Designers and spoke to a lot of people, which was very exciting. And when I wasn't there I was visiting places like the RA, Leicester Square, Covent Garden and China Town. I didn't take any photos because I'm a bit rubbish when it comes to being touristy and feel like I miss out on things if I'm always trying to photograph them rather than just look at them!

Most of us stayed over in London seeing as we needed to be at the stand at New Designers as much as we could. I stayed with two friends at the Generator hostel in London, which is just off Russell Square. It was so much fun and contributed greatly towards helping my already visually saturated head become over-full with stuff! It was so interesting looking around at the many different kinds of people staying there-and I don't think it was at all what I expected. I really enjoyed it and was even a little bit sad to be leaving!

So...finally (and well done for getting this far) I came back to Norwich on Sunday night and am now busy preparing for Free Range which opens Friday 18th July (http://www.free-range.org.uk/) on Brick Lane in London (again!). Am looking forward to it, and especially excited about being able to put my work up again and trying out different layouts, which is what I got to do at New Designers.

Will hopefully have some more photos soon!
Bye for a little bit :)

Getting ready for the Degree Show

Well, it should really be named 'Getting ready for the Degree Show, New Designers and Free Range', as all three are looming ever closer! And they all happen to be within a one month span...needless to say the last leg of my degree is going to be a busy one.

We did the initial set-up of our Degree Show in the last 2 weeks of May which were hectic couple of weeks. I (some may say foolishly!) took on quite a lot of work as my space was one of the few that needed to be constructed from scratch. It was a little more difficult, but necessary and definitely worth it. Now I just have to think about adding in some smaller details and making sure I'm happy with the layout/presentation of everything.

So, the show opens at the Norwich School of Art and Design next week on June 26th and the final day is July 2nd. Which also happens to be graduation day and the Opening Night/Awards Evening at New Designers. That means I'll be hopping straight on the first train to London after graduation.

I haven't been able to look at the other course's shows yet (really looking forward to it!) but I can tell you that the Contemporary Textile Practices exhibition definitely warrants a visit. So...if you live in or near Norwich you should come along!

I'll post some photos of the Private View and details of the next couple of exhibitions, along with dates/locations shortly.

Bye for now!