NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

This is the first piece of work I’ve created since having a tutorial with Johnathan about becoming more ‘fine-art’. This piece was originally a nighttime street scene with star constellations and a moon, I altered it to a day time and I think the lighter background actually works so much better with the houses. I did this mainly so I could add in some text, I thought as the houses and the street were quite magically coloured and surreal it got me thinking about an article I read about certain Landlords and their new rules, that if for you are on benefits and a variety of other situations you cannot rent on certain streets. Clearly discriminatory.

“The property mogul Mr Wilson, has banned single mothers, domestic violence victims, people on low incomes, those on benefits and even plumbers from renting out his homes. Fergus Wilson sets out ten rules online about who won’t be able to live in one of his properties. They also include families with children, people with pets, those who smoke, people on zero hours contracts, and single people.”-

– https://expressobserver.com/the-ten-types-of-tenant-britains-biggest-landlord-wont-allow-to-rent-his-properties-457.html

This got me thinking about stereo-types and how quickly and wrongly he has assumed that a single person, wouldn’t be able to pay the rent, its completely outrageous and outdated. Also the perfect tenant doesn’t exist, nor does the perfect street. This piece is about particular ideologies which suggest that if you’re a certain person the world will smell of roses and this is what your street will look like. Unrealistic and not achievable. Why does someone of a certain profession become less worthy of living down your street because you once met a plumber who ripped you off? The whole article has the essence and feelings of social discrimination. Mr Wilson may aswell have altered his words and said ‘If you earn under £40k don’t apply.’

A government set on a real solution to the housing crisis would abandon ministers’ touching faith in the power of markets. Instead, it would invest in a huge increase in social housing, loaning money to housing associations, to get them building, and allowing councils to borrow money and build homes on their patch once again. This would require a change in attitudes towards public debt, and an understanding that council housing was a long-term investment – an asset, rather than a slightly embarrassing relic of a bygone age. Society accepts the situation we are in and its simply not good enough. Ending the housing crisis isn’t a science fiction plot, its an achievable milestone in which I would estimate the majority of society, basically everyone other than the 1% would be in favor off. The perfect street doesn’t exist, the homeless rates are higher than ever and so are poverty statistics. We need to open our eyes to the state of our country.

 

NEARLY READY FOR THE ART FAIR!

DECOUPAGE

NEW BANNER FOR MY ART PAGE.

This is the new banner for my art page. It is a painting underneath all of the chaos! It started off as just exploring the existing shapes in the painting and just enjoying bringing them out, and developing them further. Highlighting ones which had been dampened, then as it developed I was playing around with boarders and then had the idea that this would be a really beautiful background for a new banner or display icon for my art page.

(Abbie Easeys Art) – FACEBOOK.

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT.

I’ve been thinking about developing a series of people? which can become familiar, and reused in certain situations. Here is a little person in a Beret wrapped up for winter! He has a certain french Art-Deco feel to him, I have been inspired by Edward Burra, I have a post card of his painting ‘The snack bar’ in my studio space, and each day I look at it and just think I love those faces! I love the ridiculously long eyelashes, and extenuated nose. So beautiful, the imperfections and unrealistic features are exactly what I embrace! my drawings are based upon the pure fact none of these people are physically proportional, making them technically mystical. The elements of magic and mystery are becoming more and more apparent in my work. I really enjoyed creating a character and then having him move from drawing to drawing. It felt contained! in a good way.

CHRISTMAS CARD SELECTION! YAY.

Here are the five definite designs I have so far, I am thinking a couple more maybe three more designs and then ill be ready for our Christmas fair.. and Christmas! so exciting! cant wait to experiment and print a few to see how they print out.

GEE VAUCHER

“Introspective is Gee Vaucher’s first major institutional show in the UK, and spans the artist’s career of more than forty years. It charts Vaucher’s journey from local activity to international ambition, from domestic concerns to world politics, and from healing the planet to healing the mind. Including collage, photography, photo montage, painting, sculpture, film, performance, typography, sound and installation, the imagery she creates ranges from the absurd and often comical to the harrowing. Her message spans the political and the personal, the environmental and the humanitarian.”

This exhibition was full on! there was so much work, and it was all really really varied, it showed how skilled, intelligent and interesting this lady is! I loved her political work, it was so strong, and so relate able. It got the message across with 0 words, that’s when you know power has been achieved! When no text is required to aid your message.

WE NEED CHANGE.

This started of as a little sketch of a table and chairs in a coffee shop, which evolved in to a mini poverty poster!

I have been reading so much lately about the hidden and unspoken inequality and hardship that goes on in Britain that no one speaks about, and most probably don’t even know about, for example these insane poverty statistics.I think when your’e eating a cinnamon swirl with a soy latte you realise how lucky you actually are? and that a cinnamon swirl probably isn’t a life necessity (no its definitely not). So all of us in that coffee shop that day who were spending too much money on cake, are lucky people to even be able to have that as a opportunity to us, and i completely recognize that.

The fact that 1 in 4 kids live in poverty I think is really really sad, as like I wrote we have recently been promoted to the 4th richest Nation in the world, which is quite a worrying idea. I’m not sure how exactly we can change this, well Theresa May you could set the ball rolling, but on an individual non Tory basis, I think talking about it is actually quite a good starting point? most issues need the awareness raised first, then they can be tackled. I read this article and couldn’t help thinking, I bet most people don’t realise this? that Poverty cant always be seen, that that women next to you on the bus may not have eaten because she had to feed her children first?.. Social inequality really fascinates me, I believe together we can change these harrowing numbers, 0 children need to be living in poverty, its a loop hole in the system which doesn’t care about the bottom band of people, the people who aren’t medical graduates, you know? people who work in their local pub on a 0 hour contract to then have £20 left at the end of the month.

SERIOUS MOMENT.

OK so for all of my female artists, friends and family I think all of you can probably relate to this one. The 10th of November marks probably one of the most shocking days of the year, in the sense from this day on wards women theoretically work for free.. or to put it another way, men stop working on that day and for the rest of the year still earn the same amount as women. Neither way of saying it makes it much easier to digest. There is a lot going on in the world, and sometimes I think we get caught up and forget about the injustices that happen everyday, of every year.. for example the 24% gap!! in wages between women and men for the same job title. I did recently a little series about these statistics, but its still bothering me? So I thought id do a few more. Also its amazing how many people are completely unaware of any of this! (women/men my age, 21.) So its great to be a gender gap town crier.. ! someone needs to bang on about it till men begin to think that maybe its not okay.

“Today is Equal Pay Day – we mark this day at the point Britain’s gender pay gap will leave women effectively working for free until the end of the year.

Because of the gender pay gap, men could go unpaid from now until the end of the year and still earn the same as a woman working the whole year.

The Equal Pay Act, passed 46 years ago, made it illegal to value a woman’s work less than a man’s for the same role. However, the gender pay gap persists and last year we marked this day on 9th November, meaning we have only progressed by one day.

The Labour Party will not tolerate such slow progress. At this rate it will be another 51 years until we have pay equality.

The Labour Party, when we form the next government, will tackle the gender pay gap. We will introduce a Real Living Wage which will disproportionately benefit women who are all too often working in jobs that are under-valued.

It currently costs women £1,200 to take an equal pay claim to an employment tribunal thanks to Tory tribunal fees. Labour would scrap tribunal fees and strengthen trade union rights to help stamp out pay discrimination.

I have also committed to establishing a high level, strategic Women’s Advisory Board supporting the work of the Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, Sarah Champion MP, and I will be working directly with Sarah to ensure gender equality is at the heart of all our policies.

The Labour Party passed the Equal Pay Act and it is the Labour Party that will make sure we finally bring about pay equality between men and women.” – Published by the Labour Party.

 

I think when you read the statistics and dates as to when experts estimate equality may be achieved, it really sinks in! I felt quite fed up when I made this piece and just annoyed, also annoyed that some women aren’t phased by it? I still think its quite a funny little illustration though, with my new fabric man featuring, as if he is saying it. Equal pay for everyone!

‘CONVERSATIONS’ EXHIBITION!

So my work is currently being shown at The Minories Gallery in Colchester! in an exhibition called ‘conversations’! so exciting. My piece is a unique photograph, of two negatives layered together to create a surreal, almost geometric collage of information.

Posing with my name on a poster.

Come along and check out the exhibition!

My work on display!