May I introduce…Lulu Horsfield : collaborating and mail art / postcard exhibition in the Shed with the Chandelier

Lulu Horsfield and I have been collaborating “behind the scenes” on  the Shed with the Chandelier   Postcard/Mail Art exhibition, the idea I had in December 2012  whilst sitting in the Shed with the Chandelier staring at the wall.  I shared this with are facebook group and they liked it too.  It has been great to bounce off ideas with Lulu, we have built up a mutual trust, I feel, over the past couple of years. Lulu’s professional thinking creates a great sounding board for ideas. Her experience on working with a previous Postcard exhibition (I had no idea of this when I first put the idea to her!)  has been invaluable too to fine tuning details of sizes, media and specifications of the work to be sent by mail to the Shed with the Chandelier. Lulu and I have never met in person but the story of how we now know each other is written below…virtual pen pals perhaps…

We have been working on the guidelines for the online exhibition; I wanted to keep them as simple and straightforward as possible and the project to be free for everyone to participate in.  The aim: for the project to be fun too.

I asked Lulu to write a little personal introduction as I will be calling on her to post on the Shed with the Chandelier Facebook group page too if necessary: to share some inspiring images connected to mail art. Everyone is welcome to do this too as always and are of course welcome to continue to do so. Lulu’s assistance during the project may aid me in freeing up some time to take and upload images of the mailed postcards you send through snail mail and then I can share them via the virtual Shed with the Chandelier website along with any links you may wish. I will continue to post in the Shed with the Chandelier Facebook group and reply as always when I can. More details of the project will follow in an up and coming blog and in the newsletter, so do sign up.

I am excited and look forward to what is too come with our Shed with the Chandelier group collaborative project. Who are the collaborators? Those of you who contribute to the Postcard/ Mail art exhibition and those behind the scenes too.  Therefore I would like to introduce you our co-collaborator Lulu Horsfield in her own words: 

“Let me introduce myself to you all.

I am Lulu, and I live on the beautiful East Coast in the UK where I combine my creative practice as a pattern based artist with my role as a senior lecturer at our regional Art and Design College. It has taken me ten years of integrating my teaching role and my practice to find a balance that at last fulfills me. It has been quite a journey getting here.

Something I am sure of is that all of us have had a complex journey, inside and out to get where we are today.

Bills, Australia: digital print on silk – Lulu Horsfield

 

I have immersed myself in the Shed with the Chandelier group because I believe a creative community can offer so much to a wide range of people looking for inspiration. Tracy offers us all a place to learn, reflect and interact – all on our own terms. Whatever stage we are at as creative’s, we can belong here and can feel that our interactions are of value. How do you feel about this community?

Christchurch Park: Silk screen print for upholstered VW camper – Lulu Horsfield

Tracy and I began a dialogue because of a series of serendipitous connections. We initially connected a few years ago through my post on the European Textile Forum, where I was looking for possible collaborators – Tracy got in touch and the slow build to our collaboration here began. It was really worth putting myself out there. Last summer, as I was fully immersed in my MA in Textile Design, I was researching paper-folding and was hugely inspired by a documentary, “Between the Folds” by Vanessa Gould. I made a comment about it on Facebook and Tracy responded almost immediately telling me that she was recording a conversation with director Vanessa, literally within the next hour, and asked me if I would like to pose some questions. How often does this happen? I took this a sign that I was definitely going in the right direction both with my work and with meeting a new ally. Tracy and I are both interested in people; interested in creating an environment where people can grow creatively – Tracy with The Shed with the Chandelier, me in my lecturing role and design work.

I am so happy to be collaborating with Tracy  in this up and coming Postcard Exhibition.

My own creative practice has developed radically in the last decade from client led graphic design and illustration, to a business start-up designing and selling my illustrated garments to retail, through to making short graphic films and my recent MA in Textile Design.

The Light In Between Us: Paper installation – Lulu Horsfield

The MA has changed every aspect of my thinking, creating and making. I was totally committed to the process, working my day job and five evenings a week for four years to pay for it, while also actually doing it. It was relentless, exhausting and the most creatively challenging and rewarding process I have experienced. I was a different person afterwards and seeds from that experience continue to grow now with my work and plans for the future.

The Light In Between us: Photogrpahic still from video Mapped instalaltion – Lulu Horsfield

We all need help to pursue our creative dreams, but often don’t ask for the assistance we need. Everyone out there has so much to offer too – we all have different experiences to share. Here at the Shed with the Chandelier, you can ask questions, share thoughts, ideas and be yourself. Here you can be inspired. I know I am.

If you would like to find out more about my work, please visit www.luluhorsfield.com or get in touch, I love connecting with new people.

 

If you have any questions about the Shed with the Chandelier Postcard/Mail exhibition please visit and join the Shed with the Chandelier Facebook group  or  you are very welcome or contact me: Tracy  ,the contact page is private when you post a message or message me on facebook and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Also, quickly sign up for the Newsletter too because that’s where all the information will be also, and while you are waiting take a look at the Pinterest board :we have collated many postcards that have been created in the past by various people around the world, using words, pictures, collage, musical notes… You may be inspired to create you own and mail to the Shed with the Chandelier so that we can shine a little light on your creative abilities. Details dimensions will be appearing soon. Also please do comment below, it is great to get to know you this way and also a chance for us to hear what you are doing also.