Think Big Act Small

Think Big

Act Small

Think Small

Act Big

This morning I could not get these two sentences out of my head. The more I thought about which one was best the more confused I got. Then they seemed to merge in my brain. Which one had I said first, which one was I on now. In the end I was saying to myself. Think Big, Think Small, Act Small, Act Big.

Emma Calder's Sticker Books at Other Criteria

I thought I let you know that my original hand made, Long Thin Sticker Books are now back in stock at Other Criteria in London's Marylebone. Several of the designs in the shop are not in Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book, so if you want to collect more here's your chance, It's a lovely shop too, if you are in the area. 

Emma Calder's Hand

These books are great for going out and sticking up stickers and this one of the reasons I designed them this shape. Here is a picture of me just before a sticker outing.

One of the Other Criteria's favourites are my XXXmas Stickers which are getting very seasonal again. Here are a couple of Photos from a sticker outing last year.

XXXmas Sticker's Brixton 2009

Emma Calder's Santa Sticker Oxford Street 2009

Photos are welcome of my stickers, stuck up, if you find any in interesting places.

Funday Stickers from Moody Days

When Jamie Camplin managing Director of Thames and Hudson, publisher of Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book first discussed the book with me. He tentatively enquired if I could add another section to the themes I had already planned, one just a tiny bit more up beat, a set of happy stickers and illustrations.

He was by no means forceful, it was just a suggestion. I liked the idea, it seemed a real challenge. I had already done the Bad Day Stickers, Stuck and Love and all were a reflection of difficult times. It seemed a good idea for the balance of the book to cover a more optimistic frame of mind.

 The Funday title was a photograph of art on a balloon by Oliver aged six

But Happy......? Actually, I ended up calling the section Funday, well that was hard for me to get my head around. Mainly because, my personal work exists partly to cheer myself up through the process of writing, drawing, exploring all the thoughts and feelings that make me and others I know feel bad. So the end result is often tinged with sadness.

Maybe it's just me, maybe I am a very negative person most of my childhood memories in particular reflect this. Just because unfortunate things have happened, it doesn't mean that everything need always be bad. That is the great thing about having the confidence in oneself as a creative being. Because in that world you can make anything happen.

So taking Jamie's suggestion on board I racked my brain for moments of happiness. All my happy memories of recent years have been with my own children and partner, ironically.

Luckily, for one of the illustrations for the book, I found the perfect collage already done, on a page in one of my current sketchbooks.

So for the accompanying writing I wrote down the true story that had inspired me to do the collage in the first place. For those of you who haven't seen the book here it is. 

The first lollies Oli ever had, he carried
around with him all day unopened. He'd never
had a lolly before, because his mum was very
strict, usually. But today she had relented,
when the shop keeper offered them, for free.

He held them tight all day, not once asking
if he could open them, his mum was surprised.

When his big sister came home from
school, he went and sat down next to her on
the sofa. He told her quietly that he had
something for her and he gave her one of the
lollies. She helped him unwrap his, before she
unwrapped hers and then they sucked them
silently and happily together.


 As silently as it was possible to suck a lolly.

 

Also included in this blog is the photo of Oliver trying to touch stickers that I had just stuck up in the street and holding the very same lollies mentioned in the text. 

Oliver Elephant and Castle 2004

The Young Graphic Designer

When I was fourteen, the age daughter is now, I decided I would become a Graphic Designer, mainly because I liked the idea of doing art that was out there, visible in the world. 

Self Portrait age 14

From my second attempt at book illustration. My 1st Alphabet book. B is for Bird about age 14

I was reminded of one of my first proper Graphic Design jobs, by a friend, who came along to my Moody Launch. He had commissioned me to do a series of posters and leaflets in 1984 when he was working for Camden Tribunal and Rights, an organisation set up to help people who had lost their jobs unfairly. He hadn't seen any of my graphic work for a long time and he was struck by my use of collage cropping up again, after so many years, in Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book.

 The first poster for Camden Tribunal and Rights

 

Camden Tribunal also commissioned me to make a Christmas card for them, to send to Margaret Thatcher. Unfortunately I never got round to developing the pictures of the card being delivered. I do have the film some where though. Margaret Thatcher was out, funnily enough but, we gave it to a nice policeman, in those days you could go right up to the front door of number ten. I thought I'd put this in the blog, not because it is a great piece but, more as a salute to the good old days. In case people have forgotten. 

The card said:

'Merry Christmas and thanks for nothing from the people of Camden.'

Emma Calder holding the Christmas Card to Margaret Thatcher

 The inside of the card signed by the people of Camden

Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book Launch

Two weeks has past since the launch of Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book. 

 Emma Calder signing books

 

The evening went really well, all a bit of a whirl and it was great that so many old friends turned up.

For the event at Beaconsfield, I put a lot of effort into framing up some of the original artwork from the book and a selection of work that started me off on the whole sticker thing. 
 

Some of the work on display at the launch

One person has offered to swop an original Banksy for one of my pictures, of course I said, “depends which one”, my daughter said “you are joking, didn't you think, swop yours and sell the Banksy,” of course not, that hadn't occurred to me, Oh well, that's why we have children.

 Collage made from stuff I dug out of our back garden

As I said in an earlier blog, it was doing the button pictures, that began it all and then trying to find a vehicle to somehow show the world what I had done. The stickers were my mini gallery and luckily for me, it came off as a way of getting my work seen. Resulting in Thames and Hudson asking me to do a book, which I never expected.

 One of the long thin sticker books on display at Beaconsfield

Having ones work in shops all over the world means, that plan A worked (The work is out there), the outcome of plan B is yet unknown, will any one actually buy it, or take it down from the shelf! 

 Emma Calder proudly holding book at launch, photo needed a little help

 

The lost generation

Today I woke up and my daughter came into my bedroom and exclaimed. “You know most of my friends can't even sew a button on!”

And I thought of this button picture that I did back in 2005. It just made me think of her friends. The lost generation (at least when it comes to buttons), the result of their parents success. 

 

At least my daughter can sew buttons on really well. And mine too.

another button picture from 2005

What is it with people, too lazy to cook, or even sew, or mend stuff. The throw away culture. 


Two stickers from my 2008 XXXmas Sticker Book. On the theme of toooo to much.

 

 

Here is an illustration that nearly made Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book, but didn't.

Don't forget it's valentines day next week. As if you could. 

Emma Calder's Different Art forms

Collage is the medium for Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book. The illustrations are a mixture of small stickers stuck on, or bits of pencil drawing, watercolour, photographs, scanned images, rubber stamp printing etc...

Like this image for the Stuck section of Moody Days, which was made with rubber stamps and drawings on tiny stickers.  

And this one from the title page. (Every sticker is a different face but it didn't take long too do, just mad sticker frenzy!)

When I was searching through old portfollios for this blog, I came across this drawing I did at five or six years old and I thought it was strickingly similar to the Spots above. Even though I hadn't seen it for over thirty years.

Over my career I have used many different artforms for my animation, instillations and graphic work, from motorised sculptures to jewellery design but, my favourite has always been collage. 

 Grandma's knitted tie and hangman earrings 1978

So for this week and the next few weeks blog, I am going to show you some of my old collage illustrations from the days before Photoshop was invented. These designs show partly the evolution of the sticker style in Moody Days.

One example of my student montage work is this poster for the Royal College of Art M.A Degree show in 1983. 

 

Each character included in the poster was a collage of different students work, from different departments in the college. 

 

I was quite naughty because, before checking with anyone, I found the technician who was printing up photographs of student work for the degree show catalogue, asked him for all the reject prints and also got others out of the bin. 
 

Back in the graphics studio, I cut them up, drew into them, photocopied and then coloured them. 

 Emma Calder in the Graphics Studio at the R.C.A 1983.

 

After I had done the artwork, I tracked down students whose work I had used and got their permission. I accidentally forgot to tell one person and when he saw the printed poster he got very annoyed. I had used a piece of his product design, for the head of one of my characters. He did forgive me luckily. Trouble is, if I had asked everyone in advance, people might  have said no, or grumbled if their work was not included. You have to take chances in life sometimes.

 Emma Calder with Paul Javis and Stuart Jane in the Graphics Studio at the R.C.A 1983

Stuck Stickers

When I started making and designing stickers after my second child was born, I wasn't working as much as I had formally and I found it quite hard to concentrate on developing film ideas.

The second small sheet of stickers that I designed and a set that did end up in “Emma Calder's Moody Days” was a sheet based on the idea of being stuck and was a silly little pun too. 

 

I remember sticking all these stickers all over the page and scribbling and rubber stamping quite aggressively. I did most of the sheet at home with my baby on my lap, while his sister worked on a sticker sheet for herself.

Sticker Art became an after school activity. Soon I had done several sheets and before long, I was out sticking them up and photographing them. But, I was quite shy and felt a bit funny sticking them all over the place myself. So I decided to make them into these little long thin hand made books and sell them, so other people could take over the process. 

Sticker books in their purpose built racks

Later the Tate Modern Shop bought them to go on sale along side their street art exhibition and then kept ordering them. But making them up by hand and sticking different stickers on each of the covers was time consuming and getting very tedious, so my agent showed them to Thames and Hudson, in the hope that we could do a more mass market version. The last of the current long thin books are still selling, now in Damien Hirst's shop, Other Criteria. 

 

Sticker books on display in Other Criteria

I did a total of around 800 of the books in six different designs. Every book has a different hand stuck cover and so soon complete books will become a rarity.

For Emma Calder's Moody Days Sticker Book I also created wrap around illustrations, these were mainly taken from notes and drawings in my sketch books that I have kept since I was a teenager. 

My Biba 1974 Diary age 14

Although these sketch books and diary's  were created when I was very young, I liked the spindly hand writing, written with a Rotring pen, so I based the hand writing style font, that I designed for the book on this kind of script.  

Note book 1979-1980

 

Some of the stuff from my old books is quite personal but, I remembered people queuing up at my degree show to read my sketch books. So I lifted quite a bit from this source. As I thought people do like that sort of heart wrenching stuff, because it reminds them of things they think and feel themselves.

Small part of a Moody days illustration page. Font is Emma Hand

Stickers

This is the second week of my blog and today was quite a good one, as I just got the preview copy of Emma Calder's Moody Days. It looks just as I planned and the printing is pretty good. I was so lucky, to be able to design and draw every single element of my book including the type faces and the bar code. (Except I did steal one or two drawings from my children and popped them in here and there). It is rare these days to have the creative say on things, without the money people stepping in and trying to interfere. I have to thank all the people I was involved with at Thames and Hudson, for being so good to work with and professional. 

Apart from being excited, I am also a bit scared, as soon the book will be out there, exposed and ready to be taken home. But, back to the events and work leading up to Moody Days.

After I had my second child and both my parents had died, I became very ill and unable to work for a while. Having spent years making short animated films for people like the BBC and Channel Four and yet still struggling to get funding. I found myself in an impossible position, no time, no money to make films but, tons of ideas. I was deeply frustrated. I wanted my work out there, being seen, making a difference.

Southwark Street London 2005

One morning on the way to work, I was overcome by one idea, it just popped into my brain. “STICKERS”.
  
I was suddenly over come with all the possibilities.

Emma and Ged 1994. Photographs by Richard Keith Wolff

When I got to my old studio in Sly St, East London, I found some old address labels and I got started immediately. This was the studio that I used to share with fellow animator and co Pearly Oyster Productions founder Ged Haney.

These were the first sticker sheets that I did before I had really worked out what I was doing or why I was doing it. They used some of the button/sewing stuff pictures, that I had been making after my mothers best friend died and I'd inherited her button collection. 

Button Pictures 2004

Initially I had made the button pictures because, I had wanted to use up all the buttons, to dispose of them in an artistic fashion, but then I just started buying more and more lovely buttons. So that plan failed along with the film idea, which I never completed. 

These button pictures are not in Moody Days, but I did end up using three of my original pictures in the book. I won't show you those now as I don't want to spoil the surprize.

This little picture was made as a present for my partner, from an old regency buckle I bought on Bermondsey Market. It's a terrible joke!


More next week.