OUT AND ABOUT | LORE OF THE NORTH BOOK LAUNCH AND EXHIBITION

Last Thursday saw the launch of Lord Whitney's book and exhibition for their exciting new publication Lore of the North at Munro House.

Lord Whitney, a collaboration between Amy Lord and Rebekah Whitney make regular appearances on the Leeds art and culture scene with their work on developing visual ideas and concepts for all manners of bizarre yet joyously canny projects (for example, see previous post here).

This book is the result of a project which started last year. The project was centred around celebrating the heritage and fantasy surrounding folklore and traditions in Yorkshire and the North of England. 

With funding and support by Grants for the Arts and Leeds Inspired, they have been able to produce a photographic series based on their findings, research and inspiration. The exhibition is on until 25 March.

Dinner was sorted for the evening thanks to the talented Ross over at Food&. 

Serving up a delicious Spring Vegetable and Rice Stew. I chose for mine to be served with some prosciutto from Friends of Ham and tried some gorgeous sourdough bread from Haxby Baker.

The stew was served on a bed of raw cabbage and was really fresh and uplifting. A nice hint of mint which really brought the dish alive.

OUT AND ABOUT | LEEDS CREATIVE FAMILY TREE

Last night I attended the launch for the Leeds Creative Family Tree for Mabgate & Sheepscar and Quarry Hill.

The Leeds Creative Family Tree is a not-for-profit project which is continually ongoing to raise awareness and showcase the huge range of culture and creativity in Leeds and to help the community flourish.

Inititated from a Kickstarter fund in Winter 2012, the project blossomed from the ideas of Photographer Sara Teresa and Designer Oli Bentley who were looking to raise the profile of the huge range of creativity on offer in Leeds. Their main vision was to visualise the huge network of Leeds’ creative and cultural organisations and individuals.

With a grand total of £1756 raised, the pair have been able to create, print and distribute their family tree's with the aspiration to be used for networking, collaboration and research and to find like-minded creatives in the area and show off the variety of creativity and culture within the wider Leeds community.

On offer at the launch night was also a few creative independent businesses included in the Creative Family Tree. Namely, two of my favourites... Vegan cake and catering conisseurs That Old Chestnut and Leeds pop up favourites The Grog and Grub Shop.

That Old Chestnut are stern favourites of mine. Run by the visionaries Elly and Chris they have landed themselves in the unique area of offering exceptionally good vegan cakes and catering.

Stocked by every single respectable independent cafe in Leeds these guys are on a no-returning-back mission to success and there's a reason why.

Vegan cake might not sound appealing to the average ear, but one taste and I promise you will be hooked. Favourites of mine include their stem ginger cake, peanut butter tiffin and cranberry and macadamia slice.

As well as That Old Chestnut on offer was Leeds independent pop up The Grub and Grog Shop offering the finest in local produce in their own creative form. Never to fail me, they had an extremely impressive menu featuring three 'tidbits' encased in Leeds Bread Co-op nigella seed flatbread with mouth watering varieties, as well as a vegan and gluten-free stew.

 Attending with my friend Diane we first both opted for the beef flatbread (beer braised beef brisket, beetroot, mooli, pearl barley, watercress and horseradish). This was a real delight and lovely in texture and flavour, although lacked the horseradish hit we both craved. Albeit, still a lovely flavour and texture in the mouth which was new and enlightening to me.

For seconds (of course!) we enjoyed the vegetarian option on offer. The flavours were spot on and I could not fault this in any way. Beautiful arrangements on Leeds Bread Co-op flatbread of charred cauliflower (my favourite vegetable), roasted hazelnuts, spring onion, lentils with parsley, scotch bonnet pepper and natural yoghurt were seriously mind-blowing.

A great evening showcasing the creative and cultural independent talent that Leeds has to offer. 

OUT AND ABOUT | THE REVERSING MACHINE AT THE TETLEY

 Last night I went to the opening of a new exhibition, The Reversing Machine on offer at The Tetley, a new gallery and centre for contemporary art in Leeds.

The exhibition is a powerful exhibit designed by artists Sam Belinfante and Simon Lewandowski and is on show until 28 February 2014.

An interactive multimedia installation of palindromic compositions on self-reversing turntables, powering a variety of sound, light and movement outputs, exploring the flow and passage of time.

The exhibition is centered around a self-reversing mechanical source and is a reflection on our lives and the controlled processes and repetitive actions within them.

 

LIFESTYLE | OUT OF THE SKETCHBOOK

Last Friday night, Inkwell hosted the preview of their latest exhibition 'Out of the Sketchbook'. My lovely and wonderfully talented friend Lorna Johnstone was one of the artists to exhibit her work.

Lorna explains a little about her work and her approach:

"I keep a visual journal. I use drawing and collected words to document and make sense of my world. For “Out of the Sketchbook” I wanted to share my creative process, linking my ongoing projects, challenges and observations together in sort of a big spider diagram. Some drawings evolve naturally, from a meditative state of mind; other times I set myself tasks such as ‘daily news drawings’, ‘a drawing a day’, or leaving messages on paper coffee cups for others to find. What I’m interested in now is removing my drawings from the isolation of the sketchbook page and laying it out with work from different days, different sketchbooks. I’m curious to see how themes begin to link together and what patterns will emerge."

You can view more of Lorna's work HERE.

Some pictures I took of Lorna's exhibition work are shown below: