Fiona Meakin Designs - Draw With Fi

My baby daughter Charlotte helped me with the above picture!

Sadly my residency at Nexus is ending this Friday but this is only just the beginning of my Her Suit/Hirsute project. Keep checking this page for updates and to see what I produce out of my communal felt. For now though here are some scans of my hairy textile...

llama farmers

This is possibly my favourite children's story and favourite illustrations of all time!

hello hybrid

" Hi Fi, Thought you might be interested in this. Basically it's like taxidermy, but made out of crochet! (Or 'crochetdermy') It's amazing... if not a little bit scary (especially the lion and the bear) www.shaunarichardson.com Also... I was at Styal Mill yesterday and I was reading some stuff about what happened to mill workers when they ran away. There were two girls in the 1800s who ran away for a week and when they were caught they were going to punish them by cutting their hair off! They didn't, because a magistrate said they couldn't, but I thought that it was quite symbolic. Anyway, just thought you'd like to know these weird and wonderful things that I've picked up. Love you, L. x "

Thanks to Jenny Neill for providing these pics. I will be uploading more so you can see the progress and the finished piece. The workshop was really successful and we achieved our main aim which was to make a communal piece of felt. It's fully dried now and I will be cutting it into small pieces for each participant when I have documented it, I will then use the remainder to create the soles of a pair of felt shoes I will make. We discussed issues surrounding hair, and the session was some what ritualistic with everyone parting with some hair, be it from a hair brush or bravely snipping a bit off! As the hair was 'given' I asked everyone to think of a secret (and keep it a secret by not saying it out loud) that they could embed into the hair. This ties into what Hannah told us about Norse mythology and folklore and the idea of women keeping secret in their hair. Or perhaps we grow them out? We have woven our thoughts and our hair into the felt, thus charging it like an...

A big thank you to everyone who joined in my workshop yesterday at Nexus. It was great to see new faces and also have my friends and family involved in an event that was the culmination of all the research I have been doing over my 3 months at Nexus! Everyone made such a valuable contribution to the session and it was great to discuss our feelings about our hair and fairytales. There will be more evidence of our felty adventure soon when I upload the pics so keep your eyes peeled.

Does my bum look big in this?! Here's a sneak preview of the rhino that I was commissioned to paint for Wild in Art's Rhino Mania. It will be part of a procession of rhino's that will be in Chester this summer. The event is organised by Chester Performs and you can find out more on the website www.rhinomania.co.uk. You can also join the facebook group for rhino mania to get updates of how the projects progressing. It's for a 2 really good causes for chester zoo and rhino conservation so your support would be briliant. If you're feeling flush you can even bid to buy one in September! My rhino is called 'The Wallower.' I'm looking forward to finding out who has sponsored her and where she will be placed. Images of the completed rhino to come so keep visiting my blog... www.rhinomania.co.uk http://www.rhinomania.co.uk/gallery/rhinos To see the final result and the steps I took to paint my rhino visit www.cargocollective.com/fionameakinillustrations

Mullets are amazing...

Get your hairy heads on! It's time for some felty fun! We will be creating a communal piece of felt in an afternoon of discussion and story telling on the theme of HAIR. I'm looking forward to seeing those who are attending in my Nexus hidey hole at 1pm until 3pm. Poor Julia Roberts...all she did was grow her arm pit hair long!

The Zine that we made is currently being compiled into a book format... A BIG THANKS to all who attended my little Nexus grotto, even though we got pins and needles in our feet from sitting cross-legged on the floor! It was really beneficial for me to discuss fairy tales and other arty/crafty business and the images created were really diverse and interesting...watch this space for the completed product but for now there are a couple of images to wet your appetites.