Those of you who follow @okjo_soupa on Twitter won't have failed to notice that there's been a lot of YARNfest talk of late.
If you were lucky enough to come along, or unlucky and not able to come, here's a little round-up of events for your pleasure...
Saturday night's alright (and the day isn't so bad either)
The Soupa crew (Jo, Anna, Elissa, Jessica, Jamie, Clare) were up very early indeed and made their way to The Book Club to get started on the Zine Workshop.
Elissa, Jessica and Anna were on hand to help out those who attended the workshop by showing them how to create characters. We were really chuffed with the turn-out with many people booking in advance and then staying for the duration of the workshop.
Oschon Wespi-Tschopp of Cure Studio came along with a screen and some really vibrant inks to enable all those who came along to screenprint their own cover. This was a great introduction to screenprinting and produced some great results. Jo was also able to help demonstrate the art of hand stitching to ensure that no one's zine fell apart!
We saw some really fantastic work being produced and Efdeay were in attendance to provide a zine template which could be worked into as much or as little as people liked.
At 5pm, the workshop drew to a close and the floor and tables were testament to the amount of creativity that had taken place with bits of magazines, glue and pens strewn about the place! This did take some time to clear up but because some of those on the workshop were reluctant to leave, we did have some help!!
Soupa then disbanded for the evening to get ready for the next day of YARNfest (and have some much needed sleep).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/okjo/sets/72157625975085229/
Easy like Sunday morning
Team Soupa enjoyed a chilled out morning before rocking up to The Book Club for day two of the proceedings. Once again, the basement were the event was taking place, was completely ram-jammed and lots of people had turned up for the quiz – a fully interactive event that called for improvisation, wit and a sprinkling of talent. Then came the SCAT PACK with their improvised 'film' which has been a hit at Edinburgh Fringe due to its quick thinking talent. Read more about that here.
This allowed everyone to relax a bit before thoughts turned to the Illustrationarium which would see Soupa members Jessica Allan, Luke Waller, Harriet Gray and Carlos Garde-Martin illustrate live on a overhead projector (not seen since school days) while authors and storytellers such as Helen Smith, Rachel Rose Reid and Katy Darby read and performed. A tough task if ever there was one! Soupa felt very proud of all its talent who put so much into it and created some really unique pieces in front of this live audience.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/okjo/sets/72157625975208423/
Tell me why I don't like Mondays?
I don't know why you don't like Mondays really. But perhaps if your name was Jamie Littler and you were about to do a live illustration of a book cover in front of the author Hanif Kureishi, you'd be a little worried about Monday's too!
However, this Monday at The Queen of Hoxton turned into a pretty good one with Jamie doing a beautiful illustration that nearly made Team Soupa weep with joy! There were three other illustrators from other collectives from AMMO Magazine Claire Hartley, from Paperfox press Robin Boyden, from Hidden Dingbat Phil Howell and Lauren Baker taking part too and while Jamie didn't win in the final round, he did win his own round, and though we are biased, he was our winner for sure.
This was the culmination of YARNfest for Soupa but everyone left feeling energised and ready for the next one. If you missed it, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more news about the next YARNfest event – we wouldn't want you to miss out!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/okjo/sets/72157625984252863/
Soupa would like to thank the following for their part in making YARNfest so much fun:
Gemma Mitchell, Osch Wespi-Tschopp, James Hurst, Anna Spencer, Elissa Elwick, Clare Kelly, Jamie Littler, Carlos Garde-Martin, Jessica Allan, Harriet Gray and Luke Waller.
This Friday there is an exhibition featuring the artists, designers and photographers who make up the pool of talent that goes in to making Spindle Magazine. A fashion and culture magazine curated by Heather Falconer.
