Logan McLain

Ok so this post is a mix of what I do at work and what really pissed me off in the gym a while back when I spotted a guy walking around with “Eire” tattooed on his arm. I was sure of two things when I saw him:

• This dickhead clearly didn’t know enough Gaeilge to qualify any proclamation of Nationalism, especially in the form of a permanent (bad) example of body art.
• His name was probably “Anto”.

So while attempting to kick start my creativity in work by trying my hand at a totally awesome Photoshop Tutorial to turn a photo of grass into a shit cool piece of typography (try it here) I decided to turn it into the shape of our fair nation. Yes, yes, deep down, I do love Ireland despite occasionally wondering how much better it would be if we introduced selective breeding (three generations later and everyone is “middle class”. Much better).

Now while I don’t profess fluency in our native tongue I am confident enough to be able to hold a ‘comhrá‘. What annoys me though is people’s disregard for the wee little fadas over our lovely little vowels, a point in case being the word Éire. Without the fada it means burden. Now why would you tattoo that on yourself?

 

 

I have a folder on my computer called “Images”, in it are a totally random collection of images that I have come across while browsing around the web. For one reason or another when I saw them I was compelled to right click and “Save As”. There are no selection criteria and my thoughts when saving them have ranged from “Man, that looks cool” to “LOL!” Below is a selection of these images which I often simply look though for inspiration or entertainment.

“Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” - Roger Miller.

Yay a delicious commercial project – I was approached by CreativeCakes (seriously look at their website, you will drool!) to customise their chef outfits with their tasty little logo. I’m hungry now… and have been thinking about the Little Britain sketch I used to love…”I love a bit of choclit cake!” watch it!

Here is photographic evidence of the physical abuse I suffered over the course of my New Year’s holiday in London. I was viciously attacked by my own alleged friend Conor Hickey (former Rose of Tralee). When police finally apprehended and questioned the young Kerry man it became apparent that the reason for the assault was a lack of commitment on my part to keeping my blog up to date, all Hickey (23)…[stone]… had to say was “That’s what you get for not updating your website.”

I used to love pac-man, my cousin actually had one of the Atari machines so we used to sit for hours playing it. if you fancy a game click here for a free online version.

Last Wednesday, Thursday & Friday I took part in the Higher Options Fair at the RDS with the Crafts Council of Ireland. We were there to talk with and advise students who are considering Art, Craft and Design as a possible career path. I also had my PR-620 on site so I was able to do some practical work with students as I talked to them about what it’s like getting by in the working world with a creative qualification. Students got to design their own small embroidery using the software on my laptop and then watch as the PR-620 Digital Embroidery Machine realised their designs in stitch in just a few short minutes. Many students took advantage of the service to make small personalised gifts for their significant others…aww.

Irony is reading a conversation on Facebook about how Twitter is a waste of time. There are people out there with endless social network pages and no real friends.

(Ok, I bought a new battery charger) I was amused when my mate Bobby was ‘taking the michael’ out of my for basically squiggling in my notebook. I spent a good part of the day idling around the house with him and Seeareh (that’s Ciara to you) basking in the classical atmosphere. The Wicklow mountains were just outside (we had all the windows closed of course) while Seeareh attempted to beat the Mac at a game of chess, Bobby lounged in the armchair reading a photography book (if it’s possible to read a book full of photos and I was squiggling. At an MA level of course. These aren’t your everyday primary school take a line for a walk squiggles… these are two years of post-graduate education squiggles.

I wanted to upload some images this weekend of a small multihead piece I have been working on but alas my camera is out of juice and I’ve spent the weekend searching for my charger to no avail. I must go to the shops later to sort myself out. With a lack of visuals for this post I figured I’d exploit another sense and offer some audio instead. This weekend I’m listing to alot of Florence: [wpaudio url="http://loganmclain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Florence-The-Machine-Hospital-Beds.mp3"] [audio:http://www.loganmclain.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Florence-The-Machine-Hospital-Beds.mp3] What a good song.

My obsession with ravens continues, this time incorporating my interest in Gaeilge and some mythology linked to County Fingal (I live there). The grey hoodie features two Ravens, one called “Smaoineamh” and one called “Cuimhne”, which translates from the Gaeilge as “Thought” and “Memory” respectively. This is an interpretation of the story of the Viking God Odin, who had two ravens on his shoulders which would fly around the world and come back to land on his shoulder and whisper in his ears everything they had seen. I stitched “Smoaineamh” on the front right shoulder as we think forward and “Cuimhne” on the back left shoulder as we remember backwards. The pocket also features a neat little detail of 7 black stitches.

Order This Hoodie!

The hoodie is available to buy. Availbe in size medium only, the hoodie is Continental Clothing Stock which is high quality jersey with a great fit, click here for sizing information. Price €60.00 (Including P&P) Click the link below to purchase

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For the lazy bums and friends living in foreign lands who couldn’t make it to the NCAD Gallery last month to see the show I’ve added the pictures to the gallery now. I cannot believe the best guesstimation of how many Euros were on my big map of Ireland was “about 200?”

There are 535 euro coins stuck to that bloody thing. I was going to lodge it back into my bank account when the show ended, obviously after picking all the coins off it. I think now though I will hang it on my bedroom wall… and chip away at it when I need change for bus fare.

   

Glueing ALOT of euro coins to a big map of Ireland

           

An exhibition of new work by Molly Mishkas & Logan McLain – NCAD Gallery. 5th – 29th June “The individuality that fragments our society is somehow stitched together as our actions are constrained by conscience. The depth of humanity can be judged by its attempts to make minorities inalienable.”  

Cooper is all dead chuffed with himself because he got me to stitch a cool transformers logo onto his hoodie (which the cheap git bought in Penny’s for 9 euros… “you can’t go wrong for the 9 juros love!”

I’m the envy of many a man, I have Hilary Cahill’s phone number. The (smokin’ hot) director of the Dublin Academy of Dramatic Arts keeps my creative graphic design inclinations motoring. Here are two posters I designed for DADA productions.

Wonder in Aliceland Poster

Living a decadent lifestyle. Fat basslines, rap coke lines, ecstasy and fine lines between work, play and working deadlines. Did you even sleep this weekend man?

I stitched him out onto white felt… I still have to make adjustments to the design file. Sampling, it never ends.

I was in the Blackrock Education Centre today facilitating the first of two classes on embroidery as part of Continual Professional Development for second level teachers. In the class we looked at a wide range of art and design textile images that covered many themes and techniques. After making our own designs we explored several techniques for transferring images to fabric. We also looked at some basic hand stitches including back stitch, fly stitch, buttonhole stitch, seeding, couching, appliqué, satin stitch and padded satin stitch. Louise Allen, Education Officer from the Crafts Council of Ireland, paid a visit to the class to see the work.

Wordpress Stress

Yeah all this for a blog. In typical Logan style, when I should be completely focused on one project I find my time is divided by many things. My ‘To Do’ list this weekend is work like a bitch on new pieces for the upcoming exhibition, write projects for the NCAD CEAD accredited course, prepare for CPD, submit my next bi-monthly report to the CCOI on what I’ve spent their money on and do a bit more work on my craft piece (Helen and Nigel know what that means ).

So in the midst of all this? Great idea! I’ll rearrange my website by installing Wordpress and then learn how to use the damn thing. So this is the progress so far. You’ll notice the t-shirts and research pages are ‘missing’… I’ll get to it ok? But now I have a blog! A proper blog… let’s see if I keep it up to date.

Hilary where the hell are you? You’re the blog fiend. Comment already. This is all for your benefit.

I appeared in StopPress Magazine this month in an article about the winners of the CCOI awards. Nigel said I looked sexy, then he gave out to me for posting it on my blog. The important thing is the sexy exposure of my crafty bits.