Art

Alejandro Cartagena's 'Car Poolers' photo essay explores ride-sharing by workers in Mexico

I've often posted about public information films, usually drawing on the Charley Says DVD compilation, but a lot of the time I've been unable to shed light on exactly who made the things. One site - now defunct, but accessible through Archive.org - provided company details for many of the films in the set, but I had no way of verifying this information. My copy of the DVD doesn't have these details, so I was unsure where it came from.Eventually I realised that the site could've been drawing on the original VHS release of the compilation; I bought a copy and, sure enough, it was all in the liner notes. So, here is a quick rundown of the studios which were responsible for the public information films.Halas & BatchelorHalas & Batchelor cut its teeth on propaganda films during the war, but does not appear to have done a great amount of work in the field of television PIFs. Charley Says volume one includes only two films from the studio; the second has a few more starring the character from Rude on the Road, which were presumably also made by H&B. Rude on the Road (1959)Road Hog - Don't be Rude on the Road (1960)Nicholas CartoonsBest known for creating Willo the Wisp, Nicholas Spargo and his company Nicholas Cartoons made quite a few public information films. A strong sense of humour comes through in the character designs.Dinosaur (1967)Joe and Petunia series (1968-1973)Coastguard's Job (1970)Changing Plans (1970)Teenagers Learn to Swim (1972)Young Workers - Fooling About/Machinery (1973)LarkinsLike Halas & Batchelor, Larkins was a venerable old studio which had been working in the field of propaganda and information films since the second world war but does not seem to have embraced public information films for television. Only one Larkins film is included in the compilation.Iced Ponds (1969)Richard TaylorTell Mummy (1969)Don't Talk to Strangers (1969) Jobs for Young Girls (1970)Jobs for Early School Leavers (1970)Jobs for Women (1970)Polystyrene Tiles (1970)Motorway Fog (1970)Abrasive Wheels (1971)Charley series (1973)Protect and Survive (1975)Flying Motorbikes (1977)Dazzling Man (1978)Airbeds (1980)Frozen Ponds (1980)Children Overtake (1981)Swimsong (1982)Rabies Advice (1983)Positive Furniture Labelling (1983)Fishing Accident (1983)New Decade FilmsI know next to nothing about New Decade Films, which made a single short included in the set. All I can say is that IMDB credits the company (or a different one with the same name?) with a 25-minute short from 1983 called Manpower, which was apparently about sports. Tidy Up at Night (1969)Stewart Hardy FilmsJudging by the BFI database, Stewart Hardy Films (or Stewart-Hardy Films) had a strong run from 1956 to 1985; most of its work seems to have been in educational films. Henry "String" Stringer of GB Instructional was one of its co-founders, and a fellow named Ken Hardy was also involved. Unfortunately, I have no idea who Mr. Stewart was...Frost Warning (1969)Beware Fog (1969)Televideo ProductionsI'm afraid I had no luck finding information on the studio behind the stop-motion Tufty Squirrel shorts. The matter is muddied by the fact that several different companies around the world have used the same name over the years.Under 5s (1973)VCL ProductionsAnother studio which seems to have vanished into the mists of time. Any information on who worked here would be appreciated - there's some good cartooning in these two films.Junction Lanes (1974)Jeremy's Toothache (1975)Helen Wiggins FilmsThe BFI database credits this company with various projects from 1958 to 1972. Another studio which specialised in educational work, it seems.Prevent Smog (1969)Guild Animation Ltd.Outside of a few more credits for educational films at the BFI database, I can't find anything about this studio. I'd love to know who did the designs for these two films...When in the Country (1963)Safeguarding Water Supplies (1965)CJD ProductionsAccording to the BFI database, this company also produced a couple of documen

We moved into our new (much nicer) place and I have a new (and much nicer) garage for all my tools. You never know how much stuff you have until you have to pack it all. I’ve got some really heavy tools. Although many have mobile bases, dealing with ramps to the back of trucks is no fun. I decided to go with a POD. Here it is in the new driveway The loading height is just about ground level. Also you have it for a month, so there is no rush to load and unload. If you’ve never seen them drop off or pick up these, google it. It’s pretty neat. Now the hard part – where to put everything. We still have some mattresses and other house related stuff in the garage that we are waiting on new furniture delivery so we can bring them in the house. That will be taken care of tomorrow. I also picked up twenty 12 foot 2×4’s and 4 sheets of 3/4” BB plywood. My first order of business is some quick and dirty shop fixtures. I also need to replace a few bulb fixtures with 4 foot double fluorescents. Thankfully, lighting is already on it’s own circuit, as well as a 30 amp 220, a 20amp 115, and another 115 with a bunch of wall and ceiling mounted outlets. This is what I am working with now. After wrestling with the band saw, I picked up an HTC heavy duty mobile base. It’s waay too heavy duty for my 170lb band saw, but a cabinet saw is in my near future so I am planning ahead. Also, I have sufficient power and space for dust collection – that means my entire table saw needs to come apart so I can install the hood. I should have just stuck it on there the first time

Look! My Stamped quilt is in the May/June issue of Quilty magazine. I made this quilt for market last fall, using fabrics from my Stamped collection. It looks like there are some really nice quilts in this issue, especially love this Tree Everlasting quilt. The quilt shown above on the cover was designed by Brigitte Heitland. I made the quilt in an improvisational way, changing quite a bit from my initial sketches as I went along. But it’s an easy quilt to make with strip piecing and half-square triangles. I think it would be interesting to see it in solids. Oh, and that’s my Rings print in yellow from Folk Modern under the magazine here in these photos. The collection was shown at Portland Quilt Market and should be shipping to fabric shops soon!

This is strung across my living room wall—it’s a constant reminder that we don’t own this house, the bank does. But for every thousand dollars less we owe them, we get to smash a link in the chain. It’s an attempt to motivate ourselves through step 6 by getting to smash things with a hammer. Everyone likes smashing things with a hammer. The wood portion of the project is terribly simple, just scraps from my can crusher thrown together to hold the anvil and anchor link. I did play around with it a bit—I chamfered the edges, and learned how easy it is to screw up your chamfers during sanding. The shelf actually sits in what is probably the first dado I’ve cut. The chain is a manifestation of one of the wife’s latest craft obsessions, polymer clay. I considered one of the various methods of making wooden chain, but that would have been more work than I’d be willing to destroy.

Here is some Ambrosia Spalted maple we sawed a while back. We have about 2000 board feet of it. Some of the prettiest maple we have ever cut. Thanks for looking

This is my new doll..she is in my Etsy shop right now.. Speaking of Etsy..it's time to stock up and save on PieCake goodies..Use code 10MAY to save 10% off purchases of $75.00 or more! Coupon expires May 31rst. CLICK HERE to visit my Etsy Shop!

With apologies for the lack of original postings as my calendar slowly recedes to the new normal, I wanted to alert everybody to a series of posts being made by Bob Lemke on his blog that show some very revealing sales numbers for Topps, Bowman and Goudey (with a couple more companies to come) in the 1930's, 40's and 50's. Here is the link: http://boblemke.blogspot.com/I'll be incorporating Bob's source material into version 2.0 of the Modern Hobby Guide, which is presently being worked upon but there is some really good information in Bob's recent posts that I think would fascinate readers here.

?Do you live in a Small Cool home? Enter Now - tomorrow's the deadline!The second week of Small Cool turned up the heat, featuring a whole new batch of amazing homes, all under 1000 square feet that are full of inspiration, stunning design and inventive ideas. Here's a peek at some of new entries that were posted this past week... More

I am feeling rather pleased with myself with this card! I've magically managed to use up some really strange offcuts - strange in the sense that they were odd shapes to use! I've used offcuts from a Christmas card I made some months ago with the Santa Baby Wordbook and Paper pack downloads from Funky Hand.I've used the strip offcuts from the wordbook as the main background and then the spotty ones are the papers. The grass was cut with a Marianne Creatables die - it is supposed to be icicles but I use it for grass all the time!The image is from From The Heart stamps - its part of the monthly progressive challenge - and I've coloured it with Promarkers plus watercolour pencils for the background.I found the flowers and brad in my stash (they were lying on the table!) and I handwrote the sentiment.It's been an exciting day today - needless to say I've been out of the house for 12 hours karting and yes, another trophy was won by Samuel!I'd like to enter the following challenges:Cards In Envy: Sketch followedI Heart Sketches: Monthly challengeDream Valley Challenges: Animals Robyns Fetish: 4 Legged FriendsImage: From The Heart Stamps, coloured with PromarkersPapers: Santa Baby downloads from Funky HandDies: Marianne CreatablesSentiment: Handwritten Everything else: My Stash