Call Us Angels, 2020

by charliedcreates

Women will be disproportionately impacted by climate change and the ecological crisis.

Women have been leading protests against Government inaction in addressing our current environmental crisis.

Does this make women the Guardian Angels of the world?

At the beginning of 2020, I set out to collect as much rubbish as I could, knowing I wanted to make angel wings out of trash to take out onto the streets in protest.

This project has turned into much more than that, developing a community of women learning about the impact of this crisis on other women around the world.

This project has begun over on Instagram. To follow the project and see how you can get involved, why not give @call.us.angels a follow.

EIGHT by Ella Hickson, RHUL

by charliedcreates

EIGHT by Ella Hickson was my first ever attempt at directing, back in 2014, whilst studying at Royal Holloway University.

It was during this project that I realised my love for collaboration, rather than directing. As a result, the process of making EIGHT became one of experimenting, sharing ideas, trying and failing.

I was so lucky to have an amazing team supporting the madness that ensued and the production was a success, selling out both nights!

This project was definitely a learning curve, and gave me the confidence to continue making work.

Pick Me Up, RHUL

by charliedcreates

Hello folks!

I hope everyone is coping with the lockdown and the heat! (I am melting as I write this)

I’ve been having a sort through all of my old performance work and came across Pick Me Up from back in 2014! How time flies…

Pick Me Up was a project I instigated with my then performance company Jump the Puddle. The idea for the project was to send out scrapbooks around the world for people to fill with art, reflection and ideas of love. The books continue to travel around the world.

We tracked all five books on a twitter page @PICKMEUPproject. Some of the books ended up in far away places like Hawaii and Japan. Others circled around communities in Cardiff and London.

I wonder where the books are now after all this time. As life got busier, I forgot about Pick Me Up. There’s a small part of me that hopes people are passing on the books and sharing love. We need love more than ever right now.

This was my first attempt at experimenting with social media, art within public spaces and public engagement. Needless to say my practice has grown and changed a lot since then, but Pick Me Up will always have a soft spot in my heart.

Liverpool, UK

by charliedcreates

First time in this city. Absolutely loved our time there! Storm Dennis was brewing so lighting for photos was pretty tricky. Even so I managed to get a few shots of the city’s architecture.

Definitely worth a visit if you want great food, fab people and lots of booze!

Wales, UK

by charliedcreates

I’ve been loving looking through all of my unedited photos from previous travels. This week I’m remembering a weekend in Wales from last September, and its making me want to get out and explore again! I’m definitely looking forward to travelling around more sites of the UK this year.

All of these photos are from where we stayed in Wales (in a forest in the middle of no where), so it’s all about nature.

Keep your eyes peeled for more photos from my travels to Liverpool. Expect urban vibes folks.

Marcus, 2020

by charliedcreates

Guess who’s back, back again? Marcus’ back, tell your friends…

Welcome back to Marcus, who kindly offered to model in these shots. I find portraits particularly difficult photos to take and edit. Therefore these are very much a work – in – progress and advice would be much appreciated!

I’ve been thinking that with each new year I’ll contact people who have modelled for me and ask to do another shoot. Not only will this allow me to practice on a familiar canvas, but a yearly shoot will show how time has changed the model (and hopefully my skills)!

Anyone interested in modelling? Give me a shout! I want to branch out and do less ‘natural’ shots, and explore the more experimental side of portrait photography.

Taking Care/ The Water Works, Camden Peoples Theatre

by charliedcreates

Here’s another throwback to some of the performance work I have done after graduating from Royal Holloway University.

Taking Care/The Water Works was a work-in-progress showed as part of The Student Lock Festival at the Camden Peoples Theatre in 2017.

This show explored the often never ending road to recovery from a traumatic experience as at the time this show was made I was really struggling to cope with my own PTSD. I didn’t want the show to be autobiographical, but a lot of what was showcased did come from my own experiences.

The performance looked at the idea of washing away traumatic experiences, and other coping mechanisms, + so a lot of water and buckets were involved!

Unfortunately I’ve lost a lot of the photos from this piece of work. But I have managed to find a promo shot of me wearing a bucket on my head… so enjoy!

Credit to Nadine Westveer de Mul, my partner in crime

Thank you for being here, Forest Fringe

by charliedcreates

Time for another throwback folks…

In 2016 I had the chance to go with SYZGY to perform at Forest Fringe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Thank you for being here was our final year project whilst at Royal Holloway University studying Drama + Theatre Studies. This interdisciplinary performance used a live camera feed, physical theatre + prop work to explore the loneliness epidemic.

This was one of my favourite pieces of theatre I’ve ever had the chance to work on + a lot of that was to do with the group of wonderful people I was working with (you know who you are lovelies)!

Here are a couple of photos from our rehearsal process. I’m still trying to find the photos from our performances so once I do I’ll be sure to post for you guys!

Transition 2019, M&S

by charliedcreates

It’s a busy time of year at M&S; our transition collection has launched, we’ve still got sale on + other campaigns like Back 2 School, + we’re already preparing for our Autumn launch!

Here are a few pictures from our current transition in the Lingerie + Kids department (aka what I’ve been up to the past couple of weeks). Lingerie has had a big move around in the hope to increase sales + kids also has had a move around to increase space for our ‘Wild Ones’ school uniform campaign. See what you guys think…

Ms. Jenny Santos was kind enough to send me these over whilst my phone stopped taking photos, so credit her for these pics folks!