Today on the blog, we’re lusting after the work of Iain Macarthur …
My work can be described as surreal and unique in its own way. Using mostly pencil, watercolours and pigment pens, I create portraits of ordinary people but create them in a unusual way by, embellishing patterns and watercolour effects into the portrait to give a vivid explosion effect — transforming their faces from something plain to something entirely bizarre and wonderful at the same time.
The One Love Project aims to provide a safe and creatively stimulating learning environment for the children of a traditional Rajasthani gypsy community located on the perimeter wastelands of Pushkar, India.
The One Love project was born when five friends journeyed through India and experienced firsthand the desperate need of the children there.
Background to the project: It was while volunteering at Pushkar’s Joshua Play Project, that they discovered there were more children in gypsy encampments in the area. These children were sent by their parents onto the streets, to support not just themselves, but their families by begging from the numerous tourists. The One Love Project hopes that instead of a career of begging on the streets of Pushkar, the children will be both educated and stimulated in a creative way. Music, dancing, happiness and laughter are right at the heart of One Love.
The name of the project has been taken from the famous Bob Marley song, as he is revered with guru status by the locals, and the project aim is to keep sharing his message of love, peace and equality. The aim is to bring hope and a brighter future to these children, create a safe space full of fun, music and laughter. Secure with love and support the children will rise above their social circumstances and look forward to making a great contribution to Pushkar’s future.
The Project Now: The One Love Project has been running for one year and currently has 18 children, funded by sponsorship, to attend the town’s local private Parasha School, where they receive a rich curriculum and support in all core areas of learning. The children are accompanied, after their formal morning lessons at the school, to the One Love Project, where they are provided with a healthy midday meal and a teacher gives them further assistance with their homework. There are plenty of opportunities for children to play and explore their own culture in visual and expressive arts.
The cost of running the project: Charitable donations by the founding friends and supporters have provided the project with a building and monsoon proof covering, gas and a fresh water tank for cooking wholesome meals and providing clean drinking water for the children. A local teacher has been employed for homework help and further educational support. Art and music supplies, blackboard and learning apparatus have also been purchased with donations.
It currently costs £50 a year to keep each child enrolled in Parasha School and an extra £220 a month is needed for the running costs of the project – this is to cover food, water, power and payments to the project manager, teacher and cook.
Current funding status: One girl who helped with the build contributed to the start up costs by donating all her money she had earned from teaching Yoga in the town. Members of the One Love team run a jewellery company called Gypsy East and during the build they designed a One Love pendant. All of the profit from the £10 necklace went directly to fund the project. The project also receives donations, money from sponsored runs and they are also looking to hook up with The Pipe Dream Experience to raise some money from a one-off event in London.
The One Love Pendant
Future plans for the project: Theprimary plan is to move The Project’s site, currently at the base of the gypsy camp, to an official location where the children can play, learn and develop with greater protection. The aim is to establish a recognised charity that will provide the children with the basic rights of every child: education, play and staying healthy. The entire team are heading back to India over the next few months to work on relocating the project.
Follow the One Love project’s progress on Facebook and Instagram or email the team at theoneloveprojectpushkar@gmail.com.
Our editorial assistant Rosalie Woodward reviews issue 9 of Things&Inkmagazine #strippedback – out now, with a choice of three different covers. Pick your favourite cover and buy your copy here!
Miniature Ink – Page 10 Meet the buyers of ‘Miniature Ink’, an exhibition of artwork donated by over 100 tattoo artists from around the world to raise awareness for cancer charity Sarcoma UK. Editor Alice Snape met the lucky art owners when they collected their original framed pieces from Atomica Gallery. If you were wondering who nabbed your favourite and where they ended up then look no further than the latest issue of Things&Ink.
The New Normal – Page 29 Things&Ink presents an array of colourful characters, a spectacle of human oddities, here to shatter social norms and break the rules of attraction. We bring to you tattoo artist Freddie Albrighton caught in a gender divide, one which reflects his tattooing and fashion style. The beautiful two-headed Sophia Bickerton, who openly shares her life on social media and is an avid believer in self acceptance. The stunning acrobat Ermine Hunte with a moving tale of transplant surgery. The smouldering one-legged pirate Taylor Crisp, daring to explode social ideals of beauty…
Phantasy Homes – Page 46 We step inside the home of tattoo artist Lianne Moule, which she shares with her tattooist husband Jason Butcher, who both work at Immortal Ink, Chelmsford. The pair have collected quite an array of curiosities and interesting items that reflect their creative tattooing styles and colour palettes.
To read these features in full order your copy here…
Feast your eyes on our collection of human curiosities here to challenge what society deems as acceptable, to shatter the boundaries of attraction and redefine what we see as beautiful. We proudly present the changing faces of beauty and the natural fluidity surrounding gender, sexuality and the human body in all its radiant glory…
This is an exclusive video preview of ‘The New Normal’ photo shoot featured in Things&InkStripped Back Issue 9, out now and available to order from www.thingsandink.com. The feature stars Ermine Hunte, 35, Freddie Albrighton, 23, Sophia Bickerton, 20, and Taylor Crisp, 19, transformed into human curiosities in the circus, alongside their frank and honest interviews that tell their individual stories and how they feel about beauty.
Photography and Art Direction by Josh Brandão Bespoke Costumes by Bridgette Cocchiola Styling by BlitzHaus / Shot at BlitzWerk Studio, London Hair and Makeup by Bella Noell, using Urban Decay and Bumble and Bumble, and Anna Wild, using Nuxe skincare and Yves Saint Laurent Words by Rosalie Woodward / thanks to Anita Bhagwandas
Every Friday Suzie Barrie goes to her local tattoo studio, Muscle and Ink in New Zealand for a new temporary tattoo.
For the past few months Suzie, who has Down’s Syndrome, has been taking a pack of temporary tattoo designs and tattooist Jason Ward applies them for her, like he would a regular tattoo – he even wears gloves.
At first Jason thought it was a one time thing, but Suzie hasn’t missed a week since she first went in and when she has time she gets more than one design.
The first time she came in, she just walked in, slapped a couple of stick-on tattoo packets on the desk and asked me to put them on her arm. I said, ‘what?’ And she said it again so I sat her down and put them on… But if she was a member of my family and she had have walked into another tattoo shop and they had told her to bugger off, I’d be angry. Why would you say no? You should treat everybody the same.
