THE BRICK THIEF
We are all connected and every action matters. It is necessary we use this time as a spring board for change…an awakening of humanity to question our way of life, how we will move forward and how we can make change in our own sphere. The global pandemic could help catalyse an urgently needed tipping event in humanity’s collective moral values, priorities and sense of self and community. We must overhaul the mindset that teaches us to appreciate objects more than the people that made them, and we must actively move towards a sustainable way of being that respects people and the planet.
Being able to keep our business afloat and deliver shoes to the market has been a huge challenge for us. In amongst the havoc and misery, Covid-19 has created a temporary off button for consumerism. After a year of reflection, we had the time to connect with one of our favorite artists, The Brick Thief, for an exclusive collaborative project. It’s been a tough year for everyone so we wanted to create something fun that is a reflection of positivity and stubborn optimism. The name of our brand was born out of what we wanted to do, create change but do it with smiles on our faces and bring the world a little bit of Good News.
We live in a fast-paced world and industry where collaborations are happening far too often with creativity being limited. Whoever we collaborate with, we want the project to have a meaning with an artistic vision, a story to tell. We wanted to press pause and work on something creative that has vitality and meaning.
The Brick Thief is rapidly making a name in the ceramics world through creating abstract ceramic heads. "My main interest as a ceramic artist is the human emotions and how they are translated in our faces. I have conversations with people, usually about their memories. Often people like to share stories from their childhood revealing a wide variety of emotions. My chief intention is to find different ways to convey these emotions, communicating them through my ceramic practice, consequently giving each piece a 'Presence'.”
The Brick Thief achieves this by painting and printing colored porcelain slips, oxides and glazes onto the clay form. Raw human emotions and feelings are incorporated by embedding broken shards of crockery into the clay structure of the faces. These shards represent memories; they trigger emotions which are embedded in our personalities.
“As I explore and develop exciting relationships between colour, texture, drawing and form, I endeavour to capture the essence of who we are, revealing our internal worlds. While striving to capture other people's emotions in my work. My work is sculptural, figurative, painterly and expressive."
We have teamed up together to create 5 exclusive Good News heads, each with their own individual story around positive news. After this year, don’t we all need it. There are also accompanied prints with only 50 of each available exclusively around the world.
Next time you drop a plate or a mug, think about what could be done with that broken crockery 😊
We hope this art brings you joy and energy.
All profits will be donated to Shelter. Shelter exists to fight for all those whose lives are blighted by the loss of their home – and all whose lives will be affected if things don’t change.
Seaweed nappies last longer.
Swiss student invents seaweed nappies. These reusable nappies are made from seaweed and Eucalyptus, the added bonus is that the Sea cell fibre used is antibacterial and good for the babies skin.
At present twenty billion disposable nappies, equating to 3.5 million tons of non-biodegradable plastic waste is ending up in American landfills a year.
The seaweed nappies also offer an alternative to reusable cotton nappies, which like all cotton garments require large amounts of water to generate.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/seaweed-diapers-are-sustainable-and-better-for-babies-skin/
We'll be watching you.
Global leaders are failing youth. A 16-year-old activist Greta Thunberg addressed 60 world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit about the need for urgent action on climate change warning "we'll be watching you". Her assessment was concise, blunt and searing: "People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth” Greta added "If you choose to fail us, we will never forgive you"
https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/well-be-watching-you-thunbergs-un-speech
Everyone who values love and equality can celebrate today.
A Belfast couple have made history by tying the knot in the first same sex marriage in Northern Ireland. The couple thanked the activists who have campaigned for same sex marriages and said they didn't expect to be the first same sex couple to be married, adding we feel humbled that our wedding is a landmark moment for equal rights in Northern Ireland. We didn’t set out to make history we just fell in love.
A 67 yr old planted 152 million Mangrove.
As Senegal's former Minister of Ecology, the 67yr old was able to rally citizens from the local coastal population to help him plant 152 million mangrove buds by hand and it created a truly beautiful coastal Mangrove forest stretching hundreds of square miles. Planting since 2009, Haidar el Alie's efforts have produced one of the most stunning successes in the history of modern large-scale reforestation, the restoration of an entire Senegalese mangrove swamp, one of the largest of its kind in the world.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/senegalese-man-has-planted-152-million-mangrove-trees/
We call them Alpaca kisses.
Alpacas visit a dementia care home and the staff believe they have produced a positive effect in the elderly residents. Staff say " you can see the pleasure the alpacas bring just by the big smiles on our residents faces". Staff at the nursing home found the residents quickly fell in love with the alpacas enjoying every moment spent with them.... "they lean forward to touch your face with their noses, we call them alpaca kisses."
https://www.tyla.com/awesome/cute-care-home-uses-alpaca-therapy-for-residents-with-dementia-20190205
