Last night was
the monthly First Thurstday networking event, this time with the cheeky twist
of being held in the evening at Sensation and with the added lure of wine and
various nibbley things on a stick. Disappointed there was no cheese and
pineapple, but hey, we made do. Anyone who hasn’t been to one of these events
yet should make a date in their diary and pop along to the next one.

As I was leaving,
The Sooper Double D Doodler pointed out my posts on Creative Dundee have been a
wee bit lacking of late, so I am making a firm commitment to aim for one post a
week, showcasing the talents of a Dundee Creative (individual, rising star
student or company).

So first up in my
weekly Talent Show is… Arlene Mckee!

Arlene was on the
B Des Hons Textile Design course here at Duncan of Jordanstone last year and is
now studying on the Master of Design programme.

Her distinctive
line drawings and sketch book work make her more of an illustrator than a
textile designer these days, but she manages to effortlessly capture the
essence of a character or place in just a few quick lines of her pen – amazing!

Her degree show
last year was one of my favourite (although technically, we’re meant to love
them all equally…) A hand drawn Tea Shop, complete with old ladies eating buns,
doilies and flocked wallpaper. This year, she’s experimenting with Salt Dough
and 3D making – can’t wait to see the results!

I love it when
someone has a unique style or technique all of their own. You would know one of
Arlene’s drawings the minute you saw it and I’m sure we will be seeing more of
her quirky little sketches in the future.

Check out more of
her work on her blog here.

If you draw /
paint / make / print / sing / record / edit / write / dance / perform /
invent  or any other form of
creative practise I may have missed out, please drop me a line here and you’ll
appear on future weekly Talent Shows.