Alternative wedding dress fashion designer. Born and bred on the wrong side of the tracks in Chelmsford, Essex. Not everyone likes to wear white at their wedding, so Lucy Can’t Dance make more individual items. Dip dye is a big thing for them, Dresses that look great and still allow y ou to eat, drink, dance and not have ten people have to help you to the toilet. Ease of going to the toilet in a wedding dress is something not enough people think about! Lucy started out learning performing arts, singing and acting, not wardrobe. She’d customise her own charity shop clothes, then interned at a dressmaker. Learning pattern cutting, and getting to make gypsy bridal wear with crystals and other amazing additions. Nick invents the Colin The Caterpillar wedding dress. People want custom weddings now. Crazy wedding cakes! All about Nick’s medieval wedding and hiring suits of armour. Don’ mention the W word! Lucy Can’t Dance think it’s important to have transparent pricing. Lucy Can’t Dance has no size limits, total body positivity. Fittings and alterations, especially if people are pregnant for their wedding. Organising fake weddings for photos shoots is fun! Designing to scale up designs for sizes from 8 to 30 and ensuring it looks great on everyone. Summer is a busy time, so straight after the weddings Lucy starts designing the new collection. Lucy started designing on paper, but now uses iPad, but she can’t draw hands. Nick wants to change his surname to McAwesome. Lucy is aiming to develop a rainbow dip-dye. Tequila Sunrise is a very popular colour. The Prince’s Trust backed Lucy Can’t Dance early on with business development. Lucy has employed her interns in the past and find talent that studied fashion and textiles at Colchester Institute. How to get into fashion. Why don’t people have more lemurs at weddings? Choosing colours that will dye together. The brand has customers from as far away as Australia. Are wedding dresses just lace mullets?

Lucy Can't Dance
Lucy Can't Dance Instagram

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

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Recorded in Chelmsford, Essex, UK

Artist, educator, curator, and rebel. A portfolio worker - someone that has lots of different artistic things going on. Creative variety keeps life interesting. Elaine created Birdland on a roundabout in Chelmsford, it is a birdhouse city - commissioned by a housing developer - and created in collaboration with local kids. More on the housing crisis and the return of peregrines to Chelmsford. Bronze plaques with collective nouns for birds. Training robins to land on your hand. Elaine’s creative career started at BBC Essex, as a receptionist, then a news Radio Production Assistant. Blue Peter’s Katy Hill worked there too! Elaine also got to run the first BBC Essex website. She tried three times to become an artist in her life. Finally someone at BBC Essex suggested she should try to become an artist. It started at Chelmsford College with a foundation degree, part time, which she completed in one year (instead of two). And then a five year art degree at Central St.Martins. While looking after two young children at the same time. Legendary commitment to art! BBC Essex kindly allowed her to work the degree around her job. Then she did a Masters degree. What is the difference between Art and Fine Art? Creating the alter ego Aileen Liberty and becoming a professional artist. Making fake For Sale boards for a non-existent real estate agent. Funding art - paint and canvas is expensive. How to get into art when you aren’t rich. Painting sales science - dark green and gold paintings are big sellers. Why did blue and purple blow people’s minds back in the day (back back back in the day). Creating a new evaluation system for Chelmsford Museum exhibitions. Sand timers for appreciating art. Can digital art be counted as ‘art’? Yes. Using art as a catalyst for discussion about the environment. Painting road art for Tour De France in Essex. Reclaim the Seax! Elaine got EXPELLED from school at 15 - but made up for it with adult education. Artists should never work for free - but value exchange in volunteering is ok. Elaine is a fine art gangsta.

Elaine Tribley on Instagram

Elaine's website

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

Don't forget to like, subscribe, share and all the good stuff.

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Send comments, questions, or suggestions for fascinating creative people in Essex give us a shout on our Instagram

Thanks to NGDA for their support

Recorded in Chelmsford, Essex, UK

Grub is a young graffiti artist from Southend. At just 11 years old he’s taken part in Southend City Jam and painted around the country. He is mostly interested in classic graffiti styles, rather than street art. Sangita looks through Grub’s black book (graf sketch book) and can’t believe he can draw so well. Grub is from a creative family, and his Dad is an excellent artist who has taught him to draw. One of Grub’s teachers, Miss James, spotted his artistic talent when he was 8 and motivated him. Grub now has mentors for painting - Ekto, Ster, and Rask. He met them at Southend City Jam 2023 and showed them his sketchbook, Rask grabbed the organisers to show them the work, and he was invited to paint there in 2024. City Jam has massively brightened up Southend with the colourful murals and pieces throughout the city. Big up Scotty Brave for making Essex more colourful with his murals. Grub has painted Leake Street in London, which is an iconic location - he even got recognised from his documentary on YouTube. Ben Mills from Hellfire Film made the mini documentary, and it has made Grub a little bit famous. Essex has a rich history of graffiti - the 2-mile long Lakeside Seawall and Rochford Mill are classic spots. Grub loves the illegal side of graffiti and seeing where people manage to get art up, enjoying the placement and cheekiness. He loves placements that are like a crime that doesn’t really affect anyone - like The Lurkers in caves, and tunnels under London. Talking about King Robbo vs Banksy. If you’re painting a legal wall like Warrior Square in Southend, you’ll need to go over the top of someone else’s work. Painting is expensive, so it would be great for Grub to get sponsored - come on Montana! Choosing a name to tag. When you start out you are ‘toy’. Grub’s previous name was ‘Cob123’, but one day he painted Grub and loved the flow of the letters. Doodle-grid is the way that artists map out their works on big walls to get the proportions and layout correct. Grub has been painting over tube maps and selling them on Instagram. Painting on Rod Stewart’s trainset. If you want to start graffiti - just go for it, don’t be afraid of drawing letters. Grub practiced can control in his garden on some old plywood. Limiting screen time and the ensuing boredom can stoke creativity. Hard work, repetition and practice lead to improvement. Grub is unique at graffiti jam events for being so young. Grub is in a few crews - UPC and CBM.

Grub on Instagram

Grub documentary

Are You Creative? recorded by Adam at Lawker Media, Chelmsford, ESSEX
Edited by Nick Hearne
Artwork by Alpaca Antenna

Don't forget to like, subscribe, share and all the good stuff.

Follow our Instagram for latest news and behind the scenes photos

Send comments, questions, or suggestions for fascinating creative people in Essex give us a shout on our Instagram

Thanks to NGDA for their support

Recorded in Chelmsford, Essex, UK