Emily Hughes aka @EmilyHasGlasses emerged like a goddess from the Gloucestershire countryside and threw herself head first into Leeds city life 3 years ago, when she came here to study Graphic Arts and Design. You may recognise this citizen from the upstanding work she’s done at The Town Hall Tavern and Judy’s Vintage Fashion Fairs. Now working with The Culture Vulture, expect everything on the site to be laced with cake and signed off with red lippy. Well about time too. Wendy Denman donned yellow and prised the truth out of her, in a firm polite manner.
What is the best thing your lovely glasses have helped you to see?
Well without them I can’t see anything (I have terrible eye sight)…I don’t think I could pick a ‘best’ thing but I recently went to Hebden Bridge and it was beautiful. I have a thing for old buildings and Hebden Bridge is full of them!
On another note, I created a publication called Kindred about business women in Leeds for my Graphics degree. Me and my glasses went around Leeds interviewing and photographing various business women for almost 6 months. It was such an eye opening project, there is a wonderful sense on ‘indie’ spirit in Leeds, it was fantastic to get to know more about the women behind some of the projects that I admire so much. That is how I met Emma, I interviewed her pretty early on in my project and we’ve kept in touch since. You can view my publication online here:
Have you got any gossip on The Culture Vulture team?
The word gossip always makes me think of negative things…so I suppose I’d prefer to use insight if that is alright? We all had a bonding moment over Caramac chocolate bars at lunch the other day, Phil even bought me one and left it for me in the office which I enjoyed with a massive cup of tea (thanks Phil). Anyone who makes amazing chocolates should feel free to send some to the Culture Vulture office, we taste test them for you with pleasure as we are all huge chocolate fans!
What is your theme tune and why?
Ohhhh what a good question! Well, I tend to describe myself as an upbeat person so my theme tune would need to match that. This song from Kay Starr is pretty fitting to the bill:
I can imagine a scene in a show or movie where someone is dancing down the street (maybe in a sunshine yellow dress) to this song!
Tell us about something exciting you’re working on!
I am currently in charge of a project in association with East Street Arts – Juliana’s Bike Festival. We are going to be holding a day of wheel related fun at The White Cloth Gallery on the 27th of July. There will be lots more information about that in the weeks to come so keep your eyes peeled! It’s already an awesome project to be working on and I’ve got some great people on board which is really exciting. There is a big emphasis on ensuring it’s a family friendly event too. I recently helped with the Secret Robot event at Leeds Gallery which was so much fun. I’m a bit of a big kid at heart so putting me in charge of robot biscuit decorating kept me happy all day.
Which colour best sums up the year 2013 so far?
I think I’d say sunshine yellow. The first few months of this year was quite stressful as I was finishing my degree and has a huge work load. My work light bulb was always floating above my head with that sunshine yellow glow coming from it 24/7 (hypothetically of course)! After finishing in May I’ve been on a bit of a whirlwind really, it’s very exciting not being a student in Leeds anymore. I’ve thrown myself into another world and I’m loving it. I keep buying yellow clothes recently for some reason and I’ve been enjoying the actual sunshine of late, it always makes me feel ace at the start of the day if it’s bright outside.
Vintage threads, gingerbread, a night out in Gateshead or a pencil full of lead?
Vintage threads would be my number one choice. Most of my clothes are Vintage (particularly 50s) or Vintage inspired! I’ve been working for Judy’s Affordable Vintage Fair which is a fantastic Leeds based company that do events all around the UK. I get to go and run some of the fairs which is so my fun, the atmosphere is always great and I get first dips of all the nice frocks too. I wouldn’t say no to a gingerbread man either…or a nice pencil (I love stationery). Gateshead however, I’ve never been so I can’t really comment but if I’m ever there and someone is getting a round in, mines a large spiced rum and coke please!
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Emily tweets as @EmilyHasGlasses and you can find out more on her website.