Art & Design in 2011

Exhibitions:

Wim Crouwel at Design Museum

Anish Kapoor at Manchester Art Gallery

Art World Portraits by Mike Landy

Miro at Tate Modern

Work:
New Red Old Rail,
Idlewild Zine,
OWT 'Direction',
Compound Mag 'Chemistry',
Tangled Wire,
Cardiff Map,
Lake Poets,
Calgary,
Lyric Poster,
Dents Poster

Merry Christmas & Hello 2012!

Each year I like to make my own Christmas Cards to send out to family & friends  and make my own wrapping paper from recycled materials, here's this years. See also my Yak & Yurt wrapping paper I did over the summer if you missed it. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Mele Kalikimaka, Joyeux Noel, Nadolig Llawen & Happy Holidays & have a Happy Happy New Year! Hello 2012!

Romeo & Juliet Covers

Here are a couple of my ideas for the latest Re:covered competition for 'Romeo & Juliet' run by The Fox Is Black, there was loads of entries and here are a couple of my faves by Margaret Park, Jeremy Hogg, Nim Benreuven and Simon Lalonde Boisvert. 

Dents du Midi Travel Poster

I love vintage old travel posters see a collection here. So I decided to do my own version for the Dents du Midi Mountain Range in Switzerland. We used to go nearly every summer & winter when I was younger and it's one of my favourite mountains. It comprises of 7 peaks and it's name literally means 'Teeth of the South' hence the 7 teeth logo in the top right-hand corner. On most summits in the alps there exists a cross and since the Swiss flag is also a cross this seemed to connect to my photo of the mountains. I hope to expand this into a series of mountains to visit, top of my list to see are: Mount Fuji, Mount Kilamanjaro, Mount Everest & Mount Etna. See some of these mountains on my Mountains Tea-Towel Design which I did for a competition. What are your favourite mountains?

London 2012 Festival

Adain Avion- mobile art space made from the recycled fuselage of a DC-9 airplane

Speed of Light at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh

Walking on the Norfolk Coast

Things are starting to really hot up for the London Olympics next year, with a new announcement of somekind each week it seems. I must try go to see the torch relay in June which will pass through my local town of Buxton and I managed to get some tickets to see Athletics in the new stadium yay!! which includes the Men's Shot Put Final & the Womens 10,000m Final!

This week I also found out about some of the art events that are happenning around the country for the London 2012 Festival. Here's a round-up of what I'd like to see: Walking which is going to be an interactive installation/walk along the Norfolk coastline by Robin Wilson which will last approx 4 hrs! The Hadrian's wall installation which will also be designed to be viewed remotely from anywhere in the world through digital media, Speed of Light a light installation around Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh with runners, Adian Avion- a mobile art space made from a recycled airplane fuselage going around Wales and I must get my bells out and ring them on Friday 27th July 2012 to be a part of Martin Creed's Work No. 1197.

(all images from London 2012 Festival)

Map Drawing Atlas

I took a break from my Map Drawing Series to reassess it and figure out where it was going but I realised to do this and push through it I should go with the flow and let the work figure it out. So I found a great vintage road atlas of Great Britain and thought it'd be great to use it as a sketchbook for ideas. I've decided to just use black pen and I like how I can use either the 2 maps together or apart. See some of my other map drawings here.

New York & London T-shirts

New York & London are two of my favourite cities and here's a little t-shirt collection I've made for them. There's streetsigns, signposts & streetlamps, a pretzel & a food stand, monuments, the chrysler building & a lion, a walk man & a queen's guard. You can get your favourite (I think mine is the walk man, which is from Brooklyn Bridge!) or collect all of them over at Redbubble.

Casablanca & No Country for Old Men Posters

Not long ago I finally saw Casablanca and couldn't help but notice all the hats, my Nanna would've too as she was a milliner with her own hat shop. So I created this 'The hats of Casablanca' poster. In a completely different genre 'No country for old men' is one of my current favourite films, Javier Bardem is unbelievable and I can't forget the opening scene which inspired this homage poster.

Art Quotes & Pinterest

I have books and tons of scraps of paper filled with all sorts of great quotes about life, courage, being yourself, purpose, meaning etc and also tons about art. So I've decided to get a few down on the screen as it were and make them into poster images. I did this one a while back 'No feeling is final' and it must have planted a seed. Also I've joined Pinterest where you can pin any inspiration you find on the web and collect it onto pinboards, see all mine here and here is my illustrated quotes pinboard. What are your favourite quotes?

Korbel-Bowers Posters

Just come across these beautiful posters by Matthew Korbel-Bowers and had to share, surf, sunset breaks, north california coasts: see them all at his website here

Chatsworth 'Beyond Limits' 2011

'Lion II' by Ji Yong-Ho

'Simple Lines' by Zadok Ben-David

'Desert Sand' by Nadim Karam

'Visitor II' by David Breuer-Weil

Walking Woman' by Lynn Chadwick

'Myth' by Damien Hirst

'Legend' by Damien Hirst

Recently went to Chatsworth & saw this years Beyond Limits exhibition when the gardens are overtaken by contemporary sculpture. It was a glorious autumnal day with the seasons changing colours in full glory! I loved Damien Hirsts 'Myth' & 'Legend' placed beautifully & regally at the end of the canal pond, and Lynn Chadwick's 'Walking Woman' with a fab abstract expression billowing behind her of her movement through the air. Also really liked Zadok Ben-David's 'Simple Lines' which was highlighted by a gorgeous blue October sky. The exhibitions finished now but go take a look at my photos from the 2010 and 2009 exhibitions.

CD Covers

I love music & love album covers, here's some faves from my library, lots of bold text, handdrawn elements, colour and minimalism.

New T-Shirts on Red Bubble

Here's my Red Rail and Twin Heart designs on t-shirts! Check them out over on Red Bubble, and see all my other Red Bubble designs here.

Website & Banner Update

Managed to finally update my website, and been messing around with a new banner logo; I like the symmetry of both my first & last names having 6 letters so been mixing them up and tossing them around and came up with this one. Not sure it's legible enough, what do you think?

Alpine Soundtrack

Here's a little image I put together for Supreme Being's Design Contest on the theme of 'Alpine Soundtrack'. Mountains & Music want more could you want? I love the French Alps, the Scottish Highlands and for a perfect soundtrack listen to Ryan Adams' new record Ashes & Fire.

New Red Old Rail T-shirt Design

Here's my design for the Ghosts of Gone Birds T-shirt competition run by All Tropical. There was a huge list of extinct birds to choose from and I chose the Red Rail to breathe new life into.

Here's my description: ''The Red Rail became extinct around 1700 and while it can never come back as it was, maybe it can return as a newer version of itself, to avenge its ancestors. Perhaps it could be a ninja with 5 legs and a triangular hole (just in case you need one). My 'New Red Old Rail' design shows the new ninja bird made up out of the original Red Rail image scrambled up and which is on it's side extinct.'

See all of the designs in the gallery here and you can vote for mine here, the top 10 get through to be judged by the likes of Guy Garvey (from Elbow), Jimi Goodwin (from Doves) and the radio DJ Marc Riley and then the top 2 get printed into tees!

Positive Posters 2011

Here's my poster for this years 'Positive Posters'. The brief this year is to highlight an issue that you believe deserves a global audience and could be better seen or understood. I wanted to do something simple yet inspiring and uplifting in everday life.

Here's my rationale: 'Living or working in a city can get you down and a lot of the time people are just rushing from place to place, stressed out with worry and trying to do everything on their 'to do' list. But by living in the moment a bit more and experiencing beauty and peace in the small things that surround us can help us feel more calm and inspired to do good. My poster is to help remind people to perhaps stop a moment, reassess and lift your eyes to the skies.'

Here is my poster for last years contest with the brief 'A glass half full'. This year's competition closes on 30th September 2011 so get your thinking caps on!

Brett Dennen Posters

My album of the summer and the year so far has to be Brett Dennen's 'Loverboy' so as I love a good poster I thought I'd make up some lyric posters for a few of my fave songs on the album including: 'Queen of the Westside', 'Comeback Kid (That's my dog), 'Dancing at a Funeral' and 'Song for Leaving'. Eventually I hope to do one for each song on the album. Check out some of the album & others on his myspace.

Album Leaf Poster & T-Shirt Design

Here's a poster & a t-shirt design I did a while ago for a competition for The Album Leaf's fall US Tour. If you haven't heard them go here, they're epically beautiful.

Jerwood Drawing Prize Artist Directory

I was just looking into where the Jerwood Drawing Prize is touring this year (which I can't seem to find out about!?) and they've made a new Artist Directory and I'm in it as I was in the 2007 exhibition (can't believe it was 4 yrs ago!) with my drawing 'Map Circle'.

Yak & Yurt Wrapping Paper

My sister drove from London to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia recently and had her birthday along the way, so I made some Yak & Yurt wrapping paper and a mountain tag for her pressie. But actually in Mongolia yurts are called gers! I'd love to go one day, it looks so amazing, but for now I'll have to watch these beautiful Mongolian films again: The Cave of the Yellow Dog and The Story of the Weeping Camel

Book Covers

Here's a few book covers I've come across recently that I love: 'What is the What' by Dave Eggers which I've just started and has already amazed and broken my heart in the first few chapters. 'Zero Degrees of Empathy' by Simon Baron-Cohen (I love the faces as masks), 'White Teeth' by Zadie Smith which is part of 'Penguin Ink' a new re-design of modern classics by Penguin all created by tattoo artists and 'The Art of Immersion' by Frank Rose which I know nothing about but found from the great site that is The Book Cover Archive.

What's your fave book cover?

(click the images to see where they came from)

Landscapes

Here's some photos from a recent walk around where I live, I love the yellow fields interspersed with trees, walls, and cloudy blue skies, but I can feel Autumn calling me from around the corner.

All Tropical: Skele Ride in the Rain

I did this t-shirt design for All Tropical, it's a Skeleton riding a Tarpon fish in the rain of course! Go rate it and it could get turned into a tee for sale like these others.

Six Word Story Every Day

Six Word Story Every Day is just that a site which features a six word story every day! Here's my submission 'All day the sky was grey' which got featured yesterday and is #590. There's so many great stories and designs on there here's a few of my faves: 'To shine when everything seems dark', 'The paper killed my pet rock', 'No way out, when you're there' and 'What a tangled web we weave'. Why not join in and illustrate/design your favourite six word story or come up with your own!