Art Station

We've moved house recently so I haven't had the opportunity to update this blog for a little while, so here's what i've been up to...

Recently I was asked to take part in the Art Station exhibition at Huddersfield railway station, entitled 'Art in Motion'.  The theme, as the title infers, is anything travel related.  I wanted to try out some more photographic prints and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

The images I chose to work with are simply of double-yellow lines, a subject matter I have explored before in a short film I made entitled 'Gold Lines', which is also the collective title for the triptych of prints I have on display.  Go and check them out if you're travelling through Huddersfield!

Here's the original video:

Centre of the Vortex

Sometimes it takes a little while for an image to develop.  I've had these black and white prints of the underside of an electricity pylon sitting around for a while. They make a nice image but i've never quite been satisfied with the way they look.

I had the idea to print some red concentric circles over the original image and i'm quite pleased with the way they turned out. Have a look and see what you think...

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I still don't think they're quite finished but it's an improvement.  Watch this space for further developments.

LSCMYK

I wanted to try some CMYK process screen-printing and used this photo of a kerb that I have previously made some black and white prints of (more on that later).  The kerb in question provided the setting to a misspent adolescence of skateboarding and general mischief-making and I have fond memories of it, as do many of my friends, to whom I have since distributed some of the prints.  It also made a good contrasting image with distinct areas of each colour and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Check it out below...

C

M

Y

K!

Going postal

Spent a leisurely Sunday packing up deliveries of prints and zines for various friends and acquaintances. Amongst the packages was one for Portland, Oregon creative type Jason Niebauer, who got in touch offering to trade after I posted one of my ♯zines on Instagram. Oh the wonders of social media!  Anyway, everything's packaged and ready to ship and I look forward to receiving some goodies in exchange...

Manchester Print Fair

Today we spent the best part of what turned out to be a soggy Saturday cooped up in a Mancunian basement in the company of the many talented individuals who comprised the stall-holders at the Manchester Print Fair. The venue was 2022NQ in Manchester's northern quarter, which happens to be celebrating its first birthday today. There was a huge array of talent on display and it was all I could do to prevent myself from spending every penny I own on the many zines, prints and assorted printed ephemera that was on offer.

Standout exhibitors for me included the wonderfully talented Jo Hicks, who had a fantastic array of screen-printed posters, t-shirts and sweaters on offer (it also transpires that we have a mutual friend in a certain Tim Smith, a.k.a 3 Digits). I also particularly liked the illustrations of Caroline Dowsett, who makes some beautifully quirky images and who seems to have an infatuation with the films of Wes Anderson, which is no bad thing.

Another illustrator whose work was particularly noteworthy was Jamie Mills. I'm only sorry I didn't have more money or I could have bought more of his delicately constructed drawings featuring animals and geometric shapes. Lewis Loughman was another illustrator who creates brightly coloured anarchic imagery with a great sense of humour. Good stuff!

I always have time for independent publishers and and so it was great to peruse the offerings of both Michael Butterworth and the guys behind Manchester based 'The Modernist' magazine. Again it was a case of 'If only I had more money' but i'm sure i'll be logging on to purchase some new reading material come the next payday. One more mention goes to Cecile Mayot, who had a stall featuring some wonderful zines and postcards featuring her black and white photography.

Like I say, everyone there was hugely talented and this is just a small selection of the artists and designers who had stalls at the fair. It was a really great day and I hope be able to take part in the next Manchester Print Fair, hopefully with a bit more artwork of my own!

Explicit Kickturns

So I was at the skatepark the other day and there was this kid wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the legend "Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics".  He was doing kickturns; you know, the sort that judder round in a series of jerking motions like the hands on a shakey old clock. Anyway, I started saying to myself "Parental Advisory: Explicit Kickturns" and the phrase got stuck in my head, so when I had a bit of spare time to myself I decided to mock up some rip-offs of the original logo. I kind of liked the design, so I got some stickers made up and this is the result.  Be on the lookout for them at your local skatepark soon...

Printed Matter

It's been a busy couple of days as i've been hard at work screen printing at West Yorkshire Printworks, running off a new edition of zines and re-printing old ones in preparation for the Manchester Print Fair, which takes place tomorrow (13th April). I'm sharing a stall with my immensely talented wife Kate Thornton and i'm looking forward to seeing what the other exhibitors will have on offer there as well.  I expect i'll end up spending a lot more money than I make there!

Here's a quick peek at some of the goods i'll have on offer. I may have some A3 prints for sale as well.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog!  

It is finally starting to feel like spring; new shoots are finally pushing through, the birds are singing and i've managed to make it out of the house today wearing only two layers.  

In keeping with this spirit of new growth, I have decided to create this blog as a forum in which to share my various creative endeavours with anyone who is interested.  Hopefully this first seed will slowly germinate into a riotous blossom of colour and creativity as the blog continues to grow. Expect anything ranging from printed matter and illustration through to sculpture and photography, all coupled with my benign musings on matters serious, humorous and tedious.

Welcome to the world of rod root!