Faram au fait

Pete McKee's Pub Scrawl leaves an impression on Sheffield

2012-01-25T16:56:00.000-08:00

...other than the potentially lingering hangover.

This is a new addition to the Sheffield cultural calendar no doubt for the foreseeable future. Sheffielder Pete McKee (of Month of Sundays gallery in Sharrowvale) launched an art extravaganza of a simple but as yet untried format; assigning 10 artists to 10 pubs, and letting them takeover... creatively re-thinking and communicating their ideas and artistic identity in relation to each assigned social space/boozer. For just one night.

I went along and saw the majority, and wrote about it for Culture Vulture!

Read me

Christmas cards for 2011

2011-12-23T16:52:00.000-08:00

Two new hand-painted Christmas cards

* I don't think Robins can eat holly berries

Time to spend

2011-12-05T03:09:00.000-08:00

Pictures of Autumn - Hamstead Heath & St Malo, Brittany

Pentax Spotmatic

Faramaufait: Collage!

2011-11-14T14:10:00.000-08:00

A collage I produced at Site Gallery during an Elizabeth Rowe 'Collage Party'

Dada bar ! Thornbridge Brewery Sheffield opens / 'Do you best...' exhibition by Jane Faram & Geo Law

2011-11-07T16:17:00.000-08:00

Dada Bar! The latest Thornbridge Brewery project...

Exhibition 'Do your best / Do your worst' by Jane Faram & Geo Law

And here's a glimpse of their industrial metal basket lights! Amidst the mismatched industrial chairs and stools...

It's great for Sheffield to have a bar which has taken risks and the mixed reaction says much about this. The future of Dada is open, these are just their foundations - they're aiming to host workshops, screenings and will call-out for independant creatives to bring their skills to the table for others to pick-up at events! Along with devouring a delectable cheese / meat board...

Tada! Dada opening

2011-11-07T03:32:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I was on holiday in Brittany thus missing the opening of Dada bar in Sheffield on 25 October! (but fortunate in the sense that Brittany is having a beatiful autumn, and knitting, cycling and chesnut roasting cannot be complained about).

Here are some snaps I've snatched from others who were able to attend.

Documentation of the exhibition by George Law and I and Dada on the whole coming soon!

Thornbridge of Sheffield opening Dada bar - Exhibition opening - Jane Faram & Geo Law 'Do your best / Do your worst'

2011-10-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

Thornbridge Brewery are just about to offer Sheffield a new (and much needed) social destination, rethinking what has become somewhat standard form in city centre bars/pubs. A new venue for enjoying their much loved ales but this time from the keg - a bar rather than a pub. This grants them more license to experiment, attracting an audience who are inclined to be creative, meet and plan ideas, enjoy a live performance/music and take in artwork, which will on the whole celebrate what Sheffield has constantly brewing under the surface.

Another place for the actively creative and ambitious is definitely a goer. In the attractive corner building that was once Trippets on Trippet Lane, Dada will open next Tuesday and I'm pleased to say the dedicated art space inside Dada will house a body of work I made in collaboration with George Law 2 years ago. A shared process of collage, drawing and painting. It will be so nice to start things off for Thornbridge in their first dedicated exhibition space, Dada will accumulate more input from Sheffield artists and musicians over the coming year including projects in association with Martyn Ware of the Human League. A programme of events and shows which are (loosely!) dada in the sense of providing a catalyst for making, doing and speaking about it- just close to the city centre, but off the beaten track enough to feel like an alternative to the norm.

Locate Dada !

Plating something up for Archipelago Works screen print show!

2011-09-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

A brand new piece for the upcoming exhibition at Archipelago Works (APG), Sheffield. After producing my first screen print on a t-shirt this summer this is another first for me to have work as a limited edition screen print. The show is 3 C's Creatures, Characters and Communication - 3 Cs in Graphic art - A Group Exhibition of Original Screen Prints.

The idea for the work stemmed from the appeal of displays in the home, an extension of personality through arrangements like this, visual enjoyment over practicality, eclectic design paired with mismatched characters. Some of these characters have a tendency to reappear in my work such as the caravan and flamingo - absolutely personal and ridiculous favourites which I cannot always justify. I would now like to make these plates happen. Especially caravan plate to match my caravan t-shirt.

3 C's group exhibition opening this Friday 23 September at APG! Preview evening 6 - 9pm, all welcome! Also see work by:

Ian Stevenson // Russell Maurice // James Nash // Sarah Abbott // Matt Sewell // David Litchfield // Jane Faram // Bob Milner // Steve White // Malarky // Holly Wales // AustinVonNew // Neasden Control Centre // 45 RPM

DIY Making in the summertime

2011-09-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of planning a series of workshops and events at Site Gallery, Sheffield during this summer simply named 'DIY Summer at Site', and I squeezed in some cheeky moments to join in the making and diy-ing. It definitely quenched my thirst for learning some new tricks, DIY Summer exposed me to new techniques which I'd love to employ later. I had the joy of working with Crow and Dunnage screenprinters to make my (shameful to say first ever) screenprint, on a tshirt, of a caravan!

Secondly I joined in with a crockery workshop run by Lianne Mellor of Mellorware, namely 'Crocolage' a lovely combination of collage with transfer decals and glazes, onto a 'pop' mug, cereal bowl and plate. I once had a chintsy ship cup so very similar to this and it mysteriously disappeared. After a few years of pining it was a great day receving this ship mug back from the Mellorware kiln, so similar to the first that I can rest easy. Plus I have a trout in the bottom of my cereal bowl which I defy anyone to say isn't ace.

Earlier this year Bloc Projects in Sheffield ran a Collage Party with artist Elizabeth Rowe, and I had such a great time that I asked Elizabeth to return to Sheffield to run a larger scale Collage Party in Site. I was full of a bad cold but still absolutely loved it. We collaged the gallery walls and even the gallery exterior - and this time around some of the cuttings and collages were amazingly intricate, some disturbing and others almost accidentally beautiful.


Collage Party at Bloc Projects

Just discovered; Amazing Future

2011-08-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

Amazing Future - a blog of wondrous proportions. Purely image and video, which I just reviewed on the Article Magazine site. Amazing Future needn't caption their plethora of discoveries as they speak loudly and clearly for themselves, so I shan't say anything further. Tada! :

A new home for a bird box

2011-08-07T14:39:00.000-07:00

I made a series of bird boxes in winter for the Stars in Stripes exhibition in Rotherham, which were installed in the fantastically [intimidatingly] huge space, on the concrete columns to bring an extra dimension. They were so discreet that not many people clocked they were there - each had a light inside with a bird menagerie, illustrated by Nick Deakin.

I have moved house and dressed a lovely new bedroom, unfortunately the bird boxes had to be recycled although I have saved one. The good news is, after a quick trip to tescos for a more icecream boxes and a cut, stick and sketch, I could knock up more in no time! I saved only one of the originals. Hummingbird it is...

Leipzig in July; photographic footnotes

2011-08-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of hanging shoes, makes for a pretty eerie sight.

Casually walking into hotels with his axe.

Post office built in the 60's, a classic GDR communist type.

Good working clothes.

A vintage Leipzig bus with lace curtains

Inside the Stasi Museum some attractive curtains.

Music in Sheffield Sex City and others

2011-08-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't struggled for entertainment recently, after some particularly spectacular trips to Glastonbury, Leipzig for Melt Festival, via the Champagne fields of France, Belgium for Dour Festival, and Tramlines in Sheffield (not so spectacular but nice to be close to home).

Some photographs will follow. Mostly they are of Pulp.


Ice Cube, baby

Plenty of chairs

Sign writing for Site Canteen

2011-07-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Site Canteen at Site Gallery, Sheffield has gone into summer with a new tact. New lovely food. Longley Farm yoghurts always win me over. I did the frieze map months ago and just made some amendments. So if you're in the vicinity, check it out - find out where your bread was made or even where they sourced your tea cup.

Hackney farm

2011-07-06T17:10:00.000-07:00


Largest pig I've ever clapped eyes on

Hackney Faram chicken no.19


Louise - Columbia Road roses

Photographs taken in Winter '10, Pentax Spotmatic II.

Time to break the creative hiatus

2011-07-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Awful break in blog maintenance not for lack of things to say (promise) but a great deal of excitement at Site Gallery and Article Magazine, from radioactive merry-go-rounds, book clubs, shows to write about and general planning. Surely not enough making.

Yesterday I met with the delightful Sarah Abbott (Sheffield illustrator) and stressed my concerns over this hiatus in my art making, having gained so much in the last few months supporting artists such as Eva & Franco Mattes, and writing about the latest young artists at degree shows. Mark my words, by the end of this summer I'll have prepared towards an exhibition (no matter how small) as I'll have revived my paints and pens!

Collage Party at Bloc Projects, Sheffield

Tonight I remembered the joys of collage, joining artist Elizabeth Rowe and a group of fellow cutters & stickers at a Collage Party - definitely as fun as anticipated. Printed material and tools provided, great vinyl djing by the artist herself and lovely conversation whilst we all selected between a photo of a tropical fish, and a photograph of Prince Charles when he was remotely handsome. Pieced together on the gallery walls, our pictures built into narratives as we utilised the matter that artist Rowe sourced in charity shops but made individual choices about them.

These collaged works certainly say a great deal about our disparate visual interpretations and decision making processes. Here are my results, mostly ridiculous! :

I've been really inspired by Rowe, who will take her collage approach to the Bloc Billboard on the building exterior. Thanks to Bloc Projects for providing such a fun place to cut & chat! Collage night should come weekly...

New work on the Site Gallery Canteen Frieze

2011-05-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

<<< Somewhere to put the menus...

The frieze after an update & reshuffle...

...And a new bull for summer!

www.sitegallery.org

Live art at Sheffield Millennium Gallery back in April!

2011-05-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/museums-sheffield/page2/

Why so blue? Article Magazine interview with illustrator Sarah Abbott

2011-04-24T14:08:00.000-07:00

I recently interviewed [personal favourite] fellow Sheffield based illustrator Sarah Abbott check it here! on the Article Mag website

Seeing the trees for the wood - peg board animals & condiments / silver birch shelving

2011-04-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

We Are Click have been working on their handsome new website to showcase their excellent late work as Industrial Designers.

The silver birch they felled now stands in the gallery as a shelving system

Included are some cracking photographs of our transformation of Site Canteen back in March (see post).

Here are the wooden pieces they carefully cut in order for my Frieze to be realised on the gallery canteen wall, and the frantic painting that took place on the launch date, I literally painted my heart out for 24 hours! Also see the Site Gallery website for further information.

Cycling in the big city and a pretty Christmas box

2011-04-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

Again I stumbled across the lovely LOOK MUM NO HANDS cafe on London's Old Street

www.lookmumnohands.com

I spotted this sign being painted last year and posted a photograph (click here), largely in envy of the task: if only sign painting by hand was still a vocation! They have serve coffee and beer, show movies, and even have on site bike mechanics, so it's a one stop shop for cycle enthusiasts. Sheffield needs this!

In other news, I have also stored up these photographs of an Christmas Advent Box made for my sister - hand-painted and collaged, containing an assortment of treats from dried fruits to hot chocolate.

Final inappropriate festive post - I was determined to try my hand at old school lino printing to mass produce my Christmas cards last year, but without losing a sense of receiving something personal. So became this robin print. I'd like to layer colours in future - practice makes perfect.

Picture this, a day in December

2011-03-30T17:12:00.000-07:00

These are exposures I've hoarded up from my Pentax Spotmatic for months, posted with apologies for being so shamefully out of season. It's all for smug hindsight on the relentlessly deep snow now the clocks have gone forward!

...Spot the snowball mid-flight?

Recent press - Sheffield Telegraph / MissieCindz web blog

2011-03-14T04:43:00.000-07:00

Sheffield Telegraph preview of the Site Canteen makeover

"AROUND 80 people booked in for a special dinner at the Site Gallery on Friday night.

Guests from a cross section of Sheffield’s cultural scene were invited to bring along one book which had special significance to them ...

"Thus young design team We Are Click contributed light shades of strands of wool and a structure of a pair of tree trunks from Ecclesall Woods. Neon artist Richard Wheater provided a window sign and Sheffield furniture-maker Finbar Lucas designed the tables to go alongside Sixties chairs featured in This is England and originally made in Chesterfield.

There is also a facia board above the food counter proclaiming the local produce which was created by Jane Faram, an illustrator and member of Site staff"...

Cindy Cheung/ Missiecindz reviews the redesign
"PJ Taste Site Gallery's NEW tasteful and refreshing interiors. Beautiful illustrations" ...

Site Canteen at Site Gallery - NEW frieze

2011-03-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

Last week a rather spectacular dinner party was held at Site Gallery to introduce new Director Laura Sillars, previously programme Director at FACT Liverpool. The dinner saw the launch of Site’s ‘Ex-Libris’ - a public library housed in the gallery. Offering a stock of titles donated by creative talent in the city, with handwritten personal accounts inside the covers to inspire the reader. Note that Jarvis Cocker, Ian Anderson, Tim Etchells and Russel Senior have obliged!

Site Canteen where the library is based has undergone a whirlwind transformation. Wooden furniture maker Finbar, and Sheffield’s hot young design trio ’We are Click’ (who have built a stunning shelving structure for the new library, with books stacked between silver birch trees on steel angular shelves. It's a gorgeous creation. Dotted around the space are their wool and resin lights hung at varied heights for reading/coffee drinking/boozing.

I was commissioned to work alongside We are Click to produce a frieze for the wall of the Canteen. PJ Taste are the local food connoisseurs resident at Site Canteen. Sourcing produce from all over Sheffield, foraging in the woodlands, digging up from their own allotments and supporting Sheffield’s city farms. Their ethical production and commitment to source locally, preparing fresh food in a responsible way with notable creativity, led to the idea of a frieze. The work combines a map of Sheffield and their key producers with a menu board of sorts, to narrate the process from planting to devouring!

The wall is surfaced with peg board, so the frieze is in flux and goes with the seasons - I'll produce new fruits to grow from the tree, or animals to graze the farmland. We Are Click cut these pieces from plywood based on my drawings, and inserted dowel for them to be plugged in anywhere on the pegboard.

I painted seven hills of Sheffield (including a hill of milk bottles!) as an underlay environment for a varied foreground of food, farms and local contributors to the PJ Taste table.

It was a real privilege to help transform Site’s café into Site Canteen, a hot-spot for Sheffield where inspirational ideas, talent & happenings will find a base over the coming years. You really have to see it, you probably can’t miss it actually - there’s a new neon artwork installed by artist Richard William Wheater screaming OPEN at you from the window.

Article magazine - CITIES issue is out!

2011-03-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

The delay in recent news is wholly down to an exciting whirlwind of a past month. Since the Stars in Stripes Rotherham exhibition ended I’ve been working hard with Article Magazine to have the latest issue ready, and strongly suggest (insist) that you get your mitts on a copy of the Cities Issue. Distributed in...

The issue launch was held last Wednesday, we took over the Great Gatsby on Division Street in Sheffield to present the new copy, we made cardboard cities, and screened films such as City on the Move the classic promotion film for Sheffield in the 70’s which features two Swedish beauties landing in steel / sex city as tourists. Just look at all the discos, department stores and friendly policemen on patrol!

We had excellent stickers to go with the issue (and illustrated inner spread on 24 hour city) by Nick Deakin (also a Stars in Stripes member).

The clumpy, retro tv sets on the night linked up with my interview in this issue with then Programme Director at FACT Liverpool, Laura Sillars, on the world’s first video artist Nam June Paik, ‘Life is half natural and half technological’.

Also featured is my interview with Louise Hutchinson, Curator at S1 Artspace (artist-led organisation) about the new premises and gorgeous exhibition by Eva Berendes. We’ve noted the really bright future for Northern cities, this issue of Article is all about those who aren’t waiting around for the funding to flood in, like numerous independent projects across Britain - thoughtful and significant work is happening regardless.

Look at Rotherham and the Old Market Gallery, about to be transformed into a cinema and artspace by Peter Martin, a lovely Liverpudlian with an unrelenting passion for transforming place through artistic strategy,. (He’s written on it this in the issue too - ‘Rotherham is the New Berlin’. Page 50!)

My feature on city architect J.L.Womersely is the main suspect for my tiredness! A marathon scavenge for any information on the man who designed an array of the post-slum city constructions we now love, or love to despise. Hours spent in Sheffield’s Local studies centre with OAP’s (who have a troubling cut throat commitment to their family histories). Anyway, what I thought I knew about Sheffield and Manchesters ‘landmark brutalism’ was nothing without knowing Womersley’s hand in it (It’s a lengthy piece, page 14).

ALSO an interview with Peter Saville, designer of the prolific Factory Records record covers. Needn’t say more.

A ton of reviews, previews and guidance on what you can enjoy seeing in your city right now. Get your copy and read it over coffee, in fact, several coffees till the next issue emerges. Article goes from strength to strength.

Closing the Stars in Stripes Rotherham exhibition

2011-02-18T16:30:00.000-08:00

It's been an extremely hectic couple of months and already we've reached the closing date of our Rotherham exhibition at the Old Market Gallery in Rotherham.

Here's a little retrospective on the exhibition which has now seen around 500 visitors in 3 weeks. We certainly observed a transformation of Rotherham's art scene and along with it some presumptions about this Northern town. Now we're looking at a sustained programme, with challenging and ambitious shows and events in this gallery space over the coming years as programmed by Peter Martin who curated this exhibition, and who even took these great photographs.

More occurances like this please...Rotherham has grown on me.

Faram au fait - Iceream boxes / Bird Boxes / Hot off the Press!

2011-02-07T02:57:00.000-08:00

Late in the proceedings of the Rotherham show setup, the Stars in Stripes flew with the idea that we could do more than just paint and draw on the windows / have a central wall built through the space to hang recent and brand new works, but that we could also paint / build things on the floor & walls. The epic floor size warranted as much intervention as possible.

So I started constructing bird houses for the exhibition space columns out of [tesco neopolitan icecream and frozen berries] cardboard boxes.

It was a suprisingly rapid process - I knocked-up five in total onto which I selectively painted and illustrated. Menageries of birds inside the boxes were a dexterous addition at the last minute by Nick Deakin , for peering through I placed a little light inside each box.

I'll make some of these again sometime it was great fun...amazing what you can do with a cardboard box.

The show in Rotherham has drawn a broad audience, do make sure you catch it before the show ends, it's extended until Friday 18 February.See the Stars in Stripes website.

All pictures are courtesy of the witty top fashion blogger, Style Factory, who gave the show a cracking write-up - an interesting and flattering spin on the exhibition!

OTHER PRESS:

'Don't Panic' magazine - The Rotherham Renaissance

'Ballad Of...' review

Faram au Fait in Rotherham - Stars in Stripes exhibition opening!

2011-01-24T04:51:00.000-08:00

The Stars in Stripes will imminently launch the large scale exhibition in Rotherham this THURSDAY 27 JANUARY 2011 with an event which opens 7pm till late. (The show runs till mid-February). Our window based art work began in December and we took to the interior space of the Old Market Building in January. We'll accompany our show with cakes and booze, prints by each artist (here's a preview of mine) and live tshirt drawing. We'll play music too. Renaissance Rotherham!

Faram au Fait Wedding illustrations

2011-01-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

The bride and groom and their wedding invitation

Stars in Stripes - our show is just around the corner...

2011-01-11T15:19:00.000-08:00

a-n magazine review of publication Failure by Lisa le Feuvre

2011-01-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

I recently won a copy of Failure and with it the opportunity to review the book for A-N Magazine Interface. I became so involved in reading this publication, finding Lisa le Feuvre's topic to be as inseperable from our approach to working and living as (what we perceive to be) our pursuit for success. I advise everyone to read this book and not see the sense in finding some happy medium, it's somewhere between success and failure and it's where the fun happens!

See http://www.a-n.co.uk/interface/reviews/single/980838

A book with Failure written boldly on the cover is terribly appealing. There is something tantalising about the concept and Lisa le Feuvre has finally granted failure the long overdue recognition in this impressive anthology which ‘establishes failure as a core concern in contemporary cultural production’. Finally we see how involved we are in failure, not just in the recent contemporary art which proudly strives to fail, but in art which has failed throughout history both accidentally and intentionally.

Stars in Stripes Rotherham Adventures - window artwork

2010-12-24T02:35:00.000-08:00

The Stars in Stripes were commissioned by ROAR (Rotherham Open Arts Rennaissance) and Rotherham Council to fill the ground floor space of a relatively new tower block right in the centre of town. The original ask was for the Stars to produce window based artwork, and as a group of eclectic artists and illustrators to pursue their individual ideas and build these into a cohesive whole. This vast space in a central location lacks definite purpose, and offers an unusual opportunity for artists to be ambitious - the scale of the windows truly shows off the Stars in Stripes exploits to passers by.

We were instantly taken with the idea because being offered a space like this to work in and subsequently exhibit is such a rarity. Though we are all based in Sheffield, it would be extremely unlikely for us to happen upon this opportunity there, particularly not with council funding for our troubles.

The train journey to Rotherham is so swift you barely feel it. (Unless your train breaks down because of the ice. Brrrr.) So the next step in the operation is encouraging the Rotherham public to visit along with people from Sheffield, who surely could brave the ten minute journey to check it out. Remember, Rotherham is the new Berlin.

We've been met with sub-zero temperatures, so putting pen to window has been difficult (at times painful!) but we have persevered. The space now certainly has our stamp on it, from bears, carousel horses and sheds, to winding vines, chains and parachuting foxes. I have met the eyes of bemused passers by through the window whilst drawing on it, and I hope people in Rotherham will keep looking in on us as we fill the space. It is essentially like working inside a great fish tank - there is no escape if we blunder.

We're building up to our first group exhibition in mid-January, exhibition title TBA....content TBA...but keep an eye on the Stars in Stripes website to see our progress into the New Year. We also hope to plan in a number of events from Live Art, screening nights, to workshops.

Special thank you to Peter Martin who is helping to curate our work, and manages the use of the space. He's been a great support and encouragement to the Stars in Stripes thus far.

Many more images and info can be found on the Stars in Stripes website.

Rotherham is the new Berlin

2010-12-07T00:54:00.000-08:00

The next issue of Article Magazine will be out in early February. In the interim, I've been writing a bunch of articles to be fed onto the online version of the mag, you can read the first of these on the website today! :

S1 Artspace relaunch - interview with Louise Hutchinson the curator. S1 is one of the most significant artist led spaces in the North and it's celebrating 15 years of being established, coincidentally this anniversary also ties in with their move to a new premises...exciting times for them. (If you're in or close to Sheffield, their relaunch event is this Friday 10th December at 6pm!)

Rotherham exhibition!

It's been snowing like there's no tomorrow in Sheffield. In fact we've had way over foot and now we're dealing with the icy aftermath...We haven't been able to get to Rotherham as much as we'd like (seriously) but the thrilling news is we've got the ball rolling for our forthcoming 'Stars in Stripes' exhibition!

In the few weeks before Christmas we'll be drawing on the windows of the exhibition space, they're a huge feature as they make up 3 of the 4 walls.We will keep a record of the work in progress and upload it to the Stars in Stripes website.

Rotherham is the new Berlin! But I'm sure you already knew that. It's time we give Rotherham another go.Buy a tshirt to express your optimism.

Live illustration by Kikayis an illustrator based in BCN.

Putting pen and brush to paper more often

2010-11-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

A little note to explain the delay. I'm on the brink of a few art projects my time has sadly been stretched lately! Doc/Fest was in Sheffield last week and normal life paused a little. I saw a lovely new film about the old favourite Rolf Harris, and was blessed to share the first screening of this film with the star in question.

It should be showing on television around christmas I think...The film confirms what we already know of Rolf as a wonderful person and accomplished painter, tracking his painterly process executing several interpretations of the scene from Midsummer Nights Dream where Titania falls in love with Bottom the donkey. Much like the Henry Fuseli masterpiece of the 18th century. He is shown getting on famously with Lily Cole and Jade Jagger amongst other females in pop culture who pose as Titania for him. It's a real comfort to see that everything we find endearing in Rolf Harris is quite true.

There's writing to be done for the cracking Article Magazine , with the next issue out just before Christmas!

Review for AN Interface (AN magazines website) on the book Failure by Lisa le Feuvre which I'm hankering to read now and feel it's publication is timely. Failure has almost become a familiar friend, as we're all having to face it to some degree and it is a healthy way to work particularly as an artist with failures often leading to better, more reasoned results. Not something to be afraid of.

Project in Rotherham (where you must believe me, some thrilling art and music projects and events have come to fruition in 2010, certainly something has been revived!) The Stars in Stripes will be doing something special at 'Histogram' in December!

I'm also working on an illustration commission for wedding invitations, goes without saying that this is a treat.

So that's plenty. Be right back with evidence of new work!

Stars in Stripes go bird crazy for road safety!

2010-10-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Stars in Stripes appear at Sheffield City Council event to produce artwork to promote safety on the roads for young people. We hope our toucans, pelicans and zebras did the job!

The artwork will be shown elsewhere in Sheffield including the Winter Gardens too apparently...

* Click here to find out more! *

Photographs by Geo Law

Brighton Photo Biennial heaven

2010-10-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

Just look at these fabulous photographs and you'll understand why I found Brighton Photo Biennial so exciting last weekend...

The House of the Vernacular>

This was without question one of the most interesting acts of curation I have ever experienced, having never visited Fabrica before I'm not sure how things normally look, but this was exquisite.
Images by amateur and professional photographers from all over the world. Entering each room is a remarkable experience and culturally enlightening.
These Brazilian family photographs have been hand coloured to improve constitution, render the subject in better clothes, or even to bring the dead back to life...

Brazilian family portraits

Brighton Museum and Art Gallery>

In 'Three Views of Brighton' artist Steven Gill had the foresight to best photograph Brighton by physically putting bits of Brighton into his camera, and the results are so captivating they literally made me itch to take photographs myself...but to step outside of my own standard approach and realise that incorporating the 'alien' into the picture taking process can become in itself a familar yet thrilling routine.

Alec Soth's work mostly employing his seven year old daughter as photographer is also well worth a look. He was banned from working in the UK so he continued his project for the biennial through his daughters' eyes, and lens.


Steven Gill - this was my favourite. Actual moth wing inside his camera.

Alec Soth

This year the BPB has also made obvious reference to the limited funding for production, and employed strategies to make sure photographs could be seen effectively, uncompromised by rudimentary and cheap display methods.

I emailed the BPB team about the hanging methods used, the festival manager responded to say they used a system you can buy from Magnet Expert and they cut metal plates for backings. I'll look into this and post if I have luck putting up pictures using a similar method. (Not that my current budget will stretch to such large photo prints!)

Currently I'm hanging photographs using string, akin to a washing line and a row of bulldog clips holding each picture. There is a fresh and exciting quality to display methods of a temporary nature, especially when you can disregard expectations and keep the display up there. Who needs frames these days? Well...the Brazilian photo/paintings in The House of the Vernacular show are framed, as they are traditionally meant to be, but the frames themselves are printed.

p.s. Martin Parr is a genius.

British Art Show and Sideshow in Nottingham!

2010-10-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

Freshly uploaded piece on the Article Magazine website about the imminent British Art Show and Nottingham Sideshow...can't wait to jet over to Nottingham to take it all in.

“In the Days of Comet” is a science fiction novel by H.G.Wells, published in 1904, which tells of a society torn apart through poverty and corruption. A comet breaks through the ozone and enters the world’s atmosphere, gassing the entire population and sending all to sleep. Eventually people wake from the haze, but instead of all the depravity each person has a new found clarity and lust for life.

If only things were so easy! The next exhibition landing at Nottingham Contemporary this month bears the title ‘In the Days of Comet’, and it is The British Art Show, so we are naturally geared up for something apocalyptic. In reference to the comet as ‘harbinger of change’, will the show awaken us to the most crucial contemporary art of now?

Read more! Click here!

Just got back from Frieze Art Fair and Brighton Photo Biennial, so much to say but so much to ponder over first so any remarks will come later.

Paintings by Amy Bennett

2010-10-12T13:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've seen paintings that have made me do a little gasp! Amy Bennett's paintings seem to portray suburbia as I picture it in my head. I found her thanks to It's Nice That magazine and their online blog which points out the nice things around us so we don't miss them. Amy Bennett's work is certainly nice... and beautiful, and simple and captivating.

Acutely aware that I'm gushing but this is oil painting just as I'd like to achieve it myself, applying lighting and flat colour to build an atmosphere like that on film sets, of false and fiction and utopia. Bennett has literally painted from observation of miniature town models and scenery. They are clearly fabricated subjects but surely any painting of real life suburbia will be tweaked to some degree by the artist, even if unintentionally. Let's pretend these are real places and that one day we might relocate...

Stars in Stripes illustrative pursuits in Sheffield

2010-10-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

The Wick at Both Ends, Sheffield asked the Stars to illustrate their cosy snug of a bar in a regal manner...which suited us all well, particularly Thomas Ball who has recently acquired an interest, and a few books, on crests and regal symbolism. Particluar highlights of the work are Alex Mac Peck's magnificent stag and Sarah Abbott's 'Notice the day' mural. Beautiful!

Click to see more of Stars in Stripes.


Louise Wheeler

Sarah Abbott

Thomas Ball


Castle and birdies - Jane Faram and Geo Law

Jane Faram

Hailey Evenett

Alex Mac Peck

Article Magazine and Manchester's Free for arts festival

2010-10-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Article is a magazine made in Sheffield (arguably the brightest, most useful and engaging zine/journal to have emerged from Sheffield in many years).

Article Magazine says of itself; 'We like to present the stories of what’s around people, from architectural analysis to personal tales of strange subcultures to interviews with people who make things. Above all, we’re driven by the wish to make something fascinating and absorbing about the normal everyday'.

Article is a guide which also wends its way to numerous distributors in Nottingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester. I'm very pleased to have recently joined the Article team as their Arts Editor!

Photograph by Gareth Hacking

On the website you'll find my first piece, on Manchester's Free for arts festival which launched last Friday and closes this Friday 8th.

My stand-out favourite element of the festival is Papergirl...

'Out walking the streets of Manchester this week, there’s a chance you might get pelted with a cardboard tube thrown at you by a passing cyclist. This is nothing but a lucky occurance. If you’re good enough at catching you’ll be the recipient of a collection of artists’ drawings found rolled up inside, the initiative of PaperGirl which is an artist run ‘urban action, party and bicycle workshop’.

Check out http://www.articlemagazine.co.uk/ to read the rest and there's also an interview I did with two of the festival curators.

Definitely look out for some of the festival if you find yourself in Manc, it's a short one and as you can imagine there is a broad variety of art to see and no admission fees! Wahey.

Screen printed house by Laura Gee

Toy Shop exhibition at the Art Corner, Manchester

http://toyshop-exhibition.blogspot.com/

Brightening up the waiting room...

2010-09-17T16:21:00.000-07:00


Featuring these artists

In the Metabolic Bone Centre of the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield, the Stars in Stripes spent a day illustrating the walls of a room with no windows or no particular stimuli.

For those patients spending time (though hopefully not too much of it) in this waiting room there are now seven new hills of Sheffield adorning the walls, and an array of characters and creatures playing parts in an overall surreal narrative, this should keep everyone entertained!

All photographs by Hailey Evenett

Nature Set - band illustration

2010-09-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

Nature Set are a lovely band based in Sheffield, who recently asked me to illustrate one of their songs entitled 'Albatross' which you can hear here >

http://www.myspace.com/natureset

Kites, French Plums and Blackberries

2010-08-25T17:03:00.000-07:00

Louise launching the rainbow kite, photograph by Jane Faram August 2010

Collecting fruit in St Malo, photograph by Jane Faram August 2010

I often pair my photographs or will create triptych to bring a sense of action and narative to my pictures. I thought this approach suited these photographs beautifully - they should be seen in one instance and as seperate viewpoints of one event.

Live Painting with fellow 'Stars in Stripes' at SOYO, Sheffield

2010-08-03T16:28:00.000-07:00

The new Stars in Stripes Art Collective - debut at Tramlines festival, Sheffield

2010-07-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

The Stars in Stripes, Live Art collective - we made our debut at the Washington in Sheffield on the Saturday of Tramlines. George was the initiator of the group and chose who he'd like to involve - as group dynamics go I think he got it spot on! All based in, or close to Sheffield, it was an inspiring weekend working amongst this vibrant group of artists and illustrators with eclectic ideas. Day two was at SOYO bar and gig venue, where more of the group were able to join us. We intend make more exciting pictures in the midst of events in the future, so keep an eye out. Better still take an immediate look at our website: http://starsinstripes.wordpress.com/

I worked on the same piece on both days, it was a sizeable board! I was thinking about traditional circus posters, pulling together something ridiculous involving unlikely animals, props and events - I thought immediately of performers and crowd pleasers to suit the situation. I hope it was fun to watch.

I made enlargements of some old magazines pictures to collage, another element in the live art which I think is engaging for people. Thankfully I remembered my scissors but I'm afraid I forgot the glue, so cut-outs were haphazardly adhered using paint.

Music wise I caught the great Echo and the Bunnymen, an event made golden by the appearance of Richard Hawley on guitar, the Dum Dum Girls were sultry and played catchy songs for us, and the Heebie Jeebies were as ever fun fun fun.

The Harley Hotel - wall art

2010-07-30T14:32:00.000-07:00

A snap of the Live art on the walls of the Harley Hotel venue, Sheffield. Made in the good company of Geo Law, Sarah Abbott and Lee Bamforth. I arrived later than the rest so things were well underway.

Sarah had already built up her beautiful, retro painted areas of colour and delicate patterns which gracefully seemed to pull our varying styles together. Shown here are George's characters in all their surreal, cute but slightly menacing glory and I penned the hot air balloons because lately I've been thinking alot about early modes of transport, often finished to a beautiful standard. I wanted to paint something a little like the original Montgolfier Brothers balloons in all their vibrant, ornamental brilliance.

Look Mum No Hands! Sign painting

2010-06-27T17:01:00.000-07:00

My friend Wilson and I rather liked this signage so I snatched a photograph. It's on Old Street in London > A new place, apparantly channelling the old tradition of cafes for weary, hungry cyclists who need a mid-ride rest in the city.

Cards to like / keep / remember

2010-06-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Mother's Flamingo Birthday Card - May 2010

A couple of cards I've made for recent occasions. I'm always inclined to go for a cut-out or unexpected shape in my cards - I simply think greetings cards should always be memorable for the recipient, and I like to think they are keepsakes that surpass their usually brief shelf life. I hark back to many antique greetings cards I've seen, which concertina out, are a plethora of shapes and sizes and deliver something truly different and personal.

Katie's New Baby Card May 2010 (teddy cut out of the back is reused on the front.) *One of my favourites

A mixed bag of antique cards... ranging from the terrifying to the extremely kitsch and tacky. These are cards but not as we know them...thank goodness.

Child's Play Exhibition! 10 June - 4 July

2010-06-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

Child's Play the exhibition I have assisted the marvelous George Law in organising, is now up and running in The Forum, Division St, Sheffield. Do stop by and see our showcase for some of Sheffield's finest illustrative talent...

Child's Play is a concept dreamt up to allow an eclectic mix of creative Sheffielder's to illustrate a common theme, each in their own way. Either explored in it's literal sense (where things are easy) or ironic sense (where things are complex and ambitious) the setting of Child's Play will prove a playground for ideas.

Amongst the exhibitors are illustrators; Nick Deakin, represented by Unseen Agency, whose multi-disciplinary style and fun imagery is a favourite of many large editorial clients // Jonny Wan, a newly signed illustrator who has worked with Wired Magazine and laser engraving company Grove // Lord Bunn, infamous in Sheffield for his distinctive illustrations and varied style // artist Mute, well recognised from previous Forum and Arcade based showcases of painted works // illustrator Jonny Ford (of the illustrious Sheffield based firm Finger Industries) // Jane Faram, artist and illustrator who produced the 'Do Your Best/Do Your Worst' show at the Forum last September, with....Geo Law, illustrator, one half of The Hantu Collective and a doodler of many a flyer and wall mural.

Child's Play by Geo Law and Jane Faram

> George and I have a penchant for a title piece and experimenting with type, our previous show together saw the Do Your Best/Do Your Worst title piece being one of our strongest. For Child's Play we revived a fondness for children's alphabet illustrations and imaginative ways of schooling.

Little Red Riding Hood, Jonny Wan

BOOM! Geo Law

House, Jane Faram and Jonny Ford

> Jonny and I discussed the make-up of this house at length, we drew great ideas from vintage dollshouse products and the advertisements for them in magazines (Much of this being of German origin, the 'Puppenhaus' was said to be best made in Germany around World War I - house interiors were fashionable, realistic, cutting edge). Jonny's beautiful illustrations to the top right of this piece explore further levels to the house and imagination of the child who may play with it...statements within the work are drawn from guides to 'Building Your Own Home' published in the 90's such as; 'power sockets are a necessary evil', are now outdated and ridiculous, but once sound advice.

The work intends to evaluate some of the nightmares arising whilst building a home - what you require and want from it and how fickle planning it can be, and the strain this puts on your childhood ambitions for domestic bliss.

Sol Lewitt; Artists' Books at Site Gallery, Sheffield

2010-06-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

I have recently been immersed in the work of Sol LeWitt because I am lucky enough to work at Site Gallery in Sheffield, which is the only UK stop for the touring exhibition Sol LeWitt; Artist's Books. I often inherit a fresh attitude towards making work or inspiration during and subsequent to each show, interpreting each in light of shows past. My thought processeses and ideas on artistic production continue to change.

Of Sol LeWitt's there are significant points for me; recognising the value of preparation work, such as sketches, plans and designs and how often this carries greater weight in the whole idea than the finished product. "If the artist carried through his idea and makes it into visible form, then all the steps in the process are of importance. The idea itself, even if not made visual, is as much a work of art as any finished product."

From the Word "Art": Blue Lines to Four Corners, Green Lines to Four Sides, and Red Lines Between the Words "Art" on the Printed Page, 1972. Colored ink and pencil on paper. LeWitt Collection.

The Site Gallery exhibition of Sol Lewitt's Artists' Books, shows a way of seeing the artists' book as a vehicle to embody ideas and as a work of art itself, which Sol Lewitt has successfully achieved since the 60s. I love the idea of alternative spaces for art to exist and the challenge of how we imagine art can exist, whether the artist executes the idea personally or if it is performed by another person, or if reprinted as a book for example.

At MACBA this March I saw a film of John Baldessari singing Sol Lewitt's 35 conceptual statements. I adored his bad tuning and believed that Baldessari was performing LeWitt's statements like this in support of his genius - presenting LeWitt's idea in another form by a different voice, but carrying the idea strongly through all the same.

http://www.sfmoma.org/multimedia/videos/92

CollardManson store extension

2010-05-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

I was thrilled to hear that the exquisite jewellery, bag and clothes designer and store CollardManson (Division Street, Sheffield) are on the verge of revealing a recent expansion to their second floor!

I have long continued to visit this treasure trove for beautiful items - their selections are constantly refreshed and feel exclusive, inspiring a classic shopping style; wherein items are (perhaps irrationally!) wholly adored and which are afforded in the expectation that it would not be possible to fall out of love with them. So far I can validate this! And I'm so pleased CollardManson have become so well established and able to add another layer to the shop in Sheffield (and that there will be Black Russians served at the opening event)...
> Crystal bird necklace (I don't wear nearly enough jewellery but if I were to dare to wear a necklace, I think it may aswell be at this level of fabulous).

Plaça dels Angels

2010-04-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

George at Plaça dels Angels

Dalmation at Plaça dels Angels

Tea Shop Illustrations

2010-04-19T15:40:00.000-07:00

One of a few illustrations from my Tea Shop series which I printed to postcards, and this was my favourite because the caravan seems just as iconic as the girl. I also favor it for evidencing how a wash of colour like this suggests something of years past - rendering something new somehow classic and appropriate to be nostalgic about.

Caravanning

2010-04-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have a mild obsession with caravan's - not so much being in them...but the wondrous scaling down of necessities and the idea of being completely content in one white box with windows which can show you a view of anywhere.
This particularly small caravan I saw for the first time on Brick Lane, and I got my own as a gift last Christmas. It ticks all the boxes for a keen caravanner who loves everything about the caravan, except for committing to it long term. I find that a caravan this size (and as stunningly kitsch as this) does not have a shelf life at all.
The shops website is rather nice and they are I believe the only retailer for said caravan;http://www.caravanstyle.com.

News on Child's Play Project

2010-04-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

The body of work for the group exhibition 'Child's Play' in May is underway and I'm working on something typographic with George Law and for the first time with illustrator Jonny Ford also based in Sheffield - we're working together on a large scale drawing/collage of a dolls house. The house will be intentionally beautiful with all the ideal elements present, invaded with more mature concerns for what can deteriorate and be lacking.

I'm keen to look into a child's way of working and making art, and how this cannot succeed for an adult with a plethora of adult preoccupations, which mean a house must have a survey, an extension must be approved and a roof must be blocked to keep the squirrels out.
Will post some recent work soon but for now here's a fabulous 1948 advertisement from Woolworth's, for a doll's house "so exciting you'll want to play with it yourself". That is, until you have to get on with the ironing...

Bird Seed curtains

2010-03-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

My bedroom is a radiant yellow and is now finished nicely with my handmade Bird Seed curtains (check previous post r.e. Alexander Bird seed fabrics).

I have been told that yellow is not a sensible choice of colour for the bedroom owing to its distracting vibrancy. Apparantly you don't really settle properly. However, whilst these beautiful birds are the first thing I see in the morning illuminated by the morning sunshine, my light-box of a bedroom is in fact a joy to wake up to (even if I'm little sleep deprived).

2010-03-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

"SOYO live" poster challenge

2010-02-25T00:06:00.000-08:00

Promotional poster for SOYO's of Sheffield: Monday night of live artistic events. Not guaranteed they'll be using this (it might not be quite what they need) but I revelled in deliberately putting it all together by hand. As a scanned image, the material collage has a sense of the experimental and original, which I think compliments SOYO's promotion of fresh artistic pursuits in the city.

New Work

2010-02-11T14:48:00.000-08:00

Sometime in June...I'll be participating in an exhibition based loosely around the notion of "Child's Play". The idea has been spun by the lovely Geo Law with whom I happily worked on the "Do Your Best / Do Your Worst" project, and the show will see contributions from a variety of illustrators in Sheffield.

Ladybird book illustrations, such as this of a child on homemade stilts are a pretty perfect inspiration.

Since I think so highly of making things by hand I can tell you already that I'm keen to describe the significance of child's play in art; when the ideas generally idea lack grandeur, and are instead experimental, investigative, and honest. The youngest and more inexperienced hands can produce something crude in terms of ability and skill; disastrous. This work can also be beautifully catastrophic, made without the hindrance of impending deadlines and self indulgance because of greater narratives.

Keep an eye out, I'll post dates and info about this exhibition soon!

Squirrel

2010-01-26T07:46:00.000-08:00

Apparently even fake - red squirrels are reaching extinction, sometimes you just have to settle for a grey squirrel over no squirrel at all.

I saw a red one in the window display of Collard Manson, Sheffield http://www.collardmanson.com and it outshone all their glorious jewellery, so I hunted down this similar model (originally made by Hobbycraft) and I think you'll agree it looks ridiculous. And really lovely.

2009-12-23T16:50:00.000-08:00

Do Your Best / Do Your Worst

- my work in collaboration with Sheffield based illustrator George Law.
We completed this project in September 2009 and showed the 11 works for a while in the Forum, Sheffield. Initially compelled by a desire to share and challenge each others' approach to working, we started simply by outlining a set form of a shield for every piece, with two corners to work on each.

Having a skeletal form meant we really flourished artistically...if Geo had already finished his corners on a piece, in my quarters I inherently responded. The whole process came to form a visual conversation. I was so pleased with the result and how well we worked together.
Nothing more motivating than needing to do you best for someone else!

2009-12-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

Oh crikey... Bird seed fabric by Alexander Henry.

I think this print has been around for a few years, but having only just stumbled upon it, I debated whether or not I should share it because its so delightful. I've had such a hard time getting hold of a more than a few yards, therefore I don't really need the competition...but it would be selfish to withold the knowledge!

The Alexander Henry website says "Each Spring and Fall, we introduce a new collection of illustrative, fashion prints, exploring a wide range of seasonal themes inspired by art history, haute couture and the culture at large". This print is so strong compared with others by the company - it seems so familiar and full of 1950's retro novelty. I was torn between the three varieties but surely the yellow is the classic - I'm making curtains from it, but it would be good for anything!

2009-12-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

O-check
fly-up cards / christmas card tree

Speaking of giving cards to make people happy...

2009-12-20T15:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas stationary 2009
~ repeated print used for cards, tags, and an advent calendar design (see below!)
I couldn't recommend home-making an advent calendar more!...for being able to pick the treats (this one included a sweet whistle and crackling chocolate!).
The calendar needed to be posted so I made it to fold in half, the tape holding both sides together is by o-check and it is so 70's. It jazzes up many presents wrapped simply in brown paper...

Christmas

2009-12-20T02:24:00.001-08:00

I've received more homemade Christmas cards this year than ever before. Its lovely to see a proud return to recycling old cards, cut-and-stick & glitter glue...Long gone is the impersonal card set - its great that the old fashioned values of giving handwritten personal cards are still relevant.

Since 2008 I've designed my own festive illustrations for christmas cards, inspired mostly by exquisite victorian christmas cards found, and traditional festive imagery drawn from memory.