19/10/10 hello real world

Jobbishness! :)

I now work for: Folly - a Lancashire-based digital arts organisation, which "presents an artistic programme that provides creative interaction and collaboration between artists and the wider public"

I work as the Project Assistant for 'Current', a new experiment which celebrates new media art, and investigates the process of collecting such artworks into existing permanent collections. It's a 6 month position which ends with an exhibition, acquisition and debate at the Harris Museum, Preston.

 I have swapped my pencils and paper for an office and a desktop...full time dole-ing / 'government sponsored artist' for a short commute and 9-5 days. It may take me a little while to get used to sitting still all day, but my office building is a beautiful old Mill by the canal, I'm finally off the dole, and this project looks to get pretty hectic/exciting!


So, hello real world. Or....considering I'm in digital arts now....goodbye real world?


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Have a look at some Folly projects:

Love Culture (bit like facebook, but dedicated to art. I'll also be working on the Preston section)
AND Festival (latest one has just finished in Manchester. Wish I saw more of it)

NW Arts/Folly Questionnaire (go on, make yourself useful and do it. If you've read this far I presume you have nowhere better to be)

venues 08/10/10

A Short update with some new drawings to keep the blog alive! Local venue illustrations for the aforementioned 'Harvest Preston Festival' zine. (on ace manilla paper. The colour/quality has gone a bit odd and lighter on uploading, though..hm) Planning to do lots more building drawings as a break from figurative stuff!

Also working on personal website, zine collective website....and not to mention getting ready for my new job! (by getting ready, I mean catching up on exhibitions, a little bit of stress, plenty of excitement....... and probably preparing lots of sandwiches and biscuits to battle the 9-5!)

I'll be working for Folly, an arts organisation based in Lancaster, on a six month project in connection with the Harris, Preston. Definitely an exciting and lucky break after a short stint on the dole!

zines and zines 28/09/10

- Twigs and Apples issue 3 zine

I have a thing about ice cream vans and ambulances, there's a weird sort of dark humour there that I explored in my degree work and will probably continue. Structurally they're really similar, (and good to draw) but in terms of purpose......well, you wouldnt want one to turn up when you were expecting the other!

Here's a recent one, in pencil, that runs alongside a short piece of fiction by Christine Dugdale in Twigs and Apples 3 (a collaborative zine project).
This issue is published and available to buy for two shiney pounds!

-  Harvest Preston festival zine
Also have been busying myself with the Harvest Preston Festival zine - a twigs and apples publication for a Preston based creative festival of sorts.
It happened over the weekend, so a little late to document it now, but this blog is here to archive such stuff.
Ups and downs to the festival.....Ups mostly including:

- Pine Barrens (ace fast noisy noise!),
- Mystery Tea House ('chai funk'. good good!)
- Bill Orrick (like a mini Jeff Buckley)
- Crafy Creations of Carriemariah (buttons and crafty things from a fellow twigs and apples-er!)

30/08/10 mothman vs zombies

So, I planned to update this blog frequently, say once a week or so, but that's already fallen through (as expected) as I seem to have been too busy doing things rather than remembering to blog/archive them!

It's been a busy month with graduation and house movings, and my productivity has fluctuated massively, but the main project of late has been a contribution for the Liverpool 2010 Biennial.

It's a short comic book piece for Tony Knox's 'Mothman' project; I was asked to do a story about zombies taking over Liverpool, and the Mothman's failed attempts at heroism.

Here's the first two (of four) pages. The full comic will be available, for free, at selected galleries and shops across Liverpool during the festival, and it contains contributions from about 4 other artists/art groups, too.

Parts of it were really fun to do, but it was odd attempting a comic book format and having to work a clear narrative into the images.

I also think i need to take a break from zombie type drawings; as fun as they are its all i seem to get asked for...time for something a little less grim!

Next up... Twigs and Apples Issue 3, and hopefully some solo zine/card stuff.

11/07/10 the international 3

A few photos from the International 3 exhibition 'How it All Worked Out', which opened on Friday night. A group show featuring emerging artists from UCLAN (my uni), Manchester Met and Salford Uni. 
Was a good opening, very busy, and I sold three pieces on the night. That's my first proper sale, and it feels good! Always a little sad to see work I like go, but that's totally overidden by how awesome it is to have someone give them a new loving home.
I was really chuffed to be picked for this, many thanks to awesome curators Laurence and Paulette!

As soon as I sort out my life (i.e. a home and a job) I hope to make some lovely fresh new art and get posting. 

01/07/10 twigs and apples

No new work as such to post yet (apparantly in the real world you need to look for houses and jobs and the like) but a little about a group project of mine: the 'Twigs and Apples Publishing' collective!

http://twigsandapples.blogspot.com/

As an open collective, the content ranges from art, illustration, politics, film, culture, rants, sports writing, vegan recipes and more! We're always interested in contributions (and distributors).

We started last year and have two awesome issues printed; a 120 brick of a first issue (sold out, but available to flick through online at http://twigsandapples.blogspot.com/) and a slightly more sensibly-sized 60 page second issue, out now (£2.00, how very very reasonable).

In addition to the main zine 'Twigs and Apples', our collective members and contributors have plenty of ideas for side projects, so we've set up as a publishing collective to get lots of stuff out there under the Twigs & Apples name!

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Now; to find out how to find more followers and followees(?) so that this is more means of communication/networking and less of a diary!

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Oh, & off to Manchester tomorrow to hand in work for a show at International 3 Gallery :) ('How it All Worked Out' 10th Jul - 30th Jul). awesome!

25/06/10 part II (dead birds & good tunes)

Same day, different topic post. Wanted to blog two bands I enjoyed live recently (Ear Whacks #10 at the Continental, Preston).


Winters in Osaka: http://www.myspace.com/wintersinosaka1
(brain-pleasing sound-scape textures/noise. I need to find out how to make stuff like this)


and; Al-Thawra: http://www.myspace.com/althawra
(loud anarcho punk type stuff, who can strum so fast their hands cannot be percieved by human eyes..)


Got no pictures of said bands; instead have posted a nice/grim picture of a dead bird I saw on my (last ever) trip home from the studio. (a trip which takes about a minute - aah student living). RIP bird dude.