That time of year again!
06 July 2011 22:40
It´s come round really quick this year - but I´m at Urban Art - the outdoor exhibition in Josephine Avenue, Brixton, London SW2 on the 16th and 17th July. If the weather holds out this is usually a cosmopolitan show full of different artists and 2D works. The food isn´t bad either with a selection of stalls from around the world (well ... from around Brixton ... but they represent world foods!). See you there!
Strange day today
17 June 2011 20:59
Today, our cat Molly had to be put down. She was only two but she had cancer. It was a really hard thing to do - wouldn´t wish it on anyone. But today was also ´do it with dad´ day so after the cat dying, I headed off to my son´s school and embarked on the strangest one hour. I played, connect 4, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I built a tower from Lego, crawled through a tunnel, climbed a fence, gathered balls, juggled, built a structure from drinking straws, played cup and ball, chased a butterfly with a frog hand puppet, played ´it´ with about a dozen children, cleaned up, did a bit of carpet wrestling. The whole day remembered has blended into the strangest memory ... watch this space for how it affects my artwork!
Royal Academy Summer Show
25 May 2011 22:48
I GOT IN! I GOT IN! I GOT IN! After only ELEVEN years of trying and having my work ´Selected but not hung!´ It was a gamble as I entered the two prints that show my disdain for Tesco. But I guess it paid off. If you can´t already tell ... I´m a little pleased.
How īnotī to cut card
17 May 2011 22:38
I learned a valuable lesson last week and thought to share it with you. When cutting hard glossy card that is silky smooth without any grain offering purchase for your Stanley knife - it´s probably best to use something other than your kid´s plastic school ruler as a guide for the blade. Doing so, may result in you lopping off the top of your thumb, thus covering your artwork, the table, the floor and your clothing in much blood. This may also necessitate a trip to A&E, a tetanus shot and a week long course of antibiotics and strong pain killers. If you do sustain such an injury it is perhaps best not to use your bike as a form of transport to and from your studio as doing so may cause you to suffer dizziness and open up the wound once again. Furthermore it is probably best you refrain from all forms of physical activity especially such tasks as oh ... say ... lugging a leather armchair down three flights of stairs ... twice!
PS: Should you lop off a part of your thumb - it is probably best to pack the bit in ice rather than wrap it in kitchen towel and place it in a sandwich bag. Also, when you get to the hospital and can´t find your bit of thumb - check the other pocket!
New work
13 February 2011 13:54
Have a look at my new work which includes ´Tesco Excess´ and ´Work/Daddy´ and a ´Death by Duvet´ which surprisingly is gathering popularity.
īmodern vision of hellī
05 December 2010 12:33
Another mention of Tescopolis online was on The Independent on Sunday. This really made me laugh as my work has never been described as a ´modern vision of hell´ before.
Power of the press
05 December 2010 12:11
A funny thing - my print depicting a world full of Tesco stores and businesses - a ´Tescopolis´ was picked for the recent New English Art Club exhibition at the Mall Galleries. A journalist saw it, wanted to know what was behind it so I told her the story about my daughter´s school having collected 26,000 vouchers (so a spend by parents of £260,000 to get one voucher per £10 spent) which were ´lost in the post´. The school had pleaded understanding from Tesco and had officially complained to OFCOM but Tesco back in 1995 had refused point blank to honour the application for a £1000 projection panel for the classroom even though the school collected vouchers every single year - they got no ´good will gesture´ or anything at all and this really grated on the parents and on me and story upon story about Tesco´s might only fueled that anger and that was the ´energy´ behind Tescopolis.
The journalist from The Independent was very interested in this and wanted to corroborate the story so got in touch with Tesco and the school and the good news is Tesco have now agreed to credit the school´s account with the 26,000 vouchers! A small victory against a mighty power but a victory none the less! The school are very happy.
Tescopolis got a mention in West End Extra both in print and online.
Did you know I was Polish?
08 September 2010 23:14
No, not really. I´m not Polish - I´m Irish but as the Polish community in Ealing couldn´t find a local Polish artist to exhibit at their Polish event kicking off on Haven Green, Ealing Boadway this weekend from 11am (Saturday 11th September) - they asked me.
I´m a bit worried about how other stall holders will take to the idea of having someone there who isn´t Polish, but hopefully they won´t mind too much. Should be fun.
I´ve also got an open studio event the weekend of 18th September with a private view. Ready more in latest news. Hope to see you there.
Famous at last
25 July 2010 20:11
About two weeks ago I heard through a friend of the family that a school in Wales is studying famous artists of our time and that one of the artists they were studying was me! I´m not sure how that came to be - maybe the teacher is a fan but it´s very flattering nonetheless! And funny.
īTescopolisī
13 May 2010 10:48
Very pleased that my latest print ´Tescopolis´ won the Hector Purchase Prize Award at the Royal Society of Painter-Printmaker´s annual show last week.
Tescopolis (obviously a play on the name ´Metropolis´) is a city full of Tesco´s.
I was pleased to win this award as the print took months of hard labour to produce and I nearly gave up on the idea many times. To celebrate I had a few beers with other artists in the pub opposite Bankside Gallery and dragged myself home at 1am. My wife wasn´t too pleased until she realised the award included £500 cash which I handed over immediately. That´ll help pay some of the overdraft. Yippee!
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