28/11/2009

After my sorry episode of defeatist outpourings yesterday, here is something that really made me laugh. Thank God for the Muppets.

27/11/2009

It's been a little over a year since I began to take my print making seriously, due in no small part to the discovery of Green Door print making studio. If I can I'll spend a day a week there executing work that I've spent the intervening days working on. It was a case of being in the right lace at the right time, although it had taken me years to stumble upon this great space. Now, it seems, things are starting to unravel.

All the work that I've put into these short months might have been for nought. The organisation that I work for is moving office in January, and although this is just a few miles away, the combination of my current work pattern and having to rely on public transport might mean that I have to give up my mid week day off.

I'm gutted. I'm doing everything in my power to avoid giving up on my dream of being able to support myself from my art. I'm forty five, for fucks sake...time's running out.

I could get another job, but let's face it, who's going to employ a guy who's just pushed buttons for the last twenty years?

I have a small studio at home but it's nowhere big enough to print in.

I don't know what I'll do If I lose this...this last chance.

22/11/2009

Friday the 14th of November saw the opening of the new Nottingham Contemporary gallery and as mentioned in my last post, Helen and I went to see what all the fuss was about.

The 20th was our tenth wedding anniversary and, as we had met some thirteen years earlier during a life drawing class, it was only appropriate that we should celebrate this land mark occasion in an 'artsy' kind of way.

The inaugural exhibition was a show of David Hockney's work from 1960-1968. Only being familiar with his later work it was great to see some of his stuff from his formative years, which was a selection of his drawing, etchings, screen prints and some early paintings. If later shows are as good as this then Nottingham can be really proud of its new exhibition space.

The gallery building itself is not in the league of some of the grander structures, which in my opinion, often overshadow the work that they showcase. The N.C. is an understated concrete and metal building which tips it's hat to the heritage of Nottingham in the lace impressions of its facade. And the inside is as architecturaly neutral as the outside, offering no distraction from the reason that you are there, which is to admire good art.

If you are in Nottingham, go and pay the gallery a visit. The Hockney show is on until 24th Jan 2010.









18/11/2009

It's not safe out there...

in cyber-space that is. All manner of nasty things floating around in the digital aether. Like this 'Advanced Virus Removal'. Christ knows where this came from but it caused hell in my box of tricks. It's some sort of trojan and hijacks everything. Your browser, task manager, run command line, system restore, reg edit. Man, what a nightmare. Until I found those nice people at Bleeping Computer who pointed me to this wonderful little program by Malwarebytes. This beauty cleaned everything up and put everything back to normal. Hurrah, panic over...till next time.

Still working on those little pieces that I mentioned in the post from the beginning of November. A couple of weeks should have this licked. I'm also working on some concept ideas for a graphic novel that I'm trying to put together. I mentioned it way back in August last year and so far that's all I've done (procrastination is my middle name). Well, I'm thinking of maybe putting it online instead, as a web strip. It's called Lupe...that's all I'm saying, the Internet has ears, you know. I'll put some images up once I'm comfortable with the designs.

One last and very important thing. Friday is Helen and mine's TENTH wedding anniversary, woo-hoo!! It's been an awesome the years, not without it's up's and down's but that's what marriage is about, yes. Anyway, because we are absolutely brasic there is no big celebration on the cards, just a low key day together. We'll spend the day strolling around Nottingham and intend to pay a visit to the new Nottingham Contemporary gallery, which opened last Friday. There is an awesome David Hockney exhibition on, can't wait.

09/11/2009

A couple more pieces from the Moleskine. Iggy Pop and Vincent Price, both scary dudes.


04/11/2009

Quick post. The Silver Surfer image that I posted about on Sept 28th is up over at the Kirby Museum, how cool is that.

Really cool, I think.

03/11/2009

As Halloween has just been and gone here are a few monster sketches that I put up on the Comic Geek Speak forum. First the one and only Cookie Monster. Next up is Ro-Man from the B movie Robot Monster. Then we have the Mole-Man's monster from Fantastic Four number 1 and finally the creepiest monster of 'em all, H R Gigers Alien.

I'll be getting back to some 'real' work just as soon as I can. I have a few ideas that are currently fermenting in my tiny brain. I'd like to do some original, one off images. I'm thinking small, six inches square perhaps. Maybe multimedia. Definitely involving an element of screen printing. I might offer them for sale here so watch this space.