Sketch Back Sunday 3

Sketch back Sunday is now in its 3rd week and is already very popular. I am getting lots of likes on facebook and people think its a great idea. Although some say I should have a proper retrospective show in a gallery. But 7 years of my art was in Australia and I sold all my art there. 

In the picture above is a drawing I done at Cleveland college while studying illustration under Dudley Edwards. We went to Amsterdam and wont allowed to draw or photograph while there just to walk on the wild side and then come back and draw from memory to different themes. At that time there were a lot of drug addicts begging for 25 guilders to get a hit. They were mostly foreigners to Holland trapped in a cycle of drugs and could not get home. Drawing from memory puts everything out of perspective and gives it at more vibrant scene. This is biro and crayon on paper. I was a difficult pupil at college and my style changed every picture. I wasn't very good at being moulded to someone else's style.

Here is a sketch done round at my house of Ben Roberts who was playing the guitar. I always have had musicians in my life but never had the ability to hear. but music sets a tone and vibration. I can hear now thanks to lots of operations on my ears and can now hear music. This was in Bradford where I was doing an Hons degree in Illustration but got distracted by life as I had been at college now for nearly 8 years. I had a job managing a vege restaurant called the Java. I met up with Ben at a NYE party in manchester where I met most of the Bradford gang after 20 years. It was great to see they were all doing very well.

Matt Robinson and Ben Roberts playing guitar in Harlow Bradford. Matt worked at the Java and Ben was part of the boys gang that lived next door to me and then round the corner from me. Matt now lives in New Zealand and does electronic music and Ben lives in Prague works in the internet.

This is a picture of Bradford that won a trade and industry christmas card competition which I was a bit surprised at winning prizes as I always felt a failure. I liked colour so this ink style suited my work. I soon got obsessed with sculpture and lost my way with drawing for a while. Those were the days when there was still brick chimneys everywhere and every house had an outside toilet in the yard of the back to back houses. 

Art of Norwich 35 is on soon

                                             

                                              

From the 29th June till the 12th of July I will be part of Art of Norwich 35 exhibition at St. Margaret's church of art. The exhibition also covers the Norwich Lanes festival that happens every year and is on the 6th of July. 

I am hoping to have new work for the show and more affordable sized work of pictures of in and around Norwich. I have got side tracked with all the sorting studio at home. That I am not sure how much work I will get done for the exhibition. 

I will also have postcards of my past work on sale. Come along and see the show. 

Big row cartoon

A cartoon of Mark Holford in the bath listening to Excess baggage on the radio when he hears all about the Chauncy maples hospital ship restoration. Cartoon was drawn for the Big Row fundraiser booklet.

Soft Sculpture of the Lewis Chess set

The front of the King in the Lewis Chess set. I went to the British museum a few years ago and saw the real Lewis chess pieces. The real ones were discovered on the Isle of Lewes, Scotland in 1831. They could 12th century but no one knows who made them and how they got there.

Recently I posted some soft sculptures to Australia which will be in an exhibition soon in Sydney. 

The Queen on the Scottish side that has blue lines and the Green pieces are the Irish side. I also designed a new chess board using the Irish and Scottish colours as the squares.

A jar of dried lentils is put inside the Chess set to weigh it down and stuff it. I came up with the idea after about 5 years of thinking about giant chess sets that could be made from sustainable resource.

The back of the King with his long red hair sitting in a carved wooden chair. They say the original pieces that were found on the Isle of Lewis could be from a ship in Norway that was transporting them to Ireland and it never made it.

Knight on his horse. Very easy to pick up. also to wash or send in the post. The board is made of fabric and lined.

Pledge hammer!!! Rising!

Hammer rising! A series of pictures I put together for One billion and rising to stop violence against women all over the world. Everyone all over the world is going to dance on the street on the 14th of February 2013. Norwich will be dancing outside the Forum at One pm. 

If you would like a print of one of these pictures just let me know. Half the cash will go to women's charity to help women who have been subjected to violence. 

Boxing gloves rising! The pair are rising together to end violence against women!

Acid Rising! This very strong acid pledges not to be thrown in women's faces.

Saw Rising! The Saw has made a pledge to stop sawing up women and hiding there body's.

Whisk rising! This Whisk has risen and made a pledge not to beat women!

Clever Rising! Never again is Clever gonna chop up women!

Stone Rising! This stone and all the stones in the world have pledged not to throw stones at women.

Chisel Rising! This Chisel has risen and will never chisel a women again.

Pledge Rising! Pledge has pledged not to buy women cleaning products as presents for special occasions like valentines day, birthdays, Christmas! In fact never as any type of present and will buy women flowers or something that she really wants as a present. 

No cold calling stickers

This week Stop junk mail has released new "No Cold Calling" Stickers. To stop all the people who come to the house and knock at the door to invade your private space. My door knocker is really loud so when some one knocks at it, I jump out of my seat. Working from home and painting detailed pictures, the knock has a knock on effect and can ruin a weeks work.
The Sticker has had an amazing effect and stopped 99 percent of people who knock at the door apart from the odd one that slips through the net to claim that knocking at my door to talk about religion is not cold calling, which I reassure them it is.
I know what your thinking now it is the phone cold callers, that ring at 4.30pm everyday. This can be stopped too. The first thing is to ring your phone provider. Be warned they do that press 1 for this and 2 for that. Don't worry about that, just press any number and you will get through to someone who can take your name, number and address out of the phone directory. The paper phone directory's seem to end up overseas and in the hands of people who go through the numbers one by one to phone harass you and everyone in the directory. They usually use old directories so its best to opt out and become and ex-directory as soon as possible.
Then the next step is to call phone provider and get them to block all "With held numbers". Which will stop all the people from overseas trying to cold call you by phone. It is a good idea to let your friends know this, if they call you from there work place, which might have a with held number. This service costs extra on the bill by some phone providers.

Then the next step is to get number recognition on your home phone, so you can see who is calling by there number appearing, this also can cost extra on the phone by some phone providers.

Junk mail is over.

This month has been mega for junk mail there has been some major changes. Which will help the rainforest's breath again. You can find out more by going to the stop junk mail website.


Throughout the campaign I have been helping with art. These are just a few of my cartoons that are on the stop junk mail website.




The rainforest that get cut for wood chip for your fitted formica kitchens, toilet paper and junkmail paper, there are loads of different types of trees and millions of insects, animals, birds, plants that have not even been identified before, they get bludgeoned to death and pulped.

Trees are not the only thing that is devastated its the communities, animals, insects and the forests that help the planet breath.


Stop junk mail has still more to do there is a petition to try change the law involving op out boxes.


If you feel like you dont believe it, unless you see statistics, there is plenty of that on the website. On the website there is also links to the stop junk mail blog and diary.

Eloise's Summer pride show at Henry's bar, Norwich!!!

Come on down to Henrys Bar from the 4th July to 14th August 2011. For Eloise's Summer solo Pride exhibition upstairs at Henrys bar. Also meet the artist from 5pm on Monday 11th July and first come, first served gets a free Pimms!

Stop Junk Mail stickers

Stop junk mail the non-profit organisation that spends everyday trying to figure out how to stop junk mail coming through your door, which I support whole heartily and give them cartoons to use for there cause. Has come up with a new "Door sticker" design that would appeal to everyone. They spent months working on the design and it is now for sale on there website and blog. I would recommend everyone get one and get a few to give to your neighbours or to your colleagues at work. They also appeal to older people who may have trouble bending down to pick up the junk mail from the door mat or think there might be someone at the door every ten minutes every time the junk mailer hits the flap or comes up the garden path. The stickers are only available at "Stop junk mail" on the internet, so get one for someone you know who is on the net. There also getting calls from neighbourhood watch groups who are very interested in getting the stickers for there groups.

Also they sell eco envelope reuse labels, return to sender labels and have stacks of information and help on the website. Please support the cause for the price of a raffle ticket. Go to www.stopjunkmail.org.uk

Shelly Telly

Today I was at the "Well being festival" at the Norwich forum, doing art with the "Norwich Dandies". It was a great success and I will be posting some photos soon from the event. I bumped into Shelly Telly who I had made lots of drawings for her this summer to use in a film she was making so they could be animated. I was very pleased to hear from Shelly that the film has been edited and I will soon to be getting a copy. I really enjoyed doing the animation drawings and look forward to more work. Telly Shelly makes fantastic community based films, you can check out what she gets up to on her website.

Menier gallery, Undiagnosed madness exhibition 13

Robert and I driving big van with art work in to London Menier Gallery stopping over at Aunt Margaret and Uncle Dave on the way in North London.

Robert and Bart in Cromer catching some sunlight, before picking up a deckchair from North Norfolk.

Fish and Chips at Mary Jane's Chippy in Cromer.

Snakes are exhausted after a big show in London and just want to chill out near a draughty door.

Dirty Linen Sheets from wars, X-army cotton sheets with paint and rubble.

London art Blog review

Menier gallery, Undiagnosed madness exhibition 11

At the Private art club in Soho where I met Guy Freer from the famous band Micheal Angelo's gentlemen of the black sea which was a hit in Edinburgh and playing in Soho.

That makes a nice window. Me in the window at the Menier Gallery with my art in a can.

Sold pictures to be wrapped from Reciepe collection.

My family dehanging the show at the Menier Gallery.

London art blog for hot review.

Menier gallery, Undiagnosed madness exhibition.5

Space, nature, time on the walls at the Menier gallery, the clock struck everyones eye.

People chuckle at the fake Mondrian's for different reasons.

Fertility paintings hung on the wooden side wall they take you back to the woods home.

St. Patricks day paintings with my door snakes running away across the old chocolate factory wooden floor, looking for a draft to block.

Waves Ahuh splashing to one side of the gallery, with a big beach ball. Refreshing change from dusty dry London.

London art blog for hot review.

Menier gallery, Undiagnosed madness exhibition 9

This is my cousin Donald doing a plastic bag dance on the top floor of a high rise flats in central London. Donald put me up to stay for the week and fed and cupped of teaed me well.

Donald was a secret fan already and had a life drawing I did at Great Yarmouth art college in the late eighty's.

Also in the bathroom a framed Christmas card by me with a pink shinny mount, hanging above the mirror.

The reflection of the flats in the flat windows with a view of London. It was great that one lift was working.

This block mimics the block I am staying in, it reminded me of my childhood in Dublin visiting friends who lived in flats like these.