I am now busy preparing new work for an Art Fair this November in London, which will be at the Oxo Tower (http://royspeopleartfair.com). More details in future blogs. I am hugely excited. I want the theme of my work to be based on Amy Winehouse, a singer of immense talent, gone too soon. I have been in touch with her mother about this, as we are known to each other on Twitter, to ask if it would be ok for me to use titles from Amy’s records as titles to my artworks for this London Fair. I do not want to upset anyone here, Janis Winehouse has given me her blessing, but if any of you Twitterarti out there think differently, could you let me know who I should approach? Cheers. I painted a portrait of Amy some years back, and this will feature in the exhibition as well. As regards this piece, the detail is a small part of a much larger work and I am inspired here by the wonderful street art of @whoamirony on Instagram. I will of course have a woman in the foreground somewhere doing something related to the streetart, but which changes…
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This is the third and last painting incorporating the amazing street art of Alex Lucas (@lucas_antics on Instagram). Her work is very visible in and around Bristol and I asked her if I could use some of her work in my own pieces. She kindly agreed. This rabbit can be found on the outside of the shop that sells her work exclusively in Stokes Croft (@thelittleshopinbristol) and I was particularly drawn to the slightly world weary view in the rabbit’s eyes. I decided to leave out all the detailed black lines in the areas surrounding the rabbit as I thought it would detract from the composition. I decided on humour in this work rather than the more political angle of my last work (Picking Up On An Uncertain World, see recent blogs). So I placed my female sitting wearily down next to the rabbit rubbing her sore ankle as she takes off her high heeled knock’em dead red stilettos. They are indeed beautiful shoes as is her whole outfit, but the things we do in the name of fashion eh? I am not entirely sure whether the rabbit would ever have considered wearing shoes like these however. If…
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This is my second piece in a series of three based on street art by the wonderful Alex Lucas (@lucas_antics on Twitter). The title comes from a street art by Alex called Uncertain World and the mollusc forms part of a larger artwork up on Park Row here in Bristol. My take on this is to place my young woman picking up a discarded plastic bottle just in front of the mollusc which has an empty aerosol in its tentacles. Plastic pollution is such a huge problem these days and I wanted to relate to this in my painting. Along the same lines, the model (@stephbridet on Twitter, fabulous model) is wearing a gorgeous upcycled dress made by Linda Thomas, a local dress designer (@linda_eco_design) who works exclusively with upcycled material into which she stitches beautifully designs. I am keen to promote local here and will continue to collaborate with local artists/models/designers as often as I can. We creatives all need to support each other. After the next piece, I will be working on London street art scenes as I build up to the London Art Fair at the Oxo Tower in November. More in a later blog.…
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I finished this painting this afternoon with one eye on the Federer/Anderson tennis match which kept me fired up. The rabbit is based on a street art work by Alex Lucas here in Bristol. With her permission I have incorporated it into my own composition. There are several of her murals scattered around Bristol, and she is, like me, represented by Great White Art gallery (http://greatwhiteart.com) so I am loving collaborating with her. More ideas in the pipeline. The model, Steph Bridet (see Instagram) is wearing an upcycled dress made by Linda Thomas (@linda_eco_design) and the organic carrot came from my local greengrocer Hugo’s here on North Street. I apologise for Steph nicking the rabbit’s carrot….. Next week from the 19th July, I will be showing my street art themed work at a new gallery here on North Street, aptly called North, alongside a group of fellow artists. This exhibition neatly includes the weekend of Upfest at the end of July, which is, I think, the biggest urban street art festival in Europe. I am delighted to be part of this world, so drop by and have a look if you are passing. I will be stewarding for some…
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My alologies, I’ve been on holiday for 10 days, so no Blog. However, I am now refreshed, recharged and ready with new ideas for my paintings. I am collaborating with Alex Lucas, @lucas_antics on Instagram, who is a well known street artist, particularly here in Bristol. She has painted some wonderful artwork around the Stokes Croft area of Bristol and I am sure will feature heavily when Upfest takes place at the end of this month (Urban Paint Festival when Street Artists from all over Europe descend on my street North Street and its environs to paint awesome street art and graffiti; please Google for more information). There is a new, presently temporary, art gallery opened up on North Street called North and I will be showing my work there from mid July which neatly includes Upfest weekend. I am delighted to have this exposure. If you’re in Bristol, do pop in and have a look. I might be there too. So to this detail of a piece which features one of Alex Lucas’ rabbits. Both she and I are represented by Great White Art Gallery (http://greatwhiteart.com) which gave me the idea of collaboration. In this work, the rabbit will…
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I had the idea for this piece having seen the Banksy ‘Rude Copper’ in various incarnations. I particularly liked the idea of it as a framed artwork, but took out the graffiti lettering as seen in the original, as it didn’t work with the idea I had in mind. I always seek the permission of the street artist to incorporate their work into my painting before I begin and have never yet been refused; until now. I have emailed Banksys ‘agent ‘ at Pest Control and had no reply. However, the Hidden Gallery (chris@hidden) where I first saw this Banksy, commented that Banksy probably wouldn’t be too precious about this, so fingers crossed. I wanted the two girls to be completely different in how they looked, but they needed to look really smartly dressed, as if at a Private View, which maybe would have irritated our Rude Copper, hence the Good Cop Bad Cop title. Just my own sense of humour, the viewer may make of it what he/she wants. I am delighted to be collaborating with Alex Lucas for my next artworks, as she is a wonderful street artist. Have a look at her art on Instagram at @lucas_antics.…
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My thought for the day from Winston Churchill: ‘Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm’. My beloved partner died in March from brutal, quick and aggressive cancer. During those last few months I did indeed lose my enthusiasm to paint. Since his death however, my enthusiasm has returned, albeit reluctantly, and I feel I am painting better than ever. I have freedom to surge forward and my brain is fizzing with new ideas for my street art inspired work. I am excited, energised and each day just want to paint more and more. But oh, how I miss my darling Les, would that he were still watching me paint as he used to. This new work will be a take on another Banksy that I saw on The Hidden Gallery’s Instagram page (@chrisathidden). Banksy’s website (Pest Control) doesn’t reply to my request to incorporate his work into my art, and Hidden Gallery reckons he would be fine with this angle, so on I go. This will be the last Banksy for a while as I have new ideas for the next piece which will be more locally inspired. There will be two young women…
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This title is a take on today’s society. Everywhere I look these days, everywhere I walk, every restaurant or cafe I sit in, I see people, particularly the young, glued to their smartphones. Sitting with friends at the same table, all their heads are down, scrolling away on their phones. How is this going to play out in the future? Where do we go from here ? And what is this doing to our backs ? (I have osteoporosis so am particularly interested in this aspect). So to the painting. I saw this Banksy copy and a germ of an idea started in my mind. I always try and get the street artist’s permission to use their work in my compositions, but have been unable to trace the artist who made this copy. Likewise I received no reply to my request to Banksy (Pest Control) so am having to keep my fingers crossed he/they are happy with this piece. A long time ago, an art dealer told me a touch of red in a painting always lifts it and results in more sales, so here we are! I am grateful to Natalia Green for being the perfect muse here.…
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This will be a street art themed painting eventually, but this week I have been concentrating on getting the young woman in place in the composition. So far so good. I am incorporating a (as I have now found out) a copy of a Banksy painting showing a girl on a swing. The original was painted under a sign saying PARKing and this artist’s copy isn’t as detailed as Banksys. I haven’t been able to find out where and who painted it, so am going ahead regardless and hope I won’t be sued…. My working title, so far, will be either ‘Babysitting’ or ‘Modern Babysitting’ depending on what I feel like when the piece is finished. It’s my take on the fact that the young seem to spend most of their time these days glued to their smart phones, to the detriment of enjoying babysitting, albeit for a stencil on a wall ! This painting is in oils and is on canvas board. If you would like to be kept up to date with what I am up to in the next few weeks please sign up for my Newsletter at the top of the Home page. I am also…
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I saw the work of @MyDogSighs here in Bristol last year for Upfest the annual urban art festival. Street artists from all over the world descend on North Street, the street where I live, producing the most amazing street art and graffiti on every available wall, hoarding etc. I particularly like his ‘Hug’ street art images and obtained his permission to incorporate this work into my own composition. For this piece I have persuaded lovely Emily White (@ablemabeldesigns) to be my muse. She has a fabulous collection of Forties/Fifties inspired clothes and is wearing one of her vibrant dresses for this painting. She also works at @rhubarbjumble which sells beautiful retro clothes and furniture. Pop in and have a look at 52 North Street, Bedminster, Bristol just up the road from my studio. My idea is that she is deep in thought, possibly worrying about a problem and the Hug is comforting her, hence the title. You, the viewer, will have your own thoughts. I like placing my trademark woman in a situation which changes the dynamic of the 2D street art, bringing art to life and vice versa. If you would like to be kept up to date…
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