Christmas is coming

I was chosen to create an image for Its a shape Christmas and given the shape hexagon. This is the image I created but I do not know which date on their advent calendar it will appear

Own your own colour

I bought this colour in memory of my sister and its for a great cause, have a look at the website

http://www.ownacolour.com

It tells you what your donation will buy when you get to the donating stage.

Finished Sculpture

At last my sculpture created in memory of my lovely sister Carol is complete.

There is a reason for every item used.

When I saw the tall slim vase I thought of Carol.

The balti pan was because she always loved a good curry.

The willow pattern was because she use to buy me bits of willow pattern she found in junk shops.

Carol would have found it funny that I gave her big feet as she had large feet and found flip flops the most comfortable things to wear and if they had a bit of bling even better.

The necklace was a bracelet she persuaded me to buy in a supermarket in France.

This leads me onto her earing which is a small key from her house in France and its on her left ear as Carol was left handed.

Carol always wore glasses and seemed to always peer over the top.

Finally the rose is a link to me.

Bric a Brac Character Developing Stage

It's amazing what you can create out of a balti pan. I didn't think I would get this far with the project so soon. The watch eye is still working but for how long I don't know!

The next stage will be tricky... will the weight of the pan tip over the sculpture when I secure it in the vase?

Bric a Brac Next Stage

The next part of this project was to attach the vase to some feet in flip flops. I wired up the base of the vase, made the feet and flip flop template out of polystyrene and wire then began to sculpture in cement. I have put sand inside the vase and I am keeping my fingers crossed that the cement does not expand too much and break the vase.

I am working on the balti pan while this dries out slowly and will put it together next week.

Bric a Brac

These are the start of my new project...a follow on from Bert. The vase was from a car boot sale, the copper pipe from my son in laws garage and the balti dish from a junk shop. I got the copper pipe riveted onto the balti dish as I haven't the equipment to do it myself. I have had a really enjoyable day turning this junk into a soon to be treasured piece of artwork. Lets hope the finished piece turns out as the image I have in my head.I have also bought myself 12.5kg of air dryed clay which I intend to sculpture as part of this piece.

A Different Way of Illustrating

Went to see Louise Gardiner's work at Quarry Bank Mill in Style today. She had some lovely pieces of work, I particularly liked her illustrative work. The very decorative pieces were very accomplished embroidery but were too complicated for my liking. I like work to have a sense of fun which I think these two images have.
Lousie's sketchbook was beautiful and very spontaneous. The exhibition finishes 10th Sept but she has her work on http://www.lougardiner.co.uk

Gold at the AOI Images 35 Awards

At the Association of Illustrators Images 35 Awards evening I received the Gold award in the Advertising category for my image "Spring Family Concert". The event was very well attended and was held at the Bankside Gallery

Spring Family Concert

The exhibition is well worth visiting as there is a great selection of works from some of my favourite illustrators such as Matthew Richardson, Andy Potts and Gary Parsons. In the New Talent category I really loved Christopher Knight's image "A Blue Day".

Bert

We now have a new member to the family his name is Bert. He is made out of part of a drain spout, I am going to put a fern in his head and screw him to the wall.

Family

My daughter Sarah asked me for a poster type picture to go on her wall. I rummaged through my collection of photos and came up with this. It Looks quite good in a white mount and black frame.

Illustration Friday - Soaked

When I saw the topic soaked I knew I had suitable illustration in my file. I produced this about a year ago just for fun.

Jaume Plensa

A wonderful exhibition in wonderful surroundings with a special friend is the best way to spend your Friday.

It has been a long time since I felt so moved to tears by an exhibition.

I could upload so many of my photos but I strongly advise anybody who reads this blog to visit the exhibition, it finishes 25th September

Jaume Plensa Yorkshire Sculpture Park

These are just a few of my photographs.

This work has stillness, silence and serenity, which evokes a spiritual, almost religious, atmosphere and the beautiful, highly marked alabaster appears to glow from within. (this quote is taken from the YSP exhibition guide)

Plensa describes these figures as 'fat angels': suspended from the gallery walls, they are fixed and constrained by their heavy human bodies. (this quote is taken from the YSP exhibition guide)

Yet another failure

Does it get easier the more often it happens? I should not call it failure the judges are just not on the same wavelength as me. This was the turned down entry for Creative Review's 2011 Illustration Annual.

Never mind I've still to hear from another two competitions.

Failure

Anna Violet has persuaded me to start blogging again.... so here we go.

Failure, well I am sure we all experience it at one time or another but when do we call it a day and how do we handle it?

Creative Review have a good piece on their blog

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2011/may/berghs-fear-of-failure

I like what Milton Glaser has to say.

This is my most recent failure, again I have failed to be selected for The Serco Prize for Illustration. They choose a first, second, third and fifty illustrations to be exhibited in the London Transport Museum. This competition is organized by the The AOI

http://www.theaoi.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=269&Itemid=47

The winner is Anne Wilson and her image is below. I think her image is very eye catching and makes a very good poster.

This entry from Andy Potts has been chosen for the exhibition. I have always liked Andy's work.