I’m really excited to be starting up GAS ART AGENCY, as an addition to my existing business A Little bit of Art ltd. I decided to do this in order to get the chance to showcase work that is of higher value and cater to a different market. It will have an entirely different flavour but the core will be my vision and ‘eye’ and GAS will both function as a gallery and as an agency. It’s starting out small from a studio space near Elephant & Castle, which will be open for viewings for clients who want to see artwork. The artists whose work I shall be representing will be available for a variety of commissions and range from Screeprints, paintings, collage work to surface design and decoration for textiles, fashion, furniture & murals. At present I am working with 4 artists, and going from there.
At TENT London, there will be a selection of work on display along with portfolios of work from each artist to demonstrate what the potential can be for the use of their work. As an experienced Art buyer, I am also open to the potential for sourcing artwork/artists on a finders fee basis if there is a project that GAS Artists cannot fulfill but that I may know of suitable talent to do so.
The web designers are working on the site, and soon I can put up some examples of work and reveal the artists! There’s a lot to do and juggle, but feel confident that the work on show at TENT will be well received…. fingers crossed!
Please watch this space for further info and don’t forget to register before the 17th September for free entry.
It’s a bit manic around these parts at the moment – not only am I running ALBOA but now starting up GAS art agency representing artists, illustrators and designers – the focus being on interiors. It’s very exciting, hugely scary but we’re starting small and going from there.
Be sure to come to TENT London in September. You will need to register for free entry so follow the link;
I love this print which has just gone up on A Little bit of Art. It’s hard to see how special it is online but it really can while away a long time. It reminds me of those pictures they had on our Dentist’s ceiling when we were kids, lots of detail to take your mind off things!
Very happy to say that I’ve got a small studio space in the wonderful Iliffe Yard in Kennington/Elephant & Castle.
It’s a really special place and looking forward to getting GAS Art Agency up and running from there along with A Little bit of Art which is going from strength-to-strength. It is now featuring on Culture Label and The Secret Arcade and more plans ahead for the Autumn & Winter….
Hope everyone is enjoying their Summer so far. I’ve been really lucky to be spending every morning in either Dulwich Park or Brockwell Park getting our puppy Izzy to play with other dogs – it’s lovely when the sun is shining, bit grim when it’s drizzling. It’s a great time to think about things and get a much healthier perspective – and as a result plans are now going ahead to launch GAS Art Agency, which is having the branding done as we speak and the website will be built over August. More details to follow soon but it’s very exciting. The focus will be on representing artists and designers for both commercial and private commissions, with the emphasis being on interiors and surface decoration. This is me going ‘back to my roots’ – I have a degree in Printed Textiles & Surface Decoration after all – but with a twist to it after over 10 years of working with commercial artists & illustrators. Watch this space!
Also, I’m going to have a studio in Iliffe Yard just near Elephant & Castle. That will be the HQ for GAS and A Little bit of Art from September onwards. A part-time intern Evelina Silberlaint, who has just graduated from UCA Epsom is currently helping me out and making life a much better place!
There’s been some changes to the website at ALBOA, with a change to the URL so it doesn’t look like ‘a little bit o fart’ any more… not a good look really! Things are going really well, and new artists and work being added.
That’s all for now. Here’s a pic of Izzy in the park – if you ever see us around come and say Hi!
This week has been a good one on Lambs Conduit Street, and so I’ll return for a few days next week to Matchless Prints. Danny Pope’s archive of photographic prints is extraordinary, so try and pop in to see more of his prints on sale before they leave the shop for good. It’s a one-off opportunity so get it while you can! Show will continue until Friday 25th June and then that will be it……
Danny Pope, who has run Matchless Prints for many years and who is an expert photographic printer, has sold up his shop in Lambs Conduit Street and is off to explore pastures new. He has kindly offered me the space at the front of his shop to sell artwork alongside his photographic archive, and so I’ll be there from Tuesday to Saturday – this week only! If you’re in the area, please come and say hello. Here’s the flyer…
Today I bought a lovely new book in Magma - ‘Printmaking’ by Paul Coldwell – on my monthly mooch in there. It has fired up the flames of print-passion and reminded me of all the reasons why I’m doing what I’m doing and the plans for the future.
I love print and printing. The smell of the ink and the feel of the paper, the mixing of inks and dyes, the raggedy effects you can make with a bit of turps rubbed on to the plates when doing relief printing and so on. This doesn’t sound like graphic art water based screen printing though… and it isn’t. But this book reminded me that we can create printed imagery with more than silkscreens. Flicking through the book, it’s reminded me of how much I love Robert Rauschenberg – he was my hero when at college along with the brilliant Dos Santos who was the king of etching, including making huge public murals etched in limestone….!
So that’s why I’m very happy to be working with artist Gordon Robertson and representing his print work and designs at TENT London. Gordon is a printer extraordinaire and hugely innovative with his processes and materials. He is a master at etching metal and making jewellery, but all of his work is about surface design. He has been working with shapes on the computer to create designs for porcelain, textiles, jewellery and artwork. We have been meeting up and discussing ways to show his work, and he will be creating some special 3D pieces and art panels that will be completely gorgeous and different, etching into metal to create durable, innovative artworks. I’m delighted to be representing his work, which is so far not actually in existence! I’m keeping his designs under wraps for now to avoid plagarism, but will put work up nearer the time of the show. Here are some examples of work he’s done on jewellery….
It would be fantastic to see some of the massive number of graphic artists utilising other print processes to communicate their ideas beyond silk screening. The potential for it is sexy!
Well things at ALBOA have been pretty full-on of late but things are very interesting! It has been nearly a year since leaving the Guardian, which was a great place to work but haven’t looked back since leaving. I read an interesting article by Rick Poynor last week, and feel a bit of an article brewing in response to his views on illustration. Just need to find the time to do so….
I have recently spent two days sitting on a doorstep in Lambs Conduit Street, Bloomsbury enjoying meeting people as they come and view a selection of artwork outside of Tony Mellis’s ‘hairhouse’ Badlambs. It’s a great salon, but very much not in the vein of a normal hair salon. There’s a great review of it here and here’s a little pic of Badlambs…
So, a man named Danny Pope came over and chatted to me about having a pop-up event in his shop Matchless Prints on Lambs Conduit Street. He and his partner are moving away from London soon and he liked what I’m doing so it will be a fantastic opportunity to sell ALBOA prints, and some photographic prints of Danny’s. So, all very good and watch this space for further info.
Next weekend I’m heading down the M4 again to take part in the Central-Reservation ‘ Checkout’. This is an Arts Council funded initiative in Bristol which seems to be picking up momentum. Not sure what attendance will be like after the start of World Cup – think it will be heavy on the girl attendance, low on the male…. but you never know!
Also have a few new projects lined up for the Autumn which is really exciting and will be working with a couple of artists one of whom will be creating work in Zinc and Copper along with some ceramic pieces which will be coming with me to TENT London for the London Design Festival
So, more news to come as and when it happens.
Things have been a bit all over the place of late and this Blog spot has been neglected, but I intend to post more thoughts and observations on Illustration and Animation as well as business news/events here – so if that’s of interest to you, then read on.
I have been running a professional practice project at Maidstone Art College working with the final year students on a self-promotion project.Some talented illustrators coming out of there along with the developing generation of gaming illustrators and animators. That’s something that is developing more and more and is fascinating and exciting. I’ve also been to UWE (Bristol) thanks to Phil Wrigglesworth for a day’s session of Portfolio surgeries and met some fantastic students there – they have very enviable studio spaces!
Along with the professional practice sessions, I have been asked to write an essay on Editorial illustration for the Association of Illustrators. It’s an area that’s been hit hard by the budget cuts in publishing, and I am musing on how illustration will be used in the future to illustrate articles and features in the digital age. This will feature in the next Images book in the Summer.
As for A Little bit of Art , business has been great in the very early stages of it’s life so far! A sister site is currently in the planning to enable the more weightier/pricier pieces to have the space to shine. This is all taking time, and on limited resources takes even longer. I am currently looking for Business Development support, so anyone reading this who can suggest appropriate avenues of assistance then please get in touch.
Things are a little stalled while I finish a freelance project working with The National Maritime Museum, but a new selection of work will be installed at Badlambs soon, to coincide with an event and also work will shortly be installed at a production company in Clerkenwell…. more details to follow soon.
Meanwhile, trying to find the time to set up my fabulous new Mac which hasn’t even come out of the box yet. This is extremely exciting and can’t wait to get to grips with it! Also very excited about the forthcoming Pick Me Up event at Somerset House – looks like it’s going to be fantastic. Had a coffee with Robert Rubbish last week who tells me that the Le Gun installation is going to be pretty unique!