Exhibition : What Do I Do Now?

...The time is fast approaching, when folk from far and wide flock to lesser known Stroud in Gloucestershire for the two main events of the summer - the Textile Festival and Site Festival.
Both are fantastic events, and as Stroud is bursting with both emerging and established artists there is always something great to see.

Last year I participated in the amazing Art Flea event at the Brunel Goods Shed, which was a brilliant show. This year I am back at the Goods Shed for a second time and will be part of What Do I Do Now?  as part of Site. An exhibition hosted and curated by Anna Jacob, alias Clementine Holmes - a newbie fresh out of art college with some big ideas. This years Site Fest is all about art and writing colliding so I will be contributing some new woven textile pieces which I'm really excited about.

Dates are 17th and 18th of May, with live music on the Saturday evening from 8pm.
Find the show at Studio One. Right next to Stroud Station, its easy to find if you fancy a visit.
Find all event info here.

Homage : Stephanie Cole

No, not that Stephanie Cole! No, I'm talking about Stephanie Cole, textiles designer and illustrator extraordinaire!

Take one look at Stephanie's work and you can tell that she has lived in some naturally beautiful places, and these inspirations have seeped in to her work. Lush green places with flora and fauna,  alongside sparse coastal characters depicting everyday activities are what you will find in these surface designs and illustrations.

Wooden Hare Necklace

I first met Stephanie a few years back while at a small but excellent arty crafty type event in deepest Gloucestershire - and then promptly wondered why I didn't already know about her work, it seemed so established and professional. At the time I was managing a craft gallery that was in desperate need of newer, fresher, younger work - just like this - so I instantly set about trying to convince Stephanie to become a stockist.Years have passed and her brand has continued to grow, she has relocated to Finland and has even been voted by Channel 4 as one to watch.

Farmers Market Tea Towel

Stephanie's range is broad but everything has her signature aesthetic to them - screen printed textile wares, paper goods - my current favorite is the wooden hare necklace. I'm always interested to see what Stephanie has been up to, and where she'll go next as there is always something exciting up her sleeve. Keep up to date with new products and events on Stephanie's blog.

I shall leave you with some of my favorite postcard paintings from her Postcard A Day series....

Homage: Harland Miller

After coordinating the launch event Tea with Harland for a new limited edition print with Harland Miller and Other Criteria a few weeks ago, the team and I then scooted down to the Royal Academy last night for a talk with Harland about his work. Sadly the lighting wasn't good enough to get any decent shots of the night - other than the ceiling - and Harland assured the audience that he had put the slideshow together amidst a fever, so there were some low res images, and some fantastically hand scrawled bulletin pages.

Harland is a writer and artist and the two are often inextricably linked and inform one another. 

He grew up surrounded by books and worked with them in a variety of ways for years before he rediscovered the Penguin Classics again as an adult and then began using the designs and layout, inserting his own text, with his name placed on the piece as the author of the book. 

Although I was already familiar with Harland's work, it was great to learn more about his practice.

Some of his words are quotes from his personal life, dreams, events or things he reads or hears which have some resonance with him, and it was great to hear a personal account of how he had arrived at some of my favourite lines. I also didn't realise that Penguin colour code these books to indicate subject matter; brown, green, orange, cerise, which Harland then used to indicate the subject matter of the piece, in relation to the text and intention of the piece.

Sadly Harland's Overcoming Optimism exhibition has now ended at the Ingleby Gallery but you can still visit Other Criteria on Hinde Street to see his new print The Me I Never Knew and watch a short film screening about the creation of this edition, which should be showing until the end of the month.

I definitely recommend seeing some of these works in person - they really are fantastic. But if you can't get to town there are a couple of books about the artist which are also well worth a look. 

Images from Ingleby Gallery

Love Your Walls - Art on a Budget

This is a bit of an early one for me - now that the sun is up bright and early these days, even on a day off after a full on week at work I still want to bound out of bed (OK maybe not bound, but perhaps flop and then slide slowly)  and get writing on all the ideas I usually have piling up in my brain, many of which basically consist of wanting to tell all you lot about the cool stuff that people are making out there.

Today what is on my mind is loving your own space - your home, your interiors, your walls.
As one of my favourite bloggers Abigail Ahern said recently in her post entitled Happy Homes '...when you create a connection with objects and buy stuff that you love it’s a no brainer that its going to make you happy...' and I totally believe Abigail's philosophy on this one. As an artist it is probably a given that I find aesthetics and tactile qualities important in general, but honestly I dont want to surround myself with things that lack integrity, a patina or a positive use. How will cheaply produced, badly designed stuff add to my sense of wellbeing when at home? I get much more pleasure out of even a tea towel  handmade by a designer than by a mass producing blob with some meaningless branding, right? Im not saying I get this right all the time, but its definitely what I strive for. 
And the thing is, that having cool, meaningful things all around you - whether we are talking found objects (vintage, antiques and so forth) or handmade by artists and designer-makers- is not out of anyones reach. I think I could discuss this point for several more posts, and can feel myself teetering on the edge of a tangent here, so I wont mention the umpteen junk shops and brickabrac sales where glory is to be found in exchange for some light rooting and a few pounds. Instead the main thing that I really wanted to point out and share with you today, is that there are some really amazing print designers out there who really have great work at such accessible price points- there's no excuse to keep staring at a plain magnolia wall anymore! I won't give you advice on how to hang your prints - head on over for advice from Abigail, she's the pro on that one. What I will tell you is to check out these good eggs below - it's really worth considering their work, even if it isn't really your cup of tea, but opens your eyes to what fantastic-ness is out there.

First up is Inaluxe, a creative Australian duo who have been doing fabulously well, including a recent collaboration with Ikea on a small range of brilliant affordable prints (not to mention their glorious new cushions with urban outfitters - grab these while you can, they are already selling like hot chips!)
I forget how I found their prints, probably on some internet adventure, but I absolutely intend to purchase a print of theirs very soon. Often inspired by nature, flora and seasons, with a riot of colour and forms, I don't think you can go wrong here. Take a look:

Inaluxe Print Flora, a personal favorite

Inaluxe - The Shipping News Print

Next on my list are the fantastic and perhaps understated Calm Gallery. Based in the UK and created by a young husband and wife team (very inspiring!) Lucas and Hayley - I don't know them personally but based on the high standard and swift success of their business they do seem rather like a young couple with some gumption. They have so many good pieces on their website, including work by fabulous artists such as James Brown and Helen Lang, that I don't feel I need to go on any more. Suffice it to say, they are great and I challenge you not to find the perfect gift to fit any budget amongst their range. A couple of my top picks below:

La Lune - could be yours for a mere £50!

One of many prints by James Brown - this might be the one for me!

Finally - although Im sure the list could just keep going on and on - I would like to make a shout out to Antlers Gallery, a nomadic and dynamic group with frequent pop up shops and an online store. Based in Bristol, I first saw one of their shows in nearby Stroud, and they seem to be going from strength to strength, featuring at this years London Art Fair and recently made it in The Guardians Top 10 best culture venues in Bristol. Their work is dark, conceptual and varied.
Follow them on Facebook and keep up to date with all of their upcoming shows so you can see them next time you pop up! I leave you with a couple of their images - the more you look the more you see:

Sarah Jeffs at Antlers - read all about Sarah's practice here

Rose Sanderson - Seriously love this piece, read an interview with Rose here