Featured Artist - Rose Dalban

Rose Dalban lives and works from her home in France, and will be exhibiting at the Brighton Art Fair in September.

Where did you train? What did training teach you and what do you wish it had taught you?
Fine Arts college in Saint Etienne 42 France. I learnt the techniques of painting and sculpture.

When and where did you first want to do what you do?
I have spent most of my time drawing and painting since I was a young child.




One favourite living artist?
Zao Wou Ki for the dreams one can get when looking at his paintings

One favourite historical artist?
Turner for the light and the modernity of his work

Where do you get most of your inspiration from?
In the nature

What is the most interesting / fun job you have had?
I enjoyed drawing for a company which produced textiles

Have you had any interesting work related collaborations?
I spent a few years drawing with Mr Weisbuch ,a famous French etcher.

At age 16 who most influenced your style?
I spent my time watching the drawings of Rembrant for hours

What music are you currently listening to?
Jazz and classical music

Who would you say buys your work?
My painting is particularly enjoyed by people from Northern Europe

Where and what is your studio?
My studio is amidst forests, meadows and rivers.

Do you have a good work/life balance?
Yes because I love living and painting nature

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Happiness

If you could be doing anything else what would it be?
Sailor

If you could exhibit in any gallery in the world which would it be?
The Tate Gallery

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Featured Artist - John Simpson

John Simpson will be showing his work with Art of Treason at the Brighton Art Fair.

Where did you train? What did training teach you and what do you wish it had taught you?
Cambridge School of Art. I developed my interest across a broad range of arts and began to find my own language of drawing. I didn’t wish for anything more.

When and where did you first want to do what you do?
Scribbling in the garden as a child.

One favourite living artist?
Arturo Herrera. His work is beautifully sensitive and pushes the possibilities of drawing.

One favourite historical artist?
Francisco Goya. He was an amazing classical painter and printmaker, as well as a subversive artist who truly engaged with the world.

Where do you get most of your inspiration from?
Nature

What is the most interesting / fun job you have had?
I would not describe working as an artist as a job, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. It opens up opportunities to travel and meet an amazingly diverse amount of people.

Have you had any interesting work related collaborations?
Working away in the studio can become a very isolating business, so it’s very refreshing to work with my friends at Artizan editions when creating a new Serigraph edition.

At age 16 who most influenced your style?
I don’t think I have a style now and I certainly didn’t when I was 16.


Last book / film that blew your mind?
The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien

What music are you currently listening to?
Bill Callahan. If I cant make a decision I’ll put 6 music on the radio.

Who would you say buys your work?
I’m constantly amazed at the diversity of people who by my work. It’s fascinating how the same picture can often generate polar opposite reactions from different viewers.

Where and what is your studio?
My studio is on the top floor of what was a meat storage building in the North Laine, Brighton.

Do you have a good work/life balance?
Yes. It’s probably a little more extreme than usual because I’ll be completely immersed in work for a period and then take it easier when a body of work is finished or an exhibition has opened.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Engulfing

If you could be doing anything else what would it be?
Wildlife filmmaker

If you could exhibit in any gallery in the world which would it be?
MoMA, New York.

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Featured Artist - Precious Murphy

Precious Murphy produces limited edition prints inspired by Art Deco, space ships and architects plans. He will be exhibiting his work at the Brighton Art Fair.

Where did you train? What did training teach you and what do you wish it had taught you?
My only official training in art was at 6th Form College. The particular style of work I do is down to my devoted interest that I had in school, in Technical Drawing, a subject that was not taught in the school I went to after being taken out of the comprehensive system. The best training I had in style, taste and art was from my mother. She always has beautiful objet d'art around the house and lovely books of lots of different art. We had good Swedish designed furniture at home before IKEA was born, we always had good shoes and I knew what Jaeger was by the time I was 10.

When and where did you first want to do what you do?
That still hasn't happened to me yet. I LOVE doing what I am doing at the moment and I would be happy if this is what I am going to do for the rest of my life. Saying that, I hope I do many many more things, from a creative point of view, before I die.

One favourite living artist?
Pedro Almodovar because his movies are so stylish with the right amount of humour, kitsch and tear jerking moments.

One favourite historical artist?
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his work is as valid today as it was when he created it. He was way ahead of his time and it still amazes me that he had the vision that he did and that it has stood the test of time. Without him and his work, none of my work would make any sense at all.

Where do you get most of your inspiration from?
Skyscrapers, circuit boards, robots, NASA and retro visions of the future.

What is the most interesting / fun job you have had?
The first job I ever had was on a junior hotel management training programme. It was interesting because I spent part of my training in an hotel in Glasgow's red light district. The things I saw in that environment were very interesting to a young teenage man.

Have you had any interesting work related collaborations?
Not yet, but if Frank Gehry or Santiago Calatrava are reading this, feel free to get in touch fellas. Kitty Finegan and I are currently working out something, I hope this develops. Her work is so happy and stylish and sexy. I particularly like the work she has done thats been inspired by the Japanese youth cultures.

At age 16 who most influenced your style?
Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet and Altered Images

Last book / film that blew your mind?
The first Harry Potter book blew my mind and the last movie that did that was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The first book that blew my mind was The Lord of The Flies, the first film that blew my mind was Pulp Fiction.

What music are you currently listening to?
U2, Take That, ABBA, Mary J Blige, Plan B and Horse Meat Disco

Who would you say buys your work?
Architects, Scientists, Autistic Kids, Neighbours and Mates

Where and what is your studio?
 My studio is inside my bag, its a pencil, a note book and a Mac, its everywhere I go.

Do you have a good work/life balance?
I guess I have the perfect work/life balance really. My day job as cabin crew for a big British airline takes me all over the world. With a lot of my inspiration coming from architecture, neon signs and graphics on packaging, I am exposed to many different styles of architecture and visual culture around the world. This constantly inspires me.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Escapism.

If you could be doing anything else what would it be?
Designing the buildings for the first colony on the moon.

If you could exhibit in any gallery in the world which would it be?
Being honest, I would prefer to exhibit my work on the sides of buildings or on roadside billboards. I want to reach out to people that DON'T visit galleries and would like to get these people more engaged in all art forms, not just the visual arts. More should be done to draw in these people, we could be missing out on some real creative genius that don't realise that what is going on inside their heads can be expressed in a movie or a play or a painting. If I HAD to choose a gallery, I think it would be The Guggenheim in Abu Dhabi. I love the attitude towards architecture and development in the Middle East, they have huge aspirations and have no limits to the scale or style of how their landscape should evolve.

Any other relevant information?
 I am a Cancerian, I once modelled on the Clothes Show, I have met Nelson Mandela and I belong to the Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club of Andorra.

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Steve McPherson - Sound / Sculpture Installation

'Siren - Signal' - Steve McPherson
Sound/Sculpture Installation
Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August, 2011

During the International Lighthouse Weekend (Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd August, 2011), Steve McPherson's 3 works that constitute 'Siren - Signal' will be installed within Light Vessel 21 (LV21). Now moored at Gillingham pier on the river Medway, this magnificent 40 metre steel-hulled Lightship saw active service at stations around the Kent coast between 1976 and 2001.

'Siren-Signal' references Steve's experience of growing up on that coast, where the Fog Horn sound was a seasonal event that signalled the warning of impending and seemingly infinite cloud conditions. The Horns mournful cry echoed along the cliffs, yearning and piercing the visually impenetrable fog and thick sea mists that curtained the land and turned days into eerie twilights.

Vocally creating all the sounds and manipulating them digitally; Siren - Signal aims to reawaken slumbering memories and experiences which are no longer a part of our coastal environment, whilst at the same time reflecting on and echoing my own and LV21's lost pasts.

LV21
Gillingham Pier
Pier Approach Road
Gillingham
Kent ME7 1RX

www.lv21.co.uk
www.stevemcpherson.co.uk
www.fromherewhereyouare.co.uk

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Featured Artist - Henrik Simonsen

Henrik Simonsen will be exhibiting his work with Art of Treason at the Brighton Art Fair in September.

Where did you train? What did training teach you and what do you wish it had taught you?
I did my foundation in Denmark. First year of my BA I spent in Exeter. Then I went to NYC for 5 months on an exchange program. After that I spent some months in Venice also as part of my BA. The last year of my undergraduate degree was back in Exeter.

My foundation in Denmark was heavy on drawing. We did life drawing everyday and the ease I feel about drawing is surely down to that. NYC taught me the importance of giving it your all and opened my eyes to the variety of artistic expressions. It’s also taught me to dare to believe that you can be a full time artist. Venice gave me a love of colour and techniques. We were taught to make oil paint by grinding down pure pigment and the difference it makes in terms of intensity of colour has to be seen to be believed. It also taught me a wide spread of techniques that dates back to the old masters. Exeter gave me a pier group that still to this day is an important sounding board and support network.

I wish that Exeter had focused more on how you can make it in the art world rather than regarding the commercial side as a threat to the purity of art itself.

When and where did you first want to do what you do?I really do not remember. I do not think it was until I did my foundation it even entered my mind that being an artist was something you could aim to become.

One favourite living artist?
John Virtue. His passion and devotion to his art regardless of fashion and his mastery of technique and texture. He taught me at Exeter and he was an intense personality but also an inspiration.


One favourite historical artist?
Da Vinci … or Michelangelo or Goya .. Sorry can’t pick one and all three of them have the most incredible ability to draw.

Where do you get most of your inspiration from?I might sound like a tired cliché but it is from nature. I think this is where my Scandinavian background becomes evident. Scandinavia has a long tradition for art, design and architecture inspired by natural forms. Also books especially fairytales … but really I get inspired by anything from prehistoric cave paintings to flyers.

What is the most interesting / fun job you have had?Hmm .. luckily that would be the latest piece I am working on. The reason being that’s the work that pushed me towards new challenges and possibilities.


Have you had any interesting work related collaborations?I have not done any collaborations.. but I would be up for giving it a go. The closest I have got is when I spend time in the printing studio with the very talented crew that works on my prints with me. I highly value being able to see not just through my own eyes but also through theirs and in that way benefit from their experience.


At age 16 who most influenced your style?
Films and comic books.

Last book / film that blew your mind?
The film Tree of Life

What music are you currently listening to?
Sufjan Stevens and Bonnie Prince Billy

Who would you say buys your work?
It seems to be anyone from students to architects and designers.


Where and what is your studio?
It is in a converted warehouse in Hove.

Do you have a good work/life balance?I have been extremely busy the last 6 months and work has taken over .. I really need to push back the other way but with lots of deadlines and the fact that I really love working it is difficult.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Gratitude

If you could be doing anything else what would it be?
If I was not an artist I would have got involved with humanitarian and charity work.



If you could exhibit in any gallery in the world which would it be?
Lousianna in Denmark, it is the most beautifully located and designed Museum in Denmark. It was the first art gallery I ever visited. I must have been about 6 and I still remember that first visit. Showing there would for me personally count for more than even the greatest galleries and museums in NYC or London.

Any other relevant information?
I would like to tell everyone that has a dream of becoming an artist, ballet dancer … writer … whatever it may be, that it can be done and do not listen to all the people that tell you that it is an impossible dream. What other people sees as impossibilities are their limits. They do not become yours until you start believing in them. I think we all are cable of so much more than we dare to think.

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Featured Artist - Erin Burns

Erin Burns' work involves delicately painting and marking the surface of a photograph taken in a natural environment which is then mounted on aluminum and then covered in multiple layers of viscous polymer resin and paint. The viewer appears to be looking through a translucent solid where textures, layers, and imagery converge.

Where did you train? What did training teach you and what do you wish it had taught you?
I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from New York University. I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area, California and moved to Brighton in 2003.

When and where did you first want to do what you do?
I was a creative, theatrical kid. I loved dressing up and drawing and thought I’d be an actress or artist or vet when I grew up. I have always loved animals but am squeamish and cry at the sight of an injured spider or crushed snail, so it was a safer option to head down the creative route.

One favourite living artist?

Gosh there are so many. I guess if money weren’t an issue and I could live with someone’s work it would have to be the German artist, Gerhard Richter. To see his work in person makes me physically tingle and sometimes even burst into tears. His ability to render raw emotion via paint handling is magnificent.

One favourite historical artist?

Joseph Beuys for the sadness, drama, and complexity. I find his work very moving although it is so different to my process.

Where do you get most of your inspiration from?
Everything and anything can be an inspiration. Books, movies, clothing patterns, design mags, nature, signage. I am constantly taking in imagery that makes its way into my work. I just bought a bunch of wallpaper samples to use as inspiration for my paintings.

What is the most interesting / fun job you have had?

I used to dress mannequins for a living when I was a window dresser in San Francisco. I went store to store coming up with creative ways to sell clothes with props and design. It was nice to get paid for having a good eye, I couldn’t believe you could get paid for being creative in that way. I loved it.

Have you had any interesting work related collaborations?
I am still in touch with many of my New York classmates from graduate school and a few of us have done mail art projects where we send small panel paintings back and forth to each other in the post and work collaboratively over a few months on a few pieces. It is always so exciting when something comes back to you, changed, but still with your hand in it. It is a very loose way of working in that you can’t be precious about the bits and pieces and you have to trust the process and let go. It is a good thing to do and can free your own process greatly.

At age 16 who most influenced your style?
Depeche Mode, The Thompson Twins, Benetton, Vogue and Glamour magazines. As for artists I was really into photography and followed the work of Annie Leibovitz.

Last book / film that blew your mind?
Book: What is the What because it was shocking, sad, moving, and inspiring.

Film: Honestly, Bridesmaids….it was such a good laugh.

What music are you currently listening to?
LCD Soundsystem, Regina Spektor, Elliott Smith

Who would you say buys your work?
My collectors range from supportive friends to strangers who see my work at art fairs to corporate buyers and interior designers. I have work in the Dorchester Hotel, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the Ritz in Los Angeles. And just about all of my friends have purchased work. I have been very lucky to be so supported.

Where and what is your studio?
I have a studio at Trafalgar House in Portslade with obscure sea views. I am across from a dilapidated, abandoned building that is beautiful.

Do you have a good work/life balance?
Yes I think I do. My studio is very close to home so I can pop round at anytime to get things done if I suddenly feel the urge or need to check on a pour. I see “studio” time as anything that adds to my creative flow so travelling, gardening, walking the dogs, going to see shows, etc…these are all things that feed into my practice. Even sitting in the garden with the latest Elle Décor magazine (one of my favourite pastimes) can be considered “studio work”.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Cathartic

If you could be doing anything else what would it be?
Comedic actress if I was very brave.


If you could exhibit in any gallery in the world which would it be?
Ooh. I’d take Purdy Hicks in London to start with and then ideally end up with a major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan when I am in my 80’s.

Any other relevant information?
I am showing some older work at the Brighton Art Fair this year so things that my dealer no longer takes to market. Make me an offer! Pieces will be priced to MOVE!

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Craft Council Craft Rally at West Dean Festival

The fourth Craft Rally will take place on Saturday 27 August, 11am – 6pm, during the West Dean Festival – a new four-day festival set in the stunning grounds of West Dean, Chichester.

Craft Rally is an inclusive, dynamic and inspirational opportunity for makers to exchange information and ideas around contemporary craft practice. Craft Rally at the West Dean Festival will focus on collaboration and participants will create new work through making, writing, discussion, food and games. Workshops will include The Salon of Talking Flowers and In it Together.

The makers and artists leading the Craft Rally will draw on the rich Surrealist history of West Dean and its founder Edward James and use the Surrealist principal of ‘unlocking’ ideas through games and play. Workshops will be run in an informal way and focus on experimentation, research, and risk, allowing makers the opportunity to re-think their approach to studio practice and explore the nature of collaboration.

The following workshops will run at Craft Rally and participants can work on one of all three of the projects;

• Gillian Blease is an illustrator and David Littler is an artist, curator and DJ. Inspired by West Dean’s rich links to the Surrealist movement, a love of seasonal and organic produce and the idea of making, sharing and eating together they will create a Surrealist dinner party – The Salon of Talking Flowers.

• Emily Haworth-Booth is a designer, printer and illustrator and her sister Alice Haworth-Booth is a writer. They are both activists and they will take the topic of rally to create a unified maker voice by creating a giant embroidered banner piece called In it Together that will form the heart of a procession at the rally.

• Medium is a creative studio based in Stockholm who design mainly for public spaces. They will ask makers to build tables, chairs and stools responding to written texts from designers, philosophers and architects which will act as the staging for the Salon of Talking Flowers.

Craft Rally is a strand of Crafts Council Collective, a new programme of continuing professional development for makers. The West Dean Craft Rally is being delivered by the Crafts Council and West Dean College.

Tickets cost £40 (includes entry to the West Dean Festival for the day) or £125 (includes entry to West Dean Festival for four days and camping). A maximum of 50 places are available. To book online click here.

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Maria Rivans , The Collage Queen, is holding a COLLAGE WORKSHOP at the Ink-d Gallery, 96 North Street, Brighton .....

On: Sunday, 14 August, 2011
From: 11am to 2pm
Cost: £55 per person
5 students per class
(more dates will be added if the workshop is over-subscribed - the class may be cancelled or rescheduled if there are not enough students)

Discover the enjoyable and spontaneous nature of making your very own collage. Most materials will be provided but if you can, please bring some sharp scissors and imagery you may wish to use in your collage. This can be from magazines, photos, books, postcards - whatever you may have. Maria will also be providing a box full of material you can rummage through. You will be able to take your collage away with you at the end of the session.

So if you fancy having a go, do go along, it's gonna be fun!

This workshop is to coincide with the 'Made in Brighton 2' Show.

To find out more or to book your place please contact the Ink-d Gallery on gallery@ink-d.co.uk.

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Featured Artist - Ed Boxall

Ed Boxall is an artist and illustrator based in Hastings. Ed will be exhibitng his work at the Brighton Art Fair in September.

Where did you train? What did training teach you and what do you wish it had taught you?
I was taught the technicalities of printmaking on a Fine Art printmaking degree in Hull and went onto complete an MA in illustration at St Martins. I wish I had spent the degree drawing rather than being confused by all the conceptual/ multi-media work going on. The MA was a great chance to explore my work at my own pace.

When and where did you first want to do what you do?
Always. I've fluctuated between the exact area of visual art- commercial illustration, printmaking, small scale publishing. But it's always been visual art since I was a child.

One favourite living artist?

John Burningham. Believe it or not I wasn't consciously influenced by Burningham until the last few years. There's something impossibly, spookily magic about his markmaking and the way a scene and character is conjured up. It's organic and utterly specific. The sense of a drawing being a unique moment in time. His best work is cosy and familiar with such a sense of the faraway and magical right there in the cosiness. Genius.

One favourite historical artist?
Paul Klee introduced me to the experience of image making as a truly transformative magical process. I also feel at home with British romantics such as John Craxton.

Where do you get most of your inspiration from?
My family, the countryside, the sea, walking the dog, rubbish dumps, abandoned buildings, chatting to the artists I share a studio with.

What is the most interesting / fun job you have had?
Um...I operated the spotlight in a theatre and dozed off while Wayne Sleep was performing so he was dancing on a dark stage... Have you had any interesting work related collaborations?
Last year I illustrated my friend Angie's book of poetry 'Bee Fever'. Sadly Angie passed away last year. Collaboration means alot to me but I can't sustain it for too long...For me the creative process seems to be about solitude.

At age 16 who most influenced your style?
I still have alot of affection for fantasy artists like Roger Dean. But pretty soon I got onto Picasso, Chaggal and Klee.

Last book / film that blew your mind?
Book: 'If No-one Speaks of Remarkable Things' by Jon Macgregor. Such a sense of a specific day in time and just the right touch of magic at the end of a book otherwise grounded in the real. More often I read trash detective books.
Film: I cried uncontrollably to 'UP'.

What music are you currently listening to?
I am in one of my late-sixties-light-psychedelia phases: The Byrds, Donovan, 'A Teenage Opera' by Mark Wirtz . More usually I listen to Van Morrison, Waterboys. I'm absolutely in love with the songs of Jimmy Webb.

Who would you say buys your work?
I think lots of the same people who read poetry...people who take the time...or aspire to find time to take the time! Also quite a few nans and grandads buying christening presents. Lots more women than men.

Where and what is your studio?
I have a kind of office somewhere behind the mountain of junk at home. I also love my lo-tech printmaking space at The Workship in the Old Town, Hastings. I complete all my prints on my 3 homemade mangle-printing presses. I love working in parallel with other artists...chatting as I work.

Do you have a good work/life balance?
I never take for granted that my hobby/source of happiness is also my job, so yes.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Involvement.

If you could be doing anything else what would it be?
Absolutly nothing. I'd rather be a poor struggling artist than a succesful-rich anything else. I'd like to be a succesful songwriter as well, mind you.

If you could exhibit in any gallery in the world which would it be?
I'm more excited by my pictures being in people's homes than galleries really...I love the thought of pictures being part of the furniture and people growing up/daydreaming with them over periods of time. I like galleries where it's more about looking than buying and families, scruffs and dogs are welcome.

Any other relevant information?
I have a new puppy called Dixie and a giraffe in the back of the car.

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