This is the face I see as I look up from my computer and this is the face I've seen pretty regularly on a stage over the past 15 years. He was the main focus of my husband's attention when we met and has slowly become a substantial part of my attention. I've been surrounded by his music and cajoled into seeing him live on so many occasions I've lost track. From Brixton to Belgium, Hastings to Hammersmith I've joined the throngs of fans who love this man for his wild and weird ways, his lryical beauty and belting sounds.
So it was that again we were in London to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds perform the latest album Dig Lazarus Dig! We were reticent. Grinderman, his collaboration with just a few of the Bad Seeds did nothing for us and this latest album is also lacking the Nick Cave of old. But the man was on outrageous form, playing songs new and old, careering around the stage index finger outstretched casting that menacing shadow on the side walls of the venue that I shall forever associate with his gigs. He has mellowed; being far more interactive with the crowd, making gags, hurling abuse (unprintable abuse) and clearly enjoying his suggestive dance moves! Yes he's still great. I'm sure we'll be seeing his face again soon on another stage!
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Hammersmith Apollo
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
ARTIST OF THE WEEK - PERDITA SINCLAIR
Perdita Sinclair
Unique minimal figurative painting on raw canvas and portraiture
When and where did you first want to do what you do?
I've wanted to be a painter probably from when I was about 5. I also wanted to marry B A Baracus and live in a tree house with all the forest creatures. So one out of three isn't bad.
What place in the world has inspired you (and why?)
I am very into evolutionary theories and people's connection to places. Now living in Sussex I adore the downs and can see the affinity that many local people have with that landscape. I feel inspired and happy by any landscape which I can blend into and not feel like a pollutant.
How much do you bend your 'vision' to suit the marketplace?
For better of worse I only paint what interests and challenges me. My work has never comfortably fitted into a pigeon hole and I would hate it to be disposable. I have many questions and feelings which I try to explore in my work. It is what it is away from any fashions or trends in the market.
Who would you say buys your work?
A very diverse range of people buy my work so I don't think that I could stereotype.
E.g. I have sold some work to be the sole feature in a meditation room. I have also known pieces to be flown off to foreign destinations. Once, a few years ago a man got on the tube train I was on in London with one of my paintings. 'That's my painting!' I said, 'No, it's mine. I just bought it' He said.
How do you set about starting a new project?
I avidly keep sketch books so when an idea surfaces into a mission I figure out what are the best ways to research it. Recently I have been lurking in the shadows at the Booth Museum and the Natural History Museum sketching the composition of taxidermied creatures. As well as this I have been pillaging the section on metamorphosis at the library. I should have some results from all this lurking and pillaging in time for the fair.
Where and what is your studio?
My studio is tucked away near Preston Park Station. It is a wonderful little haven for wildlife, sometimes too much e.g. squirrels. There are about 12 artists working in all kinds of different disciplines around the courtyard all happy to come together for many cups of tea. I religiously listen to radio 4 in my studio space and am guilty of singing along to the Archers as well as swearing at the constant themes of death in the afternoon play.
What is your favourite (art) website (and why)?
I would have to say google as I regularly look for my rating to keep an eye on an Emmerdale character, who from some cruel twist of fate, has my name..jpg)
Do you have a good work/life balance?
I can never switch off totally from my work. It is not uncommon for me to wake in the middle of the night and fumble for a sketch book. I try and make time for friends and family, though, and keeping to a regimented work week is very useful being self employed.
Do you think art and craft has any real importance?
Besides my own interest in Art I use to wonder how important it was in the world. I now know that it can hold immense power and life beyond our mortal existence and I find this very moving.
Can anything be 'art'?
Marcel Duchamp said that it could if an artist said it was. I think that anything can be art if the viewer thinks that it is.
MAKER OF THE WEEK - Andrea Eserin
Andrea Eserin Jewellery
I make unique contemporary jewellery in precious metals, coloured resin and semi-precious stones.
One favourite living craft maker?
Dale Chihuly (www.chihuly.com) , glass maker, has been a huge influence on me. I love the colours and the forms he uses. Also the impressive scale he works on. Seeing his work makes me want to have a go at glass blowing!
When and where did you first want to do what you do?
I've been interested in art and design since I can remember, always pointing out details on buildings and having a fascination in how things are made. I studied art and design GCSE's and A-levels and during my A-levels I did a jewellery and silversmithing evening class at Pruden and Smith silversmiths in Ditchling. It was this class that influenced me to go on to study jewellery at Middlesex university. The rest is history!
What place in the world has inspired you?
I've visited India twice and have found it the most visually stimulating place in the world!
At age 15 who influenced your style?
My pottey GCSE teacher, Jane Abbott (www.jane-abbott.co.uk) , who was incredibly encouraging of me going in an art direction.
How much do you bend your 'vision' to suit the marketplace?
Jewellery, by it's nature as a functional object worn on the body, dictates a certain amount of restrictions on the designers part. But that, I find, is part of the interest and challenge - to create something that people want to adorn themselves with!
Where and what is your studio?
My workshop is in my garden, which is perfect as I have a young child. If I've got lots on I can take the baby monitor out there (when he's asleep obviously!) or pop in at weekends when my partner's around. I like music on - it's about the only time I listen to new music nowadays!
Surprising activity/hobby?
Maybe it's not surprising, but I've recently started horse riding again. There's nothing like being up on the downs on a sunny day, on horseback!
What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
Absorbing.
Would you rather be doing something else?
No, but I'd like to add to it by gaining some new skills.
If you could exhibit in any gallery which would it be?
Electrum Contemporary Jewellery gallery - it is one of the fore runners in it's field.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Brighton Open Houses - 64 Stanford Avenue
It's Open House season in Brighton and we went to the Private View of the newest Open House - and a probable contender for the best exhibition during this years festival - SixtyFour is in a large beautiful Victorian House on Stanford Avenue high above Brighton overlooking the town and the back gardens of Fiveways.
Many of the artists have come from 6 Clifton Street which isn't opening this year but there are a few additions.
Rob Peel is showing his 'mixed process' works which he also calls 'praints' a combination of monoprints and paintings Robs unique process. This lovely prints are semi-abstract landscapes of Sussex and Cornwall - especially West Penwith. Summoning the spirit of the place rather than straight landscapes.
Work is packed into the house and garden - all is worth seeing even though I didn't take pictures of everything.
Victor Stuart Graham's driftwood boats in the bathroom.
Peter Layton's glass.
Rhoda Baker's intricate white teselated card pictures - minimalist, repetitive forms constructed from layered and constructed card shapes, play with light and shadow, and look fantatic on this dark wall.
Judy Dwyer's 'Dangerous Dolls and dogs' are both engaging, and very slightly sinister
Also exhibiting
Hannah Bedford Beautiful Silver Jewellery
Chris Cain - Recycled metal sculptures
Helen Cann - Acrylic Paintings
Mary Gillett - Etchings and paintings of landscapes - Dartmoor and West Country
Lis Lawrence - Paintings of Sussex
Bernard Lodge - Woodcuts
Philip Lyddon - Small scale pots and ceramic figures
Catriona Muir - Textiles
Anabel Munn - Delicate domestic ceramics - expresso cups, vases etc
Kathie Murphy - Resin jewellery
Kate Osborne - Watercolour pictures
Bob Read - Oil Pastels
Judy Stevens - Lareg colour Lino-cuts
Kerry Stokes - Woven Screens and furnishings
John Weaver - Lovely modern simple furniture.
and John Wiltshire - Watercolours and Oil Paintings
I know this sounds like a hell of a lot of artists but the house doesn't feel unduly rammed just a lot to see and worth taking some time to view it all.
(Top Tip for visiting Open Houses if choosing just a few to see choose houses with a long list of artists as there will be more chance you will like something - visiting the house of a single artist can be embarassing if the work just doesn't strike a chord with you)
Monday, 5 May 2008
Remembering Loppy
Visitors to The Dragonfly House, 48 Ditchling Rise, Brighton - winner for the past two years of Best Open House in the Artists' Open Houses Festival - may well remember Loppy the pet rabbit in the garden, always a big hit with the children. Sadly, Loppy passed away last year, but a memorial has been unveiled - a wooden automaton by Helen Sinden, best known for her wooden heart boxes. Turn the handle and Loppy dives into view and a cloud (his ghost? his dream?) rotates. There also a peep hole where a carrot is hidden! Go on, have a go - you know you want to.
Friday, 2 May 2008
Through the Keyhole - Christopher Noulton
Ten years ago, artist Christopher Noulton bought a wreck of an Art Deco house in London which he and his partner have since restored back to it's former glory. Many of the original curved Crittall windows were badly corroded and had to be replaced on a "like for like basis" , the remaining ones were lovingly stripped back to metal and restored. Having spent the last 25 years working as a television production designer, Christopher really wanted to push the interior to have a more luxurious feel. To achieve this he made many pieces for the house including circular perspex ceiling lights, curved staircases, round toggle light switches, glass block walls, and even a new streamlined front door (which features along with the front of the house in his painting: "Doorstep Blooms" - above).
The house was built in 1937 and sits, along with several others (no longer identical) on what was once the site of a huge Victorian house and it's garden which was 
cleared to make way for this development. Christopher and his partner are virtually the last people in the street to have resisted the temptation to replace the original windows with modern glazing, as they feel they have retained the purity of the "Modern Style." Christopher says "It's a shame that there are no photographs in existence of our street when it was first built, as it must have looked amazing to have seen rows of houses identical to ours! I still get double glazing salesmen trying to convince me of the benefits of replacing what they refer to as the "antiquated" metal windows, but trying to convince them that they were the reason we bought the house just seems to leave them bemused". It was difficult to decide how far to go with the styling of the interior, as it is after all just a "three bedroom semi" but Christopher thinks they have added just enough pizzaz without going over the top.
Art Deco architecture crops up in many of Christopher's paintings. From his studio in Putney (a converted undertakers coffin store) Christopher tends to paint with a strong nostalgic feel for the past, and with regard to his visual style, he draws inspiration from the commercial art of the 1960s, especially cigarette cards and Ladybird books.
Christopher exhibited at the Brighton Art Fair in 2007 and got off to a flying start when he was awarded first prize in the "Architecture in Art" competition being held in conjunction with the Hove Civic Society. This led to him accepting a commission from Bluestorm Ltd., to produce a large painting of "Embassy Court", the famous Art Deco apartment block on Brighton sea front which was recently restored by Sir Terence Conran and partners (see the "News" section of Christopher's website). Embassy Court was designed in 1935 by Wells Coates and this glamorous building was once home to the actor Rex Harrison and the comedian Max Miller. We are delighted that Christopher will be exhibiting with us again this year.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Manos
MANOS On-line shop.
For the first week this is not an Etsy shop although Karin Eriksson does have an etsy shop too. (here)
We featured Karin's rather lovely shop, studio come glasshouse - Manos - on the blog a little while ago. She has made Manos an online entity as well.
I've been following the collaboration between Karin Eriksson and Camilla Engman over the last few weeks and the results are now in the Manos shop. Camilla is a Swedish Painter, illustrator, blogger and maker - she is supplying the figurative decoration and Karin is supplying the ceramic shapes, the results are unique and stunning.
Collaborations can throw up great and surprising results but don't seem to happen all that often, It would be good if this collaboration will inspire others makers to risk working together to create something new and original. Congratulations to K&C on this one.
Disappointingly (for us at least) - I notice that many of the designs are sold out already!
