Wakefield Art Walk

On the 28th of this month, I'll be taking my work into a wholly different (& quite unexpected) arena. The artists community of my home town have for some while now organised a regular event called The Art Walk. As the tile suggests, the event constitutes a tour of various locations around the city, where 'art' in many forms is exhibited &, performed. For the Art Walk at the end of this month, I was invited to participate.. I know, crazy, right?.

However, the plot thickens even further. As of next year, a new massive & spectacular art gallery will open in the city, affiliated with The Tate Gallery, the new Hepworth Gallery (named after the sculptor Barbara Hepworth) will bring exhibitions of contemporary art (rarely seen outside London) to Yorkshire. Now, while the Hepworth won't open proper until next year, it will be opening it's doors to the public as a part of this art walk, & trust me, the building alone is well worth a look. The works displayed in this new space will be part of an 'art swap', since elsewhere on the walk (at Westgate Studios to be exact), a rarely seen Barbara Hepworth sculpture, Mother & Child, will be on display for the first time in many years, & five local artists ( Victoria Lucas , Andy Singleton , Richard Sweeney , Richard William Wheater & yours truely) have been asked to display a piece at the Hepworth. That's right.. my work, in a gen-u-ine bon-a-fide art gallery... I'm still thinking they are confusing me with someone else. The five of us were each asked to create a piece of work which was in some way a reaction to the Hepworth sculpture.

For my piece (the specific details of which are under wraps for now) I have come up with an installation which combines projection, & printed matter, with a healthy dose of audience participation, because just as the five exhibited artists have been asked to create something in response to the Hepworth sculpture, the attendees of the art walk, will be asked to provide their own reaction to my contribution, those who accept the challenge, will be rewarded with a different kind of 'swap'.... intrigued? You should be!!

Below is the Barbara Hepworth sculpture which will be on display at Westgate Studios, & a couple of pictures of the room within the Hepworth Gallery where my piece will be displayed.

Caped Crusaid 2

Last year I contributed two sketch cards to the AIDS charity event Caped Crusaid. The even is being organised again this year, & I was happy to contribute once more.

Last year, the sketches were put on display at Orbital Comics in London, & auctioned vis Ebay. I imagine something similar will be the case this year too.

Anyway, here's my two for this year, Black Widow, & Shanna The She Devil.

Poles apart.....

I was recently asked to do a comic strip for Polish newspaper Fakt. I was provided with the script.. thank goodness, sine the strip they wanted was satirical look at the Polish general election, & my knowledge of the Polish political system is somewhat limited...

Anyway, dont ask me to explain the finer points of the vitriolic satire on display here, because even tho I was provided with a translation, most of it still escaped me.

By the way... finding a font with Polish letter characters suitable for use in a comic strip.. not so easy to find!! Who knew!

Rocket Girl!!!!

Long time no post.... oops. Anyway, here's a quickie. I was asked to contribute a pin-up illustration in a 1950's space pulp style to volume 2 of StarShipSofa Stories.

I'm a huge fan of Al Williamson & Wally Wood's scifi stuff, so not surprisingly, some of those influences came thru in this piece. I added the Zip-a-tone/Lettratone effect in Photoshop, to give it a slightly more retro feel. I used to use no end of sheets of that stuff on my black & white work back in the 80's.

Now all I have to do is come up with an origin story for her, & issue one of Rocket Girl will be in the stores before you know it.....*ahem*