Happy Thanksgiving?

"Thanksgiving Day. Let us all give humble, hearty and sincere thanks, but for the turkeys. In the island of Fiji they do not use turkeys - they use plumbers. It does not become you and me to sneer at Fiji." -Mark Twain



"For me, Thanksgiving serves as another remembrance of how my Native American ancestors were maltreated; annihilated; ousted from their land; and consigned to reservations, eradicating every trace of their pre-existing life. Thanksgiving rehashes memories of how the hospital staff, in its refusal to treat my great-great grandfather, sent him home to die from pneumonia because he was Native American. Thanksgiving reminds me of how my great-grandmother had "to pass" as a light-skinned black person to avoid being forced on a reservation..."

-From the article "Dismantling Thanksgiving...", read the rest here. I have not checked every fact in this article, I'm just offering up a different perspective, so any bitching about particulars, take it up with the author.

Cut-Click Mail Art Exhibition

I'm very happy to say I will be exhibiting up North in the New Year. Exciting new illustration 'zine Cut-Click are holding their second exhibition in January, which I will be part of.

This mail art themed exhibition will be held at The East Coast School Of Art & Design in the adventure-name town of Westward Ho(!). As the work featured will be mail art themed, the packaging is the art work. Postcards, painted jiffy bags, fold out zines, illustrated envelopes and various other packaging.

Since I have collect umpteen packets of envelopes, postcards, and packaging ephemera from the turn of the century to modern times I am pretty excited about this exhibition to say the least.

A letter-themed logo I made for my old website


I'll keep you updated and perhaps offer you a peep at pieces that don't make the final cut for the exhibition. All exhibition pieces will be kept top secret so you'll have to go to see the show yourself.

The exhibition will be held at EastCoast School of Art & Design, Westward Ho, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN34 5AQ and will run from 19 Jan - 10 Feb, Mon - Fri (closed weekends)10am -4pm.

My stamp/franking inspired card

Fun at The UpMarket

I spent all day Saturday at the Artists & Makers UpMarket in Worthing town centre. The UpMarket is a large bazarr full of art, charity and shopping held in an empty (and rather enormous) Allied Carpets warehouse/store.



Here are some photos from the day, and also a link to a radio interview for Empty Shops Radio (below the photos).

CLICK HERE FOR THE EMPTY SHOPS RADIO INTERVIEW!


Big thanks to Artists & Makers founder Dan Thompson, Vobes and Giles Babbidge for the opportunity to take part.

PAPER X MEGAZINE

Issue 2 of Paper X is now out and I am featured! Paper X is a fabulous art magazine, the brainchild of Edinburgh local hero Sandy Christie, and features a ton of great, hard-workin' artists. If you are interested in going to the launch then click here. Check out more info after the skull-jump. Paper X is available to buy now from Sandy Christie's website.

CUT-OUT AND KEEP MASK BY ME! FREE WITH PAPER X MEGAZINE!



"Paper X is a unique platform for artists and writers to showcase their work. The open submissions policy has netted an astounding volume of work - locally, nationally, and internationally, with over 80 artists and writers represented.

(Tech specs) A5 booklet 46 full color pages, using 100 gsm, for text and 160 gsm, for images (content) 16 written works 69 image works

So whats new ?
There are some new developments in issue 2, including the 3 new Paper X directories. These directories contain a real mix of works - this means more work gets in, its like 3 mini group shows. Also the directories give an overall flavour of what has been sent in.

Plus there is an extended writers platform with some fantastic pieces including Catherine Paytons Moustaches, Gemma Nelsons Ecstasy Stacy, Oli Higham - Am I of sound mind, and Chirly and Chancer the talking fish, and many more.

Features
This issue will be looking at the Ego and sort of explains how it actually works. Read the Ego Manual for more. Plus, free inside, your very own death mask template by Ink and Mess. also Paper X asks “what kind of artist are you?”, with some flippantly hilarious results."

Ink & Masks in Worthing.

This Saturday I will be installed at this Artists and Makers event in Worthing, this Saturday 14th November from 10am-4pm. My mask line will be erected once more in the hope that people will be enticed into selecting a new face. As well as live drawing I will be carrying out a participatory art installation in which everyone can come and help me make my audiovisual piece for a future exhibition. See you there!



ARTISTS AND MAKERS PRESS RELEASE:

"The biggest empty shop in a south coast town is going to be used by the local community in the run up to Christmas.

A massive shop just off Worthing's Montague Street Precinct which was formerly an Allied Carpets showroom is to be used by fifty local groups, clubs, charities and artists in a project brought together by Worthing Lions Club, supported by national organisation the Empty Shops Network and Worthing Borough Council.

The 1200 square feet shop in Buckingham Road, Worthing will be used for six weeks as 'The UpMarket', a market selling vintage, recycled and upcycled goods to support local charities. Already booked up are groups that help people with disabilities, find new homes for unloved animals, look after people with cancer and run home for the elderly.

Meanwhile, a wide range of artists and craft-makers will have spaces to exhibit and sell their work. Another area in the shop will be dedicated to community activity, hosting a range of workshops, meetings, talks, poetry performances and more.

Finally, for two weeks of the project the warehouse behind the shop will be used for a contemporary art exhibition by the Revolutionary Arts Group, which they promise will be 'a bit of Tate Modern by the sea'.

The project has been brought together by Worthing Lions President John Sayles, who spotted the potential of the huge space owned by Worthing Borough Council.

'Our ambition is to help as many local groups as possible' he said, 'and this unit lets us carry on the good work of our popular summer seafront market in the busy Christmas shopping period'.

He has been helped by the advice of Dan Thompson, Worthing-based founder of the national Empty Shops Network.

'This will be one of the biggest empty shops initiatives in the country' says Dan, 'and it's great that it is happening in Worthing in the same week that the town hosted the first ever Empty Shops Conference.'

The UpMarket will be open Wednesday-Saturday from 11th November until Christmas."

Joke.

I thought of a joke this morning. The punchline is 'Liverpool'.

Maribou eyelashes.

Livingstone on LBC just said something about Michael Caine coming out with his switch to the Tories this week, that they will get his vote in the next election. Who did he vote for before? Thatcher in the 80's and Blair in the 90's. If he then votes for Cameron that's got to be a hat trick of naivety, surely?