Inspired by William Morris

This is an image I've created for a group show I am in this week at the Changing Room Gallery in Lloyd Park, Walthamstow E17, close to where I live. This is a digital version, the one in the exhibition is a slightly cruder ( and non the worse for it!) silkscreen print.

The exhibition is called "Inspired by William Morris", a local lad whose former house stands at the front of Lloyd Park on Forest Road. The man said a lot of great things - this is one of his lesser known quotations.

Exhibition runs 'til this Saturday 20th September.

Angela Hartnett's 40th Birthday

An invite design I did the other day for celebrity (Michelin-starred) chef and personal friend Angela Hartnett's 40th birthday party the weekend after next. Should be fun.

The image was created with retractable pencil, Staedtler pigment liner 0.3 and brush & Indian ink, coloured up and composited in PS. I really like the simplicity of line and the pared down colouring in this image - its a look I want to achieve more and more, definitely one of my favourite recent creations.

Click on the image to Enlarge

Portrait of the Artist as a Buffoon on Wheels

Me
the Sunday just gone
Green Park, London
at Robert and Sara's picnic
on Pat Beirne's foldaway bicyclette
daguerreotype taken by 'is missis
authress, artist and synchronised swimmer
Claire Collinson

The snap makes me feel queasy to look at it
No, not self-hatred
just the motion and angle
plus its blurred my magnificent ( waxed and ginger) moustache

Guardian Money -16 August 08

A piece for last Saturday's Guardian.

Apparently, now is a good time to rent somewhere, as the shortage of houses being sold has led to a surfeit of properties available to rent, as a consequence of which the prices that landlords are able to demand have fallen.

My scenario above is based on the 1970's UK sitcom "Rising Damp" about a seedy and unscrupulous landlord Rigsby and his three tenants Alan (?), Miss Jones and Philip (who always seemed to get the better of him).

Morning Advertiser - Third Place

A piece for this Thursday's MA ( pub trade mag). The article was about the sociological concept of the 'third place' ( first and second places being home and workplaces respectively), an environment to relax and socialize in, necessary for both the wellbeing of individuals and for the community at large.

The author argues that the pub is the natural claimant to this position, but needs to adapt to make itself more appealing to a broader market, in particular those who have moved away from pubs to cafés as their favoured place to meet, socialize and relax.

Click on the Image to Enlarge

Morning Advertiser - Slippery Slope

Another piece for the Morning Advertiser ( see my blog for others), done last week just before going away.
This was about the slippery slope of excessive government legislation in the drinks industry, excerabating the UK's abhorent and frequently violent binge-drinking 'culture'.

Click to Enlarge

Morning Advertiser - Traditional Boozer

A piece I did on Sunday for this week's Morning Advertiser (UK pub trade magazine) - the subject was the traditional pub/ shabeen/ tavern/ boozer and how Government legislation is making their survival evermore uncertain.

Staedtler pigment liner 0.3 + PS

Click on the image to see all the details!