Change of Plan-Another Studio

I have found a smaller space that has walls and is more secure..it will be perfect for my needs and I have already spent several days there working away.

New Studio in Manchester

I was made aware of new cheap artist's studios that was available in the middle of Manchester City Centre. The rent for the space is really cheap and I snapped up a space this afternoon. I am now in a unused office blocks directly opposite the Town Hall and for £30- a month, I have a 9ftx9ft square to work in..it needs furnishing and heat but is great. I have also friends from my degree who I share the spaces with and it feels like a fourth year of the degree..albeit more self-centered instead of academically centered.

I have the space now to build my wooden collages and for the large scale envelope collage that I have been talking about..also, I'll need to take in my sewing machine for the bags that I will be making for the craft stalls.

tri-colour (de Stijl)

Package for Pine-Oakio.. The three colours (single colour) will be packaged as a triptych and the three coloured frontal design with be sold singular. The Gold Tooth and Red Heart are to be sold as a diptych. The heart and tooth was deemed too contemporary and was held back..

White and Silver range

I was given some light blue card so decided to make a run of white and silver cards..

final design

Gold Tooth


Red Heart

Since I was last here I talked about possible card designs for craft fairs..I uploaded my de Stijl inspired flowered designs and now have made them more rounded as a design and now on the verge of selling them in a shop in Ulverston called Pine-Oakio.

Me and my partner popped in oine day and started a conversation with the owner and she comes from near where I live now but she moved away about twenty years ago..she restores furniture and sells her own craftie produce.

I have designed tow more cards called Gold Tooth and Red Heart...I have called the three designs that I'm sending just 'Red', 'Yellow' and 'Blue'. I've kept the titles simple as the designs are quite simple and evocative and open to interpretation. Just hope this starts a dialogue with the public.

Rosa Barba @ the Cornerhouse

As I had the chance to go to Manchester under the illusion of auditioning for the Pointless gameshow at the Palace Hotel on Oxford Road, I decided to pop into the Cornerhouse to see the Barba exhibition on the two upper floors.

Rosa Barba was unknown to me at this point and I instantly fell in love with the art work. The way the rooms was set out was beautiful with the cine cameras all postioned towards (on the top floor) an extremely large projection sheet and the floor below, towards several points along the walls.

I enjoy the lower floor with it's almost seemingly random wordings and eventually the phrases fell into place. They began to act like a call and response type of choir and was very poetic. I spent quite a long time in the lower room and must attend the exhibition again as I never had the time to take it all in.

new card range

As I have been kicking the idea around about selling at craft fairs, vintage shows and other places that sells art..I have began to design and paint work. I have evolved the Valentine card idea into a more mass-produced 'Warholesque' piece. I really love this new phase and work idea and I think it has more of a commercial edge.

I have painted 100 of these cards in other colurs such as orange, bright pink, violet and have them in mono colour or as a two coloured diptych. They should symbolise the flowers of Spring and Summer but of course, they could be balloons or lollipops.



This is based on my Staffordshire Bull Terrier and only is a limited run.