Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft’s 1st Birthday!

It's official, we're doing a pop-up shop at Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft as part of their 1st birthday celebrations!

Ditchling museum is a gorgeously designed museum nestled in the heart of Ditchling village on the South Downs. This unlikely village has a strong history in the art and craft world, having had many world renowned artists and crafts people living and working in it's community over the years. For example typographers Eric Gill and Edward Johnston both lived in the village and Eric Gill is buried there. The museum celebrates these arts and craft ties with an amazing collection of work and objects created and used by these people right there in the village.

To celebrate their 1st birthday the museum is opening up it's doors for free 11am - 10pm on Saturday 20 September. We'll be there selling our wares as part of the Best pop-up shop, along with pop-ups from Brighton gallery & shop Unlimited and the lovely guys from SORT Design. The pop-ups will be open from 11am - 5pm after which there'll be a paper-cutting workshop and a DJ so you can dance the night away.

There are loads of events on throughout the day plus there's delicious cake, locally sourced foods and real ales so be sure to put it in the diary. Come on down have a look around and say hello, there's a free shuttle bus to and from Hassocks Station too so there's really no excuse!

For more information check the museum website.

Derek Yaniger at Castor + Pollux

Roll up guys 'n' gals, swingin' cat Derek Yaniger has another fantastic exhibition at Castor + Pollux, Brighton.

Yep, our favourite seafront gallery has screenprints from the king of tiki style, illustrator Derek Yaniger for you to eyeball until 11th July.

His prints ooze retro 50s loveliness and burst with energy, so swing by cool cats and take a gandar!

AT Openhouse

We've been pedaling our wares again this month at the wonderful AT Open House as part of the Artists Open Houses alongside a fantastic line-up of artists, designers and makers.

As you can see there's work from a few AT regulars; Mark Pavey (Dead Methods), illustrator Alice Pattulo, screen-printing duo hellododo, Pinch of Petting Zoo Prints & Collectables, glitter-loving James Sawyer, realist painter Rhys Trusseler and illustrator/rude word purveyor Nathan James Page. Along with some great work from some new additions to the AT family; perspex jewellery extraordinaires Designosaur, kitsch toy lover Toy Pincher, whimsical painter Becky Blair, contemparary jewellery designer An Alleweireldt (Oxx Jewellery), illustrator Ceri Amphlett, abstrat painter Sophie Abbott and Teresa Stewart Goodman with her quirky animal character cut-outs.

This weekend is the last weekend to see all this work in one place and of course treat yourselves to the delicious cake, so get yourselves down to AT Open House before the doors close for another year.

AT Open House is open 11-6pm, Saturday & Sunday at 42 Hendon Street, Brighton BN2 0EG.

Sean Sims at Castor + Pollux

Our favourite seafront gallery, Castor + Pollux are showing work from local illustrator, Sean Sims as their first show of the year.

Sean's retro style illustrations will make you smile, they're whimsical, colourful and most of all fun.

The exhibition runs until the 12 May - sun, sea and art, what's not to like?!

All images copyright Sean Sims.

New Linocut prints

So here they are, our new set of A3 fairground and circus inspired linocut prints.

Each print is an edition of 100 and will be stamped and numbered. They're going to be for sale as part of the Best Home collective at Pick Me Up later this month and also at AT Openhouse as part of the Brighton Festival's, Artists' Open Houses throughout May. Once the shows are over the remaining prints will be available from Art-O-mart, our online store.

Spring Shows

Busy times at Delicious HQ lettering, lino-cutting and printing for our new range of circus and fairground inspired prints, totes and silk scarves ready for our Spring shows.

We're very excited to be doing Pick Me Up for the first time this year, as part of the 'Best Home' collective, the brain child of the lovely Niki Best, "print and graphic arts are all around us, and not just on our walls. We want to show the variety and number of different applications by getting various artists working in mediums that they havent worked in before". Best Home will be bursting with exclusive wallpaper & fabric, ceramics, paper cuts, prints, totes, notebooks and greetings cards from Antony Burrill, Lubna Chowdhary, James Marshall ( Dalek), Danny Sangra, Alex Binnie, Lou Taylor, Curly Mark, INSA, Stewart Easton, Home Slice and Stanley James Press. Best artists will also be running workshops throughout the show including paper-cutting, letterpress, embroidery and printmaking. Pick Me Up 2014 starts on the 24 April and runs until 5 May at Somerset House, London. Check our their website for more information and to book early bird tickets.

In May we'll also be back at AT Openhouse alongside an impressive line-up of artist, designers and printmakers; Alice Pattullo, An Alleweireldt, Becky Blair, Dead Methods, designosaur, hello DODO, Inkyskipper, James Sawyer, Mr Wingate, Nathan James Page, Petting Zoo Prints & Collectables, Sophie Abbott, Teresa Stewart-Goodman, Toypincher and Winsome & Saucy. Of course there'll also be lots of tea, coffee and cake! Artists' Open Houses are open weekends throughout May as part of the Brighton Festival. For more information and to keep up-to-date with artists and plans, check out the AT website.

I'll post up some taster pics over the next month as the new range comes together, so watch this space.

Vivian Maier

I was fortunate enough to catch the last day of the Vivian Maier exhibition at Les Douches la Galerie whilst in Paris last month and what a treat. I've read loads about Vivian in the press after her massive collection of images and negatives were discovered in 2007 and the pieces of her life and images have slowly been put together.

Vivian Maier was born in New York in 1926 to French and Austro-Hungarian parents. She moved between Europe and America in her early years, but moved back to New York in 1951 and began photographing day-to-day life on the streets of the city. She moved to Chicago in 1956 where she spent most of her life as a nanny and in her spare time took pictures of Chicago life, the buildings, the people and the society, documenting, 'some of the most interesting marvels and peculiarities of Urban America in the second half of the twentieth century'.

Vivian was very secretive about her images and kept them all in storage lock-ups without showing anyone. It was only in her later years when she stopped paying the rental that the lockers and their contents were auctioned off and the amazing contents discovered. Unfortunately Vivan passed away in 2009, but her images are being catalogued by John Maloof and exhibitions are being held across the world throughout 2014 so people can finally see her wonderful legacy.

“Well, I suppose nothing is meant to last forever. We have to make room for other people. It’s a wheel. You get on, you have to go to the end. And then somebody has the same opportunity to go to the end and so on.”  Vivian Maier

You can read more about the wonderful life of Vivian Maier and see more of her images here.

All images by Vivian Maier. Copyright 2014 Maloof Collection Ltd.

Only 2 days left…

... to catch Tom Eckersley: Master of the Poster at University of the Arts London (UAL / London College of Communication).

"To mark the centenary of legendary graphic designer Tom Eckersley’s birth, London College of Communication presents an exhibition of iconic Eckersley poster designs which celebrate his enormous contribution to graphic communication and design education in Britain."

Tom Eckersley's career as a graphic desgner spanned six decades. The 'undoubted master of the poster', designed iconic posters for Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) encouraging safety in the workplace, for the Air Ministry during WWII, the General Post Office, London Transport and the BBC all in his distinctive bold, bright style. In the mid 50s Eckersley joined the London College of Printing (UAl: London College of Communication) establishing the first under-graduate graphic design course in Britain. During his 20 years as Head of Graphic Design he taught many well-known creatives of our time including; Ralph Steadman, Charles Saatchi and John Hegarty.

This exhibition is showing a selection of posters from the UAL's Eckersley archive along with reflections from those he influenced during his long career, but it ends on Wednesday (!) so hurry on over there. It's open 10am - 5pm tomorrow and Wednesday.

Images copyright of the Estate of Tom Eckersley / University of the Arts London / Archives & Special Collections Centre.

Only in England

Only in England: Photographs by Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr demonstrates, "the close relationships between the work of these two important photographers" by showcasing over 50 unseen images from the National Media Museum's Ray-Jones archive chosen by Martin Parr alongside The Non-Conformists, a selection of rarely seen Parr images from the 70s. 

English born photographer, Tony Ray-Jones graduated from Yale University School of Art in 1964 and on returning to England travelled across the country capturing, "what he saw as a disappearing way of life" - English eccentricities and social customs. Images which struck a chord with Martin Parr and became a great influence on his work. 

This exhibition runs until the 16 March 2014 at the Science Museum, London.

Hello My Name is Paul Smith

An exhibition that, "takes you into the world of fashion designer Paul Smith, a world of creation, inspiration, collaboration, wit and beauty".

Hello My Name is Paul Smith follows the career of the genius that is Paul Smith from the opening of his first shop in Byard Lane, Nottingham (1970) to the global 'quintessentially British label' it is today. It showcases his influences, his eclectic archives and his design process - "The whole point is anyone can come and get goose bumps and be inspired".

The exhibition opens today at The Design Museum and runs until March 2014 but don't worry if you can't make it, there's an accompanying book 'Hello, my name is Paul Smith: Fashion and other stories' edited by Alan Aboud and published by Rizzoli. 

Images copyright Paul Smith.

Pop Art Design

Pop Art Design starts tomorrow at the Barbican! With over 200 works from over 70 artists and designers including Peter Blake, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Charles and Ray Eames, it's going to be a great exhibition.

"Pop artists commented on the cult of celebrity, commodity fetishism and the proliferation of media that permeated everyday life in America and the United Kingdom after the Second World War. Radically departing from all that had gone before, artists delighted in adopting the design language of advertising, television and commerce to create work that was playful but often also intentionally irreverent and provocative. In turn, designers routinely looked to Pop Art as a constant source of inspiration. Pop Art Design paints a new picture of Pop – one that recognises the central role played by design."

The exhibition runs until February 2014 so there's plenty of time to get down there and I have it on very good authority that the gallery shop is packed full with fabulous pop art style goodies.

Jacques Lowe: My Kennedy Years

Jacques Lowe: My Kennedy Years - an intimate archive of a political rock star.

To mark the 50th anniversary of John F Kennedy's death Proud Gallery, Chelsea are showing a wonderful exhibition of intimate, beind-the-scene images of JFK and his family.

Jacques Lowe became the Kennedy's personal photographer in the mid 50s after turning down an official post as White House photographer. The 28 year old was given full access to the day-to-day life of the president, at work, at home and at play. He took over 40,000 images during this time but unfortunately all the negatives were destroyed in the 9/11 attacks leaving only these images printed by Lowe before his death in 2001.

The exhibition runs until November 25th and there's an accompanying book, 'My Kennedy Years: A Memoir by Jacques Lowe' published by Thames & Hudson for those who can't make it in person.

Images copyright: Estate of Jacques Lowe

Via Chapeau!

Money, Power, Sex & Mark Wagner

These amazingly intricate currency collages are the work of brooklyn-based artist, writer and book-maker Mark Wagner.

He strives to create, "something bizarre, beautiful, or unbelievable... the foreign in the familiar" and uses only one dollar bills in his masterpieces, what he describes as, "the most ubiquitous piece of paper in America" and "a ripe material: intaglio printed on sturdy linen stock, covered in decorative filigree, and steeped in symbolism and concept".

Watch him at work in this great little stop motion...

If you're lucky enough to be in New York next month you can check out his work in person at the Pavel Noubok Gallery. His next exhibition, 'Money, Power, Sex & Mark Wagner' starts on the 6th September and runs until 5th October 2013.

Images and video copyright Mark Wagner.

Via Colossal.

Patrick Caulfield at Tate Britain

Last week I took a trip over to Tate Britain to see the Patrick Caulfield exhibition and wow, was it worth it. Such amazing work; graphic, colourful, witty and enormous!

The exhibition follows his artistic career chronologically from the early 60s when he left the Royal College of Art through many iconic pieces to some of his last paintings in 2005.

Caulfield's work was influenced by cubism and rather than use traditional painting techniques, he developed a unique graphic style with simplistic shapes, flat colours and black outlines - a style more associated with commercial signwriters. It was great to see this style develop and become perfected as I moved through the exhibition/ years.

Anyone in any doubt over whether he could paint in a more traditional style will be blown away by the realism in some sections of his paintings. For example, take a close look at the landscape picture in After Lunch (above) - you would be forgiven for thinking it was a picture postcard, but it is in fact an extremely detailed landscape painting. The brass door handles in Bishops (above) are another fine example of his traditional painting pedigree.

These areas of detail surrounded by over-simplified objects and flat coloured backgrounds are typical of Caulfields work. They created what he thought was a reflection of how our memories record information, "I find that in treating things in different ways, they become a point of focus. It's the idea that one doesn't encompass everything, and that your eye can look around and see things. I'm not so sure whether it's your eye or whether it's that your memory remembers things in different ways. There seems no reason to treat everything evenly. It's more like a collaged memory of things. Some of the things are in sharp focus, and others, if you like, symbolise the object".

The exhibition runs until 1st September 2013 at Tate Britain.

Final weekend of AT Open House

This weekend is your last chance to wander over to AT open house, have a snoop around their beautiful little terrace, sit in the garden, eat lots of delicious cake, drink plenty of tea and of course check out the huge selection of work from 13 artists, designers and printmakers.

To whet your appetite a little more, here are my favourite Petting Zoo & Collectables screen prints available at the house and also in the web shop.