it's a living thing

it's finally spring! which means it's time for living north live. taking place at the newcastle racecourse on the 26th, 27th and 28th of march, it is billed as one of the north's social and shopping highlights (!) featuring the very best products and ideas in interiors, homes, gardens and my personal favorite - food. I will be showcasing pieces of work from my want it! range with wok by bettina nissen, michael armstrong (afid design) and nick james under the banner of mushroom works. 

come along and say hi.

photograph: cariboo  sarah blood,  2009

lights, cameras, achtung!

i have john, a student from newcastle college in my studio this morning. he's photographing my studio and work for his final year project, so while he's doing lighting tests (not easy when it comes to neon) and before i have to pose for mug shots, i thought i'd catch up on a bit of blogging.

there's a lot going on in the north east at the moment. if you're in the gateshead area between now and may 19th , you have to visit the baltic centre for contemporary art for the jenny holzer and jordan baseman exhibitions. the preview on wednesday was nothing short of amazing. rumor has it the holzer exhibition, which is spread over two floors, utilizes 48,000 leds, it certainly makes for a hypnotic experience. bateman's narratives are equally seductive, yet visually couldn't be more different.  both exhibitions are definitely not to be missed! 

while you're in an arty mood the kitch-en gallery gallery is also worth a visit with great originals and limited edition prints on sale by urban artists such as craww, the cloud commission, and my personal favorite jess douglas. but you have to be quick, the red, or in this case pink dots were flying up thick and fast at the preview last night and the gallery is only open saturday 6th and 13th of march. 

photographs top to bottom: john hipkin measuring light, jenny holzer monument (detail) 2008, the cloud commission - forgotten the title, sorry carl!

"that's proper mint , that!"

this morning i delivered some finished pieces of work to a couple of very happy recipients. i've recently been working with helix arts  doing a number of glass and neon workshops with youth offending teams in the region. these pieces (pictured) were made by two of the participants, neither of them had worked with glass or neon before. when i asked if they liked what they'd made, the response was "that's proper mint, that!". i thought it was pretty good too.