#ldf '11 part one

to whoever, forever 2011

cariboo! 2009

duck! 2009

sharkbait wallpaper by kate usher

designed and made stand at tent_london 2011

london design festival was exciting and inspiring this year. installing new work in two different venues on the same day was certainly er...... educational! but with the help of my glamourous assistant, we managed to get everything installed in 12 hours straight and with only one hiccup.

at tent the designed and made stand looked great and everyone's products looked good on the stand. i was really pleased with my new piece for whoever, forever (top image) and kate usher's sharkbait wallpaper was the perfect background for my green neon duck! i also showed my pink neon antlers, cariboo. they featured on the design event stand at 100% design futures last year, where they were spotted by a designer at jack wills, and are now adorning a number of newly refurbished stores throughout the uk and hong kong. this year, they were spotted by someone else....... but more on that in another post.

london design festival 2011

the past few weeks (months) have been a blur of activity, take out food and not enough sleep, but i'm very exited to be launching two different bodies of work in two venues this year.

at tent london i will be exhibiting on the designed & made stand h09/h15 where i'll be showing a new wall based piece influenced by old sailor tattoos, the most recent addition to my production range, want it!

i'll also be installing a site specific neon and porcelain sculpture as part of lux craft at origin. inspired by lux: the measure of the intensity of light that hits or passes through a surface, as perceived by the human eye, the piece also draws inspiration from elements, compounds and molecular structure.

images of new work to follow shortly.... but in the mean time, come to the festival and say hello.

light fantastic

earlier this week, i installed four pieces of work for light fantastic, the new exhibition at broadfield house glass museum. other artists exhibiting are keith brocklehurst, richard wheater, sharon foley and tracey emin.

if you're in the stourbridge area between now and the 19th of february 2012, you should check it out. you won't be sorry!

light matter

light matter is the most recent commission for creative cohesion studios, in the regenerated sunnyside area of sunderland.
the sculpture was made from white argon filled tubes, handmade porcelain globes, with a single streak of red neon. it takes inspiration from the molecular structure of carbon, the element that unites all living things in the known universe.

the video documenting the installation of the piece was produced by mynamesdan and comprises of 1739 individual photographs at two frames a piece. photographs were taken during and leading up to the installation and include some making processes and a tractor, that somehow found it's way into the river tyne just outside my studio.

to see the light matter video, click here.

while light matter is a permanent installation, this week is the last chance to see banish the blues. the exhibition features my new and recent neon and mixed media works, alongside comic book art by p.r.e.s.s. and runs until saturday 26th of feb at creative cohesion.

100% design

i've been looking at my ever growing list of 'to do's and noticed that i've been bumping the 'update blog' bit for a week or two. as usual working, sleeping, eating and the in-between bits have been getting in the way of blog time. i have a (very disciplined) friend bethan laker, who (when not on maternity leave) has 'blog fridays', which is an idea that i fully intend to borrow.... at some point....

anyhoooo, this morning i found this blog: sorry i haven't posted, and it seems that although the reasons vary, i am not alone in my blog-neglect.

so i will skip the apologies of absence, (we're all to busy to read that stuff anyway, right?) and just let you know that i will be at 100% design, earls court in london next week (23-26th september) with a group of other artists and designers from the north east. i haven't been before, but i've heard it's good and not to be missed.

to the world brand new....

...is an exhibition of new work by myself and glass artist phil vickery (not to be confused with the tv chef or rugby player).

it's the first traditional gallery show i've done in a while and i have to say it has been a delight! washington arts centre have been fantastic, especially curator susannah and technician duncan, who have treated us like 'proper artists' from first contact, right through to the opening night.

it has been great to get my head around some new work and resolve ideas that have been buzzing round my head for the past couple of years, in particular castle in the sky (pictured, top) a mixed media installation, which i mentioned as an 'idea in progress' in my first blog back in february. the exhibition combines installation with more representational neon pieces, birdhouse for the soul (pictured middle) and the abstract neon and concrete luna fossils (pictured, bottom) to explore ideas about home; the imaginary, the abstract and the actual. the lovely people at the crack magazine recommend you go see it if you can!

to the world brand new is showing at washington arts centre, tyne and wear from now until the 16th of october.

the summer so far...

the good thing about this summer is that i've been really busy with conferences, exhibitions, festivals, making new work and contacts. the bad time about this summer is that i've had so much on, i haven't had time to blog about it!

june saw me stateside, firstly in louisville, kentucky for the glass art society conference, which was as exciting and exhausting as usual. after the conference i headed on to new york for a few days, where i saw some amazing art, enjoyed the sunshine and walked about 500 miles. i returned to the uk with a stack of business cards from new contacts, a head full of ideas and the need to sleep for a week! highlights of the trip were discovering the 21c museum hotel, louisville, that not only had a full blown gallery in the lobby, but also made killer martinis, and art-jacking moma, new york. no seriously, i really art-jacked moma.

in july i was at art in action at waterperry gardens, demonstrating making my work and showing in the best of the best exhibition. it's the third year i've been invited and was definitely my best show yet; four days of camping, glass bending, and non stop talking! one of the 25,000 visitors was Teleri l-j from the crafts council, who included an image of my best of the best exhibit in her blog about the festival.