Tag: art

It’s been a choppy week with more than its fair share of anxiety and stress. Fortunately, I’ve got better at spotting the signs, and learning to move with the flow, rather than resist. In turn, this has meant I’ve also been able to enjoy a lot of what is going on around here this week too. Things like…

On Monday I gave two career talks to local school kids. We talked about art, travel, hard work, ups and downs, and more. We shared lots of questions about what’s good, what’s not so good. I appreciate how younger minds, yet to be corporatised often seem more willing to just ask clear questions, getting straight to the point. And there’s a friendliness in the exchanges too.

On Tuesday I had some great business development conversations, and ran a community art class. Wednesday was also primarily about business development, and Thursday contained a lovely joyful moment of handing over a finished art work to its new custodians.

The week is drawing to a close, and the next opportunity approaches. This is the 150th consecutive week of the We Are All Artists free art project. Almost three years ago I started hiding art, and where this project has taken us since, never ceases to amaze me.

I’ve decided to hide this guardian to celebrate the milestone. I painted this a while back, and I’ve been waiting for the right moment to do something with it. ‘In The Fullness of Time’ will be hidden some time over the weekend. Thanks to everyone who supports the project, I appreciate it very much.

The first time Carole and I saw ELTEL perform, it was early 2017 and we were at an open mic night in The Brook. In all honesty, we weren’t sure what to make of them, two guys playing and singing a mix of their own kooky material, and reconstructed covers. After they’d finished performing we agreed that yes, this is our kind of music. We’ve seen them play several times since, becoming friends along the way.

ELTEL are now a trio, playing regularly in and around South London, Surrey and beyond. They’ve developed a really strong repertoire of material, they work hard and they’re great fun to go and see.

Here are some excellent photos of the band in full swing, taken by the very talented photographer, Shaun Duke.

Several months ago, the band approached me and asked if I would be interested in making the art work for the album cover. I agreed – and this is the work I handed to ELTEL towards the end of 2018. The album will be released in April 2019 and I can’t wait to hear it.

As the album launch nears, we’ve been thinking about ways to commemorate it, and after much discussion we’ve figured something out. Pressing vinyl copies of the album wasn’t possible this time around, but what if, instead of that, we made a limited edition vinyl junkie stencil and spray paint wall art instead?

After a few practice attempts, the design is finished.

We have decided to produce a limited edition run of this special vinyl, available to order between the dates of March 3rd 2019 and March 23rd 2019. Each vinyl will be numbered and signed on the reverse by the band and the artist. Once the deadline has been reached and all the vinyl produced, the stencils will be destroyed, to protect the integrity of the limited edition. The cost of the vinyl is £25 plus £5 P&P in the UK, free delivery to SM5 and SM6 post codes, and free delivery to any of the three ELTEL launch party gigs. £2 from each sale will go to All in Wallington, who help organise a fantastic free local music festival every year.

To place your order, please send your money via PayPal to doug.shaw@wgalimited.com – and if you prefer to pay by bank transfer, email me at the same address and I’ll message you the details. You have until midnight on March 23rd 2019 to place your order. Thanks in advance for your support.

I made this piece of art over two years ago. I really like it and I’ve been pondering what to do with it since it came into being. Keep it? Sell it? Art drop it…?

I’ve decided to make it the third in a series of commemorative art drops in memory of Cate. To me it represents an acknowledgement of sadness, and of carrying on. I’ll hide it somewhere in the local area over the weekend.