CSB Canvas printing

The new run of Clifton Suspension Bridge canvases - DONE!

Inspiration

Conor Harrington's Headless Heroes

Brothers

I think this is perhaps the most wonderful moment i have ever captured...

These two brothers aged 6 and 7 have just watched their mother and father get married.

Magic.

X

Derek B RIP

Just received the sad news that the UK's original Hiphop MC Derek B passed away yesterday. He was one of the first ever rappers to appear on Top of the Pops in the mid 1980's and is still regarded as one of the UK's first homegrown MC/DJ's...

I have had the Good Groove 12" for years and the accapella has taken a serious beating - i love this track! It still sounds fresh 23 years later...

Fear of Risks

A while ago i stated that i wanted to submit more 'wordy' posts up here - my thoughts in text and so on. I think i may have been inspired by other blogs i read regularly that are more text than image, whilst i guess i tent to post more photos than words. But anyway, for some reason i started to write about an experience i had recently whilst painting and felt the need to share it. So here goes - comments are welcomed. Feedback is appreciated!

The Fear of Risks.

Some weeks ago I met up with a couple of friend to do a spot of canvas based painting. Whilst two of us were cracking on with cans and brushes at hand, one was milling around, doing anything and everything but painting…

I asked what was up and it seemed that although he was enjoying our company and the chance to have an evening dedicated to painting amongst likeminded others, he just didn’t feel any spark - the mood just didn't take him. He went on to say that he wanted to experiment and the vibe wasn’t right on that evening; that perhaps painting experimentally is something he just had to do alone.

Despite being amongst friends that wouldn’t judge or criticise his work, he still felt uncomfortable pushing the boundaries of how he painted around other graffiti writers.

This brought up an interesting point that I haven’t really ever contemplated before – the fact that (traditional New York) graffiti art is all about showing off how accomplished you are at writing the letters in your name... ‘I’m here!’ ‘Look at me!’ ‘Check out my style!’ ‘Look at my letters!’ Graffiti writers spend years perfecting their own style and experimentation can, and will inevitably lead to an outcome that you are not planning for. This could therefore make the style you are publicly known for considered substandard to a viewer who is familiar with your usual efforts.

It started me thinking about the fear of taking risks.

The fear of experimenting with new techniques and trying something totally different stunts the growth of the graffiti sub-culture, because either consciously or subconsciously there is a concern regarding how an onlooker will perceive your artistic ability. Perhaps more generally, artists tend to stick to their known formula in the comfortable knowledge that the world will have the opportunity to see that they have reached a level where their style is recognised and (hopefully) respected. Hey, if it aint broke, why fix it?!

This all rang true to me personally when I gave it a little more thought.

I dedicated a good 10 years to painting the same letters week in, week out, with the sole purpose of having others recognise the style of my letters - and I did this whilst conforming to the ‘rules’ of graffiti. It was only when I felt old enough and secure enough in myself to cease worrying about judgements the onlooker makes, that I really started to feel progression with my painting in a wider sense and began to embrace the art of experimentation.

Hmmmmmm!

I can feel another painting coming on…

J

Derelict Paths prints

Here are a few of the prints currently on display at the Golden Lion, Gloucester Rd, Bristol as part of the Derelict Paths exhibition I have work in alongside Mr LJ - Ockermedia.

These prints are available to purchase for £30 each or i'll cut ya a deal on multiples! Order them at the Golden Lion or alternatively contact me at lukepalmer78 (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Print details:

Super high quality photographic giclee print

Heavyweight water colour art paper 350g's

Stamped by Acerone

40 x 30 cm approx.

Harrington at Laz

So having just noticed artist Conor Harrington has just updated his blog with a series of posts each one documenting a different painting of his currently on display at the Laz gallery in London - im off to nationalrailenquiries.com to book a cheap day return (or 2 of those £10 each way tickets!) up there to go and see it in the flesh.

A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

Take a look here.

Be prepared to be blown away.

Derelict Paths

This Saturday sees the opening of a new show by the mighty Ockermedia and myself at the Golden Lion pub on Gloucester Rd, Bishopston. Starting at 5pm and continuing throughout the evening with the finest saxaphone funk from the fantastic James Morton and his band.

All this for free!

See you there...

'Street' Art

Art in Street, Somerset...

(click to view larger)

Yesterday evening i ventured out into deepest darkest Somerset to see the new Elms Lesters exhibition Natural Selection. Featuring the likes of Futura 2000, Delta, Darlek, Ron English and Jose Parla, it was a high quality show with some very impressive works on display. And all in a small art college in the sticks!

It was great to see original canvases by artists whose work i am familiar with via the internet - there really is no substitute for viewing original works up close. There were also a lot of giclee prints from Adam Neate displayed in another room, but they were disappointing when you see the impact of the original works he produces - one of which is in the main show.

Get yourself down there for a look - i think the show is on until 12th December. Highly recommended!

Last Chance

Due to postage delays and a the printers being a little busier than expected, i have had to put the printing date of the CSB canvases back until next week. The good news is this allows you to get an order in with the background colour of your choice (see 2 posts below)...

You can choose any of the colours in the photo above, or a choice of your own - just let me know when you place your order.

Many thanks to those of you who have already put your orders in!