Well the week’s exhibition down in Whistable is over and it was a good experience all round. The staff at the Horsebridge Arts Centre were lovely and made it all very easy to put up my show there; thy’ve got a great schedule of exhibitions, music and workshops lined up this year so pop in if you’re visitng the ‘Bubble, they’ve also got a good cafe upstairs with a big balcony to sit out on in the summer:

I did a pretty half-hearted job publicising the show, I guess I wasn’t entirely confident that I would a) get the work finished to put up, and b) it would be any good, but it all came out all right in the end. A few chums came down from London, my old friends from Whitstable droped by and I was touched people made the effort to come. Three of the six pieces sold and I’ve got one commission as well, plus some very nice feedback which was greatly appreciated.

I didn’t take any pics of people at the show which was a bit rubbish on my part but the three Phil’s were together again, that’s me, Phil Gomm and Phill Hosking; we all showed together in a group show about three years ago so here’s some pics from back then:

Me, Maggie and Jeremy’s luxuriant mohawk

Phil Gomm, sharing a joke with friend Emma

And one of Phil’s gorgeous photographs

Phil and his partner Paul bought Derek Jarman’s Garden and Orford Ness from ‘Thames, Dover’ and I’m chuffed to bits that they liked these pics. As well as a talented writer, photographer and gardener, Phil is also Senior Lecturer on the BA Hons. CG Arts & Animation course at the University of Creative Arts. His students are producing all kinds of wonderful work and you can see what the’ve been up to here on a blog choc full of delightful and engaging stuff – I’m rather envious of how good and how young these people are! You can also see some of Phil’s beautiful ‘light sculpture’ photos taken in France last year here. Phil and Paul used to be next door but one neighbours in Whitstable and I miss ’em loads, and I miss Paul’s to-die-for roast dinners too, *sigh*….

Phil Hosking showed some fantastic scuptured heads for the group show we did at The Horsebridge , here he is in animated discussion followed by a pic of one of the sculptures he showed:

Phill is a staggeringly talented artist; as well as a professional sculptor he also creates awesome images using Photoshop – you can see some of his work here. I had shied away from using this kind of technology, sheltering behind a kind of Luddite rejection of all things digital in favour of what I considered more authentic and worthy media, but Phill has shown me just what great tools such software can be and I’m going to dip my toe in the water at some point later this year. I’m just bowled over how Phill creates images of such depth and atmosphere so quickly – even one of my most modest collages will take an hour or two and Phill creates whole worlds in 40 minutes, so I’m converted.

And last but not least the one man who was part of that group show not called Phil, my partner Jan. Here’s a couple of his wonderful photographs taken on Dungeness beach which he showed at the exhibition:

When I met Jan nearly six years ago I remember he talked about how he had loved photography as a child and wished he had kept it up. Shortly after, he went and bought a new camera and has developed into an extremely accomplished photographer, an activity which has now become his main occupation. His dedication, hard work and sheer talent are hugely inspiring and last week Jan took part in a group exhibition over in Berlin where he now lives.

Jan has his first solo exhibition coming up in March at the highly respected Werkstatt gallery in central Berlin – well done mister! – . This is exciting stuff, although a bit scary for Jan as well I’m sure; I’ll be flying over for the opening night so i’ll post pics of the show then.

Well, after the solo show last week I’ve come away with loads of ideas of where I want to go next, and I’m particularly keen to start trying some figures and portraits using the collage and print techniques I’ve been developing over recent months. The exhibition was really good for focussing my mind on a particular project and the deadline motivated me to do more work than I might have otherwise. Having such talented people around me helps too!

Just across the railway tracks from the Rote Insel neighbourhood where we live in Berlin is a collection of handsome, old red brick Prussian Army barracks. The area escaped the wartime bombing largely unscathed and the barracks are now a collection of flats, studios and workshops. I walk home from the station past these buildings and I love their dark sillouhettes against the cold winter sky at the moment.

Red Island Night

The recent exhibition project has got me well and truly back into using colour again which I’m enjoying a great deal. This is the first real colour collage I’ve done of Berlin, it’s tiny, just A4 size, but I’d like to get a group of Berlin images together to show over here before not too long so this one was good practice.

I lived in Whistable, or Whitstabubble as it is affectionately known ( Aero’s ‘it’s delectabubble’ advertising campaign was thought up by Salman Rushdie, apparently) on the north Kent coast for nearly two years a while back and during that time we had a group show at the Horsebridge Arts Centre with me, my partner Jan, and friends Phil and Phill; yes, that’s three Phils, hence the title of the show: 3xP+J. It was a good experience, I learnt a lot and earlier this week I went back to the Horsebridge to put up a small solo show. The staff at the centre are very welcoming and supportive so it’s a good place to try out a show on my own.

With a lot of help from my pal Maggie I put up six pictures in the small Gallery 2 at the the front of the building. I took seven pictures down there but one just didn’t sit right with the rest so I decided to take it out – note to self, put the pics together and see what they look like before you try putting them up in the gallery! It’s a bit of an awkard space to photograph, but it has a big window out onto the street so gets good light:

Although it’s a very small show, it’s immensely satisfying seeing the pics on the wall in the gallary on public display, it will be interesting to see what people make of them.

The gallery is practically on the seafront, so after we finished putting up the pictures we went for a stroll up to the harbour in some very cold, blustery winter sunshine, the ‘Bubble really is a jolly charming place indeed:

The Snow Goose

I remember my parents gave me a copy of The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico when I was young and it made a huge impression on me. I find it just as moving whenever I re-read it as an adult, it’s so beautiful and so sad. The story is set on the Essex coast, a landscape of muddy creeks and tidal islands which can feel very wild and remote. The South East is often associated with being crowded and over developed, which it is of course, it seems choked half the time. With a bit of effort, though, it’s not too difficult to get away from it all, even so close to London. Some corners of the coast, especially, can feel well away from it all, albiet in a rather bleak, empty kind of way.

This picture didn’t really go the way I wanted it too, but it’s going in the exhibition anyway as time’s up and it’s supposed to open on Wednesday. I’ve got seven pieces done, there’s probably room for another one, but seven will have to do, the space only came up due to a late cancellation so not had much time. Anyway, i’m nearly there, and I’m happy enough with what I’ve done, so we’ll see what they look like once they’re up!