Author: Natasha Steer

Creative People and Places Swale and Medway – Events – February to March 2013

Creative and Art Events, Creative and Art News
Jellyfish created by the creative community in Medway on LV21 for the fish disco organised by Moogie Wonderland. LV21 is the venue for "Hooked Up".

Jellyfish created by the creative community in Medway on LV21 for the “Fish Disco”, organised by Moogie Wonderland. LV21 is the venue for “Hooked Up”.

An enterprising group with a £1.5million plan for the arts in Swale and Medway is inviting residents to a series of events to share ideas on how the money should be used.

Consortium members from Creative People and Places: Swale and Medway want to meet members of the communities the money will benefit and hear their views on the kinds of projects, events and activities that will improve the two areas. Each event will have creative activities for visitors to take part in as well as providing opportunities for discussion.

The grant is from Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places programme, which aims to make the arts accessible to everyone and encourage people and groups who don’t think the arts are for them to get involved. Therefore, the consortium is keen to meet both members of the arts community and people who do not ordinarily engage with the arts.

The events are…

  • Our Space, organised by Kent Architecture Centre, 10am to 1pm, Saturday, March 16, at Chatham Riverside (between the bus station and the river). Contact chris.lamb@architecturecentre.org or robert.offord@architecturecentre.org Join Kent Architecture Centre and students from the University of Kent’s Fine Art department to explore themes around public space. Artists Tim Meacham and Peter Hatton will work with students to run workshops investigating themes around future citizens, citizen animators and a space for everyone. Get involved and help manipulate the space, be it physically or virtually. There will be a range of fun activities for all ages to participate in and enjoy, from creative Mask Making to Gardening, showcasing your best dance moves to grabbing your shovel and joining in with an Archaeological Dig!

    Alongside these activities, plus many more, there will be live music from local performers and a delicious BBQ for you all to enjoy.

  • Pop-Up Cinema, organised by Artlands North Kent, 6.30 to 9pm, Sunday, March 24, onboard Thames sailing barge Edith May, Lower Halstow Dock, Lapwing Drive, Lower Halstow, near Sittingbourne.  Contact fiona@artlandsnorthkent.org.uk A free pop-up cinema event. The truly remarkable and acclaimed Terence Davies film Of Time and the City is both a love song and a eulogy to his native Liverpool, exploring memory, reflection and how a place can change and influence the people that live there. The inspiring film demonstrates an affinity between Liverpool and North Kent as it reflects upon the former’s industrial past, sympathetically and creatively articulating a sense of place. Refreshments will be served, booking is essential via the email address above, parking is available and access onto the boat is limited.

Three more public events, featuring a pop-up cinema, open discussions between active members of the arts and non-arts communities, and interactive performances, are being organised for March.

The consortium is also asking residents to nominate “community catalysts” – prominent members of either arts or non-arts communities who already do a lot locally and will be able to encourage others to get involved with activities in Swale and Medway. Nominations can be made at the events and via the website from March onwards.

Fiona Boundy, curator of Artlands North Kent, said: “Swale and Medway have exceptional and thriving community and voluntary sectors and we know there is a desire from these areas to engage in the arts.

“We will work collaboratively within these communities to share skills, knowledge and resources and adopt new ways of working to broaden and diversify opportunities for engaging with, and participating in, creative programmes of the highest quality. Starting conversations with members of the arts and non-arts sectors at the six events is the first step towards this aim.

“We are committed to ensuring that Swale and Medway become known as places where all forms of creativity can thrive; where communities directly benefit from the power of the arts to make positive changes in their lives; where new routes for engagement are opened up through our commitment to testing out pioneering and experimental approaches to working.”

This month the consortium advertised, in the national and arts Press, the role of “creative enabler”, which will be key to the programme’s delivery.

Fiona continued: “The creative enabler role is important because it will enable us to get on with the delivery of really exciting, engaging and inclusive creative programmes. The creative enabler will be crucial in terms of ‘putting into action’ feedback and ideas from different communities and will also be key in facilitating our open submission strand, where we will invite people to submit proposals for projects.

Sign up to receive regular updates and news letters about Creative People and Places: Swale and Medway atwww.CreativePeoplePlace.info Visit the soon-to-be re-launched website for more details on events and consortium members and to find out how the Creative People and Places programme is evolving in Swale and Medway.

Art About – Accessible Art Studios and Workshops – Boundary Wharf – Chatham

Creative and Art Events, Creative and Art News, Creative Opportunities

Screen Shot 2013-02-14 at 00.55.44Art About is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company offering workshops run by local artists Helen Morley and Wendy Daws. The purpose of this project is to provide contemporary Fine Art opportunities to adults who are excluded from mainstream higher education and art making opportunity, for reasons of disability or disadvantage.

The focus is on developing the artist, their art and their abilities, not on disability. This is very exciting because it is accessing and evidencing a truly creative pool of under-explored talent. Long term, they want to build these new skills towards training, qualifications and even potentially employment, broadening the lives of excluded people. They will be enlarging the cultural offer to the region, showcasing great art and artists, and building opportunities to connect with the wider community.

The project is now in its second phase and for the next three months and they have their own pop up studio space in Boundary Wharf, Chatham. The studio will be a place where people can develop their skills in a creative, safe and friendly atmosphere. Both artists are experienced mentors, working with people with learning disabilities, visual impairment and other sensory or physical disability (at Maidstone Social Services day centres, Kent Association for the Blind, The Topaz Community and Spadework) and we want to support people to discover and grow their own creative potential, both as individuals and as a group. References are available.

The studio days will be Monday and Tuesday from the 4th February onwards until mid April and will be open from 9.30am until 4pm. The fee for the day is £5 including all materials and is supported by the Arts Council. The groups will be small (no more than 10) so that we can give a good standard of support. Both Helen and Wendy have £5m public liability insurance and recent enhanced CRB checks and there will always be two staff present. The building is fully risk assessed and has a fire evacuation policy. Family or support workers are welcome to join us—please wear old clothes and bring a packed lunch.

The studio building is ground floor and there is room for a minibus or car to drop off outside the door, and some nearby free parking. The toilets are in an adjacent building and may not be ideal for everyone right now (we are working towards full disabled facilities next spring) so we invite you to come in and visit to see if they are suitable and chat over your requirements. Please email Helen at hcmorley@yahoo.co.uk or call 07849926239 to make an appointment to view the studio and drink tea!

More information at  www.art-about.co.uk

Being and Nothingness – Art Exhibition Featuring Matt Bray – 14th December 2012 to 16th February 2013 – Rochester Art Gallery

Creative and Art Events

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The following is  from the interpretation card for the exhibition – written by Edward Lucie-Smith, an internationally known writer, poet, art critic, curator, broadcaster, anthologist and photographer.

How is one to place the work of Matt Bray, a young painter who represents a new generation of artists now emerging here in Britain, who have grown weary of the conceptual dogma of the previous generation.

Since just past the middle of the 20th century, new groups of artists have regularly emerged here in Britain, in non-metropolitan settings often receiving scant justice from London-based critics. Though Matt Bray eschews any link with these groups, his work is, I think, best considered by looking at it against the kind of background they provide.

What Matt – and artists of his generation – are proposing is that classic Modernism of the early 20th century offers things to which art should now return. He declares that his primary interest is “the meeting ground between abstraction and figuration.”  This means that he can be regarded as being not only post-Kandinsky, but also as post the Abstract Expressionism that saw a complete dissolution of fixed forms. Bray says, “When I began painting I was not an image maker, but rather I just slopped paint around, interested in the material itself and the effects it created through chance, gravity etc., though that quickly became boring and the figure crept into my work and has remained ever since.”

The High Modernist artists he most readily reminds one of in his single-figure paintings are the first generation of German Expressionists. Recently, however, Bray has been experimenting with subject-material that seems, certainly at first sight, to have little connection with the past: “Images of androids and aliens; Star Trek has been my main depository of characters.” He adds. “I have been exploring the idea of the dichotomy of subject and object in relation to the humanoid figure, and aliens and androids seem to be a uniquely interesting subject for such enquiries as they are not human, but not so far removed as to be unconnected.”

It seems to me that what gives real strength to Matt Bray’s painting is that it maintains links to sources in the remoter past as well as re-engaging with the first impulses of the Modern Movement. Bray remakes Modernism because he has deliberately chosen to be a painter, when there are now so many other tempting choices open to the would-be contemporary artist – video, performance, installation, the purely conceptual. He also remakes it because he considers and makes use of the complex moral and intellectual choices offered by the Pre- Modern, things that the initiators of the Modern Movement sometimes recklessly ignored.

Craft case

Award-winning jeweller Sian Bostwick creates delicate wearable pieces inspired by literature, fairy tales and the Kent countryside. Glass artist Kathryn Roberts makes timeless, innovative handcrafted pieces that capture the natural fluidity of the medium.

Free family workshop

Saturday, 26 January 2013, 12.30-3pm

Join artists Wolf Howard and Matt Bray to create your own sci-fi inspired canvases inspired by the robots and monsters in the exhibition. All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Free artist talk

Saturday, 9 February 2013, 1-2.30pm

Join artist Matt Bray for an informal illustrated talk about his exhibition, his approach to painting, his inspiration and his techniques.

Advanced booking for all gallery activities is essential. To book phone 01634 338319 or email arts@medway.gov.uk

How to find us

Rochester Art Gallery and Craft Case is located at 95 High Street, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1LX.

Posted by Natasha Steer on behalf of Matt Bray and Rochester art gallery.

Why It Is Important To Write Contracts – By Natasha Steer

Editorials

When I was 17 I made a music video for a local band, it was my first paid creative job. I assumed the band would help someone so new to the world of business and provide me with some promo. What in fact happened was that the band posted the video on their website and did not mention once who had made it. As you can imagine I was pretty upset and had a chat with the band to try to resolve the issue.

Kindly the lead singer suggest we form a contract, and helped me in putting something together. I learnt quickly how important contracts are, although sometimes I still forget, and then regret being so absent-minded.

We would like to think people won’t take advantage, but sometimes it is just a misunderstanding that can lead to issues. Therefore I highly recommend, even when dealing with friends and family, to have a contract in place where finances or even just recognition are an issue. The band as mentioned earlier, changed their website to give me recognition for the video I made and I agreed that I would not use the video for anything commercial without their permission first.

I personally feel we should always recognise people and attribute them where ever possible, which is why I love Creative Commons licences. For the benefit of others, here is a draft contract layout for people to use for their creative projects. Adjust as necessary.

Contract of agreement in relation to:

Between:

I                                        , in representation of                                             , agree to the following:

To pay                                          the amount of  £                     upon completion of

To acknowledge                               , where ever the work is used and displayed.

That if the work is not delivered there will be no charge/compensation payable by any parties involved.

Signed

Date

I                                      in representation of                                           agree to the following:

To complete the work requested by the date of

That if the work is not completed by this deadline, I agree to deduct the amount of                          for each week of the delay.

If the work is not delivered there will be no charge/compensation payable by any parties involved.

To ask permission to use the work for commercial reasons.

Signed

Date

Signatures witnessed by:

Print Name

Signed

Date

You will need to add requirements as personally needed for the project, and make sure BOTH parties have a copy. Here are some extra notes.

  • A witness is not really required for basic contracts, but I recommend it still. However a contract made with organisations and large authorities actually constitutes as a DEED and does always require a witness. For further explanation visit http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/articles_print.php?CID=8&AID=1648
  • A witness of a contract must not be a relative or someone legally involved in the project.
  • There will be certain circumstances in which the creator and the person you are creating for cannot fill the requirements, for instance, you may get sick, they may get sick and they also may not be able to pay you! You need to add these details into the contract as to what the circumstances are if this was to happen.
  • I also found this article useful http://helgahenry.com/why-written-agreements-are-preferable-to-oral

p.s I am no legal advisor but realise you do not have to be to create a basic contract, however when large sums of money are involved and with big companies, I recommend taking legal advice.

By Natasha Steer

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland    South East South West    Wales   West Midlands

Notes From The Creatabot Workshop: Expanding Your Creativity – By Natasha Steer

Editorials

For the benefit of those who came and those who could not make the workshop here is a list of the subjects discussed. If you would like me to give the workshop in your area or in your community/creative group please contact me on natasha@creatabot.co.uk

EXPANDING YOUR CREATIVITY

WORKSHOP NOTES

  • Creatabot is an independent website and online magazine for creatives. Its aim is to inspire and support creative individuals. We work closely with the creative community to help develop ideas and try new ideas. We like to make things happen.
  • I work closely with coFWD – a community led work space. Find out more about them by watching this short film. coFWD is based at 161 Rochester High Street, Kent. You can pop by any time to find out more and see the space. Please watch the video before hand so you know what to expect! http://cofwd.org

Event Organising

  • If you want to organise an event, the best thing you can do first and foremost is write a press release. The basic order for a press release is the following:

Headline

Who?

What? 

When? 

Where?

Why?

Contact details

Image

You only need about 3 paragraphs of information for your press release.

Here is an example:

Artist Sarah Maple Launches Major Solo Exhibition

Artist Sarah Maple is to hold her first major solo exhibition at the Aubin Gallery, Shoreditch, London, from the 9th of February to 9th March 2012.

Sarah Maple’s exhibition “It’s a Girl!” takes a slightly controversial, but tongue in cheek look at what it is to be a woman and Muslim in the modern day. The work on show takes a more questioning look at traditionally accepted identity, gender and religion whilst revealing the young artists unique talent.

Currently living in Sussex, UK, 27 year old Sarah Maple has displayed work in various exhibitions in New York, Canada, Israel and Europe. Inspired by her own Muslim background, Sarah Maple uses photography and paintings to get her personal message across about subjects that have become socially acceptable and brings attention to the faults in this thinking.

End

Contact Details of Organiser

IMAGE

Creatabot can set you up with an account so that you can promote your creative related events, anywhere in the UK. email natasha@creatabot.co.uk to make it happen!

  • When you need an image to promote an event, do not use someone else’s images without their permission. It isn’t work risking! Instead go to Flickr and go to advanced search, use words linked to your event and tick the  Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content.

If the event is for profit then you need to tick the “Find content to use commercially”.

  • Find out more about Creative Commons Licences, it could protect your precious work also!

http://creativecommons.org 

All creatives need to know about these licences!

Online Presence

  • The key to social media ( Twitter/ Facebook) is NOT to try and hard sell.
  • Express your personality, whilst also being neutral and professional.
  • People can unfollow you / unfriend you for silly reasons!
  • Post images of your work.
  • Facebook and Twitter can be linked, so that you only post something once.

Pinterest is an easy way to create an online portfolio.

WEEBLY is a great easy way to make a FREE website that can be linked to your domain name.

POP UP SHOPS

Dan Thompson has put together the Empty Shops Network – which is a great resource for people wanting to run a pop up shop. The Pop Up Business of Dummies is brilliant. A PDF is available here:

http://emptyshops.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/developing-your-pop-up-plan1.pdf

But I recommend a hard copy, which can be bought on Amazon.

Pop Up Shop people:

Are willing to embrace the temporary nature of an opportunity, and agile enough to adapt and change as the opportunity does.

Always have an eye on the future, using a pop up to inform or inspire another plan or project, or to prototype a new business. They are interested in the long-term sustainability of their work.

Funding

The two main bodies for funding continue to be your local council and the Arts Council. Out of the two, your local council are likely to be more helpful.

MEDWAY PEOPLE: There is an artist resource centre inside the Visitor Information Centre in Rochester High Street. Inside the room there are folders packed with information about applying for funding with lots of different organisations, its brilliant!

You can book time in the room by calling  01634 338319

  • In the future in the UK, KICKSTARTER will be an awesome way to get funding. Have a look!

www.kickstarter.com

Community Projects

Helping your local community is a great way to expand your creativity, a great way to get people together for a particular project  is by using:

www.wewillgather.co.uk

That’s all for now! Thank you for reading!

By Natasha Steer

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland    South East South West    Wales   West Midlands

Lucia N°03 – The Lamp Of Inspiration – By Natasha Steer

Editorials


 They say everyone is creative. I believe everyone is born creative, but that if you let go of it, it is much harder to get back. Those who are non-creative are known to be more rigid in their thinking; they like rules and like to stick to them. Those who are creative are more spontaneous, like to be different and break the rules – us creative’s have issues with “walls”.

Recently the UCA Pop Up Gallery in Chatham was host to a visit from Lucia N°03 and it’s creators: Dr.Dirk Proeckl – a neurologist and psychologist, and Dr. Engelbert Winkler – a psychologist and psychotherapist.

Dr. Ernst Mussmann also joined them in the Gallery with his newly designed Vibrating chair.

Lucia N°03 is a lamp that contains white strobe LED lighting, when you sit in front of it with your eyes closed it stimulates the pineal gland and causes your brain to create a kaleidoscope of colours and patterns. The flickering LED light is controlled by a computer programme, which can be adjusted to suit the participant.

I read recently that those with more serotonin in their bodies tend to be more creative, whilst those with more dopamine are the non-creatives, as described above. Lucia N°03 not only stimulates the pineal gland but also the release of these hormones.

I asked one of the lamps creators, Dr. Winkler, whether older people found Lucia N°03 had little influence in comparison to younger people. Interestingly he explained that older people had the same results as younger people because they were more relaxed and had less pre judgements. He informed me that the most close-minded people couldn’t stand the results of the lamp and would want it switched off immediately.

We had some very interesting discussions that day, I am fascinated by the mind and having the opportunity to ask these doctors questions is something I won’t forget. We spoke about how the mind is resistant to change, and how there are those who know their life is going a certain way, that it is playing a certain story. I asked “But can they change that story?” One of the doctors replied, “You can” he paused “But, most people do not want to”.

Being someone who happily did change their story some time ago, you can imagine that I was happily the first to volunteer for a session with Lucia N°03.

An area of the UCA Pop Up Gallery had been sectioned off, and behind a black curtain was a comfy lounging chair and Lucia N°03. The chair had been created by Dr. Ernst Mussmann to help the person in it to relax. It emits sound by running the vibrations of frequencies through your body. I lay down and wooden “shoes” were put on my feet. I also laid my hands on wooden panels; these emitted the sound in a soft way to my body. The feeling this is supposed to reproduce is of being back in the womb, the brain is therefore relaxed, safe and your experience with Lucia N°03 will therefore be stronger.

Mussmann explained that the sound currently being played was the noise of the rotation of the earth, sped up. Amazingly he also informed me that if you were to put the frequency of this sound to a colour, it would be green. The Doctors have also been working alongside an aroma therapist, so I had some natural oils put on my hands to inhale and again, help me relax.

I was told that at first I would have a soft session for 2 minutes to check everything was okay. I had headphones put on, was told to close my eyes, and then I waited. I was very relaxed. The light switched on, and to start with I felt like I was laying in the sun. But what was strange was that it felt like the light was changing colour, but I knew it wasn’t. After a 2 minute test run the Dr started a 15-minute soft programme. He said it was very soft, and added to this the sound level I had chosen to have the chair set at was also low.

Again, it felt like I was laying in the sun to start with. Then after about 4 minutes, something happened. Everything started moving, and there were suddenly colours and patterns everywhere. As I moved my eyes around the pattern would move and change even more. It was like looking through a kaleidoscope, with the patterns ever changing. I had a short break between each experience, which I assumed was to give me a rest, but it turned out it was just a softer point of the programme and not everyone gets a break. I was told I could have a stronger session later on in the day.

Each persons experience is unique to them, for some reason my brain appears to love triangles. I spent the day drawing what I saw on my first session, so that you can see for yourself.

The stronger session later in the day was indeed stronger. The sound levels were made higher and the programme was stronger – more strobe patterns. I saw patterns and colours again, but this time with no breaks in between, the patterns just moved and changed continuously. I felt so relaxed. I wondered whether I could control what I was seeing though, so I tried to, I told my brain I wanted to see flowers. What happened? All the patterns stopped! As soon as I was not relaxed and just letting my brain enjoy the experience the patterns and colours were weaker. So I realised that this lamp was an amazing relaxation aid. In order to have a stronger experience I had to relax. It was something that I took away with me actually, I have learnt from it what “relaxing” actually is, that feeling of emptying your mind.

For this reason (and some unexplainable others) the Austrian doctors have found the lamp to help those that have certain issues in changing their life. It helps them to see themselves in a different perspective, which then helps to adjust their thinking and help the brain organise information better. When you are fully relaxed and enjoying the colours and patterns, you see your problems from another point of view, and it can help you to make some changed either mentally or physically to make things better. 

The mind is an amazing organ, and we will never understand the depths of it. One of the doctors spoke about how light and consciousness are so similar, neither can be fully explained and our understanding of them is so small.

The lamp makes someone who maybe isn’t creative; think in a more creative way. And for those who are creative, well it is inspiring and really gets your creative juices flowing.

 To find out more about Lucia N°03 visit: 

www.gesund-im-licht.at

UCA Pop Up Gallery: www.ucapopupgallery.co.uk


 

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Networking Vs Making Friends – By Natasha Steer

Editorials

Networking can be quite a scary word to a lot of creatives, it evokes the thought of dressing up smartly and becoming someone they are not in order to secure business. Often at organised networking events you swap business card with potential clients and are asked awkward questions like “so where do you work?” and “how do you make money?” rather than the more interesting question of “what are you working on at the moment?”.

3 years ago I started going to a monthly event in Rochester, Kent, called Tuttle 101 – a relaxed event with a collection of various types of people focused on inspiration, collaboration and learning through doing. First held upstairs in a local pub the event now happens once a month in a local coffee bar. Yes this one single event opened up a whole new world to me, and through it I have made friends, not “contacts”.

Tuttle 101 lead on to the majority of us converting an empty bank into a co-working space, called coFWD. Here we work on our own personal projects, and similar to the ethos of Tuttle 101, we bounce ideas off one another and help each other to do what we do even better. This is not an office space, we even hung balloons from the ceiling to prove this. It is a community space, we hold various events for the local area, and we do things together socially as well. I describe it as working in a place where you have chosen all the people you want to work with.

 

So when did people start thinking that a networking event would encourage creatives? As a creative I can speak for most of us and say that often our motive is not money, it is to make a difference in the world. We want to earn a living yes, but do we want to start discussing how much money we make? No, our inspiration does not come from money, it comes from projects, people and places – to name a few.

I have yet to meet a creative who enjoys “networking” events, however I know many creatives who are happy to meet up for a coffee. Yet people continue to try and connect with creatives by arranging fancy meetings and networking events or workshops with the aim of “expanding business” and “making profit”. A huge majority of the time these type of events never really connect with the creatives invited.

Maybe some money minded people think they are helping a creative by convincing them to become more business orientated. I can tell you now, it isn’t going to work, our whole life’s ambition is to make things much more important than money. So if you are a business reading this, think about how you can help them make a difference, not make money. As Albert Einstein said “Try to become not a man of success, but try rather to become a man of value.”

By Natasha Steer

@natashasteer

natasha@creatabot.co.uk

The next Tuttle 101 event is on Monday 17th September 2012 at 9.30am at the Deaf Cat Coffee Bar, Rochester, ME1 1LX

If you would like to know more about coFWD please email me at natasha@creatabot.co.uk

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland    South East South West    Wales   West Midlands

No Bell Prize 2012 – 14th September – Rochester – Kent

Creative and Art Events

Creatabot presents an evening of invention, ideas and science. Many of us have had a crazy concept for a gadget or some type of aid for life. Yes most of them worryingly ended up on Google patents, but maybe you have one that you are not afraid to share.

The No Bell prize has only one rule for your inventions…a pretty obvious one. If you want me to spell it out…it mustn’t have any bells!

Creatabot will be picking 3 winners for the No Bell prize 2012, who will then be presented with a certificate and a round of applause.

Please bring drawings, prototypes and ideas to the evening – which will be held at 161 High Street, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1EH on the 14th September at 7.30pm.

Tea and coffee will be provided.

Please book via www.nobelprize2012.eventbrite.co.uk or www.facebook.com/events/177018619099647/

Please note, our venue (http://coFWD.org/) is a very old bank building that is being slowly shaped by a community of individuals for long-term Community Interest. Sadly the startup project is in its infancy and being run on limited funds so the building currently has some accessibility issues. If you have specific access or disability requirements and would like to attend an event or activity please let us know at least 5 days before the event date so that we can do our utmost to resolve any potential problems to accommodate.

Area: South East

Grandmaster Flash To Hit The Decks In Rochester – 9th November 2012

Creative and Art Events

Hip-hop pioneer, Grandmaster Flash, is set to hit the decks in Rochester High Street on 9th November, at the Casino Rooms. The era-defining icon created the loop and cross-fade DJ techniques, spinning minds and decks across the globe in the 70s and 80s. Scratch the surface of hip-hop and experimental rock of the past 35 years and the Furious Five godfather is at the heart of it.

It’s rare to be able to witness a legend at work, and even rarer to do so at just £12 a ticket. But that’s the small price to pay to see the man who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 and stoked the musical fires of greats including Run DMC, Public Enemy, Beck and Jay Z. Grandmaster Flash was also the first person to use the turntable as an instrument. 

Since launching in September 2011, with a headline gig by prog-rock and Can icon Damo Suzuki, Medway-based TEA Concerts has focused on bringing to the towns artists that are shaping the current musical underground. In a short ten months they’ve put on bands on the up that knock the knees of indie darlings, including: Tigercats, Stuart Turner, The Bobby McGee’s and Darren Hayman; BBC 6 Music A-listers one and all.

To book tickets for Grandmaster Flash visit seetickets.com or teaconcerts.co.uk Tickets will be available from 9am on Friday 3 August and cost £12 in advance. This is a late concert style event in the main upstairs room with Re:fried DJs spinning tunes before and after the main act.

TEA background

• TEA put on shows in Medway, London and Brighton

• Aim to put on new or era defining acts in interesting spaces

• Formed in 2011 from the now defunct MILK

• Former acts include Jeffrey Lewis, The Mae Shi, Damo Suzuki, TEETH!!!, Sister Mantos, Com Truise, The Bobby McGees, Seafood, Blackbird Blackbird, Mystery Jets, Darren Hayman, Euros Childs, UpCDownC, BITCHES, Moustache of Insanity, Honey Ride Me A Goat, Let Our Enemies Beware, and Trash Kit.

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Creatabot Conversations: Music – 25th July 2012 – Rochester

Creative and Art Events

What turned out to be an invite to a few people to come to coFWD to see the space has turned into something much more interesting. There are now a number of people coming to coFWD on Wednesday to have a look at the space – and they all have one thing in common – making music. 

Having spoken to various people recently about possibilities and needs in Kent, Medway is quickly becoming a place bubbling with inspiration and like minds who want to create and collaborate. 

If you would love to meet other musical creatives and discuss where there are needs and also help others find out about things they maybe didn’t know, then we would love to see you Wednesday: to indeed see coFWD but also to have a nice relaxed (emphasis on RELAXED) afternoon to chat about creativity, collaboration and ideas.

We would love there to be a wide mix of people attend such as:

Songwriters
Singers
Musicians
Photographers
Gig organisers
Music Video Producers
Record Labels
Social Media peeps
Web designers
Illustrators

Place – 161 Rochester High Street – ME1 1EH

Time – 3.00pm until 5.00pm

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/296198113812612/

For more details email: natasha@creatabot.co.uk

#creatabotconversations

Please note, our venue (http://coFWD.org/) is a very old bank building that is being slowly shaped by a community of individuals for long-term Community Interest. Sadly the startup project is in its infancy and being run on limited funds so the building currently has some accessibility issues. If you have specific access or disability requirements and would like to attend an event or activity please let us know at least 5 days before the event date so that we can do our utmost to resolve any potential problems to accommodate.”

This reason for the above is two fold:

1. by law we (coFWD/161/CreativeMedwayCiC) are required to make any ‘publicly promoted’ events or activity accessible to all and failure to be ‘accessible’ or not provide advanced notice of building/space accessibility limitations will likely land us in trouble.

2. it is very important that all of our events are measured for capacity and that we know who is coming to or has been through our doors, this is important for safety and security, and it also means the person running such activities can easily update participants of any changes or additional correspondence.

Area: South East

Creatabot Creatives Competition 2012 + Exhibition Open For Submissions

Creative Opportunities

Creatabot Creatives Competition is open to all creatives in the UK.

The brief for 2012 is “Gadgets and Gizmos”.

There are 6 categories for the competition:

Short Film

Photography

Fine Art

Literature

Music

Mixed Media 

(for anything creative that does not fall into the above categories)

Entries will be judged by the following Creatabot contributors:

A winner will be selected from each category and presented with a “Creatabot Creative of 2012” plaque.

Appropriate work will be put on exhibition for the whole of December 2012 at Strood library, Kent. 

To enter please upload your work or an image of your work to

http://creatabotcreativescompetition.tumblr.com/submit

By 19th November 2012

If you have any issue with uploading please send your work to natasha@creatabot.co.uk

Terms and conditions: Entries must be received by 1st November. Judges cannot enter. You can enter as many pieces as you want to into multiple categories.

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland    South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Introducing A New Creatabot Contributor – Helen Hanson

Featured Creatives

We have another contributor! Helen Hanson is from Doncaster and is an all round creative who will be writing about many different subjects. I asked her some questions so that we could all get to know her better…

So what is your creative background?

My creative background has involved art in one form or another from cake making, rug making and cross stitching to ceramics, stained glass windows and painting. I have always had creative flair and have a Masters in Multimedia and Education and am looking to start my Doctorate in Social Media and Education in September. I have been involved in e-learning and love learning new software and looking at alternative ways of using technology. I work in a College which gives me lots of opportunities to experiment with new technologies and learn techniques with my students and really bring out their creative side and transferrable skills around technology and software.

I have an addiction to learning new things and playing with technology. I am also a traditional artist using oil paints and pastels and experimenting with a different range of image manipulation packages and then mixing my art mediums to create different creative art pieces.

Who inspires you both locally and universally?

I am inspired by lots of different artists and love to see the different art works that are now coming through on my Twitter feed as well as on Facebook and these have inspired me recently to get more involved with my own art work and produce some digital pieces rather than just the traditional artwork that I have always created.

I have an open mind which can get very over inspired by what I see around me in everyday working life and have got to the stage that I have so many ideas that I now have to create a list to make sure that I don’t forget some of the things that I have seen and what I would like to experiment with. Time is my biggest issue as the days are not long enough and burning the candle at both ends seems to be becoming a traditional pastime.

What would you like to achieve in the future?

I would like to be able to have time to myself to be selfish and just do what I wanted to do rather than life itself having an impact on my time. I would like to be able to spend all my time being creative and creating pieces of art work in the sun with no time constraints. We all need dreams and hopes to aim for and something to look forward to and make plans to achieve to keep us improving and moving forward.

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

There are so many to choose from each with their own different views and perspectives on life. Deviant Art is a brilliant collection of pieces as well as 500px and Planetvisions.com. I am currently enjoying social media like Twitter, it gives me the opportunity to create an interactive list and categorise some of the feeds and interesting people that are sharing their art work, blogs and websites. I would not have met Creatabot had it not been for this aspect of Social Media.

You can find Helen on Twitter @hansonhelen

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland    South East     South West    Wales   West Midlands

Snapdragon Designs – Featured Creatives

Featured Creatives

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Recently at the 10th anniversary celebration of Nucleus arts I came across a new range of jewellery – which I absolutely LOVE. I felt I had to feature these creatives on Creatabot. So I introduce to you Shelley and John from Snapdragon Designs…

So what is your creative background?

John and I met at KIAD (Kent Institute of Art and Design, now UCA) in Canterbury where we both studied for a BTEC National Diploma in general art and design. We both went on to study Graphic Design at De Montfort University in Lincoln graduating in 2004. John has always made military themed models and scenery and I discovered a love for bookbinding and print making at KIAD.

What made you set up Snapdragon Designs?

Snapdragon Designs was set up initially to give me a way of creating my own line of luxury books but when John’s school (where he teaches) bought the laser cutter last year it opened up new ideas and made us create the jewellery side of Snapdragons.

CC BY-NC-ND Snapdragon Designs

What other career paths have you taken?

After uni we took quite divergent paths, I went to get an apprenticeship in bookbinding and have been working as a bookbinder for almost 8 years. John initially went into Graphic Design for a small company (Team Cortexx) near Maidstone and later retrained as a design and technology teacher which he has been doing for 5 years. John is also an archery instructor and we both enjoy making our own arrows.

Who inspires you both locally and universally?

Vivienne Westwood has always inspired me and in the future I hope to do a whole line of jewellery using vintage tartans. Its really hard to say who inspires me locally as I’ve only just started getting involved with the creatives of Kent but I think Nucleus arts are doing a great job and there’s lots of inspiration to be found there. John’s inspiration tends to come from more traditional sources and artists such as Barbara Hepworth, John Constable and artistic movements such as Art Deco, but also from many wargaming/fantasy artists.

CC BY-NC-ND Snapdragon Designs

What would you like to achieve in the future?

We would love to see the jewellery really taking off with a hope to expanding further and getting it into shops.

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

I love looking around www.folksy.com it has so many talented people.

You can see the gorgeous Snapdragon Designs range at 

www.folksy.com/shops/snapdragons

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland    South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

London Design Festival 2012 – Craft Central Events – 17th to 25th September

Creative and Art Events

Celebrating the diversity of UK contemporary craft and design, Craft Central brings you 3 intriguing events for the London Design Festival:

One Day Designers Sale: Interior Products

Date: Monday 17 Sept 2012, 12noon – 7pm

Venue: Craft Central, 33-35 St John’s Square, London EC1M 4DS

FREE ADMISSION

Treat your home! Distinctive contemporary craft for the home at discount prices. The One Day Designers Sale is back… but think bigger, better and bolder for London Design Festival 2012. For one day only, find distinctive contemporary craft for the home by over 30 UK designers cherry picked to help spruce up your pad!

Delve through the tempting interior products on sale, including: Design K’s vibrant furniture; Charlene Mullen’s unmistakable cushions; IKUKO Iwamoto’s intricate ceramics; Loughlion Design’s ingenious kitchen solutions; and Kate Clarke’s colourful homeware to brighten any kitchen. Celebrate London and bring the city indoors with London Kills Me’s distinctive prints and Michelle Mason’s famous cushions.

Lighten up with HAM’s quirky ‘hammade’ printed products; Sarah Bonallo’s inventive upholstery; Namiko Murakoshi’s adorable Hairy Babes ceramics; Haidee Drew’s playful interior products; and bring a smile to breakfast time with Takae Mizutani’s My Egg & Soldiers tableware.

As well as sneak previews of exciting new work, snap up bargains from previous collections. Make the most of the extraordinary discounts on offer (with selected items up to 50% off retail prices) and make your house the envy of the street!

This exceptional shopping treat is topped off by meeting the maker in person – come and meet…

Alice Bree, Alison Brent, DesignK, Charlene Mullen, Chris Edwards, Daniel Spring, Deryn Relph, Gina Pierce Design, Haidée Drew, Helen Foot Design, Henna Craft, IKUKO Iwamoto Ceramics, Jane Sleator Ceramics, Jayna’s Designs, Scamp Baby Gifts, HAM, kate clarke London, The Intricate Project, Linda Gifford, Lok Ming Fung Ceramics, RALLI Design, martin Horgan, Suitcase Susie, Michelle Mason, Namiko Murakoshi, Nancy Straughan Printed Textiles, LondonKillsMe, Loughlion Design, Chairs By Sarah Bonallo, Stewart Martin Johnson, Takae Mizutani, Tina Vlassopulos, and Tracey Bush.

More details at  http://www.craftcentral.org.uk/september-sale

 

Inspired by London

Dates: 18-23 Sept 2012

Opening times: http://craftcentral.org.uk/calendar

Venue: The Showcase, Craft Central, 33-35 St John’s Square, London EC1M 4DS

FREE ADMISSION

Collective exhibition by seven London based designers. United in their passion for all things London, an eclectic group of 7 designer makers join forces for the London Design Festival. This London themed exhibition will showcase the diversity of art, fashion, interior products and jewellery inspired by our capital.

Exhibitors include:

Bronagh Kennedy – Distinctive limited edition digital prints inspired by London’s landmark buildings.

London Kills Me – Prints, cards, wall hangings and interior textiles inspired by the history and architecture of London and its changing urban landscape, using traditional artisan printing methods.

Vic Lee – Limited edition screen prints of London’s neighbourhoods and streetscapes.

Rosemary Lucas – River Thames themed contemporary jewellery, including sterling silver cuffs.

Michelle Mason – Interior products inspired by London’s bus destinations, its skyline, landmarks and iconic transport. Sarah Eyton –

Bold fashion accessories, including cuffs depicting London’s skyline.

Amy Keeper – A new collection of contemporary jewellery inspired by vintage London market traders tokens from Smithfield and Spitalfields Markets.

 

Rob Braybrooks – Exhibition

Dates: 17-23 Sept 2012

 Opening times: http://craftcentral.org.uk/calendar

Venue: The Corner Shop
Craft Central, 21 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0DX

FREE ADMISSION

Designer maker, Rob Braybrooks brings a slice of Cornwall to Clerkenwell for the London Design Festival with his hand cut wood relief wall hung designs and art pieces.

Inspired by the back-lit silhouettes and lines created in natural and urban landscapes, he produces delicate light birch wood hand cut relief upon dark painted frame boards. 

 

About Craft Central

www.craftcentral.org.uk

At the cutting edge of craft for 30 years, Craft Central (CC) is an oasis in the city – actively promoting, nurturing and strengthening the future of UK craft and design. Designer makers flourish through insightful support, affordable studio spaces, accessible exhibition facilities and valuable opportunities. We understand designer makers, connecting over 600 through our growing dynamic national Network. We build relationships within our creative community and reach out to diverse audiences. CC is a destination for innovative craft and design, showcasing stimulating exhibitions, talks and ‘meet the maker’ experiences. 

Area: London  South East

Unravelling the National Trust – Call For Artists – Closing 31st July 2012

Creative / Artist Wanted, Creative and Art News, Creative Opportunities

Unravelling the National Trust is a series of exhibitions that aim to showcase extreme and conceptual craft in a site-specific context, showing in three different National Trust venues across the South East of England from 2012 – 2014.

The second exhibition is due to open at The Vyne, part of The National Trust on June 28th 2013. It will run for 6 months from this date till 7th January 2014.

Unravelled is a new arts organisation that works with artists and crafts people who explore extreme and conceptual craft. The directors of Unravelled and the curators of Unravelling the National Trust are Polly Harknett (Independent Curator, formerly Contemporary Craft curator at Hove Museum & Art Gallery), Matt Smith (Independent Curator and Ceramicist) and Caitlin Heffernan (Artist ). The group and exhibition are supported by Arts Council England, the National Trust and the Headley Trust.

Submissions Sought

For Unravelling the National Trust at The Vyne are offering ten commissions for artists or makers using or subverting the notion of craft in extreme and conceptual ways. Proposed artworks should be site-specific and engage with the idea of creating interventions within the historic house setting, or within the gardens at The Vyne.

They aim to include a broad cross section of artists working in a variety of media and at various stages of their careers. The aim of the exhibition is to provide a high profile showcase for contemporary artists and makers and engage artists with historic houses and their archive collections. It is strongly recommended that prospective artists visit the property before submitting their proposal. 

The brief and full details are available here – http://www.unravelled.org.uk/news.html

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland    South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands  

Introducing A New Creatabot Contributor – Alice Stansfield

Editorials, Featured Creatives

We have a fab new contributor – Alice Stansfield is a creative Vlogger from East Sussex who will be bringing a nice selection of articles and videos to Creatabot.  We are really looking forward to reading and seeing her work and we thought you would like to know more about her.

So Alice, what is your creative background?

I used to be in a local group at my college called ‘Spiritus’ which performs at festivals (such as London and Brighton) so I would be dancing, on stilts or designing costumes. From this I got really into choreographing and directing scenes and routines. In primary school I was part of a dance club but this was when my dance really started. However, at this point I became more involved in drama and recently left a club I was part of for 3 years performing on stage, directing, making films and more. Outside of this drama club I audition at National Youth Theatre and performed at the Royal Shakespeare Festival.

I’m still very into my drama studying at it at AS level and hoping to carry it on to next year with media studies. Studying media has made me want to continue it on to University as I love making films and for the last few years I’ve been making vlogs (video blogs) and other projects to put up on my YouTube channel and one I share with two friends called ‘TwoNAC’ (www.twonac.com).

At GCSE level I won an award for a project I did, ‘The Barnes Gate Manor Award’ for a project I wrote called ‘Ripper’ and made a trailer for with a friend. At my college, outside of my subjects, I film and write some articles for the school website to gain experience. Also, a few years ago I entered a competition with people at my school to write a short story (one page long) to be published in a book called ‘SAGAS’. I was one of the people to get published and still try to write short stories today, although my stories become more video based. Recently I have been busy writing lyrics for a song, which my friend is creating as part of his music experience and we have already made a music video. 

Creativity has really made me who I am and I have left a few things out, but this is the things I have done and currently do that really shape my creative mind.

Who inspires you both locally and universally?

Local inspiration has to come from working with friends, as cheesy as it sounds, without working with people ideas do not get shared. At this point in my life where we are all in college still and fresh with ideas, listening to each other and experimenting with ideas is inspiration itself.  

Universally, many actors are inspirational (such as: David Tennant) but mainly people from YouTube such as Alex Day. Those who amaze so many people out of just putting their content on YouTube and make money from something so simple, are so inspirational to me.

What would you like to achieve in the future?

In the future I would like to still be making video projects and be able to earn a living out of what I make. I am still unsure which area of media I would like to go into, but would love to always be making videos.

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

A creative website I love, as mentioned before, has to be YouTube where people share all their video projects to make their own channel content. Another website I use is Flickr where you can share photos for others to see. Both these websites produce UGC (user-generated content) meaning people can give feedback on what I and others have worked hard on which really boosts confidence and allows improvement to be made.

Thank you Alice, we are really looking forward to seeing your articles!

Find Alice:

@HisLittleEmoo

http://www.youtube.com/hislittleemo

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Tracey Emin – She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea – Margate Exhibition Review

Editorials

Like most people my earliest memory of Tracy Emin’s work and most prominent is the unmade bed from 1999.

As time went on I discovered she studied in Medway at what is now known as UCA, and in the last few years she has held various exhibitions in the South East. On a recent visit to Margate I felt I couldn’t miss a walk around the Turner gallery to check out her current exhibition.

Something that I love is Emin’s neon writing work as it shows her variety of creativity. Unfortunately only two neon pieces make an appearance in this exhibition. Reflecting very much on her life’s history the work on display is very expressive with some containing text that gives extra input into the concept behind the piece.

My favourite piece was called furniture. It was part of a series of paintings that were of the same theme, but I felt they had an added depth to them compared to the other pieces in the exhibition as a whole. I do really like the blue ink on canvas, and this is the form of most of her pieces in the exhibition.

The majority of work on display were inspired by Turners female nudes, but personally I felt they lacked the warmth of an artist trying to capture the bodily form of a female. Of course Emin is often very open about her sexuality and this is nothing new, but I felt from the work that she captured an element of disappointment within her own sexuality, which of course was not really Turners aim in his erotic paintings – his nude paintings were often termed as beautiful. If you want an interesting read on that subject see “A Censorship story Goes Up In Smoke“.

A painting by Turner.

She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea, Tracey Emin.

There are a lot of repeats in the exhibition, which unfortunately I feel shows a lack of imagination in regards to a theme, and baring in mind 3 large rooms of the Turner gallery are taken up with repeat imagery until September, I can’t help but feel disappointed for the local art scene. I realise that a big name will attract numbers but I wonder how other artists will get to reach a big name status if so much space is taken up by one artist in what I feel should be a gallery for creatives no matter how big their audience.

I would be interested to hear how others feel about the exhibition…

Natasha Steer

Area: UK Britain East of England East Midlands London North East North West Yorkshire Scotland South East South West Wales West Midlands

Introducing A New Creatabot Contributor – Luke Crook

Creative and Art News, Editorials

Luke Crook works for indie music label “Sunday Best” and he will be writing about what it is like to work for an indie label as well as what is going on in the world of indie music. We knew you would like to know some more about Luke so we asked him some questions so that you can get to know him better.

So whats your creative background?

Creatively my background has more or less always been musical. I found my Dads rock vinyl, told my Mum I wanted to play guitar and ended up learning piano for about 3 years! Then I went on to teach myself guitar, and after that a bit of bass and drums. Jack of all trades!

After that I got into sound engineering, mixing and the like. From there I did my A levels in Music Technology then trotted my way up to De Montfort University in Leicester to do a BSc in Audio Recording Technology. Maths, Physics, expensive mixing desks and general madness. Lots of fun!

What made you get involved in the indie music field?

I’ve always been a fan of local music, and Medway has always been a hotbed of musical talent. I spent most of my early teenage years getting down to Bar M and the Rafa Club to watch bands, or trying to get gigs myself. I played in a variety of bands myself, and I had a pretty eclectic musical upbringing, so it varied from heavy metal to pop to bluesy bands. I loved and still love the ethos behind local and indie music. Trying to make it, doing it for the love and fun.

The journey at local level is beautifully organic and frustrating.Out of Uni, I wound up working in my local indie record/guitar shop, Sound & Image, for a year which was an education in genres! From there, I was finding myself looking more into independent record labels and independent artists, and how their popularity can vary. People forget sometimes, I think, that Adele goes out on the label XL, who are an indie, not a major, and just look at her success.

Then, from there, I sent a very innocent e-mail to Sunday Best inquiring about a job, and on a Sunday at about 9pm I got an email asking me if I’d like to start as intern! That was 10 months ago, and now I’m neck-deep in the indie industry!

Who inspires you both locally and universally?

Locally, my biggest influence has to be the wonderful Manny Rossiter. Long standing supporter of local music and also my mentor, what the man doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing! Also, when I was younger local bands like Innersense and Back To The Drawing Board were favourites of mine and they probably helped start my musical bug. There’s also an old boy who regularly comes into the shop called Pat. He’s probably one of the best guitar players I’ve had the privilege of knowing. He played with a lot of great bands back 60-70 years ago and watching him play has been a big game changer for me.

Universally, it’s not limited to music. Musicians like John Martyn, Jeff Buckley, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nina Simone. Composers like Tim Burton and John Williams. Music that breaks the mold and makes you go “Wow, how did he/she do that?!”. Writers like Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams who take wacky ideas to the extremes. What’s more inspiring than one man who’s written nearly 40 books about a turtle that flies through space with 4 elephants on its back, or another who wrote about a robot with depression and a restaurant at the end of the universe which recreates the big bang over and over?!

What would you like to achieve in the future?

Good question. I’ve only just started out in the career path, but I’d like to take it as far as I can. I wouldn’t mind heading up an indie label one day, that would be amazing! I’ve got a few musical projects in the pipe line that, personally, I’d like to get done and have some fun with.

I guess I’d like to be known as someone who influenced or helped others. It’s a nice way to be remembered I think. Plenty of people have helped me along the way. Soppy, I know!

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

Tricky! There are so many!

http://fd2d.com/ is a great website/magazine I found at Uni for Midlands based creatives.
http://www.thisisfakediy.co.uk/ is great for music.
Also, check out http://amazingradio.co.uk/ It’s a great online radio station for unsigned and new music. It should be back on DAB radio soon too.

Thank you Luke for bringing some news and information from the indie music world to Creatabot!

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Bikeminded Launches ‘Cycle Shorts’ Filmmaking Competition – Closing 15th June 2012

Creative / Artist Wanted, Creative and Art News, Creative Opportunities

Bikeminded, a cycle campaign run by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has launched ‘Cycle Shorts’ a filmmaking competition open to anyone interested in the filmmaking process from raw talent through to the more experienced. 

The entries, which need to be submitted by Friday 15th June 2012 at 5pm, will be judged by award winning film director and bicycle enthusiast Richard Loncraine.

The shortlisted films will be shown at an exclusive viewing at the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill. The winning entry will be shown at the Portobello Film Festival and the Olympics Festival on Exhibition road, and the winner will also receive £1000 for their next film whilst the people’s choice winner will receive £500.

To bring the competition to life, Bikeminded has launched its own animated film to be shared among the filmmaking community and to encourage entries: 

Entrants can let their creative talents run wild by submitting a film of any genre, be it for example, humorous, gothic horror or romantic comedy, and it can be shot with a pro-camera and crew, on mobiles, or could be animation or stop-motion.  The end result must be a short film of just 90 seconds which challenges people’s barriers to cycling in the city, and inspire them to get back on their bikes or take up cycling for the first time.   It must also reference the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in some way.

Richard Loncraine, judge of Bikeminded ‘Cycle Shorts’ says: “Everyone has their own idea of cycling and in particular what cycling in a big city such as London is like.  Through this competition we want to tap into the incredible creative talents of filmmakers throughout the UK and through their films inspire people to dust off the bike and get back on two wheels and enjoy the city from a different perspective.  As a passionate cyclist myself and with so much untapped talent out there, I’m very much looking forward to judging the entries.”

Councillor Nick Paget-Brown, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea says: “There are many people across the borough who love cycling and exploring the local area on two wheels. However, there are some who have never considered it for a number of different reasons.  This competition aims to show people just how much fun cycling can be especially in such a visually beautiful and well-known part of London.  We hope that film-makers are inspired by our streets, and that, through their films our residents and visitors will be inspired to start cycling.”

 To see full competition and entry details and Bikeminded’s own short film please visit: http://www.bikeminded.org/2012/04/bikeminded-launches-cycle-shorts-filmmaking-competition/

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Call For Artist / Creative – Exhibition In Orpington – July 2012

Creative / Artist Wanted, Creative Opportunities

Chloe Robinson is a young composer from Orpington in Kent who is currently planning an exhibition involving her recordings at the ArtStyle Gallery in Orpington.

Chloe plans to use a collage of voice recordings that reflect the way we discuss our life through social media and how we share  information about our private lives. She is looking for a creative person to collaborate with from any field – priority being that the space of the gallery is used in the most fulfilling way.

The gallery is already booked for 6 days from the 10th of July so all costs involved for hiring the gallery have been catered for. This is a fantastic opportunity for a creative to gain exposure of their work and experience the productivity a collaboration can bring.

If you are interested please email Chloe Robinson on chloepiarobinson@hotmail.com

To find out more about Chloe visit www.wix.com/chloepiarobinson/colonies

Area   South East

Putting the Spark Into Education

Editorials

As we move into the future more engaging ways are needed to educate, support and inspire todays youth. Enter Sparky – a puppet from another planet. Originally created for the project “Imagination Our Nation” Sparky takes a unique role in encouraging young people to actively engage with their creativity.

With the direction of co-producers Ciaran McKay and Charlie Ralph, a team of creatives take Sparky to visit schools in the Medway area and run workshops with the pupils. The goal of the workshops is for all the pupils to collaboratively hold an annual event involving Sparky for the local community in Medway.

The workshops begin with teaching pupils how to animate Sparky in a way that mirrors their own movements. The class then develop their ideas for the theme of the community event, often using various art mediums and creative writing.

The way Sparky engages with children is unique and this impresses the teachers as much as the children. Discussing the positive effect Sparky has, Ciaran responds by saying “Sometimes you go into a class and there are children who lack so much self-confidence, but by the end of the workshop these quiet children are the ones most involved! Sparky puts so many smiles on children’s faces and I really love the joy that brings to all involved”.

The theme for the 2012 event is “The River” and this year it will take the form of a parade that will be held during Medway’s “Fuse Festival”.

Sparky and his more recently created brother Magma are just two of a family of 20 puppets that were created to represent different regions of the UK for “Imagination Our Nation” – a project devised by international carnival design group Kinetika.

If you would like to find out more about Sparky, Magma and the rest of their puppet family please contact:

Ciaran ceem@live.co.uk or Charlie charliecookdesign@gmail.com

By Natasha Steer

Introducing A New Contributor – George Langridge

Editorials

George Langridge is a creative from Kent. He will be writing about various subjects that inspire him as well as talking about his own work, including photography.

So you’re studying media at the moment, specialising in what area? 

I am studying creative media production, which covers most areas. I personally specialise in development (including pre-production) and production. What can I say, I am full of creative ideas.
 
Do you plan to study any other creative subjects?
 
I would love to study photography, but my focus at the moment is finishing media at college and going to university to learn even more about media. One day you could be calling me doctor.

Who inspires you both locally and universally?

Inspiration… If I am honest, every single person I walk past inspires me in some way. Every single conversation inspires me to do something. For example the other day I wrote a comedy sketch based upon a conversation and a short film based on a passer-by.

What would you like to achieve in the future?

Provided we are still here after 12/12/12, I would like to make a couple of films or documentaries. After that I wouldn’t mind teaching media at college level. I like writing too so let’s see what happens. 

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

Actually, I think I can recommend about three. I love to read a site called Froknowsfoto , also Creatabot is almost a staple for me as it is crammed full of loads of cool content. Finally, I really like DigitalRevTV, the presenter, Kai, is really funny.  

We look forward to reading your articles George! Thank you for writing for us!

George has his own blog at www.stylefortyfour.wordpress.com and is on Twitter @georgelangridge

and Flckr http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgelangridge/

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Medway Open Studios – 7th to 13th July 2012

Creative and Art Events

Medway Open Studios and Arts Festival is a community arts festival celebrating the wealth of creativity in Medway. The event will take place throughout the Medway towns between the 7th and 13th of July.

The festival will include work from a full spectrum of artists, including jewellery, sculptures, print, paint, photography, and performance. Over 70 local artists in total will open their doors to visitors displaying their work in various venues, including 26 artist studios and 11 creative spaces.

Guide available HERE

The festival aims to highlight the quantity of artistic talent in the area, promoting a positive opinion of Medway as a creative hub. In the future the festival hopes to become an established annual event.

Heather Burgess initiated the festival, and with 2012 as the first year, the response has been enthusiastic, turning an idea into a full time project.

Speaking about the event Heather says “In the past I’ve managed open studio events in London and have always thought Medway was a perfect place for such a festival, with so much going on in a comparatively small area. If you’re an artist, there’s a whole other world to Medway that you’re involved in which can go completely unseen by others. I wanted to open that side of Medway out to the general public and show more of what Medway has to offer. I hope that no matter if you are a regular customer or a complete novice to an open studios event, everyone can learn something that they didn’t know before about their community.”

Open studio festivals are successful across Britain, with the same central framework to each – local artists and craftspeople open their doors and invite the public into their homes, studios and workshops. It’s a great opportunity to learn first-hand how different art forms are shaped, talk to the artists about their craft and see the creative spaces in which art is made.

To view images from all of the 2012 participants please visit www.medwayopenstudios.co.uk

Free festival guides can also be found at various venues in Medway and surrounding Kent.

Twitter @MwayOpenStudios or ‘Like’ the Facebook page and be entered into a raffle for £20 voucher to spend with any of the artists – www.facebook.com/MedwayOpenStudios

Area: South East

Billy Childish Art Exhibition – Historic Dockyard Chatham – 1st June to 30th September 2012

Creative and Art Events

Billy Childish is a local cult icon, internationally celebrated painter, writer and musician who was born in Chatham, Kent.  He has spent the last 35 years developing an impressive body of work that is staggering in both scope and scale. 

As a young man Billy Childish spent six months in 1976 working as an apprentice Stonemason in Chatham’s Dockyard, and in 2011 he returned to the Dockyard as its first official Artist in Residence. The culmination of this residency will be an exhibition of new paintings, drawings and prints at the Dockyard’s gallery – No.1 Smithery: The Gallery, whilst other work made during this period will be sent around the world and shown in solo exhibitions in London, Seoul, Berlin and then Los Angeles. 

Curated by London based Steve Lowe, the Dockyard exhibition – Frozen Estuary and Other Paintings of the Divine Ordinary – will also show a selection of Childish’s recorded and written work along with other background material relating to his life and times in the Medway area. 

The exhibition will be displayed in the NO.1 Smithery. For opening times please visit http://www.thedockyard.co.uk/Opening_Times

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Review – Blackbird Blackbird – 15th May – Brighton

Editorials

One man, one Macbook and one Akai controller. The sounds of Blackbird Blackbird leave you imagining a full team of sound engineers with various decks and controllers, but Blackbird Blackbird is just one man, Mikey Maramag, and a whole bunch of musical artistic talent.

Demonstrating what can now be achieved through a small amount of modern technology, Blackbird Blackbird’s work can only be described as art in sound version. Creating layers of audio using electronic, drum, vocal and keyboard samples along with various other sounds (including owls on the track “Heartbeat”)  this gig left me inspired, and brought to my attention real sound engineering talent.

Watching Mikey “perform” is unique. Similar in some ways to a live DJ using various decks to remix audio, Blackbird Blackbird adds to the set by adding some live vocals and by becoming part of the music visually. You feel while listening to his creations that you become part of the sounds that he hears personally to himself in his mind. Like the greatest artist that visually expresses what he see’s in his mind so perfectly onto a canvas for all to see, Mikey Maramag does so with sound into a room for all to hear.

This was Blackbird Blackbirds first gig in the UK and he brought something quite new with him from his home of California. Inspired by the likes of M83, he sets out to add his own touch to the genre of chillwave music and express himself personally through what you hear.

Personally I think chillwave is a genre that is going to grow extensively in the next few years with access to the tech needed to create this type of sound becoming more and more accessible. Each artist will set out to express themselves through their own samples and sounds. What is great with Blackbird Blackbird is that through hearing the music you get to hear Mikey expressing his personal edge of creativity. Seeing Blackbird Blackbird perform live adds an extra layer to the sound that you don’t get through headphones, so I highly recommend that experience.

Details of the Blackbird Blackbird tour can be seen at 

www.blackbirdblackbird.bandcamp.com (right hand side of page)

and you can listen to his music through Spotify.

By Natasha Steer

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

New Creatabot Contributor – Emily Foster

Featured Creatives
Our new contributor Emily will be writing short diary type articles for Creatabot that discuss her recent experiences working for small independent publishing house “Limehouse Books“. Her aim is to give writers a little more insight into how things work behind the scenes and also provide ideas and suggestions as to how to progress in the publishing world. I spoke to Emily to find out more about her and how she got into working in publishing.
 
So Emily, whats your creative background?
 
I studied Graphic Communication at Bath Spa university, and graduated last summer (2011). At university I got involved with the student magazine and interned at local magazines – publishing was always a focus for me. But I’m originally from north London – it’s good to be home. 
 
How did you get involved in Limehouse?
 
I was a design intern at Limehouse Books just after I graduated, and started my part-time job here in October. The company is very small so I work in lots of areas as well as design, like organising events and press. 
 
What other career paths have you taken?
 
None so far – but as well as working at Limehouse, I also work part-time as a Junior Designer at a company called Informa. I work on some of their healthcare magazines. 
 
Who inspires you both locally and universally?
 
People with drive and determination inspire me. Working at a small start-up and watching it struggle is hard but you have to keep motivated and keep going in order to succeed. 
 
What would you like to achieve in the future?
 
I’d just like to keep doing what I love! 
 
Can you recommend a creative website you love?
 
I like the It’s Nice That website, I think they do a lot for us creatives!

Thank you Emily for telling us more about yourself!

You can find out more about Limehouse Books at www.limehousebooks.co.uk

By Natasha Steer

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Featured Creative – Mark Richmond – Sculptor

Editorials, Featured Creatives

The amount of creativity Medway has to offer still amazes me and it was refreshing to meet another artist who fits so well with the ethos of Creatabot. I had seen Mark Richmond’s work at the Nucleus arts shop in Rochester, but had not met the person behind the work until recently when I went to find out more about him.

Marks father, Michael, was a carpenter who owned Kent Joinery in Cuxton and restored a house in South Green over a 12 year period. Often being in these surroundings and seeing his father at work was a strong influence on Marks creativity. As well as making wooden carvings and sculptures other artistic talents include painting, sketching and working in the band “Saferoom Studio“. It was through working in the band that Mark met other local creatives who were involved in Nucleus artist studios.

Mark was also commissioned to help create buildings within “Dickens World” at Chatham Maritime. “I had a friend that was working there and he told me they needed a carpenter. I was helping out with general work and then one day someone just said to me “we want you to build a house here please”. I loved it, being able to build such a structure from scratch was brilliant” Mark told me.

Looking around Marks living room there were many of his unique wood carvings and sculptures. I asked whether like most artists he found it hard to part with his work “I do get used to something I have made being around, but it is nice to pass on my work so that someone else can enjoy it”.

I brought up the controversial subject of how much you charge for creations, something as a creative I realise is always hard to work out. Mark said “when someone asks me how much I charge per hour I say  “when I am working fast or slow?” . Because you work at your own pace when your making something and you can’t look at it in pay per hour way”.

I notice that unlike most households the TV isn’t the centre of the room. “Do you watch much TV?” I ask. Mark looks at the TV in a discontent way “There really isn’t much on, I prefer learning, I really like watching TED, there are some great things on there”. I agreed with him and it reminded me how many people don’t realise there are so many more options around now to help you learn new things. I’ve found there is a real connection with creative people and learning, we are inspired by new information and connecting the dots.

Mark made in clear whilst we were talking that he isn’t motivated by making “a quick buck” with his work, and that he genuinely enjoys doing anything artistic. I find it inspiring to be around people who do what they do because they enjoy it and have no ulterior motive. When asked about his future plans, Mark simply says he just wants to carry on making sculptures.

You can see more of Mark Richmonds work at www.uniquewoodcraft.com

By Natasha Steer

Area – South East

Important Video For All Creatives – Creative Commons Copyright

Editorials

Protecting your creative work is important. How do you do this? And how would you protect just some of your work if you wanted it to be shared? This video tells you how. To find out more visit www.creativecommons.org.uk

Area:   UK   Britain   East of England   East Midlands   London  North East   North West    Yorkshire    Scotland South East    South West    Wales   West Midlands

Interview With Rebecca Crosbie – Photographer

Featured Creatives

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If you know me well, you will know I love abandoned places, I love urban exploration and I love photography of anything linked with either. That is why I was really excited when I stumbled across some small images by photographer Rebecca Crosbie in Wow Kent magazine. I had to find out more so got in touch with Rebecca and asked her some questions to find out why this subject also appealed to her, as well as finding out more about her creative background…

Hi Rebecca, tell us more about your creative background and how you got into photography…

I have grown up in a creative environment from a very young age, with a father who specialises is scale drawing and design and a mother who started as a dress-maker and upholster and now practices as a potter and porcelain jewellery maker. My mother was always a keen photographer and from a young age I became interested in photographing my surroundings. Having grown up on a farm I became an avid explorer recording my every discovery.

Throughout my school life my interests seemed to revolve around fine art and resistant materials, and in my spare time I was fascinated by philosophy, Foucault in particular.  I went to Kent Institute of Art and Design, Maidstone (now UCCA) for six years, studying a Foundation in Art and Design, NCFE Creative Craft and then followed on to complete a BA Hons Photography and Media Arts and was awarded a scholarship for  MA Artists’ Film, Video and Photography which I completed in January 2011.

What other career paths have you taken?

Despite the fact I am only 25 I have had many jobs. I like to keep busy and learn new things.  I am particularly interested in people and have had lots of jobs working with people. On and off I work as an in house photographer for the metropolitan police and have done work for various charities, and for some time was a carer for the elderly. I then spent a year living in Belgium photographing various locations and making a living being a nanny for a new born baby. I now reside in my local 400 year old pub (Drakes Cork and Cask, Maidstone) where I live and work part time whilst writing my book (philosophy based about peoples perception of space) and collating my photographic works.

Who inspires you both locally and universally?

Much of my inspiration has come from French philosopher Gaston Bachelard in his writings ‘The Poetics of Space’ and the memorising photographic work of Francesca Woodman.

If you could explore and photograph any building what would it be? Past and present?

If I could explore anywhere it would be North Brother Island a 13 acre forgotten island on the north river in New York.  The island is home to a hospital which opened in 1886 to treat contagious illnesses becoming famous in the 1900’s for being home to Typhoid Mary.  The clocks were stopped on brother island in 1962 when the city pulled the plug on the island.

What is it about urban exploration and photographing abandoned places that you love?

The thing I love about urban exploration is being able to watch and record the way nature takes hold of what we have forgotten and is always more powerful than the man made structures it takes hold of. The decay of the structures I find endlessly picturesque, so many new textures are born through the weathering and neglect.  I am also curious to see what it is that man has left behind and the impact they have had on the architecture over time.

What is the most unusual or bizarre things you have found whilst on a photography expedition?

Not necessarily bizarre to the location but unusual for me to find at this time of modern medicine was a straight jacket in one of the asylums I visited.  To see such an object which used to be used to frequently opened a new reality to me regarding the practices which took place in the hospitals in the past.

What would you like to achieve in the future?

My aim for the future is to keep exploring and recording these places. I would like to, in the future, create a series of publications sharing the beauty of these buildings.

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

My favourite website which I love to keep up to date with is a local blog. It looks at everything from fashion, furniture and art, to food and lifestyle. http://lot316.blogspot.co.uk/

I am also very fond of the site HypeBeast

Thank you so much for telling me more about yourself Rebecca, I really look forward to seeing more of your work and will probably be investing in some of your work one day to display on my walls! If only I lived in a abandoned theme park…

You can find out more about Rebecca at www.rebeccacrosbie.com

If you to love urban exploration then the website 28 days later is a MUST.

All images belong to Rebecca Crosbie – permission must be asked for use.

Area – South East and Nationwide

Win an Illustration by Ben Cameron – Closing Date 7th May

Creative and Art News, Creative Opportunities

Ben Cameron has a competition running to win his illustration “Bugsy Alone” drawn in black ink on 230gm acrylic paper.

We think it is a lovely piece of art and anyone would be lucky to own him.

All you have to do is Tweet about the competition and make sure you include a couple of things.

1. Ben’s Twitter name @ben_cameron needs to be in the tweet, not right at the beginning though.
2. A link to website strangepaul.com

He will accept RT’s as entries too. They’re sometimes a bit tricky to monitor but he said he will do his best!

If you are not on Twitter then email your details to bencameron@me.com

He will pick a winner at random from a hat/bowl/human skull on Bank Holiday Monday, the 7th May.

The prize will be posted (or hand delivering if you’re local to Medway) in a nice tube, 1st class the day after the comp ends.

If enough people enter he will try to sort something out for a runner-up(s) too.

Any questions or feedback, please get in touch.

If you’re not in UK but still want to enter, please feel free to do so if you’re happy to pay for the postage.

Find out more about Ben Cameron at http://strangepaul.com/

Introducing a New Creatabot Contributor – Jack Bulmer – Game Designer

Featured Creatives

We like to include all types of creatives in Creatabot which is why we are really pleased to have Jack working with us. Jack is a game designer from Rainham in Kent. We wanted to know more about how and why Jack got into game design so ran a few questions by him…

So Jack, have you always been creative?

Well, my Mum always said I was born with a pencil in my hand so I guess it started from there, although to be fair it was probably a few years later before I actually picked up that pencil and did useful stuff with it. I’m pretty sure she’s still kept a load of my old drawings, that’s embarrassing. I sort of pottered around until I left school, not knowing what path to take.

How did you end up working in game design?

I studied Art and Design at GCSE and enjoyed it, but it felt more restricting than creative. Its more luck than anything that I fell into games. There was a course in Games Development just starting that year at Canterbury College, so I did that instead of going to Sixth form. This just naturally led onto Games design at degree level. I won a design competition at university that allowed me to work on and publish a game, so in five years or so, I went from no experience just leaving school to being a published game designer.

What other career paths have you taken?

I had a brief stint where I wanted to be a teacher abroad, but apart from that, I’m pretty focused on becoming a Game Designer. It’s a competitive industry, so I think I’ll have to put my all into it to really succeed. I’ve toyed with things relating to game design, animation, computer art and 3d modelling. I think I would be happy doing anything creative really, but I suppose my dream is to design games that are fun to play and carry a message of some sort.

Who inspires you both locally and universally?

It’s cliché to say, but you can get a good idea from anything if you think hard enough about it. For example there are a load of pieces of paper in front of me, you could take the properties of paper (foldable, light, stackable, you can draw on it) and apply this to something completely un-paperlike like, a man, and hey presto, you’ve got the basic idea for some sort of origami warrior videogame. You can couple this with any combination of other objects for interesting results. It makes the world a lot less boring when there are potential characters and game mechanics everywhere!

Locally, I think Medway is good because it is varied. In ten minutes I can be sitting by a river or be in the middle of a busy town. It’s certainly a good place to get a change of scenery fast!

What would you like to achieve in the future?

I’m working on a game right now with a team spread around the world. I’d like to see this project to completion and release it for free in the near future. My dream is to own my own game development studio and create games that are fun. I think the best work comes through collaboration, so I’m always looking for people to work with!

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

I have two! Polycount is the first one, it’s a forum for game art, mainly. Specifically if you want to begin creating game art and have no idea what to do, it’s a great starting point. I think just being exposed to it has passively improved my skills. They run competitions and tutorials so you can improve yourself, and the whole site is forum based so it’s designed for you to post a piece of work and ask for critique.

DeviantArt is another favourite. It’s really popular, if you haven’t heard of it, it’s basically an online gallery where anyone can upload anything. You can sort by category, so if you need some inspiration, it’s perfect.

We really look forward to reading articles by Jack and seeing how his work progresses.

You can keep up to date with Jack through Twitter.

Area – South East and Nationwide

Introducing A New Creatabot Contributor – Badge – Artist

Featured Creatives

Badge is a unique artist from North Wales who has just joined us as a contributor. Badge will be interviewing creatives and talking about what is going on in his area. He was christened ‘Badge’ back in school for reasons unknown and adopted it as an alias for his artwork when he started college. We posed some questions to him so you can all get to know him better…

Badge, tell us more about your creative background…

Art was always by far my favourite subject in school, even in Primary School every project I did revolved around art. Towards the end of High School I’d become a bit disenchanted with it as a subject, it’d become very prescriptive so I never did an A-Level in it, and I almost went to university to study English Lit instead, fortunately I was convinced by friends to check out the art courses at the local college, and that’s where I ended up.

My time in Llandrillo College was amazing, I loved every second of it, and thankfully they prepared us well for the big bad world of art! I completed my Foundation Diploma in Art & Design at Llandrillo and then nearly went onto uni to study something else I wasn’t sure about, so I took two years out from art education again, all the time filling up sketchbooks!

I then ended up back in the same college on the FdA in Art & Design – taking Fine Art as a major, loving every second of my time on the course and made some amazing friends and contacts! I topped that up with a nightmare final year at a university to give me the full BA hons.

What made you start making art?

I’ve always drawn/painted/coloured/made things ever since I can remember, I used to draw a family of teapots when I first started Primary School, and it quickly became second nature to draw and make things, I can remember begging for Skeletor’s Snake Mountain and the Thundercats Lair and never getting them so I built my own versions using cardboard boxes and papier-mache.  Fortunately my folks were both very encouraging of my creative side and approved of my ‘Art Attack’ approach to toy related dilemmas!

I also used to spend hours poring over encyclopaedias’ – usually reading up on things like natural disasters, cannibals and apocalypses – normal kid stuff! But it was also there I first realized that people actually made art for a living – and it was there the idea of becoming an artist set in.

As I got older I started to use art as a way of dealing with all the things floating around in my head, I used to have really bad nightmares as a child [no wonder considering the things I used to read!] and I’ve suffered with insomnia since I was little too, so dream and reality blur – art has been a great way to channel that and has proved a rich source of inspiration!

What career paths have you taken?

I’ve had ordinary ho-hum day jobs since I was 14 [cleaning hotels, retail, gardening etc] when I graduated I was fortunate to be invited to be part of an artist co-operative on the North Wales coast [Oriel Scala Artists Co-operative] complete with an artist run gallery. It quickly became a crash-course and very steep learning curve in maintaining a commercial gallery and community arts projects, I took on the marketing and online publicity – which having no real previous experience of was a true baptism of fire, but we banded together and I came out of it with far more confidence about myself and my artwork, and having a regular space to show/sell my work was a huge boost especially just after coming out of art school!

That experience helped me to secure a temporary position in the Mostyn Gallery in Llandudno working in the craft shop, and then to a permanent position as a gallery assistant, I’m still there as front of house and assisting on exhibition changeovers, and my studio which I share with 3 others from work and two from college is right next door – which comes in very handy! The studio [casc artist studios and project space] has a project space in the front which we use to stage exhibitions and workshops for ourselves and other artists, we’re hoping to develop its profile and make it a hub for the artistic community.

Who inspires you both locally and internationally?

We’ve got some amazingly talented folks in North Wales; I met an illustrator called Karen Cheung last year on the annual open studios trail and fell in love with her drawings of specimens in jar drawn in science museums and her quirky semi-autobiographical rabbit cartoons.

Bedwyr Williams is also a big favourite of mine; he mixes self-deprecating humour and observations of Welsh culture with installations and performances, I was lucky enough to be taught by him as a visiting lecturer in college.

Also…Glenn Brown, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Conor Harrington, Audrey Kawasaki, Frida Kahlo, Goya, Antony Micallef, Jenny Saville, Eelus, Mark Titchner, Derek Riggs, Ian Francis, Egon Schiele, Edvard Munch, the list is endless!

I tend to draw inspiration from a lot of places, music is big one for me I’ve always got music on in the studio, headphones on the bus home, and for each project I’ll make a soundtrack that I’ll listen along to whilst working and more often than not lyrics end up being used as titles. Popular culture, literature, fears and science also inform my work.

What would you like to achieve in the future?

The dream for me is to be in the financial situation where I can just be in the studio 7 days a week painting and making, but at the moment I need the day job, however I’m very lucky to work within the arts so it’s not too bad – I can network and get inspired/sketch whilst in work so it could be worse!

I’ve always said I want to help encourage the art scene in North Wales, we have a real variety of media and styles here it needs showcasing to a wider audience! So if I can somehow aid that I’d be very happy with myself

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

www.juxtapoz.com is a must! The magazine is also somewhat of a Bible to me!

www.myloveforyou.com is also great for finding quirky and unusual creative’s!

We are really glad Badge is working with us and we really look forward to hearing more about the creative scene in North Wales!

To find out more about Badge please visit :

www.badgemakesart.co.uk

Badge on Facebook

Badge on Twitter

Area – Wales

Introducing A New Creatabot Contributor – Jennifer Denty – Illustrator and Designer

Featured Creatives

We welcome a new contributor to Creatabot – Jennifer Denty is a freelance illustrator and designer from Hertfordshire and we are really glad to have her input on Creatabot. Jennifer will be posting articles about events and creatives in her area as well as the creative subjects that interest and inspire her. We asked Jennifer some questions to find out more about her…

So Jennifer, who inspires you?

That’s a big question!  I’m inspired a lot by what’s around me, people I encounter on a day-to-day basis, bits of conversations, vintage and retro design style.  Illustrators and artists wise, Quentin Blake, Mary Blair and Amano Yoshitaka. Mainly line artists that use bright and bold colours, I remember being awed by Naoko Takeuchi’s illustrative style when I was a lot younger.

Do you have any pets?

I personally have a Hedgehog, not the garden variety, an African pygmy breed.  But I also currently live with 3 cats and a dog (a time-consuming Malamute).

Any claims to fame?

I definitely invented the DVD player. I distinctly remember drawing a CD player that plugged into the telly..then the drawing mysteriously went missing, right before the DVD player came out!

Maybe you can predict the future…do you have any other predictions for future technology?

Haha! I do! I see a future filled with floating holographic signs stuffed full to the brim with advertisements, there will be no escape!

Whats planned in the not too distant future for you?

I’m in the process of creating a ‘Sew-Your-Own’ range, using some of the surface pattern designs I’ve created recently.  So I’m really wrapped up in getting that packaged up and finding stockists at the moment.

You can find out more about Jennifer at:

http://jenniferdenty.com

and

http://jenniferdenty.blogspot.com

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Area – Nationwide, London, South East

Celebrate Medway’s Creativity On 23rd June 2012

Creative and Art Events

Medway is the centre of a flourishing creative community and on June 23rd the Nucleus arts centre in Chatham welcomes everyone to join them in the celebration of their 10th anniversary. The day of celebrations will run from 11am to 11pm throughout the town centre and will include a mixture of exhibitions, open artist studios, street performers and live music.

The Nucleus arts centre in Chatham, which resides next to the Trafalgar centre on the high street, opened its doors to a variety of artists in June 2002. Since then over 400 creatives have used the valuable work space to produce their work as well as exhibit to the local community.

10 years ago local sculptor Hilary Halpern found there was a limited amount of creative working space available in the Medway area. After speaking to local artists it was established that there was a great demand for such a place and this evidence was taken to Medway council and the arts council. These authorities gave the go ahead and Hilary found 272a/b in Chatham High Street which was the perfect building for the concept. Previously used for a number of businesses including a health food restaurant, bakery and even a builders yard, Hilary and his daughter developed the building into artist studios and exhibition space. A month after opening the Nucleus cafe was opened at the same site which added a social and community dimension to the studios.

Since then Nucleus has extended its studios in Chatham and also runs a shop in Rochester and Maidstone. In the future Nucleus want to hold more workshops and educational projects which can support more people within the community. They are also planning to involve themselves more in media such as You Tube and hope to soon have an online store for their artists.

See you on the 23rd of June for the anniversary celebrations!

About The Day

On the stage at the art centre there will be local bands playing for you for free until 8pm. They have a fantastic Stones tribute band, a Jazz band, Acoustic and Folk bands and alternative rock to keep you entertained throughout the day. They also have comedian Nigel Adams and book readings from Wolf Howard and Jim Hill at the Centre. There will be arts and craft stalls along their driveway and portraiture/cartoon drawings as well as face painting and Henna/glitter tattoos for the children.

The Rochester Coffee Company will have food and drink to keep you refreshed including an outside bar and a scrumptious BBQ!! 😎

Along the High Street at various times there will be performances by Circus Street Performers Jugglez and Street Theatre too.

In the Central Theatre between 1pm-4pm they will have the Kent County Choirs and Musicians, Walk Tall Theatre Group, Force 10 and dance groups Dance Alley and Medina Belly Dancers. All of these acts will be performing for you and the whole of this event is FREE.

Finally, upstairs in the Pentagon there will be theatre and dance acts from the Central Theatre performing for you between 1.30-4.30pm.

Here is a slideshow of how the Nucleus art centre has developed over the last 10years.

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Area – South East

Editors Look At “Craft Central Gets Hitched” – 22nd to 25th March 2012 – Central London’s Handmade Wedding Fair

Editorials

Unlike your average wedding fair this little gem offers a look at the main elements you are going to need for your big day. Due to the exhibitors being craftsmen and craftswomen most items can be tailored to your personal style and ideas. A major advantage is you get to meet the crafters face to face instantly so can discuss personal requirements.

Amongst those showing their work are a number of silversmiths and jewellery designers, some who even hold their own studios in the Craft Central building itself.

Examples of delicious cakes and unique wedding favours are on show to give ideas on how to make your guests happy.

Photographers have samples of their work on display so that you can make sure your special day is brought back to mind with happiness. And of course a number of designers have samples on show to give examples of dresses you could be wearing.

I can’t express enough that if you want your wedding day to be unique this is the most vital wedding fair you need to go to, so make sure you take a look! The venue is inside the Craft central building, easily visible on the corner of St Johns Square, London, EC1M 4DS. The nearest train and tube station is Farringdon but it also isn’t far from Chancery Lane. For more info see our previous article.

Area – London