Kent

Introducing A New Creatabot Contributor – Kael Braham

Featured Creatives

Another contributor, woo! And from a different creative angle again. Kael, from Kent, spends most of his creative time acting and making music so will be bringing this interest into his articles. Here is a lovely mini interview so that you can find out more about him:

So Kael, what is your creative background?

I have Studied both media and drama at college.

What made you decide to concentrate on acting?

I tried my hand at everything creative I could, but acting was the one thing that made me think “this is what I want to do”.

Who inspires you both locally and universally? 

I have yet to find local inspiration but  if I had to pick one it would have to be my mum because she has always supported me through anything I have ever wanted to pursue. Universally I would have to say music as a whole inspires me.

Who would you love to work with?

The people I have done acting with have all been friends and people I know, and I actually enjoy working with them most. I know that if I try my best they will do the same and we can all work together.

Are there any other creative subjects you would love to learn?

I have always wanted to be in a band, and I was in one in the past. It was a lot of fun but I didn’t like the music we were making so I would love to be in a band where I truly loved the music we are creating and the style as a whole.

What would you like to achieve in the future?

I would like to get more notice as an actor and I would also like to be in a band again because those are two main things I love doing.

Can you recommend a creative website you love?

TeamFourStar.net

You can follow Kael on Twitter at @kaelbraham

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Introducing Project 1440 – By Isobel Eats Fish

Featured Creatives

Isobel Eats Fish is the creative name for Vicky Partner. Based in Kent, Vicky is a photographer and poet who combines both talents to create a unique vision. Her project creates one photo and poem for every minute of a 24 hour day – making 1440 images and poems. Vicky spoke to us about her background, things that inspire her and why she started 1440.

Life

I grew up in Stevenage, a new town with lots of cycle tracks that I used to do time trail circuits of as a teenager in the nineties. My dad was a coach driver and there are not many seaside places in this country I haven’t been to, plus the occasional day trip to France on the ferry. Music was our big thing, huge stereo’s and big music collections. The soundtrack to my childhood included the Stones, Pink Floyd, Status Quo, Led Zeppelin, you get the idea. I used to climb the tree in the back garden, but other than that it was a pretty humble and modest beginning though obviously I developed my own tastes as I grew into supposed adulthood. School wasn’t brilliant, but I got through, did the college and uni circuit, then crashed out after graduation (the joys of academia without the savvy). At least I can say I have a degree in Management and Tourism to my name from the University of Brighton.

Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun
00.00 – The Blue Comfort
The First and Last pub,
camera image inverted,
opposite my evicted flat,
resistant to adding words,
as know the score already,
so writing my discomforture.
(The First and Last Pub, Bower Place, Maidstone)

After my dad died my mum bought me and my younger sister Debra, up herself, working in kitchens of local schools, gradually rising to become head chef at a secondary school canteen. She worked very hard and still managed to take us abroad on holiday every year. It was important to her we didn’t miss out, and nowadays she has a masters herself in comparative literature. I think it is through her and my step dad that the seed of who I am now, at least creatively, stemmed.

Nowadays I live in Maidstone, having moved here seven years ago. I had found myself doing a community regeneration type post in Ashford, but it really wasn’t my sort of thing. It was a consultation role and the residents had a habit of moaning a lot about everything that was wrong in their lives and where they lived. It was very depressing to say the least. 

Why Maidstone? I’d escaped into nightclub and bar djing. Self taught I was first involved with a club called Bar Three Zero in Ashford, but after coming 4th out of 50 dj’s at a competition in Dover, and a residency at London’s Renaissance Rooms I found myself drawn to the town because of a scene called Club Class who were based at what was then the River Bar. Nowadays they have evolved into Saved Records, an eventwhich operates from the Source Bar when it is in town. My perspective on life started to change, though I still wouldn’t have called myself savvy, there was still definitely something I was missing, an invisible barrier of sorts I couldn’t break through. Passion and talent alone wasn’t enough, though I came close, coming 5th in another competition, this time run by an international djing magazine.

Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun
00.01…The Ale House
Four bright red no entry signs,
and closeby drunken limitation,
pissheads all out their league,
in meaningless conversation,
an aggressive confrontation,
what does this say of me,
this being judgemental.
(The First and Last Pub, Bower Place, Maidstone)

Right deep breath, writing about that time in my life does tend to bring to the surface some very strong feelings, but bottom line is I have moved on. That was then and it’s impossible to go back. It’s like an ex boyfriend or girlfriend, the split is very painful, but you recover and hey, plenty more fish in the sea, if you’ll forgive the Isobel Eats Fish pun. And I am actually pretty happy where I am right now. I genuinely have no regrets.

Inspiration 

 Whoever I’m communicating with, working with, or friends with at any time inspires me, these people are our teachers, our own reflections. So who inspires me could be anyone and anybody, even if the experience is negative it teaches you about what you don’t want, a process of elimination is still a positive as long as you don’t give up.

Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun
00.02…The Lady
Peace in sufferation,
is important to forgive,
a pair of black swans,
workshops of beauty,
holy connectedness,
in discovering Mary.
(Aylesford Priory, near Maidstone).

 Outside of friends, family and everyday type situations I would have to say people like Nic Fancily of the aforementioned Saved Records, Michael Palin, JK Rowling, Stephen Fry, and a name not as many people would have heard of, Steve Pavlina, my personal development guru. I’m also somewhat of a Twilight movie junkie, I just love the idea of vampires and really, just about anything that challenges the imagination and takes you to another place, raises the game. I mean, I’ve been reading for the last year and a half the British Museum’s History of the World in 100 Objects which has been fascinating, I’ve just finished reading it. In relation to that I really have to mention that Neil Macgregor the author of the book, and director of the British Museum, inspires me.

Travel and seeing new places also inspires me. To date I’ve visited 20 countries, mostly in Europe, but also the US and Canada.  I want to get to Italy at the earliest possibility and have my sights set on Florence, a simple act of kindness, a million and one things at risk of sounding like Sleepless in Seattle. 

Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun
00.03…That Serves Punters
Pieces of eight in a till,
illuminating the chapel.
(Relic Chapel of St Simon Stock, Aylesford Priory)

I would have to say positive qualities in a person are something that moves me. It seems a really obvious thing to say, but in my experience often people forget to mention it. I find it so refreshing when someone has a can do attitude, there’s not enough of that in this world.

History and science is another subject that fascinates me. This is a later development and wasn’t always the case. I remember once getting 14% in a history test at school, I figure because I’d spelt my name right at the top of the paper. So it’s sort of odd how it’s swung to the other extreme now. I sort of get it nowadays, Night at the Museum is a film I like. It’s not my favourite by a long shot, but it works. I think for pure artistry it would have to be films like Memoirs of a Geisha and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They are intelligent and beautiful to watch, and the fight scenes are just like, wow!

One day I might be inspired by Gershwin, the next by Faithless or U2, or something the radio plays unexpectedly.

Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun
00.04…Ringing Bell
A churchyard gravestone,
an extraordinary message,
the death of your averaging,
and the birth of the new star,
blood on all of their red flags,
when looking for final frontier.
(St Peter and St Paul’s Churchyard, Aylesford)

Present and Future

 1440, one photo and poem for every minute of the day is what I am currently working on, a project I started when I was in temporary accommodation of all places. It became a way out of my situation then. I figured why should I think anything less of myself as a person just because of where I live. It was sort of like fighting back when I started out on it, and you can see that in some of the early photos and poems, where I reference Banksy, the subversive graffiti artist. Yet I’ve always tried to put a balanced slant on my work even when the subject matter has been quite negative, or dark, which hasn’t always been easy.

Hour 1 – The Smoking Gun
00.05…Before Closing Time
A mannequin without balls,
for all of the world to see,
calm in his expression,
yet quite ambiguous,
packing or unpacking,
reflected journey behind.
(Unused retail unit, High Street, Maidstone)

 At any rate it’s taken me so far to places like Newcastle, Edinburgh, Prague, Budapest, all glued together by Maidstone, my home town, and London and the South East. Each one of which has been a wonderful learning experience. I give each hour a title and theme, hour 1 was “Smoking Gun”, hour two was “The Dream That Died For Me”, and so on. The latest hour I’ve completed, hour nine is entitled “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”.

I have early thoughts and some photos already on what theme and approach to take for hour ten, only time will tell. Watch this space…

You can keep up to date with 1440 on:

Blogspot http://www.isobeleatsfish.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook www.facebook.com/isobel.eatsfish

All images subject to Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 

CC BY-NC-ND – Vicky Partner

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

Working For An Indie Record Label – Part 4: Making Sense Of Social Media – By Luke Crook

Editorials

So, one of THE most important parts of being successful either as a band, a label or even a brand is how you connect with your fan base and demographic. Despite what people say, there are pretty much 2 major ways of getting in touch with your fan base to let them know what’s happening, Facebook & Twitter. Most of the courses I end up on are either about Social Media full stop, or have a massive section dedicated to it.

It’s all about social media. You can’t get away from it, try as you might. The problem is, both the main social media platforms operate completely differently so different strategies are needed. Twitter never changes. 140 unadulterated characters of text to use and abuse as best you can, tag people in it and share that Instagram photo of your dog with your sunglasses on (don’t deny it, we’ve all thought about it). Facebook allows you to present music, videos, photos, competitions and all sorts of lovely things internally (you don’t have to leave Facebook to see them), but the buggers keep changing the format every 4 months, and by the time you’ve worked it out, they sweep the rug out from under you and change it all. Not to mention all their restrictions on advertising inside the website. Don’t put anything in your bands cover photo that tells someone where to buy a product. Facebook will take your page down without telling you. By all means say its out or available though! They do however have some insanely good (albeit slightly 1984/Orwellian) marketing devices. We’ll get to that later.

There are, of course, other ways of engaging your fans. That lovely website you spent £4k on development and that amazing feature that no-one else has done yet for example. The problem is, you’ll find it very quickly becomes a holding page for you to link to from your Facebook/Twitter account (We were actually talking about this in the office after I wrote this). However, it is an amazing way to archive your work and keep things neatly organized in a way that other places don’t. A good example is your gig list. Myspace makes it looks ugly in my opinion and that puts people off reading it. Keep it on your website, drive a bit of traffic that way and lay it out in a way you would like to see it. It’s your website after all!

Also, lets not forget the newsletter. Now this is still pretty effective, just don’t ever look at the stats, they’ll depress you. If memory serves, the average for people opening the email sits at about 9% and the average people that actually click a link in your newsletter is about 2/3%. Most good newsletter systems will give you a link to your newsletter too, so you can share it around to people to read in their browser. Some will even allow you to link up your Facebook or Twitter (Starting to see a trend here yet?) so you can spread the word further. Completely customisable from layout to content, its yours to design and make.

Now the major advantage of Facebook is the marketing aspect. No other social media does it as well, so if you’re looking to make some money and sell some product, its the place to be. Their marketing ability is spectacular, if not slightly bloody scary. The beauty of it is, is that you can spend as little as you like on it. £5, see how it does. If it does well, pump some more money in. If it doesn’t, you’ve only spent a fiver. You can tailor it to a fine point too. Target people that like similar pages. Show the punter that their friend likes that page too. The scariest aspect of it though, is the way you can target advertise through keywords. There’s a little text box in the Ad’s section where you can tap in keywords that, if people mention it in their status, relevant Adverts will start appearing in their news feed. “Oh fudge, I broke my bike chain” will soon become a little square box on the right hand ad feed saying “Cheap bike repairs in Chatham”. Incredibly clever, but a bit creepy at the same time. (It’s worth mentioning that you can turn all of this off, but it’s a bit of a ball ache (surprise surprise). It’s your privacy, think about it.)

So there’s a bit of an intro into Social Media. You might notice its heavily Facebook based, but that’s where you have to most control over what you can do. Twitter is much more to the point, so it’s fairly straightforward. Facebook is where you’ll make money from driving sales.

Oh, a few final things in this whirlwind social media ride, which were in fact my point in writing a blog on the topic.

There’s a technique that has various names but I’ll call it The Rule Of Thirds here. It’s very simple, and will prevent you losing followers and likes (although its rather difficult to mass unlike things on Facebook. Another advantage…). Don’t constantly spam your demographic with messages to buy your wares. People will quickly grow tired of this, especially Twitter followers (Twitter followers are much less forgiving than Facebook Followers. They tend to be a lot savvier and will drop you like a stone). So the trick is to make roughly every third message a marketing one. Buy the album, get my tour tickets, blah. Every third is also a minimum. I try and go for every five or six personally. Don’t forget to reward either. Free tracks or posters or a personal video of the band saying “HI WERE ON TOUR!!!!!  *cough*to support our new album*cough*” work very well, people love them, and are technically marketing without shoving it in the consumers face. Also, keep it relevant and not stream of consciousness type barrage of messages.

Which leads me into my final point. Keep it personal. If it sounds like you are directly talking to that fan, they’ll like it more. Now, for a label or a brand I can appreciate that might be a bit tricky, but for an artist its imperative. Make it first person. I can’t stress this enough. You do NOT want to make it sound like someone is writing your tweets for you. Don’t con your fans. One of them will work out that you can’t have tweeted that, because you were either onstage or being interviewed live. They are much smarter than you think. If it is someone else doing it for you/them, set up a little system that lets the fan know when its you and with its you’re assistant (E.g. Tom Cruise. His Tweets end TC, his teams end TCHQ…I think. You get the point.).

So there you go. A quick, scatterbrained take on social media. Feel free to leave any questions below and I’ll try and dig the answer out of my seminar notes! I’ll come back later with another article about social media thats a bit more targeted, but this should (hopefully) get you moving in the right direction.

By Luke Crook

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

Working For An Indie Record Label – Part 3 : Pitching To A Record Label

Editorials

So, we’ve covered a few bits about the thought process that goes into getting a record onto iTunes and into shops and also sourcing and producing artwork for the release.

Next up, I want to touch on Press Releases and Biographies. Record labels receive bucket loads of these together with a CD attached. Some are good. Some are ok. Some are downright awful!

Now, for those of you that don’t know, a Press Release is a piece of paper that contains a brief overview of the release you are trying to push out to media or radio or labels. Every release we do at the label has a press release to go with it, telling whoever reads it about the release, collaborators, interesting facts and angles, and also a little bit about the band too. Traditionally these are usually written up by the Print (Magazines/Newspapers) PR company you have on board to work the release. Throw a photo in if you like and you’re sorted.

A Biography is just that. A history of the band or act written by someone else. A page long should suffice, but obviously it all depends on how long the subjects of it have been going. Be honest, big yourself up and try and get someone outside of the band to write it. An impartial biography reads much better than a fan boy one.

Of course, if you’re signed to a label or management, then you don’t really need to worry about this, as someone else will be writing all these up for you. However, if like most of the examples I receive you’re unsigned and doing it yourselves, here are a few pointers for you, from what I’ve seen.

Press Releases/Biog

  • Keep them to the point. By all means, shout to the heavens about your achievements; you’ve got every right. Just don’t waffle. Lots of indie labels run small crews, so a 4 page copy about your band is not a smart move. Keep the meat of your text somewhere on your website or Facebook page where someone can find it, and make your press release interesting so people want to find out more.
  • Appearance and presentation. Humans make first impressions on another person in under a second or something ridiculous like that. Same theory applies when you submit your info to a label. I have received a press release written in crayon (by what appeared to be a 4 year old) on lined Winnie The Pooh paper (I think) with cut outs of the bands photos thrown in for good measure. Arty, yes. Easy to read, No. By all means be inventive and creative. You want to stand out. Just don’t make it difficult to read. The best one I have seen had a brief hand written hello, press release, a biography and upcoming gig dates with a sticker, a CD and some badges.
  • If you can afford to or you think it might help, throw in a few gig tickets. Personally, I will always try to at least make it to the show if someone sends some tickets through the post to us about their band. I’m a musician, and tickets are income. So if they’re prepared to lose £12 and send a few tickets through, I personally am more likely to go and watch. It’s a nice gesture.
  • Emails. We live in a digital age. However, here are a few tips for you guys sending links about over email…
    • DON’T ATTACH YOUR MUSIC FILES TO THE EMAIL! Trying to download 45.3MB of attachments is not only annoying; it slows down receiving the rest of your emails. Link to your Soundcloud/Band Camp/Myspace.
    • Write a bit more than “Hey, listen to my band. Thanks, J. Bloggs”. Throw a bit of your bio in, leave a few links to music and gigs and videos. Don’t drown the email with words, but give us some assets.
    • This is an important one. Don’t, for love of all that is good and tasty in the world, paste 300 email addresses into your “To:” or “CC:” section. Use BCC, A.K.A. Blind Copy. It sends the email to everyone, but the recipients don’t see the 299 other labels you’ve sent your band to. Personalization is key here. Talk to us directly, not a blanket “Hi guys…”.

I hope this helps you guys out when it comes to trying to pimp your band out to labels or management. I will leave you with one, final piece of advice.

Know what label you are sending music to. Sunday Best are traditionally Leftfield, Hip-Hop, Dance, and Indie with bands like Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, Dub Pistols, Max Sedgley, and Beardyman. For example, the death metal band who sent me a CD of music for our consideration, I enjoyed. Next time though, send it to Earache or Nuclear Blast, you might get a better response. KNOW YOUR TARGET!

By Luke Crook

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

Artists in the Woods – Sunday 8th July 2012 – Oare Gunpowder Works Country Park – Faversham – Kent

Creative and Art Events

The Swale Arts Forum are happy  to be organising this years GREEN EVENT in association with the Friends of Oare Gunpowder works, Swale Borough Councils Park Dept and Groundworks Medway .

Artists booked in:

BIG Fish
The Gunpowder Works x5
Los Salvadores
Swale Sings
Tel Tyler
Ken Rowles
Mark Thatcher
Sheppey and Sittingbourne Writers
Sioux Peto – Litter Angels
Dean Tweedy
ECO SHED
Polka Dot Arts
Val Tyler
Colin Barnard
Nick Stewart
Daniel Nash
Andrew Parker
DaniArt photography
Marvellous Murals- facepainting

Friends of Oare

Swale Arts Forum

For more details please visit www.swaleartsforum.org/artists-in-the-woods-2012

Area : South East

Competition! Win Free Tickets To: Prima Homemade – Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show – 6th to 9th September 2012 – Bluewater – Kent

Creative and Art Events

Have you always wanted to take up a creative craft but never known where to start? Then come along and embrace the homemade trend that is sweeping the nation at the fantastic Prima Homemade – The Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show at Glow, Bluewater from the 6-9 September. The organisers of the UK’s most popular craft show have teamed up with Prima to give visitors a truly memorable day out with over 200 exhibitors offering the very latest products, ideas and innovations in the world of creative craft.

The show will feature a brand new display of stunning Masquerade Ball costumes that will showcase the glitz and glamour of the silver screen. With gowns originally worn by some of Hollywood’s finest leading ladies including Drew Barrymore, Uma Thurman, Sienna Miller, Minnie Driver and Catherine Zeta Jones, each costume depicts the exquisite detail and craftsmanship that has gone into its design. The display will include Drew Barrymore’s stunning shimmery fairy winged outfit from the Cinderella tale ‘Ever After’, Sienna Miller’s corseted dress from the romantic film ‘Casanova’ set in 18th century Venice and many more beautiful examples of extravagant big screen fashion throughout the ages.

Pop along to the brand new Prima Live area where you will be able to meet the Prima Craft Team and pick up top tips and advice from the experts. There will be a host of exciting features to discover including fantastic Live Demonstrations from interiors expert Selina Lake. Selina will be demonstrating her ‘Homespun Styling’ throughout the show and sharing her interiors trend predictions for the season ahead including her irresistible Cath Kidston-inspired creations. If you want your home to reflect your personality, style and passion for crafting and be full of homemade pieces and one off treasures, this is the demonstration for you!

Do you have a passion for fashion? Then don’t miss the fabulous Dressmaking Workshops hosted by expert Janet Palmer. Janet will be offering people the skills and knowledge to embrace make do and mend, showing you how to spruce up and stylise your wardrobe using only a needle and thread! As well as this, Catherine Woram’sKids Workshops will offer a chance for children to get involved in crafting and get hands-on to create their very own masterpieces to take home!

Brand new to the show, The Market Place will showcase some of the finest handmade jewellery, crafts and gifts from talented designers and makers from across the UK. Browse through the gorgeous selection of finished crafts and discover unique and charming pieces that any friend or family member would love!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

All winners have been notified.

FACT FILE

Prima Homemade – The Creative Stitches & Hobbycrafts Show

Glow, Bluewater, Kent

6 – 9 September 2012

Open 10.00 – 16.30 (Saturday 09.30 – 17.00)

Tickets:

Adults £8.00 on door (£6.00 advanced price when ordered by 5pm Mon 3rd September)

Seniors £7.00 at door (£5.00 advanced price when ordered by 5pm Mon 3rd September)

Children under 16 free if accompanied by an adult (otherwise £3)

Buy tickets on-line at www.ichf.co.uk or Phone Ticket Hotline: 01425 277988

*COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

    • Closing date is 12th August 2012
    • One entry per person.
    • There are 5 pairs of tickets on offer, a total of 10 tickets.
    • Employees (and immediate family members) of any company involved in the Competition or, if relevant, any advertising agency connected with the competition are not eligible to enter the Competition.
    • In the event that any entrant is disqualified from the Competition, in our sole discretion we may decide whether a replacement contestant should be selected. In this event, any further entrant will be selected on the same criteria as the original entrant and will be subject to these Terms.
    • You must not sell the tickets. If you are unable to attend the tickets may be passed on to another creative or returned to Creatabot so another winner can be selected.
    • Competition entries must be made in the manner and by the closing date specified on the Competition Notice. Failure to do so will disqualify the entry.
    • We reserve the right to disqualify any entrant if we have reasonable grounds to believe the entrant has significantly breached any of these terms and conditions.
Area : South East       London

Two Mopeds, The English Countryside And A DSLR – By George Langridge

Creative and Art Events

I decided, in all of my wisdom that a road trip on 50cc mopeds would be a good idea. Fortunately my friend is as ‘bonkers mad’ as I am, so we headed off in the strong winds and occasional down pour.

The Route

When I said, “Let’s go for a road trip on our mopeds”, I didn’t think we would have ended up where we did. We left Chatham and headed to Pluckley, from there to Ashford, then on to Hythe, Dymnchurch – where it became too windy to continue – and then turned back through Hythe, to Folkestone. Here we decided to plan our route back to Chatham, which went through Canterbury, Faversham, Sittingbourne and Rainham.

The Pictures

I thought I’d start with the trusty 50cc mopeds that carried us along our mega-sized road trip.

The trusty vehicles.

This picture was taken outside of Pluckley, where I got us lost – again. This picture captures the awesomeness of our road trip, these little mopeds only have 50cc (the grey one has 49cc) engines, which is no more than 40mph managed to carry us over 70 miles (taking into account the bendy country roads, and getting lost) without breaking down or exploding. So, yeah, we held up a huge amount of traffic, sorry. I chose the de-saturated look because I thought it really shows how exhausted this mammoth trip made us, especially our backs, and numb behinds.

This has a cool story.

Coming along one stretch of road we noticed it was very quiet, so we pulled over and I grabbed my camera. If you look at her face you can see she is looking at me and something in the distance. I am in the middle of the road, on one knee with camera in hand. Behind me is mister trillion tonne lorry… It could have turned out worse I guess. Other than this you can clearly see the enjoyment that accompanied this trip.

*Note to self/photographers – Do NOT stand/kneel in the middle of a road to take a photograph*

If not a little windy.

Just outside of Folkstone we pulled up next to the beach to stretch our legs. I think it is safe to say it was a little windy, which explains the cutting off of the side mirrors (flags and other things where in the way). With this photograph I decided to keep it a little dark and gloomy, to keep with the sky and show the weather. Although I added a little colour to really show the colourfulness of my helmet, yes I wear a bright, ‘hello, look at me.’ helmet.

All in all the day was truly enjoyable and I would love to do it again, although maybe on a 125cc or 600cc and maybe in the sun and heat.

For other photographs and the full resolution versions of these pictures, go to my Flickr stream – http://www.flickr.com/photos/georgelangridge/

Also check out my Twitter and Instagram : @georgelangridge

I am still on the hunt for any volunteer models to model for a few hours, to help improve my portrait photography.

George Langridge

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Fuse Festival a Real Success and Plans Already Underway for 2013

Creative and Art News

Fuse Medway Festival came to a close this Sunday after a fabulous weekend of free entertainment from local, national and international outdoor performers.  Huge audiences enjoyed the Friday night’s Opening Parade, an explosive weekend programme of street theatre, dance, circus and music and Saturday and Sunday spectaculars. This was new artistic director Lélia Gréci’s first full year at the helm and her choice of artists and programme proved to be a winning formula.

Says Artistic Director Lélia: ‘It was an incredible weekend for audiences and performers alike – from circus all the way from India, provided by Kawa, to our very own ‘home grown’ commissioned artist Jane Pitt and her floating festival choir Ri-zound.  It was also an honour to host the premiere of a unique piece of work for the under-fives, Little Universe, which surprised and delighted its young audiences and their families.’

In order to plan for next year, Fuse will be taking on board all feedback provided through audience surveys gathered during the festival. People can still offer their feedback on www.surveymonkey.com/s/fuse2012. If you want to have your say about next year’s Fuse in a more informal manner, why not pop along to the Brook Theatre, Chatham, on Monday 9th July at 6pm and make the festival truly yours?

Fuse Medway Festival is jointly funded by Medway Council and the National Lottery through the Arts Council England and the 2013 Festival runs from 14-16 June.  For more information visit the website at www.fusefestival.org.uk, or join them on Facebook or Twitter.

Area – South East

Tea presents: Stuart Turner and the Flat Earth Society – 16 June 2012

Editorials

There is something about small venues and they don’t come much smaller than the cellar of the Singapora Lounge in Rochester. TEA presented an excellent evening of guttural blues-rock form Stuart Turner and the Flat Earth Society, stomping through a set to launch their new album ‘On The Brink Of Misadventure.’ Ably supported by somewhat settled hobo, William Harper, they created an oasis from the football and towiesque pseudo-hell usually occupying this part of town. Surveying a catalogue of slide, picked and thumping numbers, whilst haunting the dimly lit nowhere, the band mesmerised an audience set on looking beyond an easily packaged night out.

The brutal cry of ‘Decimation’ leapt out from the set, calling us all back to the workhouse on a well deserved Friday night, as Mr Turner threw aside his megaphone to focus on some thorough guitar beating.

Rochester has been in dire need of an alternative High Street venue. Somewhere unshackled from the zombie march towards clubland, and although a cellar full of music lovers might seem a small start, there is hope below ground.

More about Stuart Turner and the Flat Earth Society can be found at http://www.myspace.com/stuartjamesturner

By Roy Smith

www.royalansmith.co.uk

Area : South East

Life Powered By Caffeine and Other Things That Inspire Me – By George Langridge

Editorials

I thought I would share with you what inspires me to photograph. Also I thought I would tell you what my personal photographic interests are.

What Makes My Mind Tick

When I am out shooting (imagine it now, a mop headed teenager with a Nikon strap) I am inspired by a huge variety of things. These things change depending on what I am shooting – if shooting to a brief or challenging myself -. If I am shooting street photography I grab my inspiration from people and the streets around me.

Space and Stall.

This shot I took in Camden Market sums up my street inspiration almost perfectly, notice the small details on his desk. Also his little hiding spot. I thought this was a great shot, personally. The shot kind of incorporates this man’s culture and habits/way of life as well as this 1/250th of a second.

My main influence is people and animals. I mean, every person that walks past must have a story. What has just happened to them? Where are they going? Where have they just come from? I think I have developed a huge number of scripts/story outlines based on this curiosity.

What’s his story?

This image really shows my inspiration in people. I think I actually planned a script around this particular cyclist. This man must have a story, similar to this photo. Other than my usual inspirations I had started a competition with a friend, to see who could get the most candid photos – I think I won. My favourite part to this photograph other than the man on the bike (well framed if I say so myself ) is the people walking along the path behind him, I think it reminds you that it is real life and that life continues outside of the image.

My inspiration does not stop at people and animals, I am also inspired by beauty and interpretative beauty.

Interpretative beauty.

I would class this image as interpretative beauty because it has no immediate subject -as such- and it is something that most people over look. In reality I believe that the little things are just as beautiful as the bigger things.

Give Me A Choice

Personally, I love to photograph people, not portraits, more candid and street. I really enjoy the rush and context of a candid and street photograph. It is also a great way to kill a few hours watching people without just watching.

I was recently given an old Pentax MX (35mm film) which I have only just found some batteries for, now I am itching to get it in to my kit bag and shoot. With its 50mm prime lens, I think it will be coming to London with me next time. If you have any suggestions on good places to shoot candid or street, get in touch or leave a comment.

@georgelangridge

I am looking to improve my portrait photography, if you are interested in being a model for a day drop me a tweet – Medway Towns Only.

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INDIE GAME : THE MOVIE – Film Screening – 29th June 2012 – Rochester – Kent – UK

Creative and Art Events

Creatabot have their first event! And its a biggie! We are hosting the screening of INDIE GAME : THE MOVIE in Rochester, Kent on the 29th June 2012.

This brilliant film looks at the underdogs of the video game industry, indie game developers, who sacrifice money, health and sanity to realise their lifelong dreams of sharing their creative visions with the world.

Following the making of the games SUPER MEAT BOY, FEZ and BRAID, this Sundance award-winning film captures the tension and drama by focusing on these developers’ vulnerability and obsessive quest to express themselves through a 21st-century art form.

As you can tell, Creatabot treasures creativity so we are thrilled to be hosting this screening!

For more details about the film visit http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/about/

Details are as follows:

INDIE GAME : THE MOVIE

Ticket price: £6.60 BUY TICKETS

Date – 29th June 2012

Location – Rochester Visitor Information and Art Gallery – 95 High Street – 
Rochester
 – Kent – ME1 1LX

Time:    Doors at 7.15pm       Film starts at 7.45pm

Popcorn and refreshments will be provided!

Attendees can also attend the Tigercats gig at the Deaf Cat for FREE – compliments of TEA concerts!

 http://indiegametigercats.eventbrite.co.uk/

For more information please email natasha@creatabot.co.uk

Area – South East Kent London UK Britain

A Medway Vision 9 – Capturing Reality

Editorials

Over the course of these articles one name keeps popping up.  So many times I would ask an artist to send a picture of themselves and time after time the email back would say ‘oh could you credit this to Phil Dillon, it’s one of his’ Phil Dillon has, over the course of the last few years single handedly captured the look and feel of this ‘Medway Vision’, this startling, vibrant and fiercely independent artistic scene.

Phil Dillon has produced some astonishingly powerful images that somehow capture the grit of real life but never makes them dull.  His subjects convey a sense of drama and excitement that is very tricky to pull off.  Phil manages it with apparent ease.

Phil began “carrying a camera around all the time” in 2006 “I was interested in changes in my local environment, and how the seasons and time of day affect the way places are lit by the sun. Then I got interested in how Medway had changed over time and started digging old photos out of the MALSC archives and recreating them. After that, I began to consider what regeneration would bring and what it would take away forever. It was while I was reshooting the archive stuff that I approached the Brook Theatre because I wanted to get up on the roof. The staff were very interested and extremely helpful, and this resulted in me being given an all areas tour of the building and subsequently being offered an exhibition. That’s how I became a photographer by accident”

Working with just natural light, you can see Phil’s photography adorning album covers by bands such as The Len Price 3, Groovy Uncle, Theatre Royal, Crybaby Special and the Monsters, Stuart Turner and the Flat Earth Society and Wheels, among others.  But, for me it’s the hundreds of live photos Phil has squirreled away that make me most excited. Looking at pictures, such as the one of Lupen Crook, he clearly knows how to take the tension from a room and coolly pop it into his camera.

Maybe it’s his musician background (Phil had been in bands for years before concentrating on photography) that makes his pictures say so much about live music.  Maybe it’s his love of live music.  Phil explains, “I like real life and the moments it allows us to capture. I try to point up things you might not have noticed about a place, or show it to you from a different perspective. With music, I try to take pictures that capture something of the music itself, portray the performer and make you want to hear the music”

When you see his pictures they speak more about that artist than any written review ever can.

Although not influenced by any particular photographer Phil admits that his love of music means that “a lot of Mick Rock, Kevin Cummings and Linda McCartney (massively underrated)” informs his work.  Phil has had three exhibitions to date: 21st Century Cave Painting in Medway (2007), Exposure (2009) and Two Sides of the Same Coin (with Daisy Parris) in 2011.  In addition to these, he has contributed to a number of group exhibitions by Medway Eyes.

But what of the future, where next for a man charged with capturing the essence of this ‘Medway Vision’?  “I’ll do something biggish in 2013, I think. My work gets released all the time, either digitally through my Flickr portfolio or physically through the CDs and records they appear on. I’m thinking about doing another exhibition, or perhaps a book in both digital and physical formats. The working title is ‘On The Record / Off The Record’.”

Phil Dillon captures these Medway times so perfectly, so dramatically that we can only hope that this planned exhibition and book comes off because, frankly, our lives would be poorer, less real if you will, without it.

You can find out more about Phil Dillon and his photographs at: www.phildillon.co.uk

Mr Young

Independent Filmmaker

www.themoontheeye.co.uk

www.twitter.com/Mr_Young

www.facebook.com/themoontheeye

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

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Working For An Indie Record Label – Part 2 – By Luke Crook

Editorials

Hello again!

So, the last article was a bit of a ramble aimed at some of the tech/admin steps you go through at a label to take a release from X tracks on a CD-R or Pendrive and getting it out to digital and physical retailers worldwide.

This time, lets talk about something that’s a little more…well, creative!

Artwork.

Next to the music itself, artwork is in my opinion the next more important part of a release. Before streaming music became so incredibly popular, all you had to go on was if you’d heard it on the radio and how awesome the front cover looked!

So, where do you start?

Well, first things first, you need an idea. Whilst it might sound stupid, you can waste a lot of time if you don’t have some direction, because more often than not, the music is more or less done before the artwork starts, and no-one wants to rush. Following that, you need a designer to put it all together. This can take some time too, so make sure you’re looking out for one. Check out other CD designs you like, artwork, even book covers. Students are good, as they are cheap! Friends are even better! Discussions about whether you can gloss finish, matte finish, pantones/fluros (neon colours), metallic effects, how many pages you want in your booklet/inlay, how you want your digipack to fold and open will follow that. Lots of fun!

Then, once you’ve got a designer working on your great idea, you need to work out formats. CD/Limited Edition CD/LP/Digital/Magical Unicorn Edition.

Now, on the surface, a pack shot (Album Cover) is a pack shot, but format changes everything. CD’s are fairly straight forward and versatile. If it’s a jewel case, your inlay/booklet doubles up as your pack shot! Yaaay! All you need after that is your artwork for under the tray (where the CD slots) and artwork for the back of the case, which more often than not has the track listing. Digipacks are slightly different, because it’s all printed onto one piece of card and then folded. It can be gatefold, 2 fold, 3 fold (Rammsteins latest release opened out 5 ways if memory serves!). You need to remember where the slot for your inlay (if you have one) is going if you have one too!

Now, before I go any further, I’ve forgotten to mention one of the most important aspects of artwork. Label Copy. Label copy is essential the bible for the release. It’s a document containing everything about the album/single. Catalogue number, artist, title, track listing, publishers, copyright and publishing rights, collaborators, thank yous, websites and loads more. Most of this will go into your booklet and back cover for legal and information reasons.

Great, that’s the CD covered. Oh…what about the LP? No booklet there (Unless you’re feeling fancy!). So, you’ve not got to go back and ask your designer very nicely if he/she can do you a whole new template. Front and back sleeve (And center if it’s a gatefold) and stickers for the vinyl. This leads me back to my point about making sure you know all your formats before you go to design, otherwise you’ll: A. Irritate your designer or B. End up having to pay more for another format design. LP’s tend to have a far more stripped down label copy on them, purely for the sake of space.

Digitally, its pretty simple. Just a packshot. Bliss. Through iTunes you can also get a digital booklet to go with it if you want, as an added extra.

All of that, when all most people will ever see is the pack shot, when they walk past it in the shops or scroll past online. That’s your one chance to catch their attention and get them interested. The rest, that’s their reward for picking it up.

Always run it past your artist for approval. They don’t need to see it at every stage, just when there is a significant change or update.

Oh, and don’t forget to proof read it. Lots!

by Luke Crook

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

Faversham Festival Presents – Mad, Bad and Misunderstood – Opera – 15th June 2012

Creative and Art Events

More about Faversham festival at http://www.favershamfestival.org.uk/

Area – South East

Wigmore Arts Weekend – 30th June to 1st July 2012 – Wigmore – Kent

Creative and Art Events

St Matthew’s Church and Community Centre will be holding an arts weekend on the 30th June and 1st July. Over 100 artists and crafts people will be exhibiting and demonstrating their work. Paintings, crafts, dance and live music feature throughout the weekend. Entry is free to the general public and the event will be start at 10.00am (to 4.30pm) Saturday and 11.00am (to 4.00pm) Sunday.

The art show will be held in St Matthew’s Church and the demonstrations and workshops in the community centre and grounds. About “100 metres run” of art will displayed in a variety of media, including poetry, ceramics, and all paint media. The art show will fill the church. Also on Saturday as the art show is in progress there will be some live music entertainment. Outside, there will be demonstrations of Morris Dancing, Fire Breathing, Fire Poi, Belly Dancing and some Bollywood Antics!! A lot of fun for everyone.

Children are well catered for with puppet making, face painting, lino cutting and plenty of other activities to keep them interested.

There will be a Variety Show on Saturday featuring many of Medway’s talented people and on Sunday a recital by David Griffiths (accompanied by his wife Christine). They are internationally acclaimed musicians from New Zealand and they will perform Schumann’s Dichteliebe (Op 48) and a range of songs from New Zealand.

There will be art workshops taking place and a few places are still available, but be quick and book a place.

We hope you will agree that there is something for everyone. Do come along and put Wigmore on the Arts map!!

A full programme is available, so e-mail wigmore.arts@hotmail.co.uk, sae to 42 The Goldings, Rainham ME8 0AX or telephone 01634 372508

To book a place on a workshop e-mail wigmoreartsworkshops@hotmail.co.uk or sae/telephone as above.

Picture:

Paul Warren of St Matthew’s Church, Wigmore.
Wigmore Arts Weekend organiser

Area:   South East

Billy Childish – Frozen Estuary Exhibition – Review

Editorials

Cult labels can obscure the viewer’s perspective of the artist’s work, with associations of niche celebrity given meaning by sycophantic fans and media observers. Childish is touted as a ‘cult’ figure in his latest exhibition at Chatham dockyard. This could scream popular or ‘cool’ to the ‘right’ people or celebrate an alternative and underground status. Childish’s character(s) loom large, set on pleasing themselves before courting the crowd, perhaps at the risk of eclipsing his work. In a 2010 video for the Tate’s ‘Sound and Vision’ series, he dons the costumes of painter and musician to playfully interview himself, with respectably awkward questions. When the artist asks about his influence on the musician, the answer is ‘no’ followed by a wistful smile.

The frozen estuary series offers something pleasantly different. The dockyard exhibition gives some space to history and personal mythologising – displays of album covers, books and memorabilia to greet the audience. Maybe this is a triumphant return to a place he left with little love lost.

13 oil and charcoal on linen paintings cover the main walls, some with the paint still wet. Despite featuring friends and family, the subject seems less personal, the focus is the river itself, depicted in vivid blues and whites and frozen in time and canvas. Inspired by photos of the winters of 1895 and 1947 when both estuaries froze over, Childish captures a stark landscape, where workers pose with boats locked in ice, dominated by blue skies and glaring white. Details run in earthy browns, a muck upon the landscape, as wet paint dribbles down many of the canvases, forming icicles of dirt and snow.

Here is something about place rather than person, escaping the ‘cult’ cliché and exploring the relationships between time, place and identity. A full size nude stands by the entrance, leading visitors through the memorabilia to something else entirely. Something brave.

The exhibition is on at the Historic Dockyard, Chatham, until 30th September 2012. Details are available at: http://www.thedockyard.co.uk/NetsiteCMS/pageid/1023/Billy%20Childish.html

By Roy Smith

@roy_smith 

www.royalansmith.co.uk

Guest Writer

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

Whatever Floats Your Boat – Open Air Family Theatre – Medway – June 2012

Creative and Art Events

Taking place during Medways Fuse Festival “Whatever Floats Your Boat” is an open-air family theatre show presented by Students of Drama, Applied Theatre and Education (DATE) from London’s Central School of Speech and Drama.


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A Medway Vision 8: Monster Ambition

Editorials

Taken by Phil Dillon

It’s so often not just about the talent.  It’s about work rate too.  The distinctive artistic blossoming of the Medway Towns, that vibrant feeling that something special is happening, the ‘Medway Vision’ as I call it, can’t merely happen from wanting it to happen.  Work goes into it.  A lot of sweat needs to be leaked if you are going to get your art seen or heard.  If hard work brings rewards then up-coming Medway band Crybaby Special and the Monsters will be reaping heap loads very soon.

The band only came into being in September last year but have already played in virtually every venue the Towns have to offer culminating in the release of their first ever EP ‘Man in the Woods’.  And let’s not forget all their London and other Kent gigs.  Starting out as an acoustic two piece (Josh Carson, Jason Stafford ) they wrote a few songs and spent one day rehearsing (yes, ONE day, these boys want things done fast) before debuted them at an open mic night.   In the words of Josh Carson “it’s been non-stop ever since, with Lewis Crennell joining the band on drums at the end of January 2012”.  Before this, the band was just one man, singer Jason.  He performed solo as Crybaby Special for the best part of a year before deciding he wanted to play as a band.

And so, endless gigging led to their first EP ‘Man in the Woods’  The EP was recorded in February 2012 with Mik Whitnall (Babyshambles guitarist) and Adem Hilmi (who also records Babyshambles and Peter Doherty solo). Mik even plays on three of the 6 tracks.  Their sound has been described in a number of ways.  As Josh points out “Bob Dylan on Crack…Creepy, Eerie, Spider, Jiggery…Folk Punk sung by Fagin…our favourite though is probably Exuberant Garage-Folk-Punk from the Medway Delta from Bug Bear promotions who put on gigs in London” Oddly enough those descriptions sum up their sound pretty well.

However, seeing as Mik Whitnall from Babyshambles produced the EP you can’t help but hear the Pete Docherty influence too.  Add to that, if you will, a bit of ska as imagined by Midnight Oil and you’re getting the picture.  But, as cute and cool those Babyshambles/Ska tracks are it’s their most original sounding work that excites me most. The almost middle-eastern tinged title track feels most vital.  It’s not only the best track on the EP, but, if there is any justice, it will be on repeat play on radio stations throughout the summer.

Judging by the continuous cycle of gigs then the EP seems to have cemented their following.  But you know full well that these lads are not going to be happy with that.  There is an ambition here, a desire to get to the top.  This is already a touring band, a band that develops its sound the more it interacts with its audience.  Josh confirms “our plans for the future are to too just carry on as we are by playing at every given opportunity and anywhere we can”

It’s ambition; it’s hard-work; it’s about having a vision.  A Medway Vision.  Crybaby Special and the Monsters will carry on growing and adapting and reaching out to whoever wants to hear them next.  I think it was Paul Weller that said something like the people who ‘made it’ are the ones that didn’t give up.  If true then you can be sure that sometime soon, Crybaby Special and the Monsters will have ‘made it’.

‘Man In The Woods’ EP is available to buy from iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/album/man-in-the-woods-ep-ep/id525040739

http://www.facebook.com/crybabyspecialandthemonsters

http://crybabyspecialandthemonsters.tumblr.com/

Mr Young

Independent Filmmaker

www.themoontheeye.co.uk

www.twitter.com/Mr_Young

www.facebook.com/themoontheeye

Area  South East

Fuse Festival Programme Released – Medway – 15th to 17th June 2012

Creative and Art Events

The timetable for Fuse Festival 2012 has been released and you can now plan your  inspiring weekend!

http://fusefestival.org.uk/festival-programme/

Area   South East

Summer Arts Carnival – 14th July 2012 – Maidstone – Call For Artists – Stepping Stone Studios

Creative / Artist Wanted, Creative and Art Events

Stepping Stone Studios are holding an Arts Carnival on Museum Avenue , Maidstone, on the 14th of July. They are joining up with local businesses and want to involve the town’s art groups.  This is the call out to get stall holders and performers involved. 

They are thinking bunting, hot food, arts and crafts stalls, performance. If anyone has any suggestions simply pitch your ideas in!

Here are some things to get you started:

1. Pitches and Stalls going for £6! Be one of the 15 stalls taking part.

2. Ideas for entertainment / food / performance. Know any awesome musicians or street performers? Pass the details on – the more acts the better!

3. Exhibit over the week! With all the fuss of the carival, increased footfall and a summer of exciting events it’s pretty good exposure in town centre.

4. Fabric donations required! For bunting workshops to start in June!

The event will kick off at 12pm

Please get in touch via bookings@steppingstonestudios.co.uk

www.steppingstonestudios.co.uk

Area – South East

Half An Hour At The Beach – Photography Feature By George Langridge

Editorials

Every Friday I go out and take some photographs, usually based around a theme. My original theme this week was ‘anti-fun’, however this week I found myself at the beach with my camera, and no tripod. This is a far cry from the ‘anti-fun’ theme I was supposed to be basing my shooting around. So here are a few of my favourites from the trip. The rest are on my Flickr in beautiful full resolution.

Half An Hour At The Beach

By George Landridge

As I was walking along the path just off of the shingle, I noticed this little plant growing from the cement. I was almost amazed at how out of place this little group of plants looked. Just after I took this photograph a gentleman stood flat on the plant which must count as anti-fun, no?

Further along the beach I saw this sign, instantly it was ‘anti-fun’. Also further back I had seen a dead fish so it was almost ironic. I love the way that the sign points down along the length of the beach, and as you look further down the beach it looks ever more out of focus.

As we were walking along my sister found this little shell, which I instantly stole and took a photograph of, in that way that I do. This image shows everything to love about abandoned beaches; the wood, stones, sand and shells. The warmth of the photograph also makes the beach seem nicer than it actually was. In that half an hour the light changed very quickly.

Next weeks theme is “Education” – in which I will be teaching a fellow photographer how to use manual mode on a DSLR.

All full resolution photographs from “Half An Hour On The Beach are here.

By George Langridge

@georgelangridge

Attribution-NonCommercial-Sharealike (CC-BY-NC-SA) George Langridge

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

Win Tickets To Weald of Kent Craft Show – 7th to 9th September 2012 – Penshurst Place – Kent

Creative and Art Events

The Weald of Kent craft show returns in September for another weekend of showcasing creative talents from across the UK. There will also be a stunning show garden and delicious food and drink.

Over 200 skilled craftspeople from all over the UK will bring you the very best in handmade gifts and treats. With unusual wares you wouldn’t often find on the high street, there’s something for everyone from ceramics to glass, and jewellery to paintings.

Following their success with an award winning garden at the 2011 RHS Chelsea Flower Show, “How Green Nursery” along with “Chilstone of Tunbridge Wells” will be returning to the Weald of Kent with ‘The Chilstone Ice Garden’. This stunning show garden will house some of the fantastic ‘ice’ sculptures from the renowned sculptor Jane Robbins and showcase a sumptuous selection of plants and flowers that will whisk you off into the Garden of England.

Brand new to this year’s show, the Informed Design Graduate Marquee will showcase the work of the best newly qualified designers and makers from across the UK.

The Good Food Live area is a must-visit for foodies and you can match the perfect wine to your feast at the Tutored Wine Tasting. With a selection of wines from around the world, it’s your chance to pick up tips from the experts and leave ready to impress.

If you have always wanted to see a hawk, eagle or peregrine falcon in action make sure you visit the Birds of Prey Display where The Hawking Centre, based in Doddington, Kent will bring this thrilling experience to life. Two of the UK’s most famous falconer’s and television presenters, Leigh and Jo Holmes, will be bringing their favourite birds along to wow the audiences and give both young and old an unforgettable experience.

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

All winners have been notified.

Show Details

Weald of Kent Craft Show

Penshurst Place

7-9 September

Open 09.30 – 17.00 (17.30 Saturday)

Tickets:

Adult £6.50 (Advance £5.00) Senior £5.50 (Advance £4.00)

(Advance tickets need to be booked before 5:00pm on 3 September 2012)

Child under 16 free if acc by parent – otherwise £3

BUY 10 ADULT OR SENIOR TICKETS Get One Adult Free (In advance only)

Combined Weald of Kent Craft Show & Penshurst House & Gardens

Adult and Senior £10.00 (In advance only)

Buy tickets online at www.ichf.co.uk or phone Ticket Hotline 01425 277988

*COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS

  • Closing date is 12th August 2012
  • One entry per person.
  • There are 4 pairs of tickets on offer, a total of 8 tickets.
  • Employees (and immediate family members) of any company involved in the Competition or, if relevant, any advertising agency connected with the competition are not eligible to enter the Competition.
  • In the event that any entrant is disqualified from the Competition, in our sole discretion we may decide whether a replacement contestant should be selected. In this event, any further entrant will be selected on the same criteria as the original entrant and will be subject to these Terms.
  • You must not sell the tickets. If you are unable to attend the tickets may be passed on to another creative or returned to Creatabot so another winner can be selected.
  • Competition entries must be made in the manner and by the closing date specified on the Competition Notice. Failure to do so will disqualify the entry.
  • We reserve the right to disqualify any entrant if we have reasonable grounds to believe the entrant has significantly breached any of these terms and conditions.
Area:   South East

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

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

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

Join a French Theatre Company and be part of the Fuse Medway Festival 2012

Creative and Art Events, Creative Opportunities

 

As part of the annual outdoor festival’s commitment to the local Medway community, it is offering a very unusual opportunity to anyone up for a new challenge.  French theatre company Houdart-Heuclin is bringing their new piece of theatre to Medway and Fuse would like to bring a group of people together with the company to produce a stunning piece of outdoor entertainment.

If you’d like to try something new (you never know, you may discover a hidden talent) then do read on.  Fuse and Compagnie Houdart-Heuclin are looking to develop a ‘roving’ piece of theatre called ‘The Padox’, which will perform at the Festival during the weekend of the 15-17 June.  Workshops will take place at Gillingham Adult Education Centre from Wednesday 13th to Friday 15th  June (9.30am to 2.30pm) in preparation for the big weekend.  Participants will learn new skills from the renowned company such as theatre, singing, use of puppetry and other animation techniques. Best of all, they will play a crucial role in this year’s Festival.

The Padox have been developed by Compagnie Houdart-Heuclin and are an incredible collection of characters never seen before in the UK.  They perform everyday acts within the crowd, but they stand out and make us see our surroundings as never before.

Padox participants will appear at the Opening Parade on Friday 15th (4.30 – 5.30pm) will stroll around Chatham town centre on Saturday 16th at the Street Arts Day (12 noon to 5pm) and then wander through Rochester Castle Gardens on Sunday 17th (12 noon to 5pm) There will also be an opportunity for the group to work on a full show of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Participation is free and all those who fancy a challenge should contact Fuse’s Artistic Director Lélia Greci by emailing Lelia.Greci@medway.gov.uk or by phoning her on 07594 578 646.  Places are limited, so please call by Wednesday 23rd May at the latest.

About Fuse

Happening over the weekend of 15-17 June, Fuse Medway Festival brings the very best artists together, taking the colourful and unusual onto the streets of Chatham, Rochester and Gillingham, bringing people together for fun and celebration. Events are free and no tickets are required.  For more information go to the website at www.fusefestival.org.uk or join them on Facebook or Twitter.

Area – South East

Nucleus Artists at Nucleus Arts Centre – Medway Open Studios – 7th to 8th July 2012

Creative and Art Events

Nucleus Artists will be opening their doors and studios to the public for one weekend running 7th – 8th July 2012 as part of the Medway Open Studio & Arts Festival. 15 resident artists and craftspeople will be opening their studios, and up to 14 associate artists, designers and craftspeople will be displaying their work in the conference room of the art centre.

With artists ranging from painters, photographers, sculptors and jewellers this event will present an unequalled opportunity for art lovers, gift hunters or just the curious.

An affordable art deposit scheme is available by arrangement so why stick to the “high street” when you can have original art by original local artists.

Nucleus café will also be open both days for delicious cakes, tea, coffee’s and cold drinks.

Nucleus gallery will also be open with an exhibition by Val Weller 

(see www.nucleus-arts.com for more details).

Event address – Nucleus Arts , 272 High Street, Chatham, Kent ME4 4BP

There is partial Disability Access across the Nucleus Art Centre & Studios (details available on request)

Resident artists open studios:
Katie Blench Photography
Sian Bostwick Jewellery
Alex Cooley
Jon Gubby
Marissa Mardon
Maggie Osborn
Pete Reeds
Christopher Sacre
Deborah Saunders
Sophie Jongman
Anne Taylor
Donna Chapman
Angie Berkley
Alexandria Welch
Sarah Langstone

Area – South East

Local Artists From The Past Exhibition – Strood Library – May to July 2012

Creative and Art Events

Medway libraries in Kent are hosting an exhibition about forgotten artists of the Medway area during May and June. The exhibition covers the work of artists between 1850 and 1950 including Richard Dadd, Henry Hopper, Charles Spencelayh, Donald Maxwell, Frank Algernon Stewart, Henry Hill and Evelyn Dunbar. 

Their lives were as event-filled as they were varied, as two of the artists worked during war time and produced war inspired by their experiences. If you were thinking that there were no artists in the Medway until the 1970s, this exhibition proves otherwise! The exhibition will be at Strood library during May and will move onto Wigmore library at the beginning of June where it will stay until mid-July. 

If you are interested in exhibiting your own work, Strood library is one of three libraries in Medway that holds an exhibition space that is available for use by local artists for free. These are Strood, Wigmore and Rainham libraries. If you have any questions about this exhibition or the exhibition space, please call Strood library on 01634 335890  

Area – South East

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

Developing Your Creative Writing – Free Short Course – Starting April 25th – Gillingham

Creative and Art Events

Interested in creative writing, but not sure how to get going on your own? Perhaps you would like to join in with others to share ideas? Harness the power of the round and gain inspiration.

These sessions will provide you with some starting points for new pieces of writing, and some suggestions on how you might continue. There will be the opportunity to try out different techniques for writing stories and poems and have a go at creating some pieces, all in an informal and positive atmosphere.

The Creative Writing course will start on Wednesday 25th April, 6pm – 8.30pm at Brompton Academy, Marlborough Road, Gillingham, Kent ME7 5HT.

For further information or to book your place please contact Mary Murison on 01634 583536 or email marymurison@bromptonacademy.org.uk

Short Films of Mr Young – Screening – 26th May 2012 at 4pm – Chatham

Creative and Art Events

To celebrate the release of the new compilation DVD ‘Caged Fire – The Short Films of Mr Young’ – the UCA Pop-Up Gallery, Chatham, UK, present an evening devoted to Mr Young’s short films.

Mr Young has seen 6 of his films broadcast on UK TV and screened at over 30 festivals and screenings over the world.

The event and DVD release draws a line under past achievements for Mr Young who is currently developing two new feature films.

Is this the end for Mr Young’s short film adventures?  Probably not.  Two new short films have already been written and there is a couple of new music videos in the pipeline with up-coming Medway bands.

The DVD release will contain a new version of his very first film, plus a rare chance to see the first ever video by Brighton indie band The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster.

Mr Young will present each film and there will an opportunity for a Q&A with the acclaimed filmmaker and copies of Mr Young’s first feature film DVD East 3, his CD collaboration with 7th Adventure Recordings and the new Caged Fire DVD will be available to buy.

Location – UCA pop up gallery – upper level of Pentagon Shopping Centre – Chatham

Time – 4PM on 26th May

Area – South East

Fashion On Trial – Presentation and Discussion -19th April – Rochester

Creative and Art Events


FASHION ON TRIAL is all set for Thursday 19th April. It will be held at the Good Intent pub, John Street, Rochester, from 8pm (in the back bar, accessed via the garden). Come and join Medway Mutiny in the middle of London Alternative Fashion Week, for an evening of discussion and entertainment on the theme of…you guessed it…fashion. We’ll be talking about clothes, brands and nudity; plus there’s comedy, music and storytelling. Including, of course, the ever popular speed debating. And it’s free!

We’ll be hearing from Marta Patlewicz and Abigail Ziering-Dalmedo (fresh from taking part in Alternative Fashion Week herself) about the downside of the fashion industry. Kevin Elam makes the case for nudity. Sam Hall talks about tattoos, and there will be a rant against retro-ism.  Abigail will also be contributing on the musical side. There will be stand-up comedy from CO Jones and Mat Wills; and storytelling from Philip Kane.

Most importantly though, FASHION ON TRIAL is all about opening up a space for discussion and debate, a place where your voice can be heard.  So come along and take part in the most exciting forum in Medway.  Everyone who came to Love On Trial, in February, agreed they’d had a brilliant evening.  And hopefully we’ll get even better at this as we progress!

FASHION ON TRIAL is organised and hosted by Medway Mutiny, a loose collective formed in broad sympathy with the Occupy movement.  Newcomers are welcome to get involved with the collective, and with planning or participating in the On Trial events – just let us know that you’re interested.  If you have something that you’d like to promote at On Trial evenings – whether it’s an event or a cause – and have material (eg flyers) that you’d like to distribute – please turn up as early as possible so that your material can be included in our Goodie Bags, which everyone can take away with them at the end of the evening.

Look out for the next event after this, too.  MONARCHY ON TRIAL is due on Thursday 21st June – a good antidote to the Jubilee festival of sycophancy and forelock-tugging!  Keep an eye on the blog at http://medwaymutiny.wordpress.com for news and updates.

You can also contact Medway Mutiny direct by emailing medwaymutiny@btinternet.com.

Area – South East and London

Contemporary Art and Craft Fair – Henley on Thames – 22nd to 24th June 2012

Creative and Art Events

The organisers of The Craft and Design Experience are once again staging their contemporary craft fair in June at The Henley Showground within the Hambleden Estate, near Henley on Thames. 

The Craft and Design Experience has earned an enviable reputation for selecting only the very best professional designers, artists and craftsmen and, with the resurgence in interest in designer crafts, the event is expected to be as popular as ever.  Visitors are able to shop for unusual contemporary items in a relaxing atmosphere, view a wide range of demonstrations or take part in various craft related workshops.  For children there will be a storyteller, a make and take area and lots more.

Work will be on sale from exhibitors working in many disciplines including furniture, textiles, jewellery, leatherwork, glass and more.   Design of the exhibitors’ products must be of the highest standard to be selected, and must show true innovation and originality ensuring only the very best in UK design is represented. 

Opening times are 10 am – 5 pm each day.  Advance tickets are now on sale at a reduced price or purchase on the door at £7.00 for adults, £6.00 for over 65s or children 5 – 16 £1.00.  For further information and advance ticket sales contact CDE Ltd on 01622 747 325 or visit the website at www.craftexperience.co.uk. 

Area – South East 

Kent Filmmaker Enters 48 Hour Film Challenge

Creative and Art News

Kent filmmaker Mdhamiri Nkemi is entering the Sci-Fi London 48 hour film challenge. Mdhamiri will be filming this weekend – but he will only receive the brief for the film Saturday morning and have 48 hours to script, film, edit and deliver his piece. All the brief will contain is a title, details of props to be included and a line of dialogue.

A number of locations are allowing Mdhamiri to film at their businesses but the crew would appreciate the addition of any more shooting locations including offices, shops, studios or spaceships. If you would be willing to help please email energy333air@yahoo.co.uk

The competition, which is part of the London sci-fi film festival, will give filmmakers the opportunity to have their film screened at the festival and the winner will get a development deal with Vertigo films.

So far Mdhamiri would like to thank the Golden Chippy in Strood and the coworking space @coFWD in Rochester High Street for their help.

To follow the progress over the weekend use  #SFL48HR on Twitter and you can find Mdhamiri on Twitter.

For more information about the 48 hour film challenge please see http://www.sci-fi-london.com/48-hour-film-challenge

Area- South East

Craft In Focus – Canterbury – 13th to 15th April 2012

Creative and Art Events

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Kent based business, Craft In Focus, is staging one of their contemporary craft events in Canterbury from 13-15 April this year at Kent College.

Although exhibitors come from all over the UK, several local makers have been selected.  These include jewellers, Dave Kilford from Deal and Sabine Konig from Herne Bay, silversmith Edward Mahony from Faversham, artist Deborah Packebusch from Barming, ceramicists Helen Rondell from Wrotham Heath and Louise Hummerstone from Canterbury and stained glass artist Brenda Norrish from Ashford.  Visitors will also be pleased to learn that regular exhibitor, Tim Huckstepp from Ashford, will be attending once again with his ceramic ikebana dishes and.  The Kent Potters’ Association will also have a stand at the event selling original handmade ceramics for the home and garden.

Opening times are: 13-15 April, 12 noon – 5 pm Friday; 10 am – 5 pm Saturday and Sunday.  Admission is £4.00 for adults, £3.00 for over 65s.  Accompanied under 14s free.  Free Parking.  For further information contact Craft in Focus on 01622 747 325 or visit their web site at www.craftinfocus.com

Venue address:  Kent College, Whitstable Road, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 9DT

Area – South East

Evolution Of Consciousness – Exhibition – 1st April to 31st May 2012 – Chatham

Creative and Art Events

 

The UCA gallery in Chatham is holding a collaborative exhibition that explores how if we want to survive as a species on this planet we desperately need to develop our consciousness.

Artists featured include Allegra Ally, Augustinas Neslenas, Carolyn Birchall,  Curt Wilhelm Ostlund, Dane Horsley, Helen Butler, Joseph Webb, Luka Lukasik, Michal Janowski, Michael Turley, Natasha Steer, Philip Kane, Simon Pruciak, Vesko Nickolov and Winifred Baker.

The exhibition also features a short film by Mr Young called “The Moon The Eye”

Here is a sneak peak of the exhibition!

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The UCA pop up gallery is on the upper level of the Pentagon Shopping Centre, Chatham.

Area – South East

Artistic Solutions – Exhibition – 28th May to 2nd June 2012 – Historic Dockyard Chatham

Creative and Art Events

Artistic Solutions is an exciting showcase of artworks by University of  Kent Fine Art students in their final year of study. The debates brought to issue show that this is just the beginning of the artists creative explorations. Through installation, film, sculpture, painting and drawings, they exhibit contemporary arguments and re-examine older ones, which narrate our 21st Century culture.

For more information please visit any of the following links –

Tumblr page is http://kentdegreeshow.tumblr.com/

Twitter page is https://twitter.com/#!/Kentdegreeshow

Area – South East