Making of: Remi Rough Notorious

Inline image 1

This print had been in the planning for a while and I knew I could’t promise to print it unless I had proofed it and was happy enough to pursue and finish it! You ask why, but all is not that appears to be with this design.

Like most of Remi/Roughs art work, everything has layers and depths, some parts appear to jump right at you and some parts are pushed behind others with no heavy boarder or line to hide behind. I really like the fact the Remi doesn’t release a print at a drop of a hat, so I new that this had been cleverly thought about and deliberated and I had to treat this print with the same thought and consideration.

Putting aside the meticulous precision with the regiteration on this design I had to think long and hard with what sections of the print leaped out, what part balanced and what got pushed back. So, to cut a long long story short and about a month of sampling various hand cut artworks, colours and inks, here is the lovely four colour screen print on Somerset Satin paper, finished of with my current obsession, Gloss Overprint Varnish on the Black, just to make it pop!

Notorious will be available to view at the London Original Print fair (Royal Academy) through Scream Gallery from 25th-28th April 2013

Mobstr- “This One” Screen Print

As per usual, I swear to go into semi-retirement of producing commercial prints for artists but as per usual, something always entices me to get my special squeegees, and large pristine screens out and make an edition for someone.

This is my first screen print for the artist, that I actually got one of his previous prints a while ago, so I really do likeMobstr’s work. Those “word” pieces have some sort of resonance with me, maybe because, I have thought similar things in my head one time or other, and most of the time when I see one, I have a little chuckle to myself and say touche!

This design is a slight departure from the trademark “Word” pieces which I thought I would be printing when I was first asked. But I was pleasantly surprised with the design, which was very bold and graphic & thoughtful, which I guess is the common thread between the two styles of work. As most of you know, I love printing those flat, block colours so this was a dream….well, it was a dream, until I was asked if I could print another image on the back of the same print…..Ahhhhhh, went through my mind as most printers know, trying to keep both side of a paper which works out roughly a Lady Godiva a sheet pristine isn’t so easy at best of times.Especially as the second side had the ink going right up to the edge of the paper, major seepage came to mind! Never mind the accuracy needed, so when the lines and the bottom of the paper were hand cut, it would all look lined up.

So, the lesson is, even when you think your getting a quick print job, and that it looks pretty straight forward and easy…..it never is.
“A SIMPLE PRINT JOB DOES NOT EXSIST- FACT”

And as I was sworn off doing another double sided print for another millennia, I’m just waiting for a layer of ink to dry on my double sided print as I write this now! FACT!!!!!!

This beautiful graphic print titled “This One” is available from here and its a “Double” sided Screen Print- 5 colours in total on Somerset Tub Sized Satin 310gsm, Hand Cut, Edition of 35, signed & numbered. I believe you can even order it with a custom made clear acrylic frame, so depending on your mood you can hang it which ever side you like! Quality…….

Guess which side mine is hanging on………..

Whitecross St party 2012

It was the third year that we participated in Whitecross Street Party. I think having been there from the start, I can honestly say that it just keeps getting better and better.There is just so much to do & it’s really family friendly with lots of activities for the little one’s. Although I am at our stall majority of the time over the two days, I did manage to see a few things like the fire breathing horse and my friends Brassroots performing on the new stage area on the Sunday.

I am sure we will back next year for more rising of the none-conformists!

Sweet Memories-Sweet Revenge

I really don’t need to say much this time, the photo’s explain it all!

It was all decks on hand when the Sweet Toof Sweet Revenge show was getting put up by the High Roller Society. The mammoth space in Hackney Wicks Colour Works building was transformed in to a “sweet delight” in the middle of the Olympics!!!!!

The preparation was immense and everything manged to get pulled together in the final stages, although I did feel really bad in pulling the big Blue shutters down on peering faces just when the show was meant to start! Sorry! They didn’t stay shut for too long though.

The most amazing thing about the show for me was to see all the great works made through the years under one roof. All the past pieces reminded me of the time and place when I had first seen them and the people that had been with me. Sweet memories of times gone by…….

Hope you enjoy the photo’s, and thanks to the High Roller Society and all those who helped with the show for letting me part of it.

You are here exhibition

London Framing Workshop presents:

You Are Here

You Are here is the second in the installment of the summer exhibitions brought to you by London Print Workshop.

Hackney Wick has been home for the swarm of young creatives descending into its raw industrial makeshift studios in the last decade or so. And has quickly become one of the biggest artist communities in London.

You Are Here celebrates this flourishing talent and diversity by showcasing five artists who practice/live in the “Wick” and explores their very individual and personal development within this close nit community. The various disciplines and subject matters are very personal in technique and style and range from the medium of painting, illustration, printmaking and street art.

Aida

A political refugee from the Middle East in the early 80′s, Aida describes herself foremost as a designer maker, a full time screen printer and a “some time educator.”

Having taken some time out from dressing Brick Lane’s Fashionistas with her label Brag, she’s set to concentrate on her fine art printing and independent production house “Aida Prints”

Since then, Aida has exhibited in various exhibitions with more major ones including Mutate Britain(One Foot in The Grove) in West London (2009). In 2011 completed a street art inspired print project with Safewalls, an art project set up by Cirque du Soleil. More recently she has showcased two major screen print releases at Pick Me Up (Contemporary Graphic Design) 2012, and just completed the Banger Art project alongside major international street artists with Nelly Duff which involved transforming an old car in to a piece of art.

www.aidaprints.com

https://www.facebook.com/Bragstarrs

Mantis

South African born artist Mantis has been a steady contributor to the urban and contemporary art scene for the last ten years.

He has exhibited internationally, showing numerous times in group shows with some of the worlds leading galleries from Los Angeles, Miami, Australia, Bangkok, Berlin, Italy and his current base in London. His First solo show “Altered State” in 2010 was in Hackney Wick’s very own derelict Lord Napier pub.

Mantis’s work reflects mostly on the social issues that confront us in our daily city grind and although full of hope it rides and questions on the darker edge of the social conscience. With his work, he asks that we enter into a new way of thinking and that we play the game of life with heart, pushing forward collectively in a positive and constructive new direction.

John Atherton

John Atherton attended Glasgow School of Art where he studied Graphic Design. He has worked in many design fields but more recently his work has a fine art direction. In his latest series of ‘unusual portraits’ his working process dictates the narrative of each piece, the subsequent gallery of historical, aristocratic freaks uses various techniques that include painting, screen-printing and collage.

Luke Moss

Luke received a diploma in Architecture from the University of Westminster in 2007. Having previously studied Fine Art at Byam Shaw and the Central School of Speech and Drama.

He currently works as a Robotics Engineer for the Shadow Robot Company.He has been exhibiting artwork in group shows for the last fifteen years under the pseudonym ‘Dybbuk’ and as part of the creative sound system ‘Hekate,’ in and around Europe including; Poland, Romania and Bulgaria.

With a focus on the anthropomorphic interpretation of machines and objects, Luke’s painting could be described as narrative-driven Synthetic-Surrealism.

His drawing and design work stretches across numerous records, canvases, human skin and walls.

thebadmachine@hotmail.com

http://www.hekate.co.uk/LUKE%20MOSS/frontpageLuke.htm

Sweet Toof

You can’t miss Sweet Toofs recognizable pink fleshy gums and skull heads which are plastered onto almost every rooftop building as you enter and leave Hackney Wick, these iconic images have almost become the identity of the area.

Sweet Toof’s painting starts with and evolves out of his street art; whether as a solo graffiti artist or in collaboration with the esteemed Burning Candy crew.

Like the streets of 1980’s New York, an ever-increasing army of street artists of which Sweet Toof is one of the most prolific and artful today is reclaiming London’s streets.

Equally disciplined in traditional painting and printmaking techniques, Sweet Toof masterfully blends urban detritus with bygone decadence. Fusing ancient methods with modern materials, Sweet Toof’s imagery combines layers of historical and current cultural references to create unconventional, iconoclastic art that is at once both traditional and contemporary.

www.sweettoof.com

It’s a Wilde Ride

Being a print designer for me is always about planning, sizing and layering, as everything needs to be quite precise with how I work. I first began with the theme and how I envisaged the whole car to end up looking like- I went back to my Surface Design fashion roots with this one, wanting to combine my love of 80′s pattern and Versace-esque “bling”with my more refined arty animal heads. Once this was decided, I began designing each element that would be included- the only problem now was the scale as I had no idea with what car I was going to get. To be truthful my one fear was that I would run out of time- So much was to be done and prepared once I knew the measurements of my car panels as each piece of art work had to be re-created to scale. New screens had to be made and printed from scratch and never mind preparing the car and ordering the materials.

Nelly Duff: Banger Art

Making Of: Holly-Anne Buck Print

Competition winner- Holly-Anne Buck

Little did I know a chance meeting with Holly-Anne Buck who had the next stand by mine at the Other Art Fair 1 that I would end up printing her winning designs a few months later!

To top that, I actually think that Holly-Anne well may be the first lady artist that I have made a screen print edition for!

In fairness, we didn’t begin work straight away on the print, and getting the artwork right was our prime concern.

Majority of Holly-Anne’s work is collage based and she has a great talent of juxtaposing various imagery together to make amazing and sometimes crazy compositions.

This had it’s own little hurdles for us as screen printing is obviously an analogue process, so when you try to reproduce something that has already been processed digitally transferring it back to analogue you really need to handle it with experience and care to no experience too much dot clash (Moiré). Luckily Holly-Anne has a printmaking background so she immediately understood what I was going on about so she was a little more forgiving.

Very bizarrely I had just purchased some140T mesh screens, which are probably the tightest mesh count I have printed through as yet, so I thought I would give it a go!

After we had the go ahead from the initial samples my work continued. Armed with the original artwork close to me, I couldn’t seem to get the Rose in the middle of the deign bold enough! So, I have a little confession to make…..I actually had to add another layer to the print so it became 4 colours instead of the 3! I know, I know, but I couldn’t really let the print leave without me being a 100% happy.

As you could imagine Holly-Anne was very pleased with her print she actually told me that she couldn’t take her eyes of it.

I am so happy Holly-Anne won, well deserved winner.

We really enjoyed running the print comp because I really believed in it, and wanted to connect with other artists and designers. I love being able to make work for other artists as much as I love making work for my self. Thank you for all who voted and thanks once more to the entrants and the runners up. Aida x

The new stunning prints titled “Flowers that Wander & Bloom, London 2012″ will be available from here: hollyannebuck.com

LCC Surface Design Graduate Show

Surface Design @LCC Graduate shows 2012

Surface Design at the London College of Communication has a long history in priding itself in delivering one of the best Applied Arts programmed in the UK.

Our philosophy is that design for the “Surface” needs to be innovative and unique and this can only stem from our belief of imbedding the traditional fundamentals of Surface Design and image making in the developments of our students time with us.

We are pleased to announce that this years Graduate Surface Design at the London College of Communication will be exhibiting at the Elephant & Castle, 3^rd Floor Galleries which will be open to the public from the 15^th June- 21^st.

There will be a showcase of over 60 graduate students exhibiting a diverse selection of work, which includes Screen Prints, textiles, paper based products, ceramics as well as more Conceptual 3D and innovative pieces.

The opening reception will be on the evening of the 14^th from 6pm, where there will be various screen printing demonstrations including, how a textile length gets printed into a repeat design as well as having the opportunity to pull your own squeegee, and print a mini poster and other various delights on the evening.

We will also be taking a wonderful selection of our graduating students to what promises to be an eventful year at the prestigious New Designers Exhibition in London between the 27^th-30^thJune at the Business Design Center in Islington- www.newdesigners.com. This year will be our first year exhibiting under the category of Contemporary Applied Arts (stand CA22).

We would love to see you so come and say hello, and if you can’t, you can see some behind the scene photos and ramblings on these sites.

http://surfacedesignlcc.tumblr.com/

http://collectiveink.tumblr.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/LCCSDatND2012

Going Wilde at the Wild Food Kitchen

It was a bit of a last minute rush for me but my friend Alex Daw asked if I would like to bring down some of my animals to accompany his artwork for the latest pop up restaurant for the Wild Food Kitchen in Hackney, as he thought the theme seemed to be right up my ally. I couldn’t refuse now could I!

When I arrived first thing last Thursday morning you wouldn’t think that the restaurant was going to be open later on that evening. So I began taking the cut out prints out, barely awake and started work. To my great surprise what Alex had already done really complimented all the different colours of work that I had brought down. So I carried on amongst the electricians fixing the light fittings and the head chef Jimmy Garcia organising the kittichen staff who were scurrying around prepping vegetables, there was a real great buzz about the place, with everyone working hard to meet the opening deadline.

I couldn’t wait to see it all finished and taste the yummy wild foraged delights which were going to be on offer. We headed down there on Sunday evening, where a friendly and charming hostess greeted us at the door and showed us our table. The place looked amazing, with all the ambient low lighting, the art work, the smell of the delicious food and the late entertainment which proved to be one of the highlights of the night. We were fortunate to be sitting on the same table with two of the scattered members of City Shanty Band , who didn’t let on that they were going to perform that night with the rest of the members who had also been discreetly dotted about the restaurant to surprise us with their heady mix singing & hand clapping & minimal instruments. They performed catchy humorous songs with a twist of traditional sea shanties with an urban vibe.

Throughly enjoyable and refreshing evening. I am told that they City Shanty Band will be back at the venue again next Thursday so I would highly recommend you book early to taste some great food and great entertainment!

Making Of: Lennie Lee, Dark Angel & Specsaviours

I had been on a well deserved break from screen printing when I received a surprise call from what I call the original “wild child”of found/trash/sculpture/performance/instillation…..the list goes on for the artwork of Lennie Lee. You would think with so much experience and knowledge Lee would have had a Screen Print out by now! But I gasped…..”you have never screen printed or had one made for you?” oh my gosh, “we must see what we can do about that”. I did stress the fact that he was eating in to my holiday away from my squeegee and I was only doing this because I couldn’t bare anyone else making him his first ever release, especially as I adored the images that he had sent me!

For someone who has never had a print out, his work is the perfect companion to the screen print process. The beautiful blocks of flat colour and the heavy key line is any printers dream! It is only in this process, such saturation of colour and quality could be achieved.

I took this one in my stride, apart from spending about half a day getting the colour balance right on the Dark Angel print. Knowing how much Lee loves collaborating and improvising we even spent a day in the Glorious House preparing various backgrounds with paint and other mark making materials for the Specsaviours print. It was a long and some time exhausting day but very enjoyable and I even think Lennie said he learnt something new about the way he works and how he could perhaps develop more of his work to be screen printed in the future.

Lennie Lee will be launching his new Screen Prints- Dark Angel and Specsaviours tomorrow at the Other Art Fair in London’s Ambika P3. The fair is open to the public from the 10th-13th May.

I love these prints and they are very limited so make sure you try and get to see them in real life-

Thanks Lennie for sharing your excitement & experience with me!

Aida’s Glorious Big Bonanza Free Printing Giveaway

Competition Winner: Holly Anne Buck

Shortlist:

Holly Anne-Buck, Gaetan Billault, Jay Blunt, Hannah Collins, Clare Dewell, Hijak ’85, Adam Jacques,
Sui Kim, Keith Little, Mark McAleese McQueen, Pedro Moreira, Ian O’Dem, Nicola Reed, Sarah Richards,
Mark Ring, Jamie Stuart, Juliette Stuart, Philip Walton

Wow, we have finally got our WINNER ! Congratulations to Holly Anne Buck. We will be getting started
with you print very soon.

Thank you so much to all our lovely entrants for making our first competition such a great success.
We are planning lots more fun competitions for the future so keep your eyes peeled, we would love
to see more of your artwork again.

Thanks for all your support and well done Holly Anne Buck.

Lots of love

Aida x

Behind the Scenes at the “Zoo”

I am sure you have had enough of me going on about this years Pick Me Up (Graphics Fair) by now, but it is because I was so excited to have something in the show. For the last two years, I had visited the fair and was a little envious of all the artists that had been exhibiting.

This years show, didn’t fail to disappoint me. I think I could even go as far in saying, it was one of the best yet, especaially as there was a special focus on drawing and I know in the past it has been quite print based.

Well, there are plenty of reviews of the show on many many other blogs out there, this is not my role, so I will shut up. What I do have is some sneak pics of us helping set up the Nelly Duff “Zoo”, which was so much fun, especially being able to put up the main entrance wall of the Zoo. You wouldn’t think it would be so hard to make something look naturally pasted up and aged- I think it took us about 5 hours or so to achieve the look! Many strategic rips and scratching went on……

Just incase you were in hibernation, you can see my new screen print launches FlamingoRama & Scarlett Ibis now available from Nelly Duff.

Making Of: Bruce French (Monument)

I recently had the pleasure of meeting and printing for the lovely artist Bruce French, who is with Scream and Whisper Gallery in London. The print is titled “Monument” and is a 4 colour screen print on to Somerset Tub Sized paper.

I really love this screen print for it’s simplicity and honesty, which made it even more harder to print. There was nothing to hide behind on this print. I also find the colour balance on the print very soothing and calming and I must say, it is one of my favourite fine arts prints that I have done.

The print can be seen in the up coming London Original print Fair at the Royal Academy which starts Thursday 19th April. If you can’t make it to that show, you can check them out at Whisper Gallery very soon.

Making Of: Flamingorama

Having always looked towards the wilder side of the animal kingdom for inspiration as mentioned in the ‘Left with the Unicorns’ blog post, I knew that I was going to be working on a bird theme collection of prints for the next few months at least. When I heard the news that these were potentially going to be launched by Nelly Duff at their “Zoo” themed room for Pick Me Up fair, the pressure was on and I knew they had to be special and maybe something that I had never done before- lets say I was feeling slightly out of my comfort zone. If you have read the ‘Unicorns’ post, you will know that this version of the Flamingo is the second one which I reflects my personality a little more. Where in the last one, as nice as it was, maybe I was too influenced or even haunted by the history of the past.

With some classical references and taking inspiration from the likes of John Audubon and Basil Ede, I wanted to make artwork that echoed the atmosphere and composition of the original illustrations and give them a new lease of life through digital rendition and screen printing techniques, especially focusing on various processes and finishes to make these birds really sing.

The fist two birds in the collection are specially produced are launched by Nelly Duff in this years Pick Me Up show in Somerset House. Audubon’s classic Reddish Pink flamingo has been given a major rework, with a composition that is reminiscent of “the land of the giants” with a small hint of detail on how some of these birds can now only be seen in captivity and not in their natural habitat like Audubon and his predecessors had the privilege of observing. Again, this is offset by my classic trademark use of acidic Pink and Black Glitter printed on recycled speckled paper with the apt title FlamingoRama.

To view these birds in their new natural habitat, Pick Me Up- Contemporary Graphic Art Fair runs from the 22 March – 1 April. The prints can also be viewed after the show at Nelly Duff gallery.

I will be posting some behind the scene photographs and commentary on Nelly Duff’s ZOO room for Pick Me Up in the next blog post soon xx

Making Of: Scarlett Ibis

Having always looked towards the wilder side of the animal kingdom for inspiration I tried not to fly too far from the nest with the new collection of hand screen printed editions especially made for the Nelly Duff gallery in London.

The bright Red flamed ruffled feathers of this print can only be the Scarlett Ibis, which sits perched on a silhouette of a thick branch, which is another recurring theme, running through both the Flamingo and the Ibis. The dark Gray background and the thick Black gloss overprint over the beak and tail of the Ibis makes this print very dark and majestic, making it a welcome addition to grace any wall.

To view these birds in their new natural habitat, Pick Me Up- Contemporary Graphic Art Fair runs from the 22 March – 1 April. The prints can also be viewed after the show at Nelly Duff gallery.

Left with the Unicorns

In my mind, I had been planning to start a bird based screen printing project for some time now. Many hours of researching through books, The V & A, The British Musuem and the Museum of Natural History and a million photographs I was driving my self into a right tizz. So many choices and so many avenues to follow but I knew I had to settle on some sort of a vibe.

I knew that I didn’t want it to look too ‘twee’, as that’s not my thing. They had to be bold and quite powerful, but mostly colourful. (Had to get the Pink in there somehow)

I decided to whittle the first 3 down, and started with the mind set of, S, M & L birds…just like when I am printing clothing!

My main focus and inspiration was to ‘mash up’ the old with the new, so draughtmen like John Audubon and Basil Ede were a big inspiration.

The hardest thing I guess “only” working with the screen print medium, for me, is the time consumption and the expense, and obviously spending hours getting the art work right before you make your positive films. In total, just for me to produce these first intitial proofs, I made over 16 screens, went through lots of paper, and never mind the pots of inks that I mixed. My hands and fingers were getting so tired of mixing over 16 pots of ink in various colours that I wanted to try out for these samples, that at some point I couldn’t even clamp my screens in the frame because they were hurting so much.

At the end, the hardest part was the admittance that these wouldn’t actually make the cut and I had to go back to the drawing board. It’s a complicated feeling when you have to reject something that you have created and say that this is not good enough! Oh well, can’t get it right all the time! For me, this was the first time that this had happened and I think I have learned a very valuable lesson- my creativity cannot be rushed!

New Print Launch for Nelly Duff at Pick Me Up

Dear Friends,

Here is a sneak peek at what to expect from my new collection of prints which will be launched by Nelly Duff at this years Pick Me Up (Contemporary Graphics show) Obviously, I can’t reveal the fully finished prints just yet, you will have to go to the show to see that, so below is a summery of what to expect. More behind the scenes photo’s and “Making of” to follow soon. Hope to see you there xx

Aida- New Print release for Nelly Duff at Pick me Up 2012

FlamingoRama & Scarlett Ibis

Having always looked towards the wilder side of the animal kingdom for inspiration we find that Aida hasn’t flown too far from the nest with the new collection of hand screen printed editions especially made for the Nelly Duff gallery in London.

With some classical references and taking inspiration from the likes of John Audubon and Basil Ede, Aida wanted to make artwork that echoed the atmosphere and composition of the original illustrations and give them a new lease of life through digital rendition and screen printing techniques, especially focusing on various processes and finishes to make these birds really sing.

The fist two birds in the collection are specially produced and will be launched by Nelly Duff in this years Pick Me Up show in Somerset House. Audubon’s classic Reddish Pink flamingo has been given a major rework, with a composition that is reminiscent of “the land of the giants” with a small hint of detail on how some of these birds can now only be seen in captivity and not in their natural habitat like Audubon and his predecessors had the privilege of observing. Again, this is offset by Aida’s classic trademark use of acidic Pink and Black Glitter printed on recycled speckled paper with the apt title FlamingoRama.

The bright Red flamed ruffled feathers of the second print can only be the Scarlett Ibis, which sits perched on a silhouette of a thick branch, which is another recurring theme, running through both the Flamingo and the Ibis. The dark Gray background and the thick Black gloss overprint over the beak and tail of the Ibis makes this print very dark and majestic, making it a welcome addition to grace any wall.

To view these birds in their new natural habitat, Pick Me Up- Contemporary Graphic Art Fair runs from the 22 March – 1 April. The prints can also be viewed after the show at Nelly Duff gallery.

Making Of: Otto Schade Sweat Heart & You Got the Power

Here are the latest new Screen Print offerings from the Chilean artist Otto Schade . They are the classic band illustrated art works.

The “Sweet Heart” is especially appropriate for you lovers out there with Valentines fast approaching….
“Sweet Heart” and “You Got the Power” are now available from The Ben Oakley Gallery (London), both are an edition of 25 printed, 3 colour screen print on Somerset Satin 300gsm paper.

Making Of: Remi/Rough Known

It was about a year ago when Remi/Rough released his first ever screen print Edition “Phenomenon” which was printed right here in The Glorious House of Brag by the infamous, talented screen printer Sam from Mula Printing.

After the success of the last print, Remi was ready to release his second print edition called “Known”. This one was a little bit different from his classic trait mark of clean graphic lines and angular shapes but never the less, still very recognisable as the artist work. I particularly love the large circular curves and and the perfect sphere that lies completely balance on the tiniest of hair line at the foot of the curve.

As a printer, for me, I knew the simplicity and the cleanness of the design would represent many hidden challenges to make sure everything was printed meticulously with all the colours being very much solid with no discrepancies in any part of the print. The colour balance had also had to be right and I did have to make a fair few samples to get this just right.

I think the most challenging part was that, I had no line or key lines to hide behind….it was all exposed, never mind getting rid of all the little bits of paper fluff and dust that kept obstructing the large solid areas of colour. Despite all this, the prints turned out beautifully and I am sure they are going to look fabulous hanging on any art lovers wall!

Remi/Rough- “Known” prints are now available in Two colour-ways, Black (edition of 25) or a very limited Blue (edition 10) from Whisper Gallery (London)

Scraffer Yearbook 2011

Well, I was in very good company when I was asked to be part of the very first Scraffer Year book (2011). The main objectives of the project was to make a summery of the year through the words and images of Urbanite artists all in the aid for Teenage Cancer Trust.

There was a lovely eclectic mix of artists in the annual, with the likes of many big names including Eine, Pure Evil & D*Face, and some that I have had the pleasure of working with in the past like (really don’t mean to name drop) Remi/Rough ( who incidentally designed the annuals cover), Dscreet, LLB, Ronzo, Ludo & off course James Jessop!

All of the 150 Limited Edition books were sold out almost immediately before they were officially released, so well done to those who managed to get your lucky mitts on one. For those of you who missed out: (, here are some snippits from the book to wet your appitites!

May I take this opportunity to thank Mr.Scraffer for all his hard work and bringing together some great artists for such a good cause. Well done sir! xx

Season Ticket Art Fair 2011

Sometimes you make work and your not exactly sure where it’s destined for or if you would even get to show it. For me, the art show Season Ticket at he Old Shoreditch Underground Station was set to me my destination. As I explained my plans to the curators I could see all my hard work and panic being worth it at the end.

I was delighted to be given the walls of the main entrance of the show and later on, an alter- esque boarded up arch window to place a more permanent robust piece of art work. I had many biblical visions on my mind for that space but as time was short and with my only options of transportation was the public sort, I opted to make a slightly smaller version of the main entrance piece, entitled “3 Wise Men”.

The main entrance pieces ended up taking about 8 hours to put up, maybe this was due to it being a freezing December evening in a cold building with no heat and working with fingers like icicles. Each piece of the instillation is individually Screen Printed on various papers with lots of hand embellishments and plenty of Glitter thrown in for good measure.

I even got to feed my new “money” addiction and covered one of the walls with the “Credit Crunch” wallpaper. We added some larger cut out, folded, 3D money on top, for added effect; a moment of genius from John. Made the whole wall look alive! If you don’t believe it, check out the photo’s.

One last note, I would like to thank Alex Daw and The High Roller Society for putting on, such an amazing show to see the end of 2011 with and letting me go Wilde xx

Making Of: Credit Crunch Wallpaper

I can see why making money can be so addictive as I think I have definitely developed an addiction to “Printing Money”. As I lay there fantasising how great it would be to be surrounded by money I had a epiphany! Make some wallpaper, this was the solution. As it shows in the photographs, it just went on and on and on and on…….delightful.

Making Of: Otto Schade Amy Winehouse Print

There were spooky going on’s in the studio when these Amy Winehouse art works were being printed . As the layers of the art work were broken down, with each layer I printed, I could almost see in to the soul of the subject….never mind all the things going missing and being moved around in the studio! It was the eyes.

Pretty sure this will be another classic print for Otto Schade, with only a limited amount printed (27 to be exact) of the Black & White edition, & only 5 in the Silver and 10 in the Gold. The lips & the nails are all lovingly hand finished by the artist in Amy’s signature Red. A lovely tribute & I ‘m sure these won’t be around for long too.

Print Yourself Out of Debt

It’s any printers long term dream…how to print money! So here at Brag Towers we thought we have a go and try to beat that nasty old Credit Crunch with the revival of our “Credit Crunch Note” Each $100 note is worth $50, with the exchange rate of: 50 USD = 32 GBP. It’s not guaranteed to get you out of debt but will sure look great on your wall or in your oversized wallet!

3 Colour Screen print with a hand embeleshed layer.
43cm x 73cm, 250gsm Somerset Antique paper, signed & numbered.

Available Now

Making Of: Hood Thingamajigs

Million hours in making but they are back. The famous Bragacalavas from the good old “Brag Boutique” winter staples. I had actually forgotten how long they take to make, start to finish. Luckily, I had found a batch of the fabric already cut out in one of the storage bags, so I only had to print and sew them this time round.

As usual, those of you who frequented the old shop would remember, I enlisted the help of my mother to help me sew these baby’s up. What a trooper, we made a production line of pressing, pinning, sewing and pressing again to finish these off. The results are all there for you to see. They look awesome and I must confess, now I know why they are worth all the effort, IT’S BECAUSE THEY LOOK SO HOT ON!

Check ‘Em Out

Fee Fee La Fou HQ

It was a while back now that I was contacted by the delightful Miss Fee Fee Lafou for some of my Neon coloured prints for her delightful soon to be Circus themed shop in the heart of Dalston in East London. As you can imagine, I’m never short of anything Neon in my studio, so off I went searching through my archive to see what I can give her that was suitable. As the launch of the shop was on Halloween, it was only fitting to give her the Brightly Florescent Vanitas Skull & for the subdued tastes out there, I also included a Black version.

I had first visted the shop when it was a work in progress, with the smell of gloss paint wafting through the air. It was shaping up to be one of the most amazing quirky boutiques I had ever seen. Once the official unveiling had happened, I was not to be disappointed.”This is the first of FFLF’s ambitious projects is to unveil Fee Fee La Fou HQ – an artist inspired, concept boutique that makes curious products for curious people ” Fee fee explains.

It’s spirit is inspired by ‘The Shop’ Tracy Emin’s & Sarah Lucas’s project space & Exhibition 3 curated by Peter Blake at the Museum of Everything.It’s a glorious space with lots of desirable feasts for the eyes, from Prints, to Home Wares, Jewellery as well as Miss Fee Fee’s own hand made objet d‘art.

The shop is open Wednesday – Saturday noon until 7pm & Sunday lunchtime until 5pm. It’s located just two minutes from Dalston Kingsland Overground Station & beside the Vortex Jazz bar, on 6 Bradbury Street, N16 8JN.

On Saturday the 10^th of December FFLF will be celebrating the imminent arrival of Saint Nicholas & her Germanic roots by showcasing some gorgeous German Christmas decorations, handmade stocking fillers & original, extra ordinary Christmas gifts. Frohe Weihnachten.

Fee Fee says….Stay Curious

Staycurious@feefeelafouenterprises.com

www.feefeelafouenterprises.com

Making Of: Limited Edition Black ZeVra

So, I had a happy accident one day whilst cutting out my Pink ZeVra’s, one fell onto some Black paper which was lying on the studio floor. This was the start of my mission to try and pull off a print on Black paper. I knew it wouldn’t be easy as this colour can soak up anything which lies in it’s path spitting it out as a murky rendition of it’s former self. As you know, my colour pallet is not a shy one, so achieving this balance was not the easiest of conquests.

It all started well, the Black Gloss printed beautifully on the Black Somerset Velvet paper. Halfway through printing the White, I did actually stop and think, what have I let my self in for, as the ink was getting sucked into this bottomless void. Things got even more hairy as I was laying down the Fluorescent Pink and then having to print the extra think Black Glitter and then hand finishing them with extra Glitter on top of that! Phew, back breaking.

This was probably the longest time I have spent screen-printing a print for myself, and I really needed the time, of leaving them to press, which allowed me the adequate rest bite to fall in love with the original concept & vision again.

They are stunning to look at in my eyes and went on release at Nelly Duff Gallery 2 weeks ago. They are very limited and probably the last in the series of the ZeVra’s.

Making Of: Otto Schade: Message to Environmentally Unfriendly People

I had never met Otto Schade but had seen his work around the Truman Brewery and around East London. So, I was intrigued and a little nervous to be making some prints for him at the beginning. It’s always a bit weird to meet someone for the first time who’s work you have seen and that they have heard of you too but you have never met before. I was also a little under pressure as this was going to be his ‘debut’ Screen Print release, as far as I was told.

After much sampling and messing around with the colour-ways, the best option for me to get the gradient fade on the Panda ball was to hand blend the ink on the screen. As many screen printers know, this is a slightly artistic and an unpredictable technique to use, especially when editioning prints. Lucky for me Otto agreed for some manoeuvres in the colour fade and gave me a 3cm grace, which at some points in the printing process, my heart was skipping a beat a little! The beauty of these prints are that they are all individually unique and who ever is lucky to purchase one, will know now that so much love and care went in to making them by human hand.

They come in five different colour-ways and are limited to 10 of each colour (signed and numbered)

New Parkway Rhythm Cover

Got sent the finished cover from the Juswax guys featuring my ZeVra……lovin it!!!!!

Thanks Mark

Aidaxxx

Aida & The Glorious House of Brag

Check out the new Facebook page: Aida & The Glorious House of Brag.
There’s loads of new and old pics to see.

Peter Chang Studio Visit

Whilst in Glasgow, we had the privilege in visiting the remarkable studio of Peter Chang. I was blown the first time I saw this artist’s hand made jewellery, often made from various acrylics and plastics as well as a mixture of found objects.

Chang is ever the perfectionist and I was told some pieces can take up months and months of his time to perfect. With my inquisitive mind I tried to figure out how he does it??? Still not really sure, but all I can say….. is that it all looks very seamless…….and all I can deduct, at this point in time, is that he is very familiar with traditional Chinese lacquering techniques……Look at me, I sound like Sherlock Holmes!

The range that I had the pleasure of gazing my glittering eyes on were some of his bracelets, broaches, various dishes (which had Gold glittering sections embedded) as well as a huge handrail which graces his wall next to his “real banister” like a crashed shark fin, he had originally designed & fabricated for The Highland Printmakers Workshop

It was a real pleasure meeting this incredible gifted man and maybe one day I will be able to afford one of his pieces!

Thank you Peter Chang x

Making of: Ludo’s e-Lepidoptera Print

I was so excited to be asked to print for Ludo for his first solo show in the UK at the High Roller Society which opened last Friday.

I really enjoyed printing this image, it was such a precise image with lots of delicate half tone dots so I had to make sure that the image didn’t finish too dark as they were being hand finished by Ludo himself.

Overall he was really pleased with them and I grow very fond of the print as I was making them. I think it’s going to be a classic image which is very accessible.

I also managed to get my self one of his signed books which I believe have sold out now! Check out the final finished article on the High Rollers site!

Thank you Ludo & High Rollers xx

Breuckelen@Recoat Gallery

While we were on our hols in Glasgow we managed to make it down to the EMA show @Recoat Gallery. The work was inspired by Ema’s time living in NYC for nearly ten years. The work was predominately chromatic with the only flashes of colour appearing in her well illustrated graphic screen prints. My absolute personal faves were the Black and White drop men which are her signature call!

While we were there, we also met Amy & Ali, who run Recoat, who were genuinely passionate and enthusiastic about their unique endevours in Glasgow. They are clearly on their way in putting Glasgow on the street art map.

Well worth a trip up to the city…… especially if you can go to the newly housed Transport Museum designed by Zahar Hadid…not entirely sure about the Pistachio interior wall coverings though!

Well done EMA & Recoat Galllery

xxx

Galloping New ZeVras

It’s a wrap for the new Silver ZeVra colour-way which was delivered to Nelly Duff last Saturday……the word is that there has already been some pre- orders so fingers crossed they will soon gallop their way out of the gallery again!

A final note on the ZeVras, I finally managed to get into the Nelly Duff HQ and decorated the cupboard doors in the office……thought it would cheer them up every morning!

Love

Aida xx

P.S Please contact the gallery for any pre-orders on the new colour way.

Kid Acne:Kill Your Darlings

I had the opportunity to go up to to Sheffield to the Millennium Gallery to see the Kid Acne solo show. What a great space and what a carefully contemplated show! Really worth going up, especially as there are lots of Kid Acne goodies to buy at the gift shop….I bought my self a ‘Colour Me Bad’ book amazing!

The show is on until the 23rd of October, so still plenty of time to visit.

Also check out the new ‘Stabby Women‘ film which is directed by Dscreet ,it’s dark and atmospheric with a killer sound track in my opinion.

Some of you may recognise the girls outfits in the film:

Making of: New Scarves

Well done to those of you who managed to buy a preview of the scarves at White Cross Street party, I think it was the classic case of ‘the early bird catches the worm’.

So, as of last week, the scarves have gone up on the Brag shop. There are lots more different designs and various colours to come, so keep checking them out, as I print them when I feel like it these days. So if there is one there that takes your fancy, GET IT……who knows when I would print that specific one again!

Bit of background information for you buffs out there. Each scarf is individually printed by hand on my beloved table. Depending on how intricate and how many colours are involved, each scarf can take anything between 30-40 minutes to set up & print from start to finish! and that’s just the making!

So those of you who have one already, lucky you!

P.S Have had a few reports recently that some of you have had yours nabbed when you have been out clubbing or in a bar, so beware, you have been warned…….’Brag scarves should be accompanied by a responsible adult at all times!’

Brag Boutique: Street View

Just Like Millions of others a few weeks ago, I was re-watching Exit Through the Gift Shop on the telly, and I got really sentimntal when the shot of Brag Boutique came on, funny how sugar coated some memories can be!

Then it suddenly dawned on me that I never took a descent photo outside the old shop (I thought I would be there forever). Especially of the walls which were painted next to it. Maybe I couldn’t take the memories of the eventful night . So I started to ask all my firends who were regulars at the old haunt if they had any photos.

A few days later, my dear friend Dave sent me these, which he found using Google Street View! So funny, as I distinctly remember that summer day, watching the van with the cameras going by. This made me feel even more nostalgic than the film. We used to hang out, outside the shop after closing for ages, chatting, smoking and laughing.

Good times!

Thank you for the photographs Dave & Google, xx

Parkway Rythm: Working Girl

I got a surprise email from a musician from Sweden who went about a spiral way to manage to find me, which I was really flattered by. I am sure I have never been head hunted like this before. What I found most amusing was that after he had spotted my work out on the street, he had envisaged me as being a starved 17 year old student looking for a bit of exposure……not sure if that’s a compliment or not!

To cut a long story short, I have provided some art work for his latest record release which is titled ‘Working Girl’…..my immediate memory was of the 80′s film which starring Melanie Griffiths and Harrison Ford, which I have lost count of ,the number of times I have watched this film. I also thought that it was fitting for me as I am also a working girl (not to be confused with the type that hangs around street corners at night anyway). So I couldn’t resist but do this project!

Try and look up the record, it’s got a real 80′s NYC vibe going on, the type of track which will make you feel nostalgic, well it certainly made me think of my youth anyway!

Labels called Parkway Rhythm- Working Girl

Vandalog

Thanks to everyone at Vandalog for the great write up and to all those lovely people who commented.

check it out: vandalog

Aida
xxx