Calling ALL vinyl lovers! Sam Foot is having a huge vinyl jumble tomorrow at his wonderful pub The King Street Tavern (click here for map). Expect some fine examples of some beautiful old tunes from back in the day.
He’s putting in listening stations too – gonna be like record shopping used to be!! Kicks off at 12noon, get involved! Beer and food will be served as usual.
We have some great news about our PRIMARY phonography exhibition (find out all the details here) that we can now announce:
- The deadline for submissions has now been extended to Sunday 4th March. We have had some incredible submissions but want to set aside more time to make the exhibition something really special.
- The competition is now open to up to 10 submissions from each individual. With the ability to capture many photos on your phone over the next two months we we want you to not feel restricted to just three. The same rules apply about the photos conforming to compositions using the primary colours though. If you have already submitted feel free to send more photos over as and when you please.
- The exhibition will be hosted by Albert Road’s own Bonzo Studio who are also partnering up with us in the creation of the exhibition space. More news on this soon!
- Finally, we will be running a competition as part of the exhibition where the best three photos submitted will win some incredible prizes. We will be announcing the prizes available very soon but got to say, these will be the best prize haul we have ever offered.
- We will be putting together a poster for the exhibition that will be on sale on the opening night. The poster will feature some of the best submissions and all profits from the sales will go to a local charity (details to follow soon). Due to this we need to say that any photos submitted to PRIMARY will involve you giving us permission to use them for commercial purposes, if you do not want your photo used in this way simply let us know via email.
Well, that is it for now! We really hope to drum up as much coverage locally for PRIMARY in the next couple of months so if you could Facebook/Tweet/+1 about the exhibition we would really appreciate it. We would love this exhibition to be a real reflection of the whole population of Portsmouth with everyone taking part and feeling involved.
During a Spring clean over the weekend I came across a solitary Strong Island tee from our first ever run. Rather than put it in the shop we thought we would offer it to you, the readers.
How can you acquire this now rare and sold out piece of Strong Island history you ask? Well, it’s easy….
Simply comment on this post and tell us what building the ‘Dollar’s Store’ is suited above and what road it’s on and we’ll pick a random winner from the list next week. Bonus bonus points go to the best Seagull name in the form of stickers, badges and pride.
Sopranos on Palmerston Road, Southsea, has a new exhibition from Hayling based photographer Harvey Mills titled ‘New York Sketchbook’.
We’ve posted about Harvey more than a few times on Strong Island and his awesome skate photography, and even some of his NYC photographs for his website www.harveymills.com.
As well as being the guy behind the camera for Herbal Skateboards and Skateboarding Photo Magazine, Harvey is an accomplished photographer with 30 years of experience, and his image portfolio presents an eclectic and diverse range of subject matter. Talented chap.
In his own words about the project Harvey says “My challenge was to present an alternative take on vistas and aspects of New York City – a place where, with every corner turned, you stumble across familiar scenes and images. Even first-time visitors feel as if they’ve known the place all of their lives.”
All photographs are tastefully framed and for sale in Sopranos or at www.harveymills.com. And if you’re popping by to check it out you would be bonkers to pass up a bite to eat, especially considering they are running their 2 for £10 lunch menu. Meatballs! Forget about it……
They are always looking for artists to display their work for future exhibitions so get in touch if interested.
Help Hayden at The Pier is a LIVE music event put together by local musicians, DJs, promoters, business owners and people who care, to help raise funds for a little lad named Hayden!
“Hayden is a 3 year old local boy who has Cerebal Pulsy. He has just under gone an operation in America to help him walk and we’d like help pay for for the expensive after care that he now needs. Not only would this money help a little run around like every lil boy but also help ease some of the massive pressure his parents and family must be under.”
Tickets are just £6 so make sure you get involved and help in any way you can. For more information about Hayden please visit www.helphayden.co.uk and keep up to date on the fundraiser of at Facebook.
The Dead Coast is now in rolling in full effect. Zombies have been rounded up and filming has begun for the pilot episode. It looks like serious fun. So gutted is couldn’t get down to show off my zombie skillllllllllllllllllllzzzzzz. Harriets got it down though, and man she wants to go Skating bad.
The Dead Coast are also holding a fundraising event on 5th Feb at the edge of the wedge. Its an acoustic night featuring Hometown Show, Cat Mclean, Caz Batten, Champ of the Day, Jimmy Broomfield and The Lion and The Wolf. Its £3 entry and kicks off at 8pm. Keep up to date with all their events and progress of the pilot over at their Facebook page HERE.
Many of us use Social Media in an attempt to benefit our businesses, but do we really know how to use it effectively? Are we making effective use of our time spent on Social Media? Does our activity on Social Media actually help our business? How would we even know?
To help answer these questions and many more, Divine Aesthetic has teamed up with leading Social Media marketing company IG Media Marketing to bring you an informal one day seminar designed demystify the world of Social Media and begin to make you think about how you approach Social Media and how best you can apply it for results within your business.
To book yourself a place and find out more please head over to www.lovedadesign.co.uk
Going back to ten years ago I remember working with lead singer Jake in Fareham. He introduced me to his band the Elements, they had a strong and loyal following within Fareham and Gosport. Since those days there are a few new faces and they go by the name of Blackfoot Circle.
Fresh off the back of winning Hard Rock Cafe’s UK Battle of The Bands competition, where they received glowing reviews from judges James Curran (Absolute Radio), Jemma Downey (Live Nation) and James Walsh (Starsailor), The band’s belief and reputation is growing fast. This and their recent appearance at Bestival being covered by ITV’s Meridian News has created a real buzz in and around their local area.
The band are starting to gain a strong following in London and have gigs there on the 2nd and 9th Feb. You can see the band playing around Hampshire on…
Fri 27 Jan @ 147 Club, Gosport
Sat 18 Feb @ The Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth
Sat 24 March @ Unit, Southampton (supporting Sound Of Guns)
The band love their social networking and you can keep up to date with them via their YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud pages. To sign up to their mailing list click here.
If you like the video below you can buy four tracks on iTunes.
(L-R) Barrie Hardman (Guitar), Jake Bezzina (Vocals), Jack Greenfield (Drums), Grant Melin (Bass) and James Hill (Guitar)
Georgina Giles will be running one of her fab crafty workshops on Thursday the 9th of February, 6:30pm till 8:30pm. The price is £35. The workshop price includes a piece of canvas to transform into your very own rug and a latch hook to take home and finish your project. Find all the details here.
I’m excited to announce that this December Strong Island will be launching a 2013 calendar. Yes 2013! I know you may wonder why we are being so organised announcing it in January 2012 but we are planning to collate the calendar over the year using your contributions.
We’ll start accepting contributions from everyone next month. Originally we were going to run this as a photography competition asking people to send in photo’s from Portsmouth and Southsea area taken during the previous month. To reflect the wealth of creative talent in Portsmouth we have decided to open the competition to various art practices which include graphic designers, fine artists and illustrators. This will be a great opportunity for you to showcase their work.
The calendars will be available to pre-order from November and available early December.
More information on how you can make your contributions to for Januarys page will follow on Weds 1st February.
Contemporary Art Gallery Aspex based in Gunwharf Quays currently have two posts available. The gallery are seeking a Communications and business Development Manager as well as an Artist to work as an animateur. The animateur will use there creative skills to engage with the gallery audience and work on exciting and innovative projects.
The other day I visited La Bossout’s, a french style coffee house converted from an old traditional British pub on Jubilee Terrace. The previous pub closed it’s doors years ago so it is great to see a long closed building come back to life with a new business. La Bossuot’s serve up the best in ground coffee, with a cosy relaxing atmosphere in a space that still includes many of the pub original features and oak flooring.
You can find out more on Facebook.
Despite The New Theatre Royal undergoing it’s major redevelopment at the moment there is still much going on (as well as the cafe being open) including the upcoming Little Theatres art exhibition. The theatre wants to give the leaflet stands in the Dress Circle bar a makeover and would like people of all ages and artistic ability to get creative. The theatre would like you to create miniature scenes to fill one of the 44 leaflet stands, depicting the history of the theatre, or just what you love about the theatre. You can even get into the Dickens spirit and create your favourite scene of a Dickens classic. The only limitations are the space, so here are the dimensions to work within:
Height: 18.5 cm
Width: 16cm
Depth: 3.5cm
You can visit the Box office to pick up a leaflet stand to take home to work with (you will be required to leave contact details). You can also design stage curtains for your piece, or other backdrops of roughly A5 sizing if you wish. All miniature scenes must be set up on Monday 6th February by popping into the theatre on the day with your scenes ready to place or with the leaflet stand you collected.
This exhibition will take place on the 7th February and is just one of the many events happening on the day in celebration of Charles Dickens 200th birthday.
For more information and to register your interest, please email Cat as soon as possible at lm@newtheatreroyal.com. All entrants must register their interest by 10pm on Monday 30 January so get involved quick!
Portsmouth’s Big Screen at the Guildhall is opening the screen to submissions from the general public. Submissions could be an art project that you have been working on, a gallery of photographs of a day out in Southsea, a community project that you are involved with, an animation that you have created, a short film you have made and so on. All content submitted will be reviewed by the BBC who are responsible for the content on the Big Screen.
You can find out more at the Big Screen Facebook Page.
Photographer Matt Sills took over Portsmouth Indoor Tennis club last week for a photo shoot with Mark Pain the British Sports Photographer of the year. I popped along with my Strong Island hat on to take some photos behind the scenes. The shoot was part of an ad campaign for Focus on Imaging at Birmingham in March 2012. There is also an app available for download which was developed in Portsmouth – keeping it local again!
Photographers Robert Dowling and Perou have also been featured as part of this campaign. Behind the scenes footage can be seen on Matt’s website.
Mark Pain spoke to me about the incredible shot he took of Tiger Woods with the golf ball heading straight for his camera. Luckily for him it only damaged the camera hood and filter and earned him a lot of PR attention on live US TV. A well deserved award for a great photographer. Thanks to Matt for the invite – always good to see Portsmouth being used for shoots like this.
Below: Mark Pain’s shot of Tiger Woods.
Below: Final image by Matt Sills
Behind the scenes footage from Portsmouth Tennis Centre below
Incroyable! Marie Lusseau, from Lusseau Delicatessen on Marmion Road, got in contact with me today with the sad news that her new bike has just been stolen. Look at the picture below but imagine it with a French wicker basket at the front. If you have any information or just happen to recognise it, then please get in contact either on here or visit Marie in her delightful shop. Who knows you could get a continental reward. Bonne chance Marie.
This is also pinched from The News website but is too good a story not to pass on: Hilsea Lines has received a grant that will mean some major improvements to access and the paths in the woodland. The old defence walls and the woodland at the top of the island is possibly one of the most under appreciated natural spaces on Portsea Island and is often forgotten. In a few months the area becomes even better with a huge carpet of bluebells. Looking forward to some winter walks up that way soon.
You can read the story HERE.
Don’t Forget Your Plimsolls is a new style of exercise class. It brings everything people enjoyed about PE and playground games while still allowing them to get fit in a carefree and above all, fun way. Even those of us who hated PE still have fond memories of crazes such as British Bulldog, Stuck in the Mud and Dodgeball. Exercise never used to feel like exercise and this is exactly what DFYP is trying to recapture. Yes, you’ll burn calories as you take part in the activities, but without the pain of monotony and pressure you may have experienced in gyms previously. Founder Joel Ryder is a fully qualified fitness instructor and personal trainer so while the emphasis is on fun with fitness, you’ll also be in safe hands. It’s even a great way to socialise while doing something good for mind and body.
If more traditional classes are not for you, then this may be exactly what you’ve been searching for. It suits those who are returning to exercise as well as those who are just starting out. Each game has been carefully designed to allow you to judge how far you wish to push yourself. If your aim is to shed pounds, get a bit fitter or just have some silly laughs to chill out after work then give it a go. Just bring yourself, and of course, your plimsolls.
DFYP is at Eastney Community Centre 7-8pm every Tuesday.
£2.50 introductory offer if you mention ‘Strong Island’ (normal price £3.50).
This is an adult class so minimum age is 18 years.
The Belle Isle on Osborne Road is a firm favourite with many Strong Islanders including myself. Check out this short article, courtesy of The News, about the exciting upcoming plans this local eaterie has in store for us. Click here for the full article. Looking forward to seeing the new place boys!
The Fawcett Inn, and Fawcett Road, are named after Lieutenant Alexander Fawcett. He was killed, aged 20, at Bejapore in India in 1853 during the Indian Rebellion, which is also known as India’s first war of independence. The Fawcett Inn is a grade II listed pub, which dates back to 1850, and has recently been remodelled and is under new management and they are looking for a sign that captures the spirit of the new Fawcett Inn touch on themes such as stylish, vibrant, friendly and welcoming.
There are amazing prizes on offer:
iPad – Courtesy of BSkyB
£200 worth of High Street vouchers – courtesy of Waverley TSB
£100 cash – courtesy of Britvic Soft Drinks
2 tickets to a Guiness Rugby Premiership game – courtesy of Diageo
For further information or to submit a design, please contact fawcettinn@hotmail.co.uk. You can hand in a hard copy submission if you prefer – just take it to the pub. Please be aware that hard copies cannot be returned.
The Leopold on Albert Road is a firm local favourite for the real ale drinkers and all the more so with it’s beer festival that just started. Running from now until the 29th of April there will be sixty different ales rotating on ten pumps, all from southern breweries.
Photo from www.classiccitybrew.com
The beautiful Lauren from Thread and Butter agreed to a little in interview to share her passion for crafting, creating, vintage and Portsmouth.
When did you realise crafting was more than a hobby and that you could start selling your work?
I have always been interested in everything creative since I was young. I’ve studied photography, fine art, and textiles throughout school and college, which lead me onto a foundation degree in art and design at Portsmouth University. I was then offered a place on an Illustration course at the Arts University College of Bournemouth, however I decided to withdraw from any academic studies and pursue art as a hobby. It took me a while to put confidence back into my work, but after becoming obsessed with blogs, creative magazines and craft/vintage fairs I felt it was time to get back onto the handmade path. I started by setting up a Thread and Butter blog which to my surprise received more views than I could of expected within the first month. This then inspired me to start selling my work so I enquired about craft and vintage markets around the South. I started by having a small section on a friends stall, but have now moved to having my own which is fantastic. I’ve recently set up the Thread and Butter online shop which is a fantastic way to reach people all over the world.
What do you like about the art scene in Portsmouth and what draws you to sell your work here?
From my time at Portsmouth University I was able to explore the city. However I’m sure there is still plenty that the locals could show me. I spent a lot of time in Albert Road, rummaging through the charity and antique shops. I love the small boutiques there which are full of a mixture of handmade local goods and vintage treasures. I feel every city should have a least one area full of creative gems. There seems to be a really nice community within the Portsmouth art scene which is very welcoming. I’ve had a stall at the Guildhall which was a great success; it was really fantastic to meet other local sellers and bloggers.
What inspires you? Other crafters/bloggers/artists etc
Any plans for Thread and Butter this year?
I’m concentrating on keeping up to date with the blog this year, with lots more tutorials and DIY inspirational features. I’m really excited to be working on a few things with some magazines which will be out later this year. But most of all I’m looking forward to Thread and Butters 1st birthday!
Jonathan Ring is a student who in his own words “adores design/posters/photography and being all creative!’ He went to Priory school and is now in his second year of Fareham College. He has always lived in lovely Southsea! Strong Island has featured some of his work before.
Jonathan is currently looking at courses to continue his creative education and has put together a great magazine showcasing his projects. The magazine preview can be seen via this link – http://issuu.com/jonathanring/docs/retrospectif
His website is at http://jonathanring.tumblr.com/
Fluffy Street Art is gaining momentum with some fantastic Yarn bombing going up around the street furniture in Portsmouth, and whilst out on my free Art Friday missions this morning I spotted a couple of these Free Heart Friday pieces by Dorset based artist Oddsox.
See more of Oddsox’s creations here www.facebook.com
Check out the Free Heart Friday Facebook page HERE.
I visited the new First Floor Gallery to check out the Orbit exhibition the other day and grabbed a few photographs. I’ve been a fan of Katayoun’s work for a couple of years after visiting one of her open house art events and this exhibition has some wonderful new work. I particularly love the birds and the large fort pieces. Needless to say, try and make it down and catch the exhibition before it ends.
Also, the new gallery space is an incredible new addition to the cultural scene of Southsea and Portsmouth and something Portsmouth City Council and everyone involved should be applauded for making happen. I’m looking forward to seeing many future exhibitions in this new public space.
The exhibition will running until 28th January 2012 during library opening times
First Floor Gallery, Southsea Library, 19-21 Palmerston Road, Southsea, PO5 3QQ
This coming new year we will be proud to announce our latest exhibition PRIMARY, a Phoneography exhibition by Strong Island and we are even happier to announce that it’s open to you, the readers.
With the continuing increase in impressive camera technology in mobile phones and the ability to alter, tweak, post process and upload the photos to social media networks and websites like Instagram, the popularity of Phoneography has never been greater.
The ‘of the moment’ ability to take a photo at almost any time and any place by most people has really driven the fact that the camera does not make the photographer. By which I mean, you don’t need an expensive camera to take outstanding photos.
Agreed, the quality of the physical image may not stand up to the big guns, but new learnings in composition, style and aesthetic by a new generation of camera users via online media has really driven this popularity, and encourage people to go beyond a ‘quick shot’.
PRIMARY invites you to get out and about around Portsea with your mobile phone camera and take photos of anything and everything based around the three primary colours red, yellow and blue. What you photograph is entirely up to you, but submissions will only be accepted if they stick to the theme.
The call for entires has now begun and the deadline is the 31st of January 2012 with the exhibition being held in March of 2012. Photos can be taken on any mobile phone model and we ask that a maximum of 3 photos per applicant are sent in to primary@strong-island.co.uk.
Please submit along with your photographs your name, photo title, phone model, location of photo on the island and any post process apps you used, if any, to achieve the final shot.
We look forward to seeing all the entries, and the final installation will be something special using every photo submitted in a slightly different fashion from your average photographic exhibition. CLICK HERE TO PRINT YOUR OWN POSTER
Poster by Tristan Savage & Photo by Paul Gonella
Righto chaps, it’s time to clean shave your boat race and get that mighty moustache on the grow in support of Movember for The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. For 30 days of November you can help support and raise awareness through selflessly parading your top lip for charity.
You can sign up yourself, as I’m sure many of you already have, or you can join the Strong Island team and seek out sponsorship as a team. Through the Strong Island Movember page you can ask people to join the group, make donations, upload photos and post updates via the MoSpace page, Facebook and Twitter.
Head over to www.mobro.co/StrongIsland if you would like to get involved and grow a Strong Moustache to help raise awareness, or simply head over to www.uk.movember.com and sign up to personally raise money.
The funds raised in the UK support the number one and two male specific cancers – prostate and testicular cancer. The funds raised are directed to programmes run directly by Movember and our men’s health partners, The Prostate Cancer Charity and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together, these channels work together to ensure that Movember funds are supporting a broad range of innovative, world-class programmes in line with our strategic goals in the areas of awareness and education, survivorship and research.
Poster: Tristan Savage
Continuing from the HMS Vanguard photos from earlier this week, this one shot from above shows the scale of the ship and her guns, which are as big as the pubs! The second photo is of HMS Victorious passing out in the 50s, with the old power station in the background. Hard to believe such a huge, dominating landmark like that is now just a memory.
Click on the images to see larger versions. Photos are taken from the wonderful Portsmouth From The Air book by Anthony Triggs.
I found this photo of Old Portsmouth shot form The Spinnaker last night. I don’t think I’ve seen it shot from this angle before. It almost looks like another town at first glance. Some great details. Cricket in full swing, all the catchers traps on the roof of the fish market, enjoying a beer at The A Bar, Lawn Bowls, all on a cracking sunny day. Click on the image for full size.
Photo – eNil
Following on from the previous post about the Igloo seen on Southsea Common, Khalid Saleh was kind enough to get in contact with some more information and some photos. It took Khalid and 6 of his friends 5 and a half hours to build the Igloo using what looks like icecream tubs and glow sticks were donated by passers by from the Navy.
It’s still standing today and Meridian will be doing a short interview with them. Not sure when that will air, but hopefully I’ll catch it.
Proper.
I found these truly amazing posters on one of my many Flickr travels. All circa 1930s and all fantastic. Click the images for the direct links to Flickr.
The infamous 1980s Southsea locals Mark & Barry Abrook, doubles on the halfpipe at the skatepark from 1990.
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