Strong Island

Albert Road

Strong Island & My Dog Sighs present Head Jam

We are stoked, as always, to be working once again with local artist My Dog Sighs on what is set to be one of the largest mural paintings in the city.

Rick from Head Hairdressing on Albert Road conceived the idea of having the courtyard to the rear of the local barbers transformed in to a permanent giant art piece. From precision multilayered stencils, through bubble gum cutsie to surreal illustrative mayhem, My Dog Sighs has hand picked his favourite artists from across the country to produce the ultimate street art dreamscape courtyard.

Head Jam will run all day so feel free to pop along, take a look, have a chat, hang out, meet the artists and enjoy the atmosphere. There will be music on all day, a BBQ turning over in the background if you want to stick a burger on (not supplied), and please feel free to bring along a beer too. Everyone is welcome, so bring the kids so they can see some of the countries finest street artists working together in this unique environment.

Attending artists include: Snik, Wah Graff, Id-iom, Korporate Kaine, Process Smith and of course My Dog Sighs. Be sure to check their links to see more of their amazing work and we look forward to seeing you.

Head Jam

Korporate Kaine

Snik

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Id-iom

My Dog Sighs

Wah Graff

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Albert Road Trail Show

The Albert Road Trail Show is due to open on 13th – 19th May at various venues along Albert Road, Southsea, Portsmouth. Organised by University of Portsmouth 2nd year Contemporary Fine Art students’ as part of their end of year exhibition. ‘The show consists of 17 different artists, all with unique styles, exhibiting their work in amongst the windows of Albert Road, Southsea. The Albert Road Trail came about from exploring ways to exhibit contemporary art in a community setting and forge links with local businesses.’

The private view is on Wednesday 15th May and will begin at The Loft (above the King’s pub) from 6pm, with regular guided tours on which you can find out more about each exhibit from some of the artists. Tours will finish at the Wine Vaults where the celebration event culminates with an evening of entertainment, a raffle with fantastic prizes and the chance to socialise over a tipple and a bite to eat.  Maps will be available on the night, and you will also be able to download one from their website shortly, but please feel free to visit http://albertroadtrail.wordpress.com/ in the meantime for information about the artists, as well as examples of their work.

Venues used – Library Barbers, Tango Tea, Budd’s Herbal Apothecary, Mad 4 It, Little Johnny Russell’s, The King’s (The Loft), Parmiter’s Antiques, The Wine Vaults, Southsea Gallery, King’s Theatre, Head Barbers, Nick’s Body Piercing, Chilli Tattoo, Le Raze, Bellamy’s and Seymour’s Fireplaces.

Wonderful to see the students take the initiative on this and work with local businesses. Looking forward to seeing the work.

albert road trail

 

Champagne Justice

Continuing on their quest to bring you the best in underground post-rock sleaziness, Champagne Justice is back on the 27th of April at Southsea Social Club (quick becoming a cult venue amongst locals), with Glaswegian psych rock band The Cosmic Dead, local stalwarts (and perhaps one of the hardest working bands in Southsea) You’re Smiling Now But We’ll All Turn Into Demons and finishing with Strong Island Recordings‘s own reverb aficionados Is Bliss. £4 pounds on the door but the ringing ears are free. See you down the front.

Catch more info on the night here, and if you want to see more from artist who created the ridiculously good poster, check out Stu Linfield.

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Leopold Tavern 2nd Annual Beer Festival

I can’t wait for this!  The second annual Leopold Tavern ale festival will be taking place this spring from April 26th until May 5th.  This year will have 70 real ales and 100 bottled beers over a ten day period with as many as 18 cask ales available at any one time.

The ale list will include all our local breweries from Irving, Oakleaf, Havant and Bowman as well as some extra special beers from far and wide.  In addition to the ales we will also have up to 10 real ciders available.

This is a FREE event (except the price of your beer!)

Leopold fest-500

Seashell Bay by Nairne Parmiter & Megan Tyler

A wonderful range of seaside inspired jewellery, old, new and hand-made by Nairne Parmiter and Megan Tyler who are both only 14 yrs old. You can now buy their work on their Etsy store at – http://www.etsy.com/shop/SeashellBay

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3rd Annual Home Brew Competition TONIGHT

Tonight at Little Johnny Russells we have the judging evening for the 3rd Annual Strong Island Home Brew Competition. The event commences from 7pm and you can read more on the competition click here. Looking forward to seeing everyone down there!

3rd Brew Comp Poster

3rd Annual Home Brew Competition – This Wednesday

This Wednesday 6th March we have the judging evening for the 3rd Annual Strong Island Home Brew Competition.  The event commences from 7pm at Little Johnny Russells on Albert Road in Southsea.  To read more on the competition click here.

3rd Brew Comp Poster

3rd Annual Strong Island Home Brew Competition

Just a reminder for all you brewers out there about our 3rd annual home brew competition. The judging evening will be Wednesday 6th March at Little Johnny Russells on Albert Road, Southsea. The evening will commence from 7pm with the judging expected to begin at around 7.30pm.

1st category will be the ale brew. Whether you already are a home brewer or you really want to go to town and build your own micro brewery this is the category for you. Designed to make no boundaries for the brewer, this category is made to really let the skills be shown of your home brewing talent. Any kit and brewing process is allowed so go for your life.

The 2nd category will be the ‘Other’ category. Lagers, Ginger Beers & Ciders for this one with same rules with the 1st category regards to unrestricted brewing rules.

If you need a reminder of all the rules you can read them here. We had a decent amount of entries last year so please remember if you’re entering to arrive promptly to register yourself in the competition. Even if you’re not entering we’d love to see you come down and spectate, you may even get a chance to sample some of the tipples too!

3rd Brew Comp Poster

Internet Killed Television and We The Kings Blog About Portsmouth

Popular YouTube Channel/Video Blog Internet Killed Television is run by Charles Trippy and his wife, Alli Trippy who make videos of every day of their life and have been doing so, uninterrupted, for four years. Charles Trippy is part of the Florida band We The Kings who played in Portsmouth at The Wedgewood Rooms on Thursday 24th and on Friday 25th their video included Charles and the band exploring Southsea including the Seafront, D-Day Museum and Albert Road before their show.

New Burger Menu at Little Johnny Russells – FREE Taster This Saturday!

This Saturday our friends at Little Johnny Russells launching a new burger menu for the new year. The new menu features a classic burger, chicken burger, stuffed mushroom with stilton burger and a veggie burger alongside a different range of toppings and sides.

Every Monday you’ll be able to get 2 classic burgers for just £5 and with our Tuesday deal you can get a classic burger, chips and a drink (Fosters, Strongbow, real ale or soft drink) for just £6!

To view and download the full menu please click HERE.

Also on 19th and 26th of January they’ll be hosting taster days so you can come down and try FREE BURGERS! If that doesn’t satisfy your January blues, we don’t know what will. Don’t panic as the roast dinners are still available on sundays!

LJR Burger Menu

Features

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island Clothing Co X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt Available for Pre-Order

As you are probably well aware from reading the news recently, the Portsmouth Supporters Trust succeeded in their bid to take control of Portsmouth FC making it the biggest community owned club in the UK. It is a long and hard fought victory by the fans that have endured years of bad fortune, bad news and bad performances and a couple of the SI crew have seen most of them! PST’s aim is to bring about responsible, democratic representation at Portsmouth Football Club and so help promote the highest standards of transparent governance, accountability and embed Portsmouth FC deeper into its community through greater communication and co-operation with its fans.

We contacted the PST back in November last year to put forward our idea of doing a Strong Island PFC edition T-shirt to raise money towards buying a share in the club. The PST warmly welcomed the idea and we are pleased to say we are now putting our plan into action.

Strong Island is keen to get behind the trust as are many others. We’re going to pledge £5 of every limited edition SI X PFC tee sold towards Strong Island buying a share of the football club, therefore financially helping PFC in it’s aim to become stable again and continue to be a hugely important aspect of the city.

The design itself is a re-imagining of the common elements from the iconic Portsmouth FC logo from the 1980s and the Strong Island logo, with two swords in place, each dated with the club’s FA Cup wins. The Strong Island Clothing Co. items are normally hand screened in East London but for this particular tee they are produced literally just down the road from Fratton Park and will be at a special price of £15 (plus P&P).

No matter if you are passionate about football or not, we hope this tee is a way of showing support for a club that is now a beacon to the rest of the country for a city and a community that strives to work together for the better.

To pre-order the t-shirt click on the link below. Tees will be back from the printers soon and we hope to have orders in the post by the end of the month, if not sooner.

Strong Island Clothing Co. X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt

Anglepoise, Strong Island and The University of Portsmouth Present The Creating Balance Project

We are very proud to announce The Creating Balance Project, a new, collaborative project between Anglepoise, Strong Island & the University of Portsmouth to celebrate a design classic and local creativity in Portsmouth. The project aims to showcase the working studios and disciplines of artists and designers across the island and connect them to local photographers to capture, document and collaborate.

Anglepoise lamps have been given to each of the 10 participating artists/designers and the 10 photographers involved have used the lamps to light the photographs, give a sense of place and document the artist, where they work & how they create. During the collaboration sessions University of Portsmouth BSc TV and Broadcast students Massimo Marzullo and Jonas Jakunas have been documenting the project, producing short films for each collaboration.

Later this summer key images from each photographer will be printed and displayed with the films, lamps, photos and more in an exhibition in Portsmouth and one in London (TBA).

The collaborations are:

Andrew Whyte & Peter Clutterbuck
Matt Sills & Lorna Apps-Woodland
Paul Gonella & Tristan Savage
Russell Squires & Farkfk
Josh Knill & I Love Dust
Thor Haley & William Pounds
Rob Luckins & Roo + Barry Abrook
Cotton Candy & Neal Layton + Sadie Tierney
Matt Saxey & Deer Park Alpha
My Dog Sighs & Jack Daly

The project is progressing over the next couple of months and already two films are finished and many collaborations complete. Below are the completed collaboration films and we will be posting updates on The Creating Balance Project regularly here on Strong Island. To keep up to date with the project also please check the Creating Balance website where you can see loads of photos from behind the scenes of the collaborations.

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A huge thank you to Claire Sambrook, Simon at Anglepoise and everyone involved.

The Creating Balance Project

The Creating Balance Project (3)

The Creating Balance Project (4)

The Creating Balance Project (5)

The Creating Balance Project (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Spring 2013 Capsule Now Available

It’s been a while (apologies) but the Strong Island Clothing Co. spring 2013 capsule drop is now available and online in the Strong Island Shop Ahoy store! The drop includes some brand new Branded tee colourways, a new grey crew (highest quality, carefully selected and sourced) and a collection of accessories including new beanies, our seriously high quality Branded iPhone cases (4 & 5) from Etch and our hand crafted, leather coin pouch collaboration with Raw & Auburn.

To kick this capsule drop off right we visited the home of Portsmouth’s Eberhardt signwriters and neon sign specialists. Eberhardt are a true creative business gem of the city with a very long history and still produce hand crafted, carefully designed neon signs, a rare and special craft these days. Check the photos below and the behind the scenes edit too to see more. Photography principally by Jack Daly.

View the full lookbook HERE.

www.strongislandclothingco.com

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (2)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (3)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (4)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (5)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (6)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (7)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (8)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (9)

Opening Night of the My Dog Sighs Exhibition at The West Bank Gallery in London

Southsea and Portsmouth street artist (and Strong Island contributor) My Dog Sighs had the opening to his solo show in London last night and as expected, he killed it. ‘Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me’ opened at The West Bank Gallery and is home to not only the largest collection of My Dog Sighs’ work to date but also shows his work sparking off in to some new directions of creativity including the apples, collaborations with other artists and a room covered with paintings that can be cut out to reveal a painting underneath.

Word was that pre-opening sales had gone really, really well and there were people outside the gallery at 8am, ready and willing to wait the ten hours on the pavement to get their chance to have a look and buy some of My Dog’s work. Don’t take our word for it, below are the thoughts and opinions of the show by the people who experienced it and I think say all you might need to know…:

“I’ve been to several exhibition openings but none as been as warm as the one of MyDog. He was there happy to meet his fans and the staff was friendly, helpful and more than happy to introduce you to him. And about the art, what can I say; it’s truly sweet and inspiring. You have either the eyes that give an entire story in their gaze to the delightful stick men, all accompanied by simple but touching phrases”. – Dette Marhez

“I queued from 8 in the morning and throughout the day MDS popped out offering coffee and to talk to the brave hardy souls braving the temperatures. His whole manner on the run up and throughout the day and night is an example to any up and coming artist and artists in general. The gallery is a cracking space to show in and the work on show was of the highest order. MDS and the collabs were exhibited so well it was pleasure to wander around and warm up!” – Rob Pike

“The show promised big things and I was not disappointed. After an impressive 12 months from his first solo show at Pure Evil, I was looking forward to seeing how Can Man had progressed. There was not a bare wall in the gallery and the whole show felt like an art hunt with pieces hiding in every nook and cranny. With so many pieces to choose from MDS had taken his work to the next level and even managed to capture the innocent of a lost can on the street that you can take home and put on your wall. The hype is well deserved and things can only get better!” – Ryk Turner

“I loved it. It’s kind of like he’s brought life and beauty back to the discarded and neglected. Whilst other pieces capture solitude, loneliness and searching, leaving you topped up with that warm-glow of finally finding The One!” – Les Black

“Had a fantastic time. Just unbelievable what he’s managed to produce. Incredibly varied work. Totally stunning”. – Rick Christie.

The show is open to public until Sunday 31st March and there is also a bit of a special event tomorrow (Saturday) too. Gallery open daily 11am-7pm. Below are photos of last night’s opening by Strong Island homie Jack Daly.

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (2)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (4)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (5)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (6)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (9)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (10)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (11)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (12)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (3)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (16)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (17)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (18)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (20)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (22)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (23)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (24)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs