Omega Printmakers

I used to head over to the Omega Centre when I was at University. They had a great Restoration course, and at the time they were undertaking the mammoth task of renovating the New Theatre Royal, if memory serves.

They now offer Saturday Workshops in different print making disciplines like etching, and screen printing from £35. So wish I had my own screen printing set up at home. In addition there are FREE printing making classes start this month and you can sign up HERE

Make sure to sign up to the RSS news feed too. Lot’s of local information about upcoming exhibitions and gallery events.

Omega Printmakers is operated entirely by volunteers Pam Newick & Jenny Bullen. If you have printmaking experience and are interested in volunteering to help out at Omega Printmakers then please contact info@omegaprintmakers.co.uk

Who has desired the sea I – Chine colle print by Pippa Blake

Tags: Omega Centre, Omega Printmakers

Love Your Bike Portsmouth

Following on with more Claire Sambrook activity, you may have heard the whispers and nudges regarding the upcoming event Love Your Bike Portsmouth on 30th May. Claire has been working her knitted socks off getting this together with some seriously heavy local contributors including design aficionados ilovedust, Bored of Southsea, Ian Parmiter, Haslemere Cyles, PCM, Josie Young, Sifer Design, not to mentioned such amazing contributors from further afield like Ben Wilson and Toyko Fixed Gear to name a few, and of course our good selves at Strong Island.

“Bike culture is an important part of cycling and regaining the streets. Love Your Bike Portsmouth aims to encourage participants to fully embrace the possibilities of connecting with their bikes and explore the many ways that they can improve it’s appearance and design.

As part of a day event and showcase you will be offered the chance to ‘Customise Your Bike and in turn ‘Love Your Bike’.
Demonstrations will be staged by local and national artists and designers who will offer sessions in customisation and collaboration. International designer Ben Wilson will be welding bikes at the skatepark and also showcasing some of his work. There will be a wide selection of bikes and accessories available for purchase to suit all budgets. Local artists and designers will be involved with helping paint frames and customise bike parts. Does your bike need a make-over?

Watch out for our Love Your Bike custom tags around the city. If you have been tagged then please send your pics to us and also turn up at the event to showcase your bike or have it customised.”

Check out loveyourbikeportsmouth.co.uk and Facebook for much more info.

Tags: Claire Sambrook, Love Your Bike Portsmouth

Yarnbombing

Mixing up the knitting needles and the street art, yarnbombing involves using knitting and needlework to create art that envelopes street objects in a form of non-destructive, tactile graffiti. Claire Sambook (one of the queen bees of activity and creativity in Southsea) has been out and about with her own knitting needle spray cans, keep your eyes peeled for more in the coming months. And if your needles are getting the itch, get involved and be sure to send some photos our way.

Below are a couple photos, to see loads more check out Claire’s Flickr.

Tags: Claire Sambrook, Yarnbombing

Joe Loughborough’s New Blog

Southsea alumni and artist Joe Loughborough has just created a new blog featuring photos from his London studio, news, new pieces of art, links and other things. Joe is incredibly talented and we heavily recommend you spend a few minutes having a good look through.

Tags: Joe Loughborough

PCM in The News

Portsmouth Creative Movement had themselves some great coverage in The News last week about the Hope Street hoardings. Look out for these guys, their working hard to enhance areas of the city that get ignored, as well as creating amazing individual and collaborative pieces of art. More to come very soon.

Click the image below for a closer look.

Scan : Claire Sambrook

Tags: Portsmouth Creative Movement

Groundlings Theatre Company Grand Opening

Some interesting news from my PCC mole today. Groundlings Theatre Company has recently won the bid to buy The Old Beneficial School in Portsea. This stunning historic grade II star listed building will be brought back to life providing a wonderful focal point for the area.

Opening with West Side Story and boasting it’s own Drama School, TV Studio with green screen, office space for hire, 10 costumes in their wardrobe department and of course it’s very own theatre with original Georigian decor.

This is a brand new venture with a proposed opening date of April 2010. The theatre will seat 180 in Proscenium arch format and for dinner theatre we expect to seat 120 guests. To register a potential interest and receive regular updates please call us on 023 9273 7370 or email at info@groundlings.co.uk

Check www.groundlings.co.uk for more information and download the information PDF HERE and the hire PDF HERE.

Valentines Day Gunwharf Chalk Art

This Valentines Day James Waterfield has arranged with Gun Wharf so that you can chalk out messages to your one and only on the pavement. Check out last years chalk messages HERE

Tags: Valentines Day Gunwharf Chalk Art

Bricks & More Ta

Illustration – Tristan

Tags: Illustration, Strong Island Bricks, Tristan Savage

100 disposable cameras, 100 people, 1 exhibition

Culture Flash was the idea of Rich McEachran, who after graduating in Theology last summer, was empowered to change the social attitude towards young people, through the power of art. He believed that through forming a collective of young people, who share in common a passion to be creative and to express themselves, it was possible to achieve the goal of social enlightenment, that fought back against the mass media and negative stereotypes, that constantly cloud the public’s perceptions.

He applied for funding with the idea not yet formulated properly, in a competition run by a social enterprise, UnLtd, in late 2009. He ending up being on the shortlist of 31, from an initial 150 or so entries, and then went on to be one of the 15 winners in the public vote, being granted £3000.

The project itself wants to get as many young people involved as possible, through a variety of ways, and the team is currently growing and growing. It sets no restrictions and so is open to new ideas you may have and want to share with them. It does not charge you to get involved, and the idea is to take the project to the young people, rather than sitting around waiting for the young people to come to it.

Starting from early February we will be handing out 100 disposable cameras to 100 young people, and then exhibiting the results. The idea is to focus on an element of your life that is individual, or important, to you. So if you’re 16-25 and want to get your hands on one of the cameras, (or have some photos to submit for our online gallery), then drop us an email at info@thecultureflashgallery.com, and whilst you’re at it visit the website www.thecultureflashgallery.com

Cheers, Rich

This project is funded by the Big Challenge. The Big Challenge, a competition for young people who want to change the world, is a partnership between UnLtd and Changemakers, and is funded by Vodafone and v-inspired.

Tags: Culture Flash

The Hope Street Hopefuls

This Saturday and Sunday saw the Portsmouth Creative Movement and associated friends get busy on the derelict land hoarding at Hope Street. The PCM group and Sifer Design gained clearance from Portsmouth Council (who also donated £1000 worth of paint) to paint the whole thing, and believe me, it’s not only freaking huge, but very impressive. Seriously, go check it out.

Anything but your normal ’street artists’ the PCM are really making a name for themselves in and around city with work going up everywhere. Look out for future events including a collaboration piece with myself and a few members down at Southsea Skatepark.

Photos : Claire Sambrook & My Dog Sighs

Tags: Hope Street, Portsmouth Council, Portsmouth Creative Movement, Sifer Design

‘Liminal’ by Katayoun Pasban Dowlatshahi

SPACE at the University of Portsmouth will be showcasing a new touring contemporary art exhibition called Liminal’ by successful international public and gallery artist Katayoun Pasban Dowlatshahi. The artworks are a fascinating selection of photographic art, drawing, architectural glass and ‘time based media’ that explore the intrinsic nature of light and shadow as a metaphor of the landscape and architecture of Iran where Katayoun was born.

Katayoun trained in Edinburgh, Winchester and Barcelona and a number of works produced during her Doctorate of Philosophy, were an investigation into the intrinsic nature and application of light to produce experimental light drawings using a process called ‘Carbon Photography’; a 19th century pigment transfer technique onto glass and paper. She is only one of a handful of people worldwide who employ this technique in their practice. “There is ephemeral beauty in the world we inhabit; a liminal state almost too subtle or faint to knowingly experience, and sometimes so overwhelming that we become immersed by the experience, unable to define it. By working with glass and sunlight I have tried to reveal the hidden ephemera.”

Newer works in the exhibition are produced from double exposures onto 6 x 6 roll film and have a more formal relationship with the landscape, although what they represent is an experiential and personal journey, they are by the nature of their production artificial landscapes, self reflexive and evocative. More information on the show can be found here.

Exhibition Dates: 15 February – 5 March 2010 Open weekdays 10am – 4pm.
Admission free.

Preview: Friday 12 February 4pm – 7pm Meet the artist. Free refreshments.

Public Talk: Wednesday 17 February, 2pm

You may remember some of Katayoun’s work from last year’s Storm in a Tea Cup open house exhibition which Katayoun hosted in her Southsea home (you can see the Strong Island photos from the exhibition here).

Tags: Katayoun Pasban Dowlatshahi, SPACE

Jon Adams ‘The Order of Things’ at SPACE

You are invited to engage with Jon Adams, University of Portsmouth’s Artist in Residence, in SPACE at the Eldon Building from the 1st until 5th February. ‘The Order of Things’ event focuses on the following parts:

Part 1: Collate
Part 2: Conformate
Part 3: Coordinate
Part 4: Explicate
Part 5: Implicate
Part 6: Subordinate

Part 7 is minimalist interruptions: drawing, found sound and found object: Created as Artist in Residence and referencing the start of Creative Campus commission. Performances and artwork changes on each of the four days with the following sessions: 1st February 12 -4 and 2nd February, 4th February & 5th February are 10-4.

Come and Play with AA2A Wednesday 3rd February 12:30-4pm is slightly different where you can meet this years AA2A artists in residence and see them talking about their work on display and their experiences. There will be an opportunity to join in with them and engage in making work during the afternoon….and to find out more about the scheme and applying for 2010/11.

Current AA2A artists are Sue Freeborough, David Dixon, Sharon Kearley & Mandie Saw.

Tags: SPACE

Community Project: History is Made of Memories – Somerstown

This event marks the beginning of a project to archive the regeneration of the Somerstown area with artistic and technological practice and theory through a partnership of Portsmouth University, Portsmouth City Council, Millard Woodroffe Contemporary Art and the Peoples Action Team for Community Harmony. The residents of Somerstown are invited to visit Portsmouth University’s SPACE Gallery where their memories of Somerstown will be filmed and recorded for use in the historical archiving of the area. Local artists will also be visiting the event to engage the residents with ideas for community engagement artworks that reflect the history of Somerstown and the personal histories of its inhabitants.

This event runs from 25-27 January and is open to the public from 10am to 4pm, Mon-Fri.

Tags: Somerstown, SPACE

Dark Forest by students of the School of Art Design and Media

The SPACE Gallery in the Eldon Building will be hosting ‘Dark Forest’, an exhibition by the students of the School of Art Design and Media:

“Dark Forest is an engaging and interactive art show put on by BA Fine Art students of The School of Art, Design and Media in which they respond to the notions of ‘Dark Forest’ as a mythological, cultural, and metaphorical concept. Hosted by Creative Digital Practice and Theory (CDPT) of Portsmouth University in partnership with The School of Art, Design and Media.”

The exhibition runs from the 18th to the 22nd of January and is open to the public 10am – 4pm, Mon-Fri.

Tags: SPACE

Hang yourself at The Gravediggers! Art that is…

Most of you will know of The Gravediggers pub on Highland Road whether you’ve been there or not. I’ve not been there for years now, since the mini ramp was out back. Does anyone have any footage or photos by chance?

Anyway, Chris Ballingall recently got in contact regarding new management and possibilities for local artists to display their work. Here’s what he said.

“Dear Strong Island crew

My name is Chris Ballingall and i live above The Gravediggers pub on Highland Road. Me and my two house mates have all graduated from University of Portsmouth and as my housemate Stuart Freeland is now the manager at The Gravediggers. When we moved in we wanted to art it up the walls in the pub a bit. We have started hanging our and our friends work on the walls and now want to offer a chance to similar minded people in Southsea.

Attached is a call for artists and photo of he pub. If you could post this on your website and distribute by any means you see fit it would be most appreciated. If you need any further information please contact me, Chris Ballingall”

You can email Chris at info@chrisballingall.com

This is a pretty unique opportunity for local artists to have their work displayed for FREE. I look forward to popping down again. They have a HUGE beer garden too, so bring on the summer.

Tags: Gravediggers Pub

JANUS an exhibition by Michelle Jeanette Littlewood

The Eldon Gallery at the School of Art and Design (Eldon Building on Winston Churchill Avenue) will be hosting an exhibition of work by Michelle Jeanette Littlewood, entitled Janus:

“The Mythological God Janus depicts beginnings, endings and progression into the future. Michelle’s work unites an assortment of media past and present. The work is enticing to touch, gloves will be provided for the viewer to ‘gently’ exploit the textural formations. The predominately masculine materials transform into something a little more graceful, combining the neurotic perfectionism of the minute application of glue and paint and the erratic flow of molten metal through welding.

One of the pieces, ‘Exhibit Collection 100′ is an assembly of 100 small canvases, each one is offered for sale, uniquely giving the viewer the chance to be part of a collection.”

The exhibition runs from 15th January to the 4th February and is open to the public 10am-4pm, Monday-Friday, admission is free.

Tags: Eldon Gallery, Michelle Jeanette Littlewood

Gil & Natalie Dekel

Ex Southsea resident Gil Dekel recently graduated with a PhD in Art, Design & Media at Portsmouth University and together with Natalie they create short films, conduct art workshops and interview other artists on their website www.poeticmind.co.uk, all with a thoughtful or spiritual theme.

Tags: Gil & Natalie Dekel

Life Drawing Course

Art Space Portsmouth are started an advanced life drawing course this evening, the details are:

Tutor: Chris Wood (Art Space Artist)
Venue: Portsmouth Grammar School, Art Department, High Street, Old Portsmouth
Time: 7 – 9 pm (Tuesday)
Cost: £115 full fee / £95 concessions, the fee for each term must be paid in advance

Outline: For advanced students who have some prior knowledge of life drawing and would like the opportunity to take part in a structured series of drawing workshops designed to be supportive, challenging and tailored to the specific needs of the participants. Whilst, in theory, this is an advanced class I am happy to teach complete beginners providing they are up for a challenge and keen to extend their visual repertoire. Students may range from beginners to practicing artists and designers – some of whom may not have done any life drawing for a number of years and might like to refresh or update their skills.

Term: 12th January – 9th February 2010 / Half Term / 23rd February – 23rd March 2010

Bookings: Please make out a cheque to Art Space Portsmouth Ltd and send to Art Space Portsmouth, Studio Co-ordinator, 27 Brougham Road, Southsea, PO5 4PA. For booking information please ring the Art Space office or email info@artspace.co.uk. Art Space is one of the most respected artist run studio groups in the UK and we have been offering studio space and Adult Education classes in fine art for 28 years.

Tags: Art Space, Life Drawing

Celebrating 30 years of Art Space Portsmouth 1980-2010

2010 marks the anniversary of the founding of Art Space Portsmouth, ASP was formed back in 1980 when a group of graduates and lecturers from Portsmouth Polytechnic converted a disused chapel in Brougham Road into artists studios and a gallery. To celebrate the anniversary Art Space are compiling a book and/or DVD coving their history and they are asking for people to contribute any photographs, posters, exhibition invitations, fliers, film or video, snapshots of studios or members and any anecdotes that they could include. If you have anything Art Space are holding a scanning/photographing day on Saturday 23rd January, from 3pm to 7pm, where people can come along with their contributions. For full details see the Facebook event and Facebook group.

Also, a big congratulations to Art Space from Strong Island on 30 very creative years in Southsea and Portsmouth, here is to the next 30 and more.

Tags: Art Space

Rolling right Inuit…

Now this is epic. Lucy spotted this Igloo down the seafront and damn, you have to take your hat off to that. If anyone has any more photos of this then we’d love to see them. I’ve heard it was built with glow sticks built in to some of the bricks so it was illuminated. Well done to whom ever put the effort in. Great stuff.

Tags: Southsea Igloo