Made Brighton

Yes I am a living, breathing stereotype. I live In Brighton, I amble around in scruffy converse, I dedicate an unsettling amount of time on my fringe, I can't walk past a cat without trying to stroke it, I went to art school, I like crafts fairs. Hi. It's in my blood.

But don't get me wrong, the craft fair can cover a very wide spectrum of talent. And that's my nice way of saying that, at your average crafty event, its fair to say that you are likely to stumble across a bit of rubbish. And that's okay. This is life. We can't like everything, it would be boring if we found our cup of tea in literally everything we looked at. Well we wouldn't get very far away from our houses.

But here lies my belated point. Made Brighton is NOT your average craft fair. Nope. This is not the time to be nebulous about the word craft. Beautiful ceramics, exquisite jewellery, crisp graphic design... It's another level. It's a long and weathered relationship between material and maker. It's creativity and skill. In harmony. In abundance.

And you get a free tote bag.... I'm such a cheap thrill. I'm not going to rattle off a long list of all the brilliant makers exhibiting from this year, go look for yourself here. Only a shout out to my pick of the bunch because god knows I'm a sucker for letterpress printing done this well. Clare Somerville-Perkins is the clever cookie behind asintended who created that lovely screen printed felt pennant, I treated myself to, photographed below.

Craftaganza

Just a quick reminder that my favourite Brighton Craft Market is occurring again this Saturday 15th June. It's completely free and occupying the Fabrica Gallery, a prime location to wander in and peruse the crafty wares if you're in and about Brighton. I've never managed to visit this market without snapping up something original and lovely. Also, the clever girls behind Craftaganza have a fantastic 'Meet The Seller' feature currently on their website, which is really interesting to find out more about the designers behind the stalls and how they originally began their craft and trade. Check it out here. Recommended! 

Jeff Koons at the Brighton Museum

I'm forever grumbling that Brighton has a distinct lack of big artists exhibiting in our town, so you can imagine that this latest show has appeased my disapproval no end! You don't get much bigger than Koons and although small in space, it's definitely worthy of a visit to check out. Running completely free until the 8th September at the Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, visit their website for visitor information here. 

Open house season begins

It's no secret that I love Open House hunting in Brighton. It always feels like a hunt once you have your trail map in front of you, getting lost in suburbia, craning your neck from left to right to see if you can spot a glimpse of that tell tale bunting and Open House banner. It's such a celebration of home grown talent and I'm always thrilled to see such a wide range of artists, materials and subject matter showcasing. Oh and did I mention there is always an abundance of cake? Here is the AOH website for my details, they run on weekends for the entirety of May. Here is a peek of my first venture into the Fiveways Trail- recommended! 

Fringe Time

Starting off the Fringe in true quirky Brighton style. The Clock tower being covered in donated clothes from it's own city residents is actually a commissioned piece of work by Finnish artist Kaarina Kaikkonen. The Clock Tower will remain dressed for the duration of the Fringe and if you're curious to know and see more from Kaikkonen; she is also exhibiting currently at Fabrica Gallery, click here for more details. 

Emily's birthday

It was Emily's birthday so I wrapped up lots of lovely things, scribbled a sombrero birthday card and threw on my best day of the dead dress. We had an amazing lunch at La Choza, our current favourite place in Brighton for food and celebrated by munching our body weight in burritos and churros. 

Needless to say, it was a good day. 

Cold in Brighton

LMNOP

I'm so excited. LMNOP is a creative design studio and gallery and shop in Brighton. The shop is a little treasure chest of illustrated wares. They really strive to stock a wide range of zines, books, comics, prints, cards and handmade accessories made by artists and illustrators. I'm really proud to be able to help them out by doing work experience with them. LMNOP is right up my creative little street and I'll be tweeting, blogging and helping them source new exciting products for the shop and online store on their new website.

 

Jonny Hannah @ Castor + Pollux

To Celebrate Valentines day this year, Jonny Hannah showcased some of his beautiful new illustrations at his exhibition Burning Love at Castor + Pollux in Brighton.
Castor + Pollux is one of my favourite shops in Brighton, you can't quite beat the location of Brighton Beach and they are always jammed pack with the latest art that local and international artists have to offer, If you are having a stroll between the two piers, you have no reason not to pop in for a cheeky peek.
Go check them out here. The exhibtion ends on the 13th March.

Brighton Open Houses.

It’s that time of year again in Brighton!
The stripy deckchairs are unfolded, to only immediately fold back again on the victim, creating wooden prisons. (Usually incarcerating the hapless pensioner)
The beach and the Laines are swarming with a mixture of tourists and locals and obscene amounts of pasty skin is revealed.
And you have to become even more vigilant against menacing characters, the seagulls become even more formidable than the usual thugs polluting the Brighton streets (Yes, we are talking about West Street) by nose diving at any poor unsuspecting soul with ice-cream or chips in their procession.

I don’t know about you, but I treat winter as a chance to hibernate, rather than facing the forces of nature and the upsetting notion that my fringe will make me look like the shorter rounder brother of the stunt double for David Bowie in Labyrinth rather than Betty Page.
I choose to stay low, stay warm and live in a state of laziness and lethargy, eating my weight in chocolate and hummus, although I would be lying if I pretend I don’t do this on a daily basis.
So it’s always a shock to me to emerge from my winter slumber (about 678 stones heavier but at least my fringe isn’t being decimated by the wind-hah) to a hive of Brightonian activity!

It’s the Brighton Fringe (the irony!) Festival!
Created in 1967, Brighton festival is an annual event that platforms a wide spectrum of events. You can expect to find countless art exhibitions, plays, stand up comedians, concerts, dances and much much more.
Now I’m going to be honest, I’ve been a bit of a heathen in the past years of The fringe, I can’t blame it upon anyone else, I’ve been constantly supplied with endless information of events going on but I’ve hardly ever attended anything that’s been affiliated with the festival, it's a possibility that ive been overwhelmed by the amount of choice but that hasn't stopped me from feeling guilty of my lack of interest and participation.

This year has been different! It might have something to do with my migration to London back in late 2008; I’ve started an illustration degree at Westminster University.
Now that my trips to back home are at times sporadic depending on time and finances, I’m starting to regain my appreciation on how fun and cultural Brighton is and reflect upon how I was taking it for granted, I now plan my time very carefully and try and fit in as many exhibitions I can fit in.

I started my new resolution by picking up a brochure for Artists Open Houses. Beginning in May this event spans for about four weekends over the width of East Sussex, all houses are completely free and the artwork exhibiting includes all kinds of media ranging from print, illustration, paint, textiles, sculpture, jewellery, furniture, ceramics etc.
I actually couldn’t conceive of a better way to squander a sunny Brighton weekend after visiting a few houses last Sunday with my mum.
Not only do you manage to avoid the over crowded, stressful and hot streets of the central, it’s a great way to explore some of the quite beautiful residential areas you may not have visited before whilst simultaneously viewing a huge range of eclectic and diverse local artists.

We began our slow meander around Seven Dials with the open house of Ben Allen.
I LOVE Ben Allen. I will more than likely have a penchant for any contemporary artist with an enthusiasm for colour, typography, slick graphics and imaginative use of collage with comic book, pop art and street art references.
Allen encompasses all the above into his artwork seemingly effortlessly, I’ve bumped into his artwork before at the last Brighton Art Fair and the not so long ago solo show Life, Death and Other Colours at INK_D.
Ben Allen

Ben Allen
So it wasn’t too surprising that I wanted to start at his open house and I wasn’t too disappointed, situated at Montpelier Crescent, his house was huge and not only was it fun to strut through the house imagining you are an incredibly affluent brightonian aristocrat (puerile but impossible to resist), it was also great for the amount of different artists it housed.
Ben Allen
My second favourite artist to feature within this open house was an artist I wasn’t familiar with; Marina Rivans, working exclusively in collage, her work was reminiscent of Victorian collage with reappearing themes of romance, sci-fi and nature.
Her work is joyfully ornate and intricate and I enjoyed her exploration into 3D, with her Joseph Cornell-esque boxes making her collages spring to life with the added depth to the layers in her work.

Marina Rivans
I was surprised and pleased to see some of the work by Pam Glew too; I was fortunate enough to be taught very briefly at my previous college by Pam and had tried to visit her solo show in London in Old Street at gallery Stelladore but was unsuccessful due to university commitments.
Her work is instantly recognizable, drawing inspiration from film noir and horror films creating atmospheric pieces that are simultaneously sensual and eerie. Pam Glew

Ben Allen's garden

Other artists to definitely check out that were particular favourites of mine included;
Amy Douglas, Heike Roesel and Jane Sampson.
If the artwork alone isn’t enough to tempt you out and about on the Open House trail then the gorgeous gardens, cream teas and choice of home made cakes surely has to be an unavoidable incentive.
Exhausted by the at least 15 minutes of trekking around definitely warranted the first break of the day in the garden of Ben Allen, my mum and I celebrated our successful discovery and exploration of our first open house with tea and chocolate cake.




Next stop was number 2 Clifton Hill, still in the Seven Dials trail.

2 Clifton Hill

This house had a lot more arts and crafts to offer, I loved these carefully crafted quirky little figures that greeted me in the foyer.
Created by Judy Dwyer, her little hand stitched people and dogs were so cute and wonderfully intricate.

Judy Dwyer

I also liked this unique Paper cutouts by Sylvie Howitt, I’ve noticed there’s been a welcome comeback in the illustration scene with this traditional paper art, but this is the first time I’ve seen the artist explore in media and I loved these dainty symmetrical designs cut out of maps and manuscripts.




Sylvie Howitt

The last house took us onto the Hove Trail.

I had been looking forward to visiting the Rock n Roll Boudoir and I wasn't disappointed.
More of a flat than the other more grandeur houses we had seen, what this location lacked in space made up with in hospitality and a collection of some very gorgeous pop art and burlesque inspired prints!
I managed to even strike up a conversation with the graphic artist/illustrator Kitty Finegan.
Her Prints are bold and striking utilizing Illustrator to create sexy digital pin ups.
Kitty embodies everything she has a passion for neatly into her work, 1950’s fashion, hair, and colour schemes, I think Brighton is the perfect home for this wonderful vintage manifestation!
(And on a geek note- she is very lovely to chat to too!)
Co-founder of Popchoc.com an online gallery that not only showcases her own artwork but other artists, such as the previously mentioned Ben Allen and Simon Dixon.

Kitty Finegan

Dixon’s artwork was another highlight of the Rock n Roll Boudoir, I Particularly enjoyed his Portraits. (Although I am starting to question if my obsession with the perfectly constructed fringe is healthy! It appears to be a reoccurring theme in my interests).

Simon Dixon

Now this is a very rushed review of the Open Houses available to visit in Brighton, with the options of many trails and ultimately hundreds of different houses, I think everyone’s experience will be very different.

Find yourself a brochure or visit the website http://www.aoh.org.uk/. See if you can find any of your favourite local artists or just go out with an open mind and hopefully you will be inspired and excited as I was with all the creativity hiding behind all those (open!) doors.
And if all else fails you can always turn your weekend into a cake and tea trail, critiquing the interiors of the houses rather than some of the art on display, lets be honest that’s a very seductive part of being a participant in this whole experience.
Or the whole day may descend into what my mum and I liked to call Brighton Cat Trail, where we could see how many people’s cats we could pet in one day.
Oh dear, we are heathens after all!