HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's hoping 2017 will be fantastic vintage year!

Lets be honest, 2016 wasn't exactly a great year was it?!
Even at ArtPix Towers it has been fraught this year, with an aborted move and a protracted second attempt at moving.

So all the more reason to hope 2017 will be a vintage year for everyone!!
I've got tonnes of exciting plans, which hopefully at last I'll finally have the time to start.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

HAPPY VINTAGE CHRISTMAS!

Have yourselves a very merry Christmas!!

Have dug out from the ArtPix Archives a recently acquired set of vintage Woman's Journal magazines. These beautiful magazines are from July - December 1946 and are cloth bound in a lovely red colour to be viewed in book form.

Here we have the cover of the Xmas edition for December, with an exquisitely painted Victorian scene of Christmassy frolics on the ice, exactly 70 years ago.

MERRY XMAS!!!!

VINTAGE FOOTBALL AUTOGRAPHS

While rooting around the ArtPix Archives this weekend, I found two great examples of footie autographs and the perils that can arise!

It seems like a fantastic thing to collect, but once you've entered this dangerous world, you need to have all your wits about you. A bit of detective work and a very suspicious nature will help you along the way!! 

First up is this innocent looking Middlesbrough programme from 1967. With its stylish hand-drawn, but curiously old-fashioned for the Swinging 60s cover, danger lurks within ...

Sold by a naughty programme dealer in those far-off pre-Ebay days, it was said to contain 'genuine' autographs.
Turning to the team group pic of visitors Chelsea, there you have 9 signatures from some of their finest ever players. 

But I'm afraid to say they are ALL FAKE!!!!

I know this as I've personally met and got the autographs from 4 of them and have signed books from some of the others.

Maybe a spectator got bored on the Ayresome Park terraces that night and, oddly using red and blue Biros, began scribbling away.



After that bad luck, take a peek at this bonanza from a 1973 Manchester City programme.

Again the visiting team are Chelsea and again the team picture is adorned with scribbles. But fortunately for the avid autograph hunters, these are ALL GENUINE!!!

Here we have John Dempsey and David Webb at the top, with John Hollins and goalkeeper John Phillips on the right.

The person collecting these then had a huge stroke of luck, as it seems the whole Chelsea team appeared at once. As the hastily signed back cover proves! The red felt-tip pen was starting to smudge everywhere, but they were rewarded with a great collection.

Now for the detective work ...

Again, as I've met some of these players I recognise a few.

Here we have stylish midfielder Alan Hudson.

Kings Road legend Peter Osgood.

Manager Dave Sexton.

Midfielder Steve Kember.

And now the guess work starts ... I think this must be burly striker Bill Garner.

What looks like Tony Green? Although no-one with that name has ever played for Chelsea.

And now total fail with the rest!!!
Can anyone help??!

So you can see what a dangerous world it is with vintage football autographs, tread carefully!!

TWO EVENINGS WITH JO QUAIL

I'm pleased to say I've designed the poster for a very special event taking place this weekend ...

The amazing electric cellist and composer JO QUAIL will be performing two concerts in London. 
In the atmospheric and intimate surroundings of The Harrison bar, just a stone's throw from King's Cross, is your chance to see Jo playing live.

With hugely successful European and Australian tours already under her belt, Jo's reputation as an innovative and exciting performer is just growing and growing. But hurry up, as Sunday is already sold out and there are just a few tickets left for Saturday.

Get them HERE

WONDERFUL WEST BAY

Just in case you were going to wander down to West Bay some time soon, I thought I'd let you know that The Customs House is now on its winter hours.

The fantastic antiques centre in Dorset, where I have my unit, is now open from Thursday to Sunday of each week between 10am and 5pm. 

So to avoid any disappointments don't turn up on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday!!!

Sales are still brisk down there and people are already stocking up with, (dare I say it?!), Xmas pressies...!!
I have plenty of gorgeous vintage pieces, my own designs on frames, laminates, fridge magnets and cards as well as wonderful books, both vintage and new novels.

So get down there and start shopping!!!

This is their website for further info... HERE

And after all that shopping, take a stroll along the wonderful beach at West Bay!

NOVEMBER 11th

Armistice Day is once more upon us ...

This year we have seen the 100th anniversaries of the worst savagery war can produce, the Somme and Verdun. Also the sea battle at Jutland. Next year will be the centenary of the Battle of Passchendaele, in my opinion a titanic catastrophe and shocking waste of life.

I'll be at the Cenotaph in London at 11am, for the extraordinarily understated and silent ceremony that takes place there. Absolute silence prevails right in the centre of London. 

Still good to see so many people wearing a poppy all this week. Everyone will have their own personal reason for wearing one, and it should be left at that.

The poppy should also be worn to remember the survivors who came home from the trenches. Those people, who for years, silently and resolutely lived with their memories and never spoke of it.

My favourite war poet, Siegfried Sassoon, wrote this to prove how little people really understood.

Survivors

No doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain
   Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.
Of course they're 'longing to go out again,' –
   These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.
They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed
   Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died, –
Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud
   Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride ...
Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad.

©Siegfried Sassoon
Craiglockhart, October 1917

NEW STOCK AT THE CUSTOMS HOUSE!

This weekend I'll be roaring down the A303 to stock up my unit The Customs House!
So pop in to the gorgeous antique centre at West Bay in Dorset and check it all out.

I've been hard at work producing new frames, getting A3 laminates done, putting together some football programmes packages and sorting and sifting through many fantastic vintage items.

So have a peep here and get a sneak preview of all the goodies on offer!!!

Here are some retro Arsenal programmes, I also have packages of Tottenham and West Ham.

You can now get my popular Beatles collage on an A3 sized laminate. Handy for framing, sticking to the fridge or plonking anywhere!

Lovely Ordnance Survey map of Bournemouth from 1954.
I have many more vintage maps in the unit.

A dazzling array of classic Duran Duran singles from the early 1980s, available together in one package.

A mad bit of retro footie memorabilia, a cheesy 12" single from Euro 88 by Stock, Aitken and Waterman!!

A fantastic 1958 Film Show Annual featuring Elvis Presley.

Classic Planet of the Apes Annual from 1978.

This enhanced photo of Portland Bill in Dorset I did is also available on an A3 laminate.

Sizzling Sixties Crown Devon ceramic flour and sugar shakers!

A brilliant soundtrack album of the absolutely iconic 1965 film The Sound of Music. It also features a rare 8-page booklet.

A fantastic box set of 1940s Swing music, with 3 records and a book, produced by Time Life Records in 1971.

Gorgeous shaped glass vase from the 1960s.

BOBBY TAMBLING – CHELSEA LEGEND

The other day I picked up a copy of the autobiography of a 1960s footballing legend.

BOBBY TAMBLING!!

Bobby was banging in the goals for Chelsea, as the club mirrored the fashionable King's Road and became an iconic part of Sixties London.

He was very much part of that young and exciting team, who lead by the enigmatic manager Tommy Docherty, became one of the most talked about teams of the decade. But despite all the glitz and the glamour, Bobby was an unassuming and down-to-earth guy who just got on with his job.

A classic A & BC card from 1963, showing Bobby in Chelsea's fashionable new kit.

Through his tenacity and fighting spirit he became Chelsea's record goalscorer with 202 goals when he left the club in 1970. A phenomenal record which was only beaten by Frank Lampard 43 years later!

Brilliantly the book was signed by Bobby, with the nice touch of 202 added!

Bobby is a true gent and a proper legend, who missed out on all the silly wages now swilling around the game, so had to dig deep to survive after his playing career was over.
With serious ill-health in later life he needed his fighting spirit all over again, and the support he got from the club and its fans helped him battle through the tough times. 


Back in the late 80s, I actually met Bobby at a Save the Bridge charity game at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately I can't remember it!!
I do recall meeting Peter Osgood, David Webb, Tommy Baldwin and a few TV celebs of the day, but not Bobby. Years later I found the programme tucked away in the ArtPix Archives, and in amongst all the autographs, was Bobby's signature on a picture of him. What a shame I don't remember him signing it!

FRANCE AND THE GREAT WAR

I've wanted to do a collage dedicated to France's First World War experience for a long time now.
And after my last visit there last month I've once more been inspired...

On my original 1914-18 collage, the starting point was the ordinary Tommy. I deliberately chose at random, from a selection of WW1 postcards in an antiques shop, a portrait of a soldier to represent the Unknown Warrior.  
I was really keen to do this for the French collage as well, again at random. And whilst visiting a brocante fair in Auvergne I managed to find a tiny Carte de Visite card, in amongst a huge stall, with a picture of a French soldier. An anonymous face from the past to represent the ordinary Poilu. 

France's relationship and memory of the First World War is much different to our own. To us it was mostly an overseas war, but to the French it was a direct attack on their own homeland.
We have the Somme and Passchendaele, while they have the crushingly senseless slaughter of Verdun as their focus of remembrance.

As such their memorials have a subtle difference to our own. Having been to France many times I've studied them and noticed they can be dramatic with figures in exaggerated poses with a defiant air about them. A sense of victory sometimes seems to be the focus. Ours are often sombre and reflective.

The defiant pose of a soldier's head on the memorial at St Jacques des Blats, with the wording 'Hardi les Gars', which has the rough translation of 'Take courage and go forward lads'.

Again, an exaggerated pose on this memorial at the village of Job.

I'll be rooting around the ArtPix Archives for all the items of French World War I memorabilia I've got, including medals, postcards, books and many, many photographs.

My original First World War collage.

RETRO LEICESTER CITY

Pleased to say I sold my first LEICESTER CITY frame this week!!!

My brand new design of the Premier League Champions is a retro tribute to the fantastic Foxes. It features many old faves who've valiantly served Leicester down the years.

I'm hoping to get down to my unit at The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset soon to restock all things Retro Football, so I'll be adding more Leicester frames then.

There are still some groovy fridge magnets featuring Foxes legends Frank Worthington and Alan Birchenall in there though, if you want one of those!

Check them out below...

The two different fridge magnet designs with the Leicester legends!

The retro Leicester City design, available in an A4 frame from my unit at The Customs House, West Bay.

IS IT ALL BLACK + WHITE?

I'll be at this very special event this Saturday...

A fabulous FREE festival with live performances of electronic and choir music.

Staged at the atmospheric St. Leonard's Church in Shoreditch, London, it's organised by the amazing band Autorotation. 
It will also include DJs and visuals and will be a unique and powerful musical experience.

And that's not all...!

I'll be there alongside Arcane Publishing with a stall full of fantastic stuff!!
It's been a while since I've set up a stall in London, so I'm really looking forward to this event.
I've really raided the ArtPix Archives and pulled out some stunning vintage items that I've been keeping back for such an occasion. Also, I've got together a selection of my own work to put on show.

Arcane Publishing will not only have their own published books, but will have their usual array of gorgeous and hard-to-find vintage books, plus a few surprises!!

So saunter on down to Shoreditch this Saturday, and immerse yourself in beautiful music and a little bit of vintage shopping!

Take an exclusive peek here at some of the goodies on offer...!

A fantastic 1960s Crown 8 Cine Camera, that still works!

A 1979 reprint of an iconic 1931 London Transport poster.

A 1970 Kodak Instamatic 133 camera that absolutely screams RETRO!!

A rare boxed Matchbox car from the late 60s.

An original French cinema poster from the 1967 film, A Challenge for Robin Hood.

And here is a sample of my own work, a tribute to the glamour years of 1930s cinema.

RETRO LEICESTER CITY

Here is my retro tribute to the Premier League Champions LEICESTER CITY ...

The fantastic Foxes are having the time of their lives this year, the unbelievable run to the title and the prospect of Champions League football.

But if you fancy delving into the history of this amazing club or indeed are a long-standing fan, take a look at this collage.

Its absolutely packed with Leicester legends and memorabilia!!

Leading the way is 70s maverick FRANK WORTHINGTON, who many argue enjoyed his best days at Filbert Street. Close by is the one and only ALAN BIRCHENALL, who has valiantly served the club for so many years and richly deserves to be part of their recent success.

Others who make an appearance are of course GARY LINEKER, who began it all at Leicester, the famous tight-wearing KEITH WELLER, and stalwart defenders STEVE WHITWORTH and DENNIS ROFE.

Two of England's best ever goalkeepers plied their trade down at Leicester, World Cup winning GORDON BANKS and European Cup lifter PETER SHILTON, and they both feature here.

There is also a whole host of other bits, including programmes, team groups, badges, Panini stickers, and trade cards.

So while Claudio's Blue and White Army are still rampaging in the Premier League, remember the legends who have served the club so well.


This LEICESTER CITY tribute is part of a growing collection of RETRO FOOTBALL collages I've completed.

Other teams on the list are:
ARSENAL
CHARLTON ATHLETIC
CHELSEA
CRYSTAL PALACE
EVERTON
LIVERPOOL
MANCHESTER CITY
MANCHESTER UNITED
NEWCASTLE UNITED
QUEENS PARK RANGERS
SOUTHEND UNITED
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
WEST HAM UNITED

Check them all out HERE