HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Despite the horrific commercialism of this event, the roots are deeply embedded in Britain's mysterious Pagan past.

And luckily for me, I live in the deliciously dark Dorset, so I can see evidence of that not-so-forgotten era all around me.

This is my suitably unsettling Halloween picture for today, put together entirely with my own photos of unusual things and places around Dorset.

BLADE RUNNER 2049

It is with some relief that I can say the new Blade Runner film is absolutely outstanding!

Like many, my heart sank when I first heard of the sequel being made, as the original was such a stand-alone classic.
The revered 1982 movie has been such an influence to so many people, and is rightly regarded as one the best sci-fi films ever made.

The new film though can proudly sit alongside it and is easily a worthy continuation.

The epic cinematography, sprawling and crawling cityscapes, paranoia, technology, human condition, bleakness are all achieved with a quiet and understated air.

I then managed to dig out my old VHS video of the original film!

On the cover they've put Harrison Ford holding a gun (still standard Hollywood practice, to feature guns), drawn in a strangely dated 70s action comic style illustration. Sean Young though is looking like those weird airbrush paintings that you'd always see in the 80s! She's also having a crafty fag, which you would definitely NOT see in Hollywood now!!

This alien piece of technology is of course the not-very-missed video cassette!!
Which once you've watched the film, hoping it wouldn't mess up half-way through, you would have to rewind the tape. The video player would then become this crazed machine as it made a terrible racket, sounding like it would fly out of the window at any moment! After that you would have to troop back to Blockbuster Video to give it back, happy days!!

THEATRE WORLD MAGAZINE

At the recent flea market at Shepton Mallet I picked up a stash of these lovely magazines.
All dated between 1937 and 1939, they ooze 30s charm and glamour.

A classic example of the exquisite covers the Theatre World always managed to have.

It must have been wonderful to have seen a theatre play at that time. There were many famous film stars who trod the boards around this era, so you had a fair chance of seeing a top star as well.

Oddly, there isn't that much info on the history of the magazine online, but you see them occasionally knocking around antique fairs, and I've bought a few in the past. I know it started in 1925 and made it to the 50s, before I think it amalgamated with another theatre magazine.

Brilliant comic scene by three veteran actors.

Stunning portrait of Bernard Shaw. Or George Bernard Shaw as he's also known!

On the eve of war and Theatre World has upped its game. They've redesigned their covers, by ditching the orange colour scheme and having a full-bleed photo. Brilliant!

A couple of the issues I bought were a bit tatty, so I've decided to do a decoupage of a few of the amazing portraits and stage shots within the magazines.
I also recently bought a 1930s bedside cabinet, so I'm going to use that to create a glamorous Art Deco piece of furniture. 
I'm hoping to start it this week, so watch this space!!

THE BENCHMARK FOR DECOUPAGE!

Have been at the PVA glue again!!!

I rescued this lovely bench from a house in Portland that was having its contents unceremoniously dumped in the front garden, (I asked permission to take it first of course!!!), and decided it deserved a second chance.

So out came some old copies of the Beano and Dandy, plus tins of red paint and varnish, and I got to work transforming the bench.

I love doing decoupage, it makes a nice change from doing digital collages as well, and although using old comics is completely unoriginal(!), it was good fun to do.

The drawings in the comics are exquisite when you look at them closely, and are still absolutely timeless. 
And because the paper used on them was so thin and not brilliant quality, by doing endless coats of varnish, the colours suddenly spring out at you, and brings them to life even more.

This is the Beano side of the bench!

And here is Desperate Dan keeping an eye on the Dandy side!

A detail from the bench of Korky the Cat, who first appeared in the Dandy in the very first issue on 4th December 1937.

And here is the Beano's Minnie the Minx! This brilliantly drawn character first arrived on the scene in 1953.

So if you see a poor, abandoned bit of furniture in the street, rescue it and give it a new home!

Or, as the bench is now in my unit at The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset, you can buy this one and give that a lovely new home!! 

WONG NOIR

Another ArtPix artwork for you ...

The leading image here is from a 1934 cigarette card of the absolutely iconic Anna May Wong, famed actress from the 1920s to the 50s.

As she appeared in loads of black and white movies and had such a striking presence, I thought a Film Noir feel to the artwork would be a good idea. Added to that an almost Bladerunner edge, to give it an extra dimension.

As always I've used many of my own photographs, these taken in London and Brussels. 
The Barkers building in Kensington, an Art Deco masterpiece, already has a futurist feel so lent itself to the Bladerunner vibe, especially all lit up. 
And I was pleased to at last use a few blurry night time photos I took in Brussels several years ago.

The 40s/50s adverts have that sinister edge despite supposedly depicting positive things.
The advert with the fighter planes has the brilliant caption 'Freedom Has a New Sound!', as the planes blast over a quiet American suburban scene. You couldn't ask for a more bizarre and twisted picture!!

I still have tonnes more ideas for new artworks, so stayed tuned right here!

RETRO CLOBBER

Got something different to bung in my unit at The Customs House in West Bay, Dorset.
A few bits of retro clothes from the ArtPix Archives...

Here is a fantastic PRODIGY t-shirt!

Dating from 1997, around the time of their game-changing single Firestarter, this was when they propelled themselves into everybody's living rooms. Before that they'd still been a bit of an underground phenomenon, but now everyone had heard of Keith!!
Their live shows at that point were absolute dynamite, with old-skool ravers mixing with metal heads and now mainstream people. I think I bought this t-shirt at one of their Brixton Academy gigs in December that year, my memory is a little hazy of those nights, as you could imagine!!!!

I've got boxes and boxes of band t-shirts, including loads more Prodigy, as I've been to hundreds of gigs and was certainly no stranger to the merchandise stall! One day I'll sift through them and see if their are any more spare ones. Watch this space!!



Check out this iconic INTER MILAN shirt!

On the back it has 'RONALDO 9', no not that one, the Brazilian one!!

That would date this shirt at between 1997 – 2002, as they were the years he was at Inter.
Although injuries stifled his time there, he was still at the top of his game during this period, as his record of 59 goals in 99 games testifies.
He bagged the UEFA Cup in 1998 for the Italian giants and moved onto Real Madrid in 2002.



Here is a classic denim jacket!

In perfect condition, it dates from around the late 80s/early 90s, just when I was getting into Industrial and EBM music! So anything black was needed and this jacket was the perfect accompaniment to my much-loved KILLING JOKE leather jacket, which I also still have, but is definitely not for sale!!!!

SIGHTSEERS

Welcome to my new ArtPix artwork!

This one is called SIGHTSEERS, and this crazy bunch are enjoying the ride!

All these images come from American adverts from the 1940s and 50s.
A time when the U.S. of A was at its peak, cruising on the post-war confidence of a global super-power. 

And although these ads show that super-confident vibe, they still manage to look slightly sinister at the same time. 
Then, taking them out of their context and putting them all together they look even more so!! 
Maybe it's those fixed white-toothed smiles glaring at you?!

Have a nice day y'all!!

GRETA GARBAGE

I've gone a bit collage crazy this week, so welcome to the latest artwork off the ArtPix production line ...

The film icon Greta Garbo, as you've never seen her before, is the main image on here. 

Hence the title GRETA GARBAGE! 

As with all the collages I do, I don't have to explain any message or theme, as its just a combination of pictures I find along the way. I always like to use my own photos somewhere and manipulate any images I cut out, and see where that takes me.
So no artistic waffle here!!!

Incidentally, my photos used here are the Shard in London, with some clunky concrete 70s blocks in the foreground. And the radio pic at the bottom is a treasured ArtPix Family heirloom, bought in Teddington around 1962, this Ferranti radio actually still works!

I've got another collage that I've done this week to show you, so keep an eye out for that.

Meanwhile, I'll carry on plundering the archives for more amazing pictures to use.  

IN THE SOUP!

Here is my latest creation ...
Another of my slightly surreal collages ...

As with my last space-invader-inspired collage, there are loads of famous faces to be seen.
Spot them before they get eaten up, as they are literally 'in the soup'!!

This one actually started out as a real-life decoupage artwork, but the original cut-out bits and pieces were all just slightly the wrong size.
So I ended up scanning everything in and doing the whole thing in Photoshop.
A bit of a shame as I've really enjoyed doing the decoupages recently and getting away from digital.

Never mind, I still have all those carefully cut-out pix, so I can use them for something else!

If anyone is interested, the main picture and flying soup tin come from an advert in a Belgian magazine from 1965, flogging a scary looking green soup from the Dutch company Unox. 
They started life in 1937 selling meat products and branched out into soups in 1957. The company is still going strong today.