EE AYE ADDIO, WE'VE WON THE CUP!

Today is the 50th anniversary of Chelsea's epic FA Cup Final replay victory over Leeds United.

The match inspired a whole generation of fans, and became one of the most infamous games ever played in the country.

Insane tackles, fights and aggro ensued, and under today's rules around 11 players would've been sent off ...
But on the night there was only ONE booking, great days!!

Incredibly, 28.5 million people watched this match, which is still the 5th highest ever TV audience.

The pic shown is Peter Osgood scoring a diving header to rescue the game for Chelsea.
David Webb famously bundled in the winner in extra-time.

It will always remain one of the most iconic moments in Chelsea's history.

RENÉE SISSONS AND JOHN WELLS

Give us a twirl!!!

Just look at these delightful Deco dancers!!

I picked up this vintage photograph at the Giant Shepton Flea a couple of years ago.

This debonair duo were big hitters on the Amateur Dance scene of the 1930s.
On the back of the photo it lists the incredible list of competitions they won ...

Not only did Renée and John win honours in this country, but also European and International Championships, competing in Denmark and all over Germany.
AND, they danced for England!!

The photo can easily be dated to late 1936, as the list of prizes stops there. 
They were still winning European Championships right up to 1939.


There is even footage of them on YouTube!

 

MID-CENTURY BOOKCASE

When I rescued this gem it was being chucked away, and was a in a bit of a state!
I've done some of work on it, and brought it back to life ...

It now has a stylish look, while retaining some of its originality, including the decorative metal strip, which is a common feature on Mid-Century furniture.

The fabulous curved shape makes it a cool way to display your vintage books and bits n' pieces.

When the vintage trading world is up and running again, this will be out and about, so keep an eye out for it!!

NEW DIGITAL ARTWORK!

Here is my latest collage, using vintage images and my own photographs ...

The main image on the left is a photo I took of the extraordinary Žižkov Television Tower in Prague.
I've wanted to use it on something for ages!
Built between 1985-1992, it stands at a whopping 216 metres (709ft in old money).
And yes, it really does have slightly creepy babies crawling up the side of it!!

The other buildings are from my pix of the EU headquarters and the Atomium in Brussels, and the vintage images are all from items in the ArtPix Archives.

I was planning to do more art fairs this year, where I was going to showcase my digital artworks, but of course that has all been scrapped. Hopefully one day ....

ICH BIN EIN BERLINER

Still trawling through the ArtPix Photo Library looking for photos to load up to my website.
And found another pic I took in the amazing city of Berlin ...

An old forlorn looking East German flag amongst old barbed wire, down a sinister looking side street.

This was taken just around the corner from Potsdamer Platz. At the time it was taken, the whole area was being revamped with huge shiny buildings, but taking a closer look, you could still find extraordinary traces of the Cold War era.

Check out what's at the end this street ... a look-out tower that would have been watching the nearby Berlin Wall. Incredible.

ROY OF THE ROVERS

The latest ArtPix Project is this one-off special of a footballing icon ...

  
A table decorated with vintage copies of the classic Roy of the Rovers comic!

I've used the colours of his team ... the red and yellow of the mighty Melchester Rovers!

If you aren't familiar with this story then read on ...

Roy of the Rovers is a unique phenomenon, the fictitious story of a footballer that just kept on running and running. 

Roy Race was the star striker for Melchester Rovers, in a made-up world of teams and players, and was so famous that he became part of the English language.

Sometimes the storylines and scenarios were so improbable – usually with our Roy scoring a last-minute Cup-winning goal – that when such an event occurred in the real game of football, the media would call it 'REAL ROY OF THE ROVERS STUFF' !!
 

Roy first started out in 1954, making his debut in Tiger comic, as just another cartoon strip. 
But he soon became a hero to many a kid, and in 1976 he finally won promotion, getting his very own comic, (some of which I've used on the table), that ran until 1993.

After various transfers and dramas, he's actually still going today, revamped as a 16-year-old footballer in graphic novels!!

But if you like the traditional Roy, then you'll love this table!

WEBSITE

My poor website has been a little neglected recently, so I'm having a trawl around the ArtPix Photo Library to load up a few pix.

Found this one of the iconic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, I took a few years ago.

The centre of the city was still rebuilding itself then, so there were many traces of the old Communist side hanging about. 
Bits of the Wall and old look-out posts were slowly being swamped by shiny new office blocks, I wonder how much of it has now disappeared?


Check out my website HERE
I'll be adding new photos and artworks and other bits very soon ...

NORMAN HUNTER 1943-2020

Football has lost another titan of the game today ...

The Leeds United defender was part of the infamous side of the 60s and 70s, and aquired the nickname 'Bite Yer Legs', in reference to his ferocious tackling.

But he was no slogger though, becoming a supremely accomplished footballer. 

Hunter won a hatful of medals, including two League titles and an FA Cup, in Leeds' incredibly successful team, and also earned 28 caps for England.

Another legend gone ...

PETER BONETTI 1941-2020

Very sad to see that Chelsea's goalkeeping great Peter Bonetti has passed away ...

He played a staggering 729 games for the Blues between 1960 and 1979, and was part of the iconic Swinging 60s side and the Cup winning teams of the early 70s.

His finest hour was the momentous 1970 FA Cup Final games with Leeds, both at Wembley and the replay at Old Trafford, when Chelsea finally won the Cup for the first time in their history.

Chelsea really have lost one of their most legendary players.

GRRRR!!!!

Trying not to think about it ... but this weekend would have been the Exeter Flea Market and the Giant Shepton Flea Market.
 
I was going to do both, and the dry weather would have been perfect for Shepton, grrrr!!!!

THE LAST POST

Very pleased to see that the symbolic Last Post ceremony in Ypres is still carrying on throughout the lockdowns ...

The small Belgian town of Ypres in Belgium, was stuck out in a salient throughout the First World War, and saw the worst of the fighting and shelling.

It became a famous and iconic beacon for all the Allied troops, and remains an extraordinary place today. The townspeople returned to the shattered town and rebuilt it.

They then wanted to create a way of saying thank you to all who had served and died there. When the huge Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing was opened in 1927, they had their perfect location.

It's an enormous archway construction, which on the insides, has inscribed the names of 54,896 soldiers who died in the area, but were never found.

On 2nd July 1928, members of the local Fire Brigade closed the road to traffic, stood in the middle of the arch, and sounded the evocative Last Post tune on their bugles.
Incredibly, the Fire Brigade have done this unstintingly ever since at 8pm every night, broken only by the Second World War occupation of 1940-1944.

When interest in the War had faded, they still carried on, sometimes with no-one watching. But in recent times it has become a nightly spectacle, with huge crowds and wreath laying ceremonies.

I've seen it quite a few times, with the first couple being fairly sparsely populated, but it remains a touching and emotional moment.

Even in these awful days they refused to stop, and are carrying on with just the buglers, ironically back to how it all started, 92 years ago.

STAY AT HOME!!!!!!!!

Just wondering which bit of the sentence – STAY AT HOME – people don't understand???

Usual floods of cars going passed ArtPix Towers all day, as if nothing is going on ... they can't all be going to Lidl!!!

 

 

WE'RE DOOMED ...

On our daily exercise walks, I've noticed a lot of 'Be Happy' and 'Stay Safe' drawings and signs on people's windows ...

Which of course is all very lovely and great, but I always like to take a more realistic approach to life.

So I've dug out this t-shirt, put it on a mannequin, and plonked it in my window ...

Seems a bit more appropriate at the moment, especially as society and our fine Government seem determined to leave behind, and kill off, the surviving generation who actually fought and lived through the War.

1960s BEN CHAIRS

These chairs are now highly sought-after, and absolutely scream MID-CENTURY!!!
I've got four of these classic chairs, that were manufactured by Ben Chairs of Frome in Somerset.

They're a fantastic design, and have a real individual appeal about them.

Made of beech, the company were experts in the art of bending wood using steam, which produced the iconic shapes on the arms.

I can also precisely date my chairs to 1964, which is bang in the middle of the very cool and collectable Mid-Century era.

These are now ready for sale, and when all is well, will be up for grabs.