NEW COLLAGE ...

Have put together another artwork...

This one featuring three stunning original 1930s photographs, that I've cut up and repeated etc.

 

 

HOORAY!!

Finally some good news from ArtPix Towers ... a successful boot fair today at Dorchester in Dorset!!

 

 

My first fair since February, and I'm glad to say I sold loads of bits and pieces, as the coins were rolling into the ArtPix coffers once again.

There's also a chink of light in the ArtPix Storeroom now, where there's a bit of spare space!!

I'll carry on with the boots for now, as vintage fairs aren't yet really up and running at the mo, so be prepared to grab a bargain at my stalls!

ENJOY ...

Having lived by a seaside for most of my life, you definitely learn to avoid the local seafront on a Bank Holiday!!!

Especially this year ...

So have a nice Bank Holiday everyone, and good luck !

 

 

ARE YOU MAN RAY IN DISGUISE?

I found this vintage photograph in the fantastic Filmisfine camera shop in Bridport, Dorset.

 

Dating to the 1930s, I love the bold, sparse white background, and how the person is set low in the frame.

For some reason it reminded me of MAN RAY, the surrealist photographer and painter, and of the incredible abstract and surreal photography of the 30s.

I then decided to convert this pic into a surreal collage, as a dedication to the innovative photographers of that era, with a hint of the rayograph effect that was a speciality of Man Ray ...

 

 

BARBICAN

Just noticed I hadn't posted anything for a week!!!

 

So here is another one of my random photos/artworks ...

 

Taken on a saunter around the Barbican in London a couple of years ago.

 

I love the Brutalist architecture around there. 

Sometimes the area can be seem deserted, giving it a strange sci-fi/futurist/dystopian nightmare vibe to the place.

JOAN MANUEL SERRAT

Take a look at these two 1960s Spanish 7" singles!

 

These beauties are from 1968 and 1969.

 

I'll be honest, I'd never heard of JOAN MANUEL SERRAT, but he's a major musician in Spain, and I'm pleased to say he's still going strong!

 

Our Joan is a respected artist out there, and coming from Barcelona, he's not afraid to speak his mind on the Catalan independence debate. 

Import 7" singles from the 60s are still a bit of a novelty here. They have a bit of mystery and glamour about them, mainly as these artists are often unknown in this country.

 

We Brits are a bit naughty when it comes to Euro pop though. 

Because we have such an enormous musical legacy here, we are often a bit sniffy about 'Continental' music, and can be found sniggering at it.

 

But I have to say these songs are probably what you would expect ... CHEESY, DATED (even for the late 60s), MUSICALLY UNCHALLENGING, and TERRIFYINGLY AWFUL!!!!

 

BUT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM!

 

Also, inside one of the record sleeves was something I never expected to see ... a sticker for Woolworths!!!!

 

 

The record was brilliantly bought in a local branch of WOOLWORTH ESPAÑOLA!!! 

I never knew they were out in Spain.

 

And of course with, SATISFACCION GARANTIZADA.

J'ADORE

To cheer myself up, I was looking through some of my photos in the ArtPix Photo Library.

And I found this picture of a French door, which I j'adore ...(!)

 

It was a flashback to good times, taken four years ago, in the small town of Ambert, in the Auvergne region of France.

Oh la la !!

VJ DAY 75th ANNIVERSARY

Finally, at last, that awful war was over ...

 

 

Would love to see some pictures of veterans, and NOT pointless royals and politicians pretending to look solemn.

 

My Dad went right round the world serving in the Navy from 1943-46, from India, Malaya, Hong Kong and ending up in Japan as part of the Occupying Forces.

 

 

So take it from me Boris, you can do your empty gesture of laying a wreath, but compared to him, you are absolutely nothing.

 

 

 

"IF IN DOUBT – DON'T!"

 ... as my Grandmother used to say!!!

So with that in mind, I'm not gonna risk going to the Shepton Flea Market tomorrow.

 

The blimmin weather has beaten me again, and factoring in the cost of petrol from the 100-odd mile round trip, and potential damage to stock, it just isn't worth the risk or the worry. 

 

 

So onwards and upwards from our more than disastrous year!

 

Instead of spending my time checking weather forecasts, I'm looking into selling stuff online.

 

I'm not a big fan of doing this, but it looks like it will be the only way to empty the bulging ArtPix Stockroom!

 

RETRO FULHAM

As Fulham recently got promoted back to the razzmatazz of the Premier League, I thought now was a good time to add them to my Retro Football series ...

 

 

There's always been something comfortingly traditional about Fulham, it must be the leafy riverside location and their homely stadium.

 

Rare these days, especially in the top flight of football, is their gorgeous main stand, (now named the Johnny Haynes Stand) built in 1905, and the curious cottage-like Pavilion next to it, all designed by the legendary architect Archibald Leitch.

 

It seems incredible its all still there, with the relentless thirst for progress in the game, but they stand like beacons, to not only to  bygone era, but to the elegance of Leitch's stadium designs.

 

With all that history swirling around, it isn't surprising to learn that Fulham are the oldest professional football club in London, having begun in 1879.

 

Also surprising, is that they've never won a major trophy in all that time!

 

Although they have won second and third tier Championships, and also famously got to the FA Cup final in 1975.

 

From the outside they do seem a club quite content to just bob along and see what happens, but they've actually had some giants of the game play for them.

 

Two World Cup winners in fact!

 

Right back George Cohen was a Fulham player when he won the trophy with England in 1966, and the captain that day, Bobby Moore, later signed for the club in 1974.

 

Unbelievably, George Best played for them in the mid-70s, causing quite a stir alongside another big star at the time,  Rodney Marsh.

 

 

Jimmy Hill, outspoken, but hugely progressive, played for them in the 50s and early 60s, and future England manager, Bobby Robson, had his first managerial post at Fulham in 1968.

 

The stand-out player however was always going to be Johnny Haynes.

 

 

The immaculate midfielder was the ultimate one-club man, and spent the best part of 18 years at the club. He was an imperious England international as well, capped 56 times, often captaining the team.

 

Also, he became the first player to earn £100 a week when the maximum wage for players was scrapped in 1961. The man to pay him what was then a huge sum was Tommy Trinder, the famous comedian and actor, who was Fulham Chairman at the time. It was the first time that big wages could be used as a bargaining tool to keep a player at a club.

 

I'm so glad I found this picture of him to add to my collage!

 

Fulham will again add a nice reminder to how football once was to the money-obsessed Premier League next season.

 

RANDOM ARTWORK OF THE DAY!

Feeling a little low last night, I thought I would see if any of my old photos would inspire me to do something creative ...

 

And lo and behold I came across a photo of dear old Battersea Power Station.

 

Which raised a smile, as it's such an iconic and recognisable London landmark.

 

What I didn't know until today, is that the building is actually made up of two separate power stations, each with their two chimneys, built at different stages.

 

The first started in 1929, then the next one, bolted onto the first, finished in 1941. 

 

The fabulous futuristic Art Deco style always made it one of my favourite buildings.

 

My pic was taken in 2009, (which already feels like a lifetime ago!), and sees the old lady still resting having been decommissioned long before.

 

It was also before the corporate suits and money finally got their hands on it and destroyed the vibe of the place. 

 

RANDOM PIC OF THE DAY!

Plucked from the ArtPix Photo Library is this picture I took a few years ago ...

An extraordinary Victorian child's grave ...

The photo was taken in the atmospheric churchyard next door to the Brontë Parsonage, in the village of Haworth in Yorkshire. Home of course to the legendary Brontë sisters.

The decorative tomb is both charming and oddly disturbing at the same time.