gentrification can't actually kill creativity...

of course gentrification can't actually kill creativity, you just stay one step ahead of it. I hadn't forgotten I had a blog, just took a step back from the internet for the winter while I paint away in our new bunker studio and new green shoots break the surface. Lots of painting, lots of canvas finding and recycling, things ready to leave on the street once more. Amusing to find that the same property pimp estate agents who helped push us out last year are using my art and the shows we put on last year as a selling point for the area that we can no longer afford to live in. Right there all over their website, have to smile at that one. No, gentrification can't kill creativity, the winter has been a productive positive one, surrounded by new work, happy in new surroundings, eating hot buttered toast and about to get on with these layers of daffodils that are threatening to shows their faces any day now... Time to blog a bit, like those daffodils, I'm ready to emerge for the spring...

Now then, all you artists who's work we had the pleasure of hanging on walls and showing in shows last year. what do you have coming up? Be nice to see these invites to join in were working in both directions...

GENTRIFICATION KILLS CREATIVITY:

neglected blog... but not through apathy, just busy doing actually rather than writing/talking about doing... Paint alive and going off and things... A collection of reasonably big new pieces coming together for this new show in Kensal Green... that and searching for new space to put events on and pull art together

GENTRIFICATION KILLS CREATIVITY: Spent an interesting couple of days searching out London area live-in art spaces, abandoned hotels, cheap unloved factory spaces that need converting and such (not squats). Found a great space yesterday that could be converted in to 12 or so live-in art-making spaces and a gallery... ...we'll know next week if our proposal for that one goes through although I now hear someone wants for a corporate media company base.

Fed up with the way some galleries treat artists, really enjoying showing other people's work, time to shake it up even more, need alternative spaces.... as excited about the other painters at the next show as I am about my work . Found a great old (closed) railway station that would make for a great gallery/work space but Network Rail are far too tied up in red tape and obstructions to want to make it happen...

Anyone got any interesting gallery space they need running I wonder ?

Anyone interested in these ideas, getting involved in alternative art making/living space and such, there's a core group of artists looking, but space could mean we need/want more.... Had enough of greedy landlords, estate agents and the gentrification of our living / creative spaces

Need more/better creative, bathroom overflowing with new work drying...

MORE NOTIONS OF STREET ART...

NOTIONS OF STREET ART... Went out for milk this morning, found two big canvas beasts waiting for the bin-men, one with a big rip that will require more stitching (as did last week's found canvas) and the other with some kind of unfinished school artwork course work (I know this because a note saying 'course work' so is stapled to it), it looked like decent start, wonder if that's the end of the person's artistic output? Thrown out at the end of their school life... but no, not heading for the dump, saved and now probably heading for a gallery in September once I get to work on it... For this is one of my notions of street art, these abandoned (clearly unfinished) canvas pieces are my personal walls waiting for new layers, walls to be painted on, to be added to , worked over... my radar is tuned, forever on the look out for canvas or frames or... yesterday a flat screen computer monitor found on the street, now out back waiting for paint, the thing is broken, cracked screen, looks great when plugged in ...

The Harvist is in...

Neglecting things a little in blog land, not enough hours.... The adventure at Harvist Gallery is over for now, the three summer shows have now been and gone... three shows, more than fifty artists, it didn't work quite in the collective way we hoped it would, ended up me/us running a gallery and everyone else just sticking their work on the walls (or letting us stick the work on the walLs for them). It was a positive experience, most of it went well, most of it was a pleasure, lots of interaction, lots of interest from people, healthy reaction, some sales... It all got a little in the way of the process of making art... meant for a lot of healthy interaction with other artists... it was good... on to the next thing

THE 100 PAINTINGS SUMMER SHOW...

Today I'm herding artists together, slightly harder than herding cats... 40 plus creative creatures and now with added RUDENESS from Miss Roberts and her Rude Mechanicals....

PATRICK'S HARVIST GALLERY SPACE, 45 CHAMBERLAYNE ROAD, KENSAL RISE, NW10 (travel details via the gallery pages at www.organart.com)

Opennig night party/view Thursday 22nd July from 6.30pm onwards

One Hundred paintings on the gallery walls for ten days.. One hundred vibrant pieces of art and all on sale at a price of one hundred pounds. One hundred times one hundred... We're carefully selecting the art right now, there will be no more than four pieces of art per artist s...o you can expect lots of vibrant variety from both established and emerging art makers from London and beyond. Expect a variety of styles, contradictions, paint, print, pop art, street art, fine art, illustration, things that don't fit anywhere...

The show opens on the evening of Thursday July 22nd and will run in the gallery space until August 1st. Expect an opening night party with live entertainment in the cafe area while the art will be on view in the rooms of the basement gallery... Come meet the artists, come socialise, network. come make use of this space we Organ team have bee nworking with all summer...

We have a live performance, the tearoom area on the opening night, MISS ROBERTS AND HER RUDE MECHANICALS will perform a one off set. This wil lnot be a ful lband performance, it wil lbe Miss Roberts and some of the Rude Mechanicals with Rude Mechanicals songs, words, poetry, spoken word and visual peformance.

MISS ROBERTS AND HER RUDE MECHANICALS will perform a musical set at 8pm. DJ MARVIN will keep the evening flowing with his dance vibes until we kick you a lout al lyou all decided to leave....

Expect to always find 100 pieces on show, as pieces are bought new ones will replace them, ever evolving, ever exciting, always 100 paintings/pieces on the wall ...

There's a Facebook event page if you like that sort of thing

THE ART OF ARTISTS DOING IT ALL THEMSELVES..

ARTISTS INVOLVED INCLUDE

TAHIRA BEGUM
MARIA BRESONALLO
ALEXANDRA CARULA
BOUDICCA COLLINS
MARK COVERDALE
RUTH EGGINGTON
MICHELLE EVANS
GRIMES & JONES
EMMA HARVEY
GURDISH HAUGSDAL
JESSICA HILLS
PATRICK HOBBS
ANGIE HOGAN
EMILY JACKSON
EMMA KNOWLES
CHRIS KONING
HEATHER LENNOX
EM LOCKREN
SUSANA LOPEZ FERNADEZ
LOUIS MICHAEL aka MASAI
MIMI
BEN OAKLEY
ELIZABETH OSBOURNE
LULU PARENT
VIJAY PATEL
ASHLEY REAKS
SOPHIE REDPATH
ROB REED
CARRIE REICHARDT
MISS ROBERTS
JAY DEE SCOTT
NAOMI SHAW
MARIA SLOVAKOVA
CLAUDIA STOCK
INES SZAMREY
DIXIE TURNER
IAN WALKER
CLAIRE WARD-THORNTON
DAVID WILLIS
SEAN WORRALL

paint what you need to get by in life...

Must stop this cut'n paste social media cross referencing, things are getting rather messy around here, almost as messy as it is under the Westway right now... Do like being under the Westway though, lot of history there...

So how was yesterday?

Oh yes, sun, high winds, rain, hot sun again, drawing, people watching, pop stars, sports stars, silly questions, "hey dude do you know Banksy?" good questions, "are they leaves or hearts?" old friends, new friends, good people, good art, Carrie's truck, real Notting Hill people, the place has so much soul if you scratch the surface a little, paintings sold, paintings shared... really good to meet you yesterday, thanks for coming down... The paintings of the cup of coffee and the sandwich sold rather quickly when they came out of the bag around mid day, the cup of coffee painting exchanged for a cup of coffee bought by a lady from New York, the sandwich painting by a couple who thought it was an excellent idea and said they would come back next week and that I should paint something else for them to go buy in exchange... Now what should it be...? A whole new aspect to the what is affordable art question... paint what you need to get by in life... Some fruit? New boots?

Carrie's ceramic tile covered truck stole the day again, always the star where ever it goes

The ongoing what is affordable art question? what price a cup of coffee?

Social media cross reference number 457

Sean Worrall The ongoing what is affordable art question takes me to Portobello Road once more this Saturday. 10am until 5pm I shall once more be under the Westway over here in (hopefully Sunny) West London.... this time as part of the new Portobello Art and Design market (under the Westway where the Mutate shows were) and hopefully selling some very very reasonably priced art.

No free art on the streets (or in your trees) this week, well I might leave a piece or two somewhere on the way there, or maybe on the way back home from the market... you shall know me by the trail of art... come have a look, come say hello, the photos of the market are on the Love Portobello Facebook page...

I shall report back to you fellow artists and designers next week and tell you if the thing be any good or not, looks good in the photos and under the Westway is always good... land of THe Clash, Hawkvibes, Crash and such...

Come down, say hello, come see.. expect art on cardboard, on vinyl on canvas and more, expect prices to start at... oh let me see, maybe we'll have some 1p pieces, yes why not... maybe some pay whatever you want pieces... expect affordable art. Maybe I'll paint a cup of coffee and and some food and the price will be that you go get me a cup of coffee and the piece is your in exchange...

Don't know who else has a stall there this week but the photos on the Love Portobello Facebook page look interesting...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Love-Portobello/134663166549655?v=info

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138759786142345&ref=mf