The piano accordion habit

Gaffer tape wanted!

Don't think I've told you that Max has a piano accordion habit? This week he bought another broken down specimen to do up, so out with the gaffer tape and glue until he's once again bored with the thing. 

The noise would drive me bonkers if Max wasn't such a natural musician, able to play pretty much any instrument even when it's in bits, and if I wasn't enjoying my SECRET project!

You'll be pleased to hear that for now both Max's accordion repairs and my project are going GREAT!

Health project makes Leicester Mercury

Loughborough's NHS campaign appears in the Leicester Mercury

My recently completed NHS project featured in the Leicester Mercury this week, as the Loughborough health campaign made it into our regional newspaper - which is good advertising for the project and for me!

Happy Birthday Patrick

The Birthday Boy; Patrick at 50

Been working every day this past week on my SECRET (!) project. I'm sworn to secrecy so can't breath a word but if it comes off it'll be brilliant! 

Promise to let the cat out of the bag as soon as I'm allowed :)

Something I can talk about is the 50th birthday party held yesterday for Patrick McCracken in Melton Mowbray. 

Patrick is joint-founder of 103 The Eye, Melton's community radio station, and since my agent works on the station I went across with Max to help Patrick celebrate with the assistance of many of the station's broadcasters, volunteers and listeners.

It was a good evening and, as you can see, the birthday boy thoroughly enjoyed himself!

Hockney - the man's a genius!

David Hockney's 'A Bigger Picture' RA exhibition

Visited the Royal Academy in London for the wonderful David Hockney exhibition, 'A Bigger Picture'. 

To be around so many wonderful artworks was inspiring, the scale of the pieces and the vivid colours took my breath away. And something I hadn't noticed before; Hockney's brush marks are not unlike those of Van Gogh.

Got home and got painting!

Mum's the word!

Have begun working on a TOP SECRET portrait! Keeping mum about details for now but it's exciting & could be my crowning glory if all comes together! Been working on it all week & will spill the beans as soon as possible & that's a promise. Watch this space!!

Loughborough's Anti-Smoking & Anti-Paan Chewing campain launch

With Zahida Niazi & Bilkis Hussain from the NHS.

I've had a busy time with photography jobs lately but midweek, dressed for the cold weather, Max & I drove to Loughborough for the launch of the most recent NHS Anti-Smoking & Anti-Paan Chewing campaigns. 
Considering the limited turnaround time (I blogged about getting the contract on 4 Jan), the finished artwork looked pretty good on display at the Moira Centre.
With me in the pic are Zahida Niazi, Smoking Cessation Specialist (left), & Bilkis Hussain, Smokeless Tobacco Expert (centre) from Leicestershire NHS.
The health campaigns are targeting Loughborough's Bangladeshi community & the posters & pamphlets are already available in GP surgeries & community centres across the town.

Kapow!

Kapow by Innermost.

Proving that inspiration comes from many sources, this genius lampshade is Kapow by Innermost. 
Made of lightweight netted tubing the hoops & swirls fall to various lengths making the dimensions around 30cm x 30cm. 

Arriving in a hanger-suspended container shaped a little like a box of Panettone, I so like the texture, the shape & the unusual construction that I wouldn't be surprised if a feature based on this piece of lighting art appears in one of my portraits very soon!