Christmas fairs and more

Christmas is getting close and I am working hard to get enough Christmas character sculptures done for the fairs I am doing.

- The first isn't a fair, more of a temporarily pop-up shop and is based in Amsterdam The Netherlands. It is a street art focussed shop with workshops, music and other entertainment..... and low priced art of some big names in street art. Only open in the weekends and is already started, check it out at Zeeburgerdijk:

- The second will be the Christmas fair at the Gregson community centre in Lancaster on the 1st of December. Will be interesting to see the faces of the visitors when they are confronted with my work for the first time! Here is a link of the things that will be sold.

- The third and last one, is the one I am looking forward to, it is the Winter arts Market in George's Hall in Liverpool. This is a big event held on the 7th and 8th of December. I'll be there only on the 7th, check it out: St. George's Hall Winter art market

And I will bring some of my 'normal' work too! Want to no what they are? Check my website!

Christmas waste

I walked around the high street this morning and couldn't resist checking one of those temporarily shops with Christmas crap. So depressing to see the cheapest of the cheapest stuff, made out of plastic and ending in the bin on January 2nd.
We have become so conditioned in making and buying things that are thrown away so easily. Symptoms of this disease:

1 It is crap and we subconsciously know it, but its cheap, so we buy it and tell ourselves its a steal and a money saver. It isn't when you throw it away every time and have to buy new every year.

2 The industry has moved itself the last 50 years to materials and production processes that are economically the cheapest. Although economically it is cheap, the real ecological price will still need to be paid. The question is, which generation is going to pay for it?

3 Because they make them technically crap, it wouldn't make any sense to spend a lot of time designing them. The design is crap too, which make these products very boring very fast, triggering us to throw it away.

4 There is no incentive to make long lasting products, because throwing away means buying again, which tells the industry that we like crap products and throw them away.

I just hope that I manage to make my Christmas decorations timeless and of such good quality that people want to keep them for many years to come! If not, half of most sculptures are from recycled 'products' from our food chain that will hopefully make people think about the above message!

Just finished this one: The Ghost of Christmas Future (Clay and acrylics on a sheep neck bone)

Christmas decorations

Most of you, who have been following me on Facebook, already know I am busy making Christmas decorations for a couple of fairs. I am making a lot of these small sculptures with a bone as a base and they are taking most of my time, so I don't have any exciting new artistic developments to show. But these Christmas decorations are a bit of a exploration of the humour in my work. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and I hope that these Christmas decorations will give me a better feeling what works and what doesn't.

I know that some characters are a hit, but have no idea which ones will be the strongest and only one way to find out and that is try to sell them. The first Christmas decorations I have send to a new pop-up shop in Amsterdam, set up specifically for Christmas: The Amsterdam Street Art shop. This shop will open the 24th of November and will close at 18.00h on the 22nd of December.
Second is a small Christmas fair in the Gregson community centre in Lancaster. Last, but certainly not least, is the Winter Arts Market in Liverpool and I will be there on the 8th of December.

Some pictures of the decorations I have finished so far:

Day of the Dead

Dias de los Muertos! Yeah! The day where my skull based work is celebrated the most! Last year, when I started using skulls, I already thought of doing something with this Mexican fest. I found a very nice spot to show my work and what better than a Mexican restaurant / takeaway? So my skulls can be seen on the first floor of Goburrito in Lancaster.

But They also have a display cabinet I use to show some of my small vertebra sculptures:

Art vs nature

Got a bit quiet again. Had a lot of work, you know of the job salary type, and was on a holiday. The latter triggered me to write about something I want to share. I was walking in the blazing sun, yeah escaped the cold and wet North, grasping the tidal streams flowing around my feet at the mediterranean sea. What a beautiful thing to see! This wasn't the first time I gave it a thought; how simple things in nature give you that strong 'wow' feeling.

What has this to do with art? Well, I was wondering how art would compare with nature in its 'wow' effect. I mean, we go to galleries and come across maybe a one or two peaces that really grab our attention in the way these natural occurring things do. You might question the existence of having art at all. What's the point when having plenty of events and views to enjoy in the outdoors? Good point!
But, even when you think about how easy it is to see beautiful things in nature, a good art piece is still a major accomplishment. For a somebody to create something that others didn't came up with and gives you a 'wow' feeling is a great accomplishment.

Its just that we all, even the great masters in the art, are so tiny compared with the true master of creation, whether you believe it to be god or not.