birds like waves

There is a new thing up on the Polite Records page today. It's one song from an album length collection of recordings I've made for a new projects called Sea Glass. I made these recordings in the summer as something to do. Part of the point of starting a new thing with just me was so that I'd have something to work on when my other bands are not in the same place as me (The Nervy Betters are all over the South of England and Olly is about to move back to Bristol). I'm making a small number of CDs and Cassettes and I'm guessing they'll be later this month so I will write an update when that happens.

business card

I was going for the "crazy polymath" angle. This is the first time I've used my Kelsey table-top press. I got the plate cut at Centurion Graphics (who I found out about from Steve Brett). I know it's kind of cheating to set it digitally and then cut it to a plate but it would have cost a lot more in time and money to buy the type. I'm pretty happy with this solution and it cost me about £20 to make 100 business cards (and the next 100 will only cost £3.50 now that I have the plate). Another great thing about cutting stuff onto plates like this is that next time I need a new card design, I can try something hand-rendered!

a new lino project

Proofs from a couple of new panels. I'm having a go at a slightly longer story this time. I don't know when it will be done...

frogs

I didn't think or dream about school for the last five years. Then the last few nights I dreamed of waiting for the bus. I dreamed of going into classrooms I did not remember. The subject was always maths.

The roads in my dreams wound and the corridors were full of people I did not know. It sprawled like a hospital, a factory or a farm. I was in the wrong class room constantly and without my homework always. Anonymous authority figures. I dreamed of snapping and telling them fuck you. the indignation of an adult.

There was this maths problem that I could never figure out. The problem was set for us a few times in primary and secondary school:

There are lily pads in a line. You start with two frogs, one at each end of the line with the middle pad empty. The frogs can hop one pad at a time and can hop over one another when they are next to each other. The objective is to figure out the minimum number of moves required for the frogs to swap places.

Once you've done that, you do the same thing with two frogs at either end, again with one empty pad in the middle.

Then you do it again with three frogs either side...

 

You're supposed to take these numbers and use them to figure out an equation to express the minimum number of moves required to swap the places of any number of frogs in the same setup (i.e. equal numbers on either side with one empty pad in the middle).

 

I don't know why I needed to figure this out now. I could never do it in school and it made me feel bad about myself. I didn't have the guts to ask for help with it and I guess I had accepted it was the limit of what my brain could do. The problem was I panicked and didn't have the patience to examine the problem. When I came back to it and made an effort to move forward cautiously, a correct pattern gradually emerged. 

One time, when I was little, I saw a frog in the pond across the road from our house. I was wading in the water and disturbed it. The sky was the colour of the road and it rained and I stayed out in the pond until it was dark, waiting for the frog. When I finally gave up, I went inside and drew pictures of frogs instead.

stuff from my old sketchbooks #4

stuff from my old sketchbooks #3

encyclopedia: book belt

A  non-letterpress version of the blurb/book belt. I will be trying to set a letterpress version in the future but I've spent enough money for one day...

printing weekend

Spending this weekend taking a break from running around and getting on with some print stuff. These are getting close to the final stages of two big-ish projects and it takes me ages to get up the courage to make each new mark. Luckily, I've got all weekend.

copper spires a5

Finally finished the A5 version of my copper spires sketchbooks and uploaded them to my folksy and etsy shops.

the print was inkier this time, but I think the addition of the nice turquoise book cloth keeps everything together.

So that's the second 'to-do' project of the year finished. I'm keen to get through all of these upcoming projects by the end of May, as that is when this year really speeds up...

studio walls

I put these up on the wall a while ago because I thought they went well together. Only one of them was made on purpose (if you can believe even one of them was deliberate).

prints in progress

I made prints from earlier sketches. Both of these are from music projects that I'll hopefully be finishing simultaneously. 

The year got off to a hectic start, but I'm slowly finishing a whole lot of projects. Our flat is full of brown parcels of materials. It's very exciting.

kino residency: prints and drawings

My last Cafe Kino event was in November and I hung some prints and drawings around the gallery and invited some friends to play some music and records down in the basement. It was a fun year and this work is still hanging in Kino for the foreseeable future, so stop by and have a look if you are in town.

copper spires repeat

 Have been experimenting with a repeat print today. The final element was a quotation from a diary entry from Frances' and my trip to Copenhagen last year. This composition really reminds me of Bob Notley.

This will hopefully be the cover material for some sketch books I have bound to sell in my shop(s) so if you want, you can own a piece of this print for not too much money some time soon!

kino residency: production line

The last Cafe Kino event was a zine making workshop. It was lots of fun and loads of great zines were made. Thanks to the generosity of Steve Brett, you can see all the photos from that day on my flickr page. As well as Steve, massive thanks is also owed to Bob and Charlotte who helped make the day so great. 

goodbye party

Kate and David are leaving London and we want to have a goodbye party. Also, Two White Cranes and Trust Fund are touring and we want to put on a gig...

So Come to our gig at The Betsey Trotwood on saturday the 21st of July and we'll have a dance party afterwards!

T W O    W H I T E   C R A N E S
Roxanne Brennan's most recent songs and her best yet. The two white cranes are big construction cranes that Roxy walks beneath most days. She mostly sings and plays alsone. Her words match the sound of her singing and playing in beautiful quality. Every time I see her play, I am blown away by how good she is.


T R U S T    F U N D
Trust Fund plays quiet, lo-fi, miserablist R'n'B with a guitar, a keyboard and a tiny sampler. Ellis says: 'His songs are failed attempts to relive the past'.



M O R B I S O N
Morbison is the solo project of Chris Nicholls of An Axe. It's sure to be doomy, boomy and swimming in reverb.


T I G E R   &   P A N D A   &   O X   &    G O A T
Joined this time on drums by Peter 'Goat' Burke, Tiger & Panda & Ox's lineup and musical arrangements change regularly, so they never get to know their songs too well before they change. This is probably 'Ox' or 'David' s last show with them before moving to Ireland with Kate. Come and help us make it fun!


Doors at 7pm sharp!
 £5 Entry

folding and printing and colouring in

Getting stuff ready for the music and pictures on Saturday. David is coming round later for a practise. Hooray!