Heavy Manners Art

Like many others, I'm sure, when I was a kid I used to look at the vapour trails in the sky with wonderment. They were things of inexplicable beauty, beyond my understanding. They were exciting. And unusual; a rare treat where I lived, close to the Thames estuary in Essex. Today they're common. And not just because of my location near Heathrow airport. And no longer am I seeing beauty in those vapour trails, but instead death. The boom in low cost air travel made the world smaller for many. But at the same time has made the world far...

When people ask what artists inform my work, #1 is always Joe Strummer. A portrait I painted of him hangs above me in my tiny pigsty studio and he keeps an eye on me as I work. This keeps me focused. When I look at the chaos that surrounds me, I often think, what would Joe do? I'm fortunate to do some work for The Joe Strummer Foundation - a charity set up with the aims of the prevention or relief of poverty, to provide space and instruments and to promote music and the arts.  The foundation have struggled with...

Pretty blown away to receive this picture of one of my paintings in location in the USA. Thanks, Nate at Oscar Romero Catholic Worker House in Bloomington, Indiana. Glad to hear everyone loves it, and so glad to play a tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny part in your amazing work providing homes for homeless women. "This beautiful painting is the finishing touch added to a room we just remodeled. It now hangs in the Moses room in the Óscar Romero house at Bloomington Catholic Worker in Bloomington Indiana. Romero house has been remodeled by volunteers to provide permanent, comfortable and...

There’s a Climate Emergency Centre opening near me in Staines, called The Talking Tree, which will house a café, repair centre and a community hub amongst other things. They also plan to host regular art exhibitions, which is excellent news. I heard they will be launching with a collection of donated artworks from local artists with the theme of trees, sales of which will help fund the centre. I made a couple of pieces earlier in the year featuring trees, utilising old match box labels and scrap wood, with the message Too Hot, but one of those is already sold....

Anyone who knows me well, knows you're never far away from a music related pun ;-) So when it came to naming my Art Print collection, Prints & The Revolution was top of the list (Scroobius Pip beat me to The Fresh Prints...) I got a stamp made to print the reverse of the prints using recycled materials, and stamped them using environmentally friendly vegan ink. Now, I'm not a vegan, but before the militant haters start on me, why would I not use a vegan alternative if I can? Progress, not perfection, my friends. View my Art Prints here...