Jot Tittle and Dot: art

Showing posts with label art. Show all posts

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Lets get crafty. Innit!

Hellooooooooooooo all! So, I confess, Jot Tittle and Dot was kind of side-lined in the last year as I focused on my new illustration work and my personal blog (which you can see here!) but I wanted to ressurect this wee blog as a platform to gather together awesome artists, imaginative illustrations, groovy graphic designers, clever crafties, potty potters....you get the idea. I shan't go on in case you CAN'T STOP LAUGHING.

This is us. Ressurecting. Innit

So if you are an arty type of any sort, get in touch. I will want some examples of your work (always put your copyright on to protect your images!) and then I will ask you some rather BATTY interview type questions. We don't want to put peeps to sleep with our 'Oh well I've been drawing since I was in the womb..' bull, we want funny, meaningful, bizzare and downright AWESOME. The weirder you are, the better.

Get ready.

Tuesday, 6 December 2011

Getting ready for Christmas

The Singer

The Fox

Trifold design

So I've been ticking away on pictures and designs over the last few weeks, and trying to keep myself from getting too chilly now winter is well and truly here!

I've begun taking commissions for Christmas, so if you'd like something special and unique for that special person, drop me a line at ruth@ruthjoyce.co.uk. Also have a look at the range of prints available on my online shop, free delivery for A3 prints!

I have also officially Christmas-ified my website now, have a look at www.ruthjoyce.co.uk.

Sunday, 4 September 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Mark Powell

Since graduating from Huddersfield University, in which he accidentally enrolled himself onto the fine art course (but haven't we all done that at least once), Mark has had shows across the UK and the US. His practice centers around his beautiful and detailed drawing, for which he will use a biro pen on paper or envelopes he finds, and the painting of whatever slips into his mind at any particular time. This can often seem abstract and unrelated, though this is never the case.

Mark will be displaying his fantastic art work at the New Artist Fair!

Friday, 2 September 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Aisling Fegan

Aisling Fegan was born in Ireland in 1985 (just like me! Though I was in '86, so feel like an old granny o' course). She studied Model making and Design for Film and Theatre in The National Film School of Ireland. For a number of years Aisling has been working as a full time as a model maker.

She is now based right here in London where she continues to paint daily. Aisling is incredibly passionate about art, and her recent work is described as illustrative pop art with nod to the style of graffiti art. Aislings current project is building toward her first solo exhibition in 2012. Her current Project entitled URBAN CULTURE is a study of People, Expressions, and Street Culture.

Aisling will be exhibiting her fantastic art work at the New Artist Fair, under a week away now!

Thursday, 1 September 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Lisa Andrews

Lisa is a British artist with an established working studio in the gardens of her home. There she has covered a diverse range of subject matter and developed her expertise working in oil on canvas. However, it Lisa's my love of travel and the inspiration in the diversity of humankind that has led her to cover a range of fascinating studies from the media fuelled obsession with celebrity culture, to the calm reflective nature of the Dalai Lama.

Lisa only returned to painting 18 months ago after a 13 year gap. Her work has been reviewed by the Daily Mirror Art critic, Martin Newman, and she has exhibited with a number of respected international artists, including Mark Demsteader and Paul Lemmon.

See more of Lisa's work at www.lisajandrews.com

Lisa is another artist showing her work at the New Artist Fair!

Wednesday, 31 August 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Nick Peart

Nick Peart, a young English chap, is an artist living and working in London. His work explores the subconscious and the conveying of his emotions. He was once asked to describe his work, and he replied, ''I paint my feelings''. For him this is an integral part to understanding his work and its perpetual development.

When not painting, Nicholas writes poetry which he writes in the same way as he paints; subconsciously and spontaneously, and expressing what he currently feels. Nick has also travelled widely. He spent two years travelling across Latin America
Some of his influences include Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, Willem De Kooning, Pierre Bonnard, the Boyle Family, Richard Long and the works of the Huichol people in Mexico.

To see more of Nick's work visit www.saatchionline.com/nicholaspeart.

He is also exhibiting as part of the New Artist Fair!

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Mark Allin

Originally trained in graphic design, Mark has spent over 16 years working in the advertising & animation industry. Being the founding director of HYPA.tv, an animation company, Mark has worked with some of the worlds most famous brands including Virgin Atlantic, MTV and Saatchi & Saatchi. With a love of strong graphic styles added with a desire to twist traditional techniques, his artwork uses high-end 3D & post production software blended with traditional printmaking methods.

Mark is really keen and push his skillset and techniques into areas he's not entirely familiar with. His latest work uses 3d technology to create a piece of art that jumps out of the frame when worn with some retro 3d glasses. Mark never gets tired of seeing the reaction of people who see this for the first time.

Check out more of Marks fab and unique work at www.markallin.co.uk

Mark will be exhibiting at the New Artist Fair, which is nearly upon us. Mark is also working on a new piece in his distinctive style for the show, can't wait to see it!

Sunday, 21 August 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Sandra Jordan

These fan-blooming-tastic photographs are by Sandra Jordan, whose two greatest passions in life are travel and photography. She bought her first camera in her late teens from the local paper, £50 with three lenses, and from then on she was officially hooked.

Sandra's day job for the past 15 years has been working in production in the film industry (ah the dreaded yet necessary day job!) but her passion for photography has never died. She's been lucky enough to work with some of the film industry’s best cinematographers who have helped her with tips along the way and also kept her enthusiasm for the medium alive, translating their advice and techniques into stills photography.

From a very early age Sandra traveled around the world with her family, sparking a huge interest for her in foreign countries and foreign cultures, and in 2007 a three-month train trip from London To Turkey re-awakened her love of travel photography.

Sandra likes simple photographs, line, texture, and form and, although she enjoys shooting colour, she is often more drawn to black and white. Photography enables her to, for short periods of time, immerse herself in different cultures. It has made her more aware of my surroundings and allows her to view the world and the people in it in a different way.

www.sandrajordanphotography.co.uk - see more of Sandra's great work here!

Sandra is also exhibiting at the New Artist Fair in September :)

Tuesday, 16 August 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Jerry Hancock

Jerry Hancock became a professional artist in September 2009 after a lifetime of painting. That's a lot of hard work there!
He held his maiden art exhibition at Cornerstone gallery near Oxford in May 2011. In 1984 he moved from using oils and inks to acrylic aerosols. The messy process of painting with aerosols belies the end product, as what he produces are delicately executed pieces, with incredible detail that speaks rather more of watercolour than of spray can. Combined with Hancock’s scientific background — a degree in chemistry and 30 years as a science teacher — this leads to a body of work with a strong fascination with wind power and other natural sources of energy, and with puny and self-absorbed man’s interface with the wider world. Later work encompasses both the natural and the built environments: stark leafless trees, huge wind turbines, and the towering office blocks of Canary Wharf and New York City, the latter two from which Hancock admits to drawing much inspiration. Like Banksy, Hancock admits to occasionally liking to introduce humour and quirkiness into his art and like Dali he loves to paint with vivid colours and to leave the audience to interpret his art.

See lots more of Jerrys work at www.jerryhancock.webs.com

Jerry is another artist exhibiting at the New Artist Fair in September!

Monday, 15 August 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Brooke Persich

Sometimes it's best the hear what the artist has to say. So here's Brooke from the Brooke view...

"I am not a loyal lover

After dedicating my youth and promising all my ages to my pen I found myself having an affair with a paintset.

What a mess I have made

Although I will not say sorry for my boundless passion

I do not excuse my desire which is the catalyst for my creations.

I have no artistic etiquette and why should I.

I paint with my mouth full and I draw with pencils that are blunt with truth

I drink art until I am drunk with thought and I am a cheap drunk at best,

I spill colour on your white suede shoes and in my paintings I apologise for nothing.

There are two things I am loyal to.

Art and Contradiction."

What a corker!!

Brooke is the second artist I've featured who I will be exhibiting with in the New Artist Fair in September. Visit www.newartistfair.com for full details! Exciting times :)

Thursday, 4 August 2011

New Artist Fair Feature - Umit Koseoglu

Umit Koseoglu is a conceptual fine art photographer and multimedia artist from our very own bonny London. After recently graduating with a BA in Contemporary Media Practice from the University of Westminster, Umit has focused his work on ideas of identity, the body and the environment, creating large-scale photographic installations designed to raise awareness about contemporary issues. Umit is currently working on projects documenting the nature and society of Iceland.

‘Human/Nature’ explores the fragile relationship between humanity and the natural landscape. Inspired by current environmental issues occurring in Iceland regarding the sale of natural resources to foreign industries, and the destruction this has caused, these images merge the Icelandic landscape with the human body to promote nature as an important part of mankind, rather than a commodity to be exploited for financial gain. While this project is based on issues specific to Iceland, the underlying meaning is universal, and serves as a strong reminder to the rest of the world that even in modern society, nature is still an important force that should be preserved and respected.

To see more of his work visit www.umitk.com.

Umit is the first artist I've featured who I will be exhibiting with in the New Artist Fair in September. Visit www.newartistfair.com for full details! Exciting times :)

Monday, 11 July 2011

First artist feature - Otto Vincze

Otto Vincze is a Hungarian artist from Slovakia, and he has been drawing all of his life. He went to study at Nyíregyháza in Hungary when he was 15, and while he was there he studied sculpture and anatomy. He also honed his ever developing drawing skills. These days he focuses on airbrushing, and uses charcoal and biro in much of his drawing work. His recent artwork studies dynamics, movement, the female form and trees. He says "My main theme at the moment is the female body in movement, which is turning to a kind of human tree."

He has also done some lovely and quirky drawings looking at his impression of London buildings.

Otto's work is fluid and unique, a beautiful combination of nature and man.

See more of Otto's work (and say hello to him too!) by visiting http://vinczeotto.deviantart.com/

Friday, 8 July 2011

Photos from Oh! Oxford House Open Evening

There's my boy! :)

Lots of people were there, which is always a good thing (except maybe for whoever bought the crips and wine...)

Browsing through the booklet.

It's a really cool place to have art up, quirky yet simple.

Yes, I was a bit frazzled that day!

I heard these guys saying some nice things about my painting, I know it's silly but always nice to hear when someone likes your work :)

Loads of different sorts of studies into people and portraiture, it was really interesting.

So there we are then! A great little show, and it's up till 30th August so wiggle on down to see all the great stuff!

Monday, 4 July 2011

Exhibition Fee Pain- worse than a trip to the dentist

So you're an artist, right? So you're absolutely loaded and can pay to submit your work to endless open shows or hire out gallery space regularly, right? Oh no, wait, silly me, most of us can't!

It is a difficult situation; you have to get your stuff out there, non? But I am genuinely annoyed by all of these 'open exhibitions' which charge you simply to submit your work- not get in, oh no, no guarantee of that, but just to try. What a nightmare.

Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy to pay fees if I am accepted into a show. I recently got in to the New Artist Fair (click here to visit their website!); they seem to have the set up right. Artists can submit work for free, then the chosen people who get to be part of the exhibition pay a fee. This way makes sense! I am sure most artists are happy to pay towards gallery hire, PR costs, man-power etc, but why should you pay when you have no clue if you'll even get a chance to exhibit? You could fork out a lot of money over a few months and find you've gotten into no shows.

I recently found a 'call for artists' to submit work. There was a £20.00 sign up charge, and £20.00 per picture you wanted to submit. They must be making a killing! Meanwhile I'm squinting at my bank account, (always dangerous) unable to see the spare £40 to enter. Bum.

I see a similar situation with my music friends (my father being one of them); however, as I point out to him, they certainly have a lot of costs but they rarely have to PAY to do a gig! Sure, they have to do free-bees to get known, but artists struggle to even do that!

I wish galleries and show organisers would give us a break.

*BIG DRAMATIC SIGH*

Sunday, 3 July 2011

Oh! Open Exhibition, Bethnal Green

So the Oh! Open Exhibition will begin on 7th July at Oxford House in Bethnal Green. I actually trotted along there yesterday to drop off The Parisian as part of the show. Going on the tube with a rather large canvas painting is certainly an interesting experience, especially on a Saturday. It does make you wonder sometimes as to why perfectly normal people can become so very awful as soon as it comes to getting a seat, getting on first, getting past everyone else. Sods.

But I digress, I did make it in one piece, and I got two cookies for my trouble! The lady who was collecting the art was very nice, and I think the show will look great. There will be loads of interesting artists, and I'm looking forward to the opening night on Thursday.

The Parisian

Welcome to Jot, Tittle and Dot

So, as some of you may know (actually I'm guessing most of you wont know, but indulge me) I recently relocated my rather large buttocks back down to London. As an artist, and a skint one at that, London can be rather daunting. It is seen as the place to be with all the opportunities; but unfortunately you can find your costs spiralling well above any money you may be making. Due to this frustration I decided to set up this blog, as a platform for my own art, but also one for others in the same position as me. Gallerys charge you an arm and a leg to have a show just a few days long, and most are not manned - so you would have to do it yourself. I lack a wealthy family member or trust fund to help me do this- like so many, I have to work full time to pay the bills (and the art fees!) so taking weeks off at a time to man exhibitions is tricky. Anyone else know what I mean?! I believe there are those who do. So this blog will feature artists, photographers, crafters of any sort, exhibitions and shows and galleries who are genuinely trying to help struggling artists.

This is not for established artists, it's to help those who are trying to find a little piece of the art world to stand in, so if that's you then contact me!