Helen Musselwhite

I was recommended to look at the work of Helen Musselwhite by a friend, she creates pieces with layers of cut paper. Her finished results are beautiful and multilayered like this owl piece.

Nicholas Harding

Nicholas Harding is another artist whose work was in the National Portrait Prize, I really like the realism and the highly textural nature of his work.

Robin Eley

Whilst in Sydney I went to the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and was really impressed by the work of Robin Eley. He seemed to capture the vulnerability of his nude sitter so well. The top painting is entitled 'The shadows of his former self' due to the sitter becoming retired. The other image is a much more confidence laced self portrait.

Hannah Richards

Just found the work of Hannah Richards via It's Nice That, I really like the humour and drawing style in her work.

Aine Venables

Aine Venables has some lovely work on her website, it can also currently be found in the Here gallery in Stokes Croft until the 24th of September.

Happy Place

Just found the website Happy Place, it's a bit like a more specific version of Passive Aggressive Notes there is a lot of humour inducing imagery to be found.

Sam Ashton

Just found the work of illustrator Sam Ashton, I really like his style particularly this painting of East London.

Martin Parr

Today I had a lovely day soaking up the sun in Bristol, as part of this I went along to the Martin Parr exhibition currently on show at the top floor of the M-Shed. I would like to heartily recommend that anyone who lives in Bristol or nearby makes an effort to see it before the end of November. Martin Parr is a photographer who fascinates me in his original compositions and the way that he manages to capture life. He is someone who is obviously fascinated by people, as these photos clearly illustrate.

Dean Freeman

Dean Freeman has a portfolio of work that I started to have a quick flick through and then found myself looking at every single photo. He has that think that all good photographers need I think and that is a unique perspective. I particularly like his sets of photos in the 'stories' part of his website.

Jenny Bowers

At popular request for more print based artists, here is the work of Jenny Bowers. Beautiful, vibrant and bold images I think you will agree!

Stephen Bush

The work of Stephen Bush is quite lurid but at the same time appealing.

Lucie Sheridan

Today I went to the M-Shed in Bristol which is a recently opened museum concentrating on the stories behind Bristol's people and places. I really liked the spaces and also liked the shop which had a section for local artists. Lucie Sheridan's work stood out to me as bold, vibrant and simple.

Alex Pardee

I just found the work of Alex Pardee, really beautiful yet often nightmarish illustrations.

Theo Mercier

I just stumbled upon the work of sculptor Theo Mercier, I really like his surreal sculptures. They are very strange indeed.

Even more Thailand!

Lou Rota

I just found the work of Lou Rota in an old inspiration book, I really like the way she creates new pieces from unloved old crockery and furniture, her finished works are very appealing to the child in me.

Ricky Swallow

Ricky Swallow is another artist whose work I saw at Sydney Art Gallery. I really like his beautifully detailed sculptures, the top image was on display in the gallery and apart from the bucket is all carved singularly from one piece of wood.

More Thailand

A few more photos from Thailand...

Yoshihiro Suda

Another artist whose work really impressed me was the subtle sculptural work of Japanese artist Yoshihiro Suda. The rose shown is sculpted out of wood.

Jane Ormes

I found the work of Jane Ormes through getting a card to send to my good friend in Canada. She is a printmaker and artist, I love her whimsical pieces and also her description of her recreation time 'She spends any spare time daydreaming about Daniel Craig and ginger flapjack (although not together obviously!)'. Her blog is also worth a peruse here.

Thailand

Here are a few photos from my time in Thailand. I will add a few more as I put more on my computer but as my disc drive is on it's way out it might be quite a slow process! The sunset was from Koh Phangan and the other photos are from Bangkok, the cat was taken at the weekend market which is a must for clothes and vintage bits and pieces for cheap prices!

Revok

Revok is creating some excellent art at the moment, both on the streets and in galleries. I love his use of acidic bright colours and layering. His website is full of photos including those of his most recent show Perseverance.

Tracey Moberly

Whilst reading the Daily Mirror yesterday I came across a story about Tracey Moberly who has kept every text message she has ever received since 1999. Text messages are so disposable as a form or communication that there is something nice and old fashioned about actually recording them properly. I also like some of the other projects that Moberly has undertaken as like Michael Landy's Sydney project they encourage random acts of kindness.

Mad Liz

I saw this in Newport just before I left the UK.

Del Kathryn Barton

I have recently been in Sydney, a city which has a thriving arts scene. One of my favourite places to visit whilst there was the Sydney Art Gallery which houses a very clever changing set of collections. I particularly liked the modern art on the lower floor of the gallery and the work of Del Kathryn Barton really stood out to me. Her pieces are highly labour intensive and detailed and due to this they are wonderful to look at. I really liked the multi layered style in which she works.

Michael Landy

Michael Landy is an artist that has interested me for some time as he concentrates on possessions and the material worth of objects. In 2001 for example he gathered together literally every single thing that he owned and set up a production line to systematically destroy everything. This included photos, his passport and his car. Most recently Landy has collaborated with the city of Sydney in order to collect random acts of kindness. He is collecting stories of kindness between the 20th of July and 20th of August.

Update

Apologies for the long delay in posting to those who read the blog on a regular basis, not sure how many just stumble in from Miss Van! Just thought I would update to say that I am now in Sydney living in a place called Darlington which is right by a very cool suburb called Newtown. I think in the past Newtown was a bit run down (much like Stokes Croft in Bristol for example) but is now an area which reeks of redevelopment and promise. Australian people by nature are very friendly and curious and seemingly in Newtown this is even more so. Today for example I went with my new housemate to a free life drawing class in The Sando (Sandringham Hotel) it was packed to the rafters and some of the work produced was amazing so despite a man standing on my piece of paper and me accidentally spilling half my pint of cider on another unfortunate mans sketchpad I will be going again next week but this time with my own paper and drawing equipment so I don't have what appears to be a fully joined up 10 breasted woman! I will hopefully put some photos up soon too as the area I live in is very cool!

Anna Gwenllian

I haven't been able to post up much lately as I have been in Thailand and despite the internet being cheap there is too much to do but I am having a bit of a rest day today and have just seen the newly created website of my good friend Anna so I thought I would share it with you. I really do love her style of illustration and I am sure that you will too!