Starman

My limited edition David Bowie print STARMAN went on sale today at 12:00 midday.
It is available on my Etsy page.

'Starman' is a tribute to the ethereal nature of the artist we knew as David Bowie and his career in many mediums.
The focus of this image is on the theme of the universe that echoed all the way through, from the "Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" to his final album, "Blackstar".

This run is a limited edition of 100. Printed on 300g high white matt Fibaprint paper, usin U.V pigment that will not fade.

The Zen Boardroom

The brief: "Being mindful of the chaos outside as we work with calm in the boardroom."

My third visit to Jambo's offices. A year since I painted two rooms in their building in Manchester I'm back in Truro installing a huge Zen Wave Garden mural in their boardroom and an Accounts/Contracts/IT themed mural in the accounts department.

Using low odour spray paint and a fume extractor means I can paint indoors as the company works around me.

Hot Off The Press

Colouring books are out! Hot off the press!

"A Street Art Colouring Book from Cornwall" is available now in selected outlets around Cornwall and on my Etsy page.

32 pages for all ages!

Trewirgie Junior School Murals

The Trewirgie "Cornish Studies" Mural.

Earlier this year I completed a series of three murals at Trewirgie Junior School in Redruth.

"Creativity and Watersports" A mural about favourite leisure activities.

This was such a great project. The pupils involved chose and designed all the content and it was their choice to theme the murals on their studies.

For each wall, a design team of pupils came up with the ideas and directed me through the sketches straight onto the wall during a consultation workshop, and returned to class. I called them back when it was time to colour.

Most of the paint that was applied was the work of the pupils involved. Really, in a way, all I did was help with outlines and tidying up the edges!

Most had never used spray paint before and they responded well to a responsible introduction to this versatile medium.

The "Trewirgie Regal" playground theatre space mural. Designed by Trewirgie pupils.

These workshops are hugely beneficial in using drawing as a visual skill which supports other communication skills like reading and writing.

Here is an write-up from the West Briton newspaper.

A Street Art Colouring Book from Cornwall !!

I have put together 32 pages of my street art ideas and designs as a colouring book. Available to order now for £5 from my Etsy page with FREE UK POSTAGE on all orders by Friday.

 Look out for the designs on the street. Happy colouring! 

Cosmic's Art Space

Over the last couple of summers I have been developing an art space at a few UK festivals.
An area which is both a space for practicing artists to continue their own projects while at the festival, and a place for those who maybe don't consider themselves to be skilled, to create in a relaxing, creative environment.
COSMIC'S ART SPACE is a non-judgemental, fun and relaxing environment where people can spend some quality time painting, drawing and creating works of art, even if they think they can't.

To illustrate what I mean by someone who thinks they have no artistic skills let me begin with drawing and an example:

Far too often I hear everyday functioning adults say "I can't draw." like drawing is something we have or don't have, or is a skill that some are lucky to have been born with, and some are not.

Drawing is a communication skill. Like reading or writing.
We can all draw. We just do or don't.

Like any practice, the more we do and the more often we do it, the better we are and the more confident we become, so we do it more because it makes us feel good that we do it well.
This also means, however that if we don't do something very often we can get cross with ourselves if we don't like the results when we do try.

So I have developed workshops accordingly. Taking part is fun and you realise that you have everything you need to develop a strong visual art practice.

The workshops I have created are aimed at varying degrees of ability so that within the shortest time possible (just under an hour) the participant can access the "I can" of drawing and can return to that whenever they like.

There is no charge to take part and all art materials are provided.

The most popular workshops this year include Life Drawing With Attitude, Artist Rediscovery, How To Make Good Mistakes and Say You Can't Draw Try This which was very in demand!
Plus many more and some that might evolve from our daily Discussions On Art, which sometimes have no art references what-so-ever and that leads to another topic about the relevance this has to our art. Then we all go and watch some bands.

 "These aren't lessons, but a unique approach to opening the artist up to new creative possibilities"-Bestival

Watch out for  COSMIC'S ART SPACE  at UK festivals in 2016. Drop me a line, via email at the top of this blog's homepage, if you want to see Cosmic's Art Space at your favourite festival next year.

At the beginning of August I put together an interactive art forest for WWF at Camp Bestival music festival in Dorset.

Workshops included, mural painting on the teem of "Why we love forests", animal mask painting, decoupage a frame for the mural, letter writing to your MP, and more!

At 20meters, the site was almost too long to capture in a photo!

The animated fire pit kept everyone warm.

The interactive mural was a big hit and the result can be seen at WWF HQ. Deadly 60 TV star Steve Backshall contributed to it with his trademark skull and a signature.

#flashbackfriday @kmurphz captures the time I got carried away and painted over the windows. Hey, nobody said not to! #sprayacar #livery #useless #surfthebonnet #surfthehood #spraypaint #truro #artfestival #cornwall #newquay #summersucks #surfinglifestyle #cosmicimages #jeep #grandcherokee #oops #paparazzi #streetart #surfart

A photo posted by Cosmic (@cosmicimages) on Jul 23, 2015 at 11:35pm PDT

St Agnes Sundowner Painting

Last Saturday in St Agnes was The Sundowner. An annual summer village gathering to raise money for Cancer Research with a bar, a buffet, activities and a huge charity auction.

This year they asked me to come along with some paints and capture the atmosphere of the event on canvas and then include the painting in the auction at the end of the evening.

I used a mixture of spray paint, acrylic and watercolour to create a scene of the vibrant evening and painted and chatted with everybody who was interested in what I was doing.
I have been experimenting with this mixture of media lately and it is very challenging but the results can be satisfying, at times.

The painting went up for auction almost before the paint had dried and raised a very respectable £360. Which was a relief after a bottle of Sloe Gin, famously the star of the show, had just sold for £160!

Thanks to Jill Vasey and the other organisers for giving me such a great challenge, way out of my comfort zone, and a massive thanks to the couple who bought the painting as a gift for their friend.

A scotchman Comes Home Exhibition. Falkirk.

If you're in Scotland over the next few days, get to Falkirk and check out A Scotchman Comes Home, an exhibition dedicated to the homecoming journey of Scottish-born environmental legend John Muir at the Meadowbank Library, Polmont on Fri 3rd, Sat 4th, Mon 6th, Tues 7th July at 10:00am.

My portrait of a young John Muir.

Email meadowbanklibrary@falkirkcommunitytrust.org for more details.