10 Questions with: Martha Ford

Bristol-based artist Martha Ford is the illustrator behind the beautiful image that features on the cover of our current issue. Take a look at her work here.

How would you describe your work in just three words?

Mysterious, Contemplative and Gentle.

What inspires your illustration?

I have always loved to read, I grew up on books like The Hobbit, Chronicles of Narnia and Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials and I think my work is highly influenced by these magical stories.

Original Illustration from Narnia by Pauline Baynes

What themes do you explore within your work?

A lot of my work also explores people and their place within nature, themes of isolation and the effects and passage of time but I also love people coming up with their own interpretations of my work.

What would you say is the best thing about your profession?

Creating work that can inspire others or that people can connect with and enjoy on different levels. I am really grateful to the people who do like my images; they say some really kind, encouraging and sometimes very insightful things and it really motivates me to develop and improve further.  It is also great being a part of such a thriving, diverse and creative community.

Do you have a favorite illustrator?

James Jean is an amazing illustrator. I first came across his work on the covers of the Fables comics (a brilliant series of graphic novels) and loved everything about them. He creates bizarre characters and creatures with beautiful flowing forms and really dreamy colour palettes; they are really mesmerizing images.  

James Jean

Do you have a favorite place in Bristol?

Quite a few but one of my favourites is sitting on the harbourside outside the Arnolfini on a hot summer’s evening, with a drink, and chatting with friends as the boats and swans go by and the buskers play. I never want those evenings to end really.

Pen and paper or digital?

I am a big fan of both. I work through my ideas in sketchbooks and in notebooks and then I either paint digitally from my pencil drawing or scan my paintings in and edit digitally. I would be lost without either.

Pandora's Boxes by Martha Ford

Working to music or silent studio?

It all depends on what mood I am in. Sometimes the right music can really focus, and sometimes influence, my work but other times, I need to fully focus and that is when I need silence.

Following the theme of our current issue, what item would you be lost without?

My computer. Not a very interesting answer but I live off this thing.

And what’s the best thing you’ve ever found?

I remember going on holiday when I was a child to this house in France and went exploring in the garden. I pushed through an overgrown gate and found a small ‘hidden’ garden with a little old bird table in the middle and lots of wildflowers. For a child who was always climbing into wardrobes to see if there really was another world back there, and who was once obsessed with The Secret Garden, this was magical.

Current issue now on sale!

The Lost & Found issue of Helicon is now on sale!

32 pages glossy pages filled with art, poetry, photography, short stories and features - compiled by students from Bristol University. We only have 200 of these limited edition copies so make sure to get your hands on one!

Where can I pick up a copy?

This Friday 31st January, between 11am and 3pm we will be in the foyer of the Refectory on Woodland Road selling copies.

How much does it cost?

If you're a member of Helicon, it's free! The price for non-members is £1, but by signing up to be a member for just £3 you receive the following benefits:

• Free or discounted entry to all Helicon events and workshops - this term we have crafty workshops, creative writing workshops and film trips lined up

• Opportunity to sign up for the Helicon Book Club - announced February

• Free copies of this and future issues this year

• Sign up on Friday, and you will also be entered into our competition to win Boston Tea Party vouchers!

How do you sign up to be a member?

You can sign up for membership this Friday at the Refectory. If you are already a member, come along to pick up your free copy of the magazine then too. Some of us from the Helicon team will be there for a chat if you'd like to find out how you can contribute content to the blog and the next issue!

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to the Lost & Found issue - with your help, we really enjoyed putting the magazine together and we are looking forward to another term with lots more creative events for you.

Katharina Nyilas - Into the Forest Exhibition

I first came across Katharina Nyilas' illustrations at an exhibition at The Print Shop in Quakers Friars. I loved her work immediately- such delicate little lines and exquisite details. Her work is usually inspired by environmental concerns, which is why her upcoming exhibition 'Into the Forest' and focuses on the preservation of the ancient forests in the UK. You can look at her website here - I think my favourite is the pattern made with the colourful krill. After graduating from the University of Westminster with a degree in Illustration, Katharina now has a studio space at Hamilton House in Stokes Croft.

I'm now helping Katharina out with the marketing side of the exhibition, which means learning lots about different social medias and contacting a lot of people - do check out our blog, twitter and facebook pages to get the latest news and events. The exhibition begins with an opening on the 6th February from 6-9pm at Hamilton House, with complimentary cider provided by Severn Cider who are also supporting the welfare of our precious ecosystem. I think it'll be a really fun evening, some hot, spicy cider and some beautiful art - then maybe head to the Canteen next door afterwards? 

Not only is there the exhibition from the 7th-13th, but Katharina has also organised a number of wildlife themed workshops run with other Bristol based artists. These range from etching, monoprinting to book binding, as well as Sarah Dennis' paper cutting workshop which we ran back in November! You can see the details and sign up on Katharina's blog by clicking on the 'workshops' tab.

Finally, there is also a competition on the go - whoever guesses the name of the animal and plant beginning with 'F' in the following image wins the limited edition print. 

- Sacha

Top Tips for Aspiring Illustrators

January can be a tough month to get your creativity in gear following the exhausting and dreaded exam season. Martha Ford, illustrator behind our upcoming issue's cover, shares with us her top tips that will hopefully inspire you to dust off your sketchbook, pick up a pencil and get drawing! You can have a look at more of Martha's work here.

 The 'Lost and Found' issue will be released in the last week of January - so keep posted via Facebook to find out how you can get your copy!

1.   Get your work out there. Have some sort of online presence: a blog, a website, a Facebook page. 

2. Go to exhibitions - especially private views, as those are really great places to meet people from the industry, see some amazing work and sometimes speak to the artist themselves.

3.  Get involved with any local creative groups or collectives. It can get a bit lonely sometimes and it is always good to use other creative people to bounce ideas off of. On top of that, quite a few opportunities come through people you know.

4. If you get really stuck (I get massive creative blocks sometimes) - take a break! I cannot stress that enough (although I should probably take my own advice more). Watch a film or documentary, go see friends, read a book, go to the library and browse, go for a big walk and take some photos; just do something that will give you some new material and inspiration.

5.   Even when you do start getting jobs etc, you can always improve and learn more. You should always be looking for new inspiration and creating and pushing your work in different directions. And there will always be people out there who are better than you. Enjoy their work, move on and improve your own.

6.  I would also suggest to anyone who would like to get into illustration to try and create one or two cohesive and personal styles. It makes it easier to market yourself and your work to agents, clients and shops. But never force a style, be sincere in your work otherwise you won’t ever be satisfied with it.

7. Keep going! Be persistent as it takes a while until you feel like you are moving anywhere. Practice, create, promote and stay positive.

All images courtesy of Martha Ford

Zoë

The Folk House Creative Arts courses for the Spring term open now!

The Bristol Folk House on Park Street runs a huge number of creative arts courses: Arts and Crafts, Pottery, Writing, Languages, Music, Dance, Drama, Fitness and Personal Development.

The Folk House is an education centre tucked away on Park Street- pretty much opposite Boston Tea Party there's a little alleyway that leads to a cute little courtyard. This is the Folk House, home to all these great art courses and also hosts live music events and art exhibitions in their café-bar.

Their courses are now open for enrolment for the Spring term, starting in January. I would highly recommend signing up for one-even the choices just under 'art' are endless and all equally tempting- Cartoon Making, Illustration and Print-making to name a few.

I signed up for Digital Illustration to get to know the computer programmes that graphic designers used a little better. It's a six week course and not too pricey at all.

Have a look at all the courses they offer here:

http://www.bristolfolkhouse.co.uk/courses.php

Sacha

The Turner Prize 2013

December means one thing for contemporary art: The Turner Prize. Established in 1984, the Turner Prize has been awarded every year to a contemporary British artist, under the age of 50. The nominated artists this year are David Shrigley with his darkly comic drawings and objects - of which the headless ostrich above is one; Lynette Yiadom-Boakye's imaginary portraits are created as an alternative outlet for her writing; Laure Prouvost's playful, personal and sensory film/installation work; and Tino Seghal's 'experience' that engulfs and engages with the visitor in the pitch black. Tate has put together a selection of films featuring the artists and their works that can be viewed here.

Jude Law presented the award to last year's winner, Elizabeth Price. Although Jude is normally a welcome face on screen, his presence here did feel a bit... well, random. However he did made a convincing speech about the place of art in British education, focussing on the government's cuts in art eduction within schools. As he puts it, "If we deprive a generation of cultural skills, we lose a generation of cultural leaders."

The Turner Prize has had an undoubtedly positive effect on the British consciousness, in that it creates huge publicity and discussion around art institutions, art education and contemporary art. Those who might not be inclined to ordinarily visit an art gallery suddenly might be. However one of the most thought-provoking things to come out of the Turner Prize is the big questions it raises about modern art: what kind of art is being produced in 2013? What kind of art do we want to consume, and what makes us feel uncomfortable? Elephant dung, a certain unmade bed and a plain room in which the lights switched on and off have all been featured by the competition. It is, inevitably, shrouded in controversy.

Banksy's opinion on the Turner Prize, stencilled onto the steps of the Tate.

Matthew Collings, who received a commendation by the prize for his work in 1997, wrote an article three years later and made comment on the status of contemporary art and the Turner Prize.

"Today's art isn't about intensity on any level and no one expects it to be... The art has shocks to make it noticeable, and the shocks are often funny, or at least they make sense. Anyone can get this art, after the initial jarring feeling... Turner Prize art is based on a formula where something looks startling at first and then turns out to be expressing some kind of banal idea, which somebody will be sure to tell you about. The ideas are never important or even really ideas, more notions, like the notions in advertising... Today's art is a kind of hell."

Tune in to the presentation of the awards, this Monday 2nd December, at 7.30 on Channel 4 and you can form (or confirm) your own opinions on the works and on the competition as a whole. The work will also be on exhibition for the first time outside of England - in Derry-Londonderry until the 5th January 2013.

Zoë

Pawel Kuczynski - Satirical Illustrator

I stumbled across this article the other day and have really enjoyed looking at this Polish artist's illustrations. Pawel Kuczynski produces these highly satirical, and often funny illustrations that can seem almost surrealist. It's been a while since I've seen an illustration that really provokes any emotion- I think I might be getting a bit bored of seeing so many generic, bright screen prints that seem to adorn the all the arty shops around Bristol. Of course I do have a soft spot for these, but sometimes they start to all look the same!

Here is an artist who can think up the most witty and profound ideas without relying simply on being crude or quirky. Not only does his work point at important political issues and comment ironically on society, they are also beautifully executed.

Here are some examples:









Sacha

Alexa Meade: beautiful body art

Alexa Meade's collection 'your body is my canvas', is far more literal than you'd imagine. Forget paper or canvas, Meade opts to paint on her subjects, creating fascinating, detailed, living, breathing artworks.  This isn't 2D into 3D, but the reverse, yet, her uncanny paintings oddly seem to have far more joie de vivre than their 'real life' counterparts. Take a look!

Just in case you didn't believe me: the artist and her work...

And finally, my personal favourite, the self-portrait...

Painting or photograph, both? You decide.

JEM.

The Print Shop - Quakers Friars in Cabot Circus

The Print Shop is a pop-up shop (when they say it's a pop-up shop, they mean temporary- it's not in a tent or anything..) situated in Quakers Friars in Cabot Circus, which is in the lovely square by the church and Carluccio's. The little shop is a part studio, workspace and gallery for affordable print work all organised by Spike Print studio and Draw in Bristol.

As the shop is only open until Christmas eve, I really recommend you go- although the shop is small there is a great selection of prints to buy (ranging from about £20 to the hundreds) and a nice display on the walls. I went there to see Peter William's work which is the last instalment, a huge woodcut block on the rear wall of the shop.

A trip to The Print Shop makes a great little festive outing now that the lights are up in Cabot Circus, and definitely a good idea to get some mulled wine from the Christmas Market in Broadmead afterwards!



http://printshopbristol.blogspot.co.uk/

Sacha

Paper Art

In anticipation of our Paper Cutting workshop with artist Sarah Dennis running later this month, we thought we would bring you three more artists and designers who have created amazing works entirely from that most simple, available and essential of mediums: paper.

Contemporary Japanese artist Nahoko Kojima creates sculptures out of single sheets of paper. Her most ambitious piece to date was created this year - Byaku - a life-sized sculpture of a polar bear. When exhibited, it is hung from the ceiling from invisible threads - giving the work an amazing floating quality. Kojima notes herself she finds the work fascinating to look both up at from below, and down on to see the shadows it creates on the plinth. Byaku took seven months to create from concept to the finished work. The paper Kojima chose to use has symbolic significance: the traditional Japanese paper turns yellow after being in the sun for a prolonged period: "This was perfect because the Polar Bear's also goes through a similar change." Take a look at the video below to view the work and hear from the artist herself.

Julien Vallée, a graphic designer and artistic director currently working in Quebec, has created works for clients including Coca Cola and Lacoste. Have a look at his stunning piece Spray Can created for the main exhibition of the Illustrative Zürich festival in 2008 - a piece of work about one medium, made  entirely out of another, that defies the qualities we traditionally associate with paper, making it into something far more solid and structural. Also have a look at Vallée's incredible work for MTV - the creation of which can be viewed in this video.

Graphic designer and illustrator Damien Poulin has created pieces in all kinds of mediums, including paper-based works. These paper cut outs created for clothing brand Uniqlo are spotless. Tokyo and London are represented through just a few key images and colours - in pieces that are illustrations and sculptures at once.

Zoë

'Here Before'

Rookie Magazine is one of my go-to sites for essay procrastination. If you haven't heard of it already - I apologise for introducing you to it now, as many hours that could have been spent on work have been spent there.

Rookie is the kind of magazine you wish you'd known about when you were fourteen. Founded by Tavi Gevinson (fashion-blogger extraordinaire from the age of 13), the online magazine has also produced two printed  'Yearbooks' that are high up on my christmas list.Not only does is Rookie one of the few online magazines to have a hand-stitched zine feel to it, but it features really well-written articles on a whole host of topics that are unseen elsewhere. Handwritten playlists under titles such as 'Hanging Out With Juliet Capulet' and 'High School Hallway Powerwalk' are embellished with the kinds of stickers you would have found in your 1996 sticker album; unusual amateur fashion lookbooks are incorporated with hand drawn collage and illustration; it also features DIY tutorials.

 Recently I came across this photo set, entitled 'Here Before: A Visual Déjà Vu' - that I wanted to share with Helicon readers, as I think it fits perfectly with the issue we are currently putting together: Lost & Found. Eleanor, the photographer, has said this about this haunting but beautiful set of images:

"This photo series is an exploration of my past versus my present self. Many of these pictures were shot in places I had not visited since I was a child. The feelings I felt revisiting them…I could not determine if they were memories or dreams. The images are an attempt to visually represent the feeling of déjà vu; to examine the way new memories overwrite but cannot eradicate old ones (thanks to Anaheed for teaching me what a palimpsest is!); and to pay homage to the masters of surreal art."

Our official submission date for this term's issue has closed, but we are still accepting art, photography, poetry and creative writing whilst we put the magazine together. Please send it to helicon.magazine@gmail.com, and see your work published in copies of Helicon all across Bristol!

Zoë

All images courtesy of Rookie

'Sly' new painter packs a punch! Sylvester Stallone the unlikely artiste.

A new artist has had his first exhibit in Russia this week, and his name might surprise you: Sylvester Stallone. Sound familiar? The ex-Rocky star has hung up his boxing gloves, donned some overalls and grabbed some paint-brushes. The results are pretty interesting. I think this story is fascinating because I think if I didn't know who painted them I'd be able to take the pieces a smidgen more seriously. It's easy to defame them once we know who they're by, but really, they're not much, if any 'worse' than some of the modern art on display at the Tate, or the recent Frieze art fair. Anyway, suspend your judgement, banish your pre-conceptions and have a gander: do they pack a punch? or fall flat on their face (couldn't resist a terrible pun).

The master and his work, just incase you didn't quite believe me!

Okay, Stallone may be no Andy Warhol, but he's giving it a go. Maybe there are more 'Sly' artists out there than we can possibly imagine (sorry, punning again!).

JEM.

New Screen Printing workshop in Easton

Rolfe and Wills began printing a year and a half ago, creating colourful and original prints for all sorts of things- homeware, clothes, furniture. With their quirky little designs, these prints are great for cosy English homes and great gifts. Maybe you've seen some of their work in BS8 on Park Street? The rainbow zebra cushions definitely stick in my mind!

As that the business is going so well, Rolfe and Wills have found themselves a new space- an old garage in Easton that they have renovated into a shiny new studio, with a massive 900 square feet to use.

Now that this studio is all set up, Rolfe and Wills will be offering workshops before Christmas to give everyone a chance to do their own screen printing onto things like T-shirts, totes, cushions and tea-towels etc. Sounds like good fun and useful for Christmas presents!

We'll let you know when Rolfe and Wills have some dates for these workshops so watch this space.

Check out their website here

Sacha

SNIPPETS OF FRIEZE

It's the first day of the Frieze art fair 2013! If you're going to see the fair I am very very jealous, if you aren't, why not take a peek at a few select pieces of art (being exhibited at the fair, right now) that I've lovingly hand-picked. This is a very heterogenous selection, and my choices were mostly motivated by colour. I adore the delicate shades of Dee Ferris' 'Blue Milk' and 'Lounge Lover', the brilliant colour pops of Ohtake and Heftis' pieces, and the intimacy and subtly of Kasten's black and white photographs. Enjoy!

Raphael Heftis 

Ukowski Vorhang

Hans Hartung 

Dee Ferris 

Dee Ferris 

Meiro Koizumi

Kon Trubkovich

Shrino Ohtake

Barbara Kasten 

Barbara Kasten

For more, visit the Frieze website - http://friezelondon.com

JEM.