Mon, Oct 13th 2008, 19:37
'Still' A series of seven exclusive prints available to view at the Lighthouse in Wolverhampton during the Flip Festival. The text comes from Myles' regular bouts of free writing which Greg has interpreted in a black and white hand drawn style.
Thu, Oct 23rd 2008, 13:54
The finished animations from the Digitoons Masterclass that we have been involved in courtesy of Hi8us Midlands are now live on YouTube. They will have their first performance at today's Hello Digital festival in Birmingham.
Congratulations to our six animators Nusha Amini, Lauron Farr, Qianqian Liu, Charis McNerlin, Amy Morgan, and Charlie Pinder of mookstudios. Thanks to Kate, Dave and Kulwant at Hi8us for organising everything!
Thu, Jul 2nd 2009, 09:00
The other night Greg and I had the pleasure of being invited to a private exhibition and meal by The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in our home town of Stratford upon Avon.
I have to admit to having a preconception that the tour and facilities would be a bit old hat, with nothing much to see. I'm not quite sure where this preconception came from, but it's probably common to people living on top of tourist attractions. I remember visiting Toronto and going up the CN Tower - then chatting with a local policewoman who'd lived in the city all her life and never been up the tower!
In fact, the team running the Trust were really friendly, forward thinking and the pre-tour audio-visual experience was actually very engaging. It was a little like a ghost train (without the train) where you are led through a series of rooms which feature different artefacts, models and mini-films about Shakespeare's life (read by Juliet Stevenson and Patrick Stewart).
The highlight of this had to be the First Folio which they have on display. Wow! We didn't expect that to be there. Without the printed folios Shakespeare's plays would have disappeared into history. Shakespeare himself might have been forgotten. Stratford upon Avon would certainly be a different place and I would never have met my wife (yes Shakespeare was part of the reason we met!). The First Folios originally cost £1. One was sold in 2006 for just under £3million. Not a bad investment if you happen to have lived for 400 years.
We were then given a tour of their exhibition "Shakespeare Found" by Stanley Wells CBE, which features some remarkable portraits of the bard 
himself, including the Cobbe portrait which may represent the closest likeness of the man compared to any other scultpure, engraving or painting.
It also has portraits of Shakespeare's patron The Earl of Southampton - who may also have been the bard's Master-Mistress (sonnet 20) if you know what I mean!
Anyway, if you're in Stratford, I'd certainly recommend to take a visit to the Centre on Henley Street. Well worth it.
Wed, Oct 7th 2009, 10:22
Once again Peter McLuskie of the Light House has asked us to inveigle our way into his fantastic animation festival. The Flip Animation Festival is now in its sixth year and we've been fortunate enough in previous years to have sat on industry panels for debates, chair a session on Doctor Who animations, show an exhibition of prints, design the look for the festival, and opened the festival with a retrospective of our work.
This year we're back like a chronic rash... and are running a scriptwriting course, interviewing Sarah Cox and showing a programme of short films (not our own this time - instead it's a bunch of films that we love and want to share).
Find out more at the Flip Festival website and book your tickets asap!
Wed, Aug 18th 2010, 12:35
The Moon Bird is being screened continuously at the latest Chapman Brothers touring exhibition in Plymouth. It's a Hayward Touring show. Here's some more details:
My Giant Colouring Book returns to this method of working, this time appropriating join-the-dot drawings from a children's picture book. Many of the Chapmans’ favourite themes are found here, often with a dark undercurrent. The series of 21 etchings include sabre-toothed owls, psychedelic grinning cats and bears trapped in the belly of the Loch Ness monster. This exhibition offers a fascinating introduction to the imaginations of two of Britain's most inventive and subversive artists .
Now showing at the Peninsula Arts Gallery in Plymouth.
