From Wednesday 5th June until Sunday 9th of June, I will be showcasing my superior organisational skills by organising [a] Pics Up in a Brewery – an exhibition of my art, as part of the Gravesham Fringe Festival, which is celebrating its 5th anniversary.
During Fringe week (1th – 9th June) you’ll be able to sample the best of Gravesham’s creative talent in locations, around the town centre and beyond . It’s all going to be great but only the Iron Pier Brewery will offer the unbeatable combination of art, live music, craft beer and artisan pizza, so do pop along.
So starting with the art….
As many of you will know, I’ve been designing cans for Iron Pier for a while now and some of the original artwork is on display there.
Recently, I produced some prints of the beer can labels themselves, along with a mug to celebrate Iron Pier’s award winning ‘Cast iron Stout’. Most of my ink drawings are A4, with A3 and A4 giclée prints available, but people have been asking if I can do bigger stuff. So, I’ve recently acquired a scanner that can produce high quality prints at A1 (594mm x 841mm) and A0 (841mm x 1189mm) poster sizes and, soon (well, now if you contact me directly), you’ll be able to order bigger prints of most of my stuff on my website.
If you’re interested, Pics up in a Brewery will give you a chance to see what that looks like. I’ll be exhibiting six AO size posters of some of the original beer can art, and 17 A1 size posters of some of my more recent stuff. I’ll be there on the evenings of the 8th and 9th and I’ll have some other smaller pieces with me, along with the new cards and mugs.
The music….
No good Pics Up is complete without a band, and we’ve got three.
On Friday 7th, Staggered Ray and Jack Hayter will be playing from 8pm.
Staggered Ray features singer- songwriter, Chris Weller and multi-instrumentalist, Rob Shepherd. Chris writes about everyday life’s triumphs and tribulations. Their set will take you foot stomping through the backstreet boozers, high streets and low streets of our weathered Kentish towns. Here is a taster to whet your appetite.
You might know multi-instrumentalist, Jack Hayter from British indie pop band Hefner, championed by John Peel in the mid-90s, but he is also an acclaimed singer and songwriter in his own right, writing stories about what he hears and sometimes turning those tales into raggedy folk songs. So you might hear those. Or he might just turn up with his pedal steel guitar and create ambient soundscapes. You never know with Jack because, apparently, he has a very short attention span! Here’s Jack singing I Sent My Love To Bendigo
On Saturday 8th, at 8pm, we’ve got four piece, up-tempo folk-rock band Shanakee.
‘Shanakee’ – is derived from an old Gaelic word meaning ‘story tellers’ or ‘travelling story tellers’. Way back in times gone by, if people wanted to be entertained they would go and sit with and listen to ‘the Shanakee’.
The band are: Patrick Heron, on mandolin, mondol, accordion, 12-string, flute and vocals; Roger Isit (aka ‘Reg Riot’) on bass and backing vocals; Paul Johnson on vocals, acoustic guitar and electric guitar; and Brian Whitby on drums.
Here they are with Dirty Old Town, cut with a few pics of them and bits of my art.
And the food….
On Saturday night, from 8pm, Amalfi Pizza will be selling their delicious Napolitan pizza from their truck just outside the brewery.
And then of course there is the beer….
As well as their usual range of craft peer, Iron Pier have brewed a special beer for the fringe.
What’s not to like. It’s more fun with a crowd! Look forward to seeing you there.
And finally, on a very sad note, a final farewell to Cris Mezei
We were so sorry to hear that website designer, spreadsheet supremo, man of faith and great guy, Cris Mezei, died in hospital at the beginning of May.
Cris was working on my website to streamline it, improve the design and make it work properly. Before he became ill, he had already made a huge difference. I’d only known him for a short time but he was really great to work with, and his positivity, ingenuity, intelligence and creativity will be greatly missed.
Our thoughts are with his amazing wife, Nicoleta and their two small children.
Rest in peace, Cris.