I have been snowed under with work for the last few weeks and have sorely neglected this poor blog ! Big apologies to you guys who check it out regularily only to be disappointed time and time again ! I promise to mend my ways and I am going to blog every day for the next 2 weeks - you will be so sick of me !!!

This is a hanky I designed and Error Solutions printed for twobirds bridesmaid, it's a little token a bride can give to a special friend and vice versa.

Twobirds have designed an incredible bridemaids dress that can be worn 1 million different ways ! It is pure genius and the lady behind them, Ariane, is very lovely too.
Check them out Here

My studio is currently overrun with cats and dogs ! I am preparing for a show of ceramicware at the Shire Hall Gallery in Stafford in November, watch this space for developments.

There is a nice little piece in this months Elle (UK) mag collecting peoples summer holiday memories. This is a picture of me and my daughter Maria (now 21 !!!!!) taken at Bexhill on Sea in Sussex, it only seems like yesterday to me.

STOP PRESS ! 18 JUNE 2010

THE LITTLE GIRL IN THE PICTURE JUST RECIEVED A FIRST IN HER MUSIC DEGREE FROM NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY, needless to see me and Lorna are bursting with pride !

A teacher at the local school, Columbia Rd Primary, which is directly opposite my shop has suffered a terrible stroke that has left her disabled. The school is organising an auction to raise money to help make her home more suitable for her condition. This woman who has given of herself helping our children learn and grow now needs our help. Please visit their website to see how it is possible to contribute !

http://www.raise-the-roof.net

The papercut that I did for Coast Magazine is now on Ebay, all of the proceeds from the auction go to the Marine Conservation Society. You'll find it Here
I particularly love my friend Angie Lewin's linocut which you can find Here

We have just packed up in Somerset House and are moving back to the studio tomorrow. 14,000 people came to see the show over the 12 (Continuous!) days we were there !! I f you were one of those that made it down then I hope you enjoyed it !

Whilst we were working there we did a nice big papercut, our website designer and friend Karl made a time lapse film of it being cut out, follow this
Link

it takes a while to load, it kind of stops and starts so I went and made a cup of tea and when I'd got back to the computer it had finished playing it's way through , I pressed play again and it played lovely and smoothly second time.



Also if you go to this link

there is a filmed interview with me talking lots of rubbish !!

Quite a few people have blogged about the show so if you weren't able to make it in person you can get quite a good overview of the whole 'Pick me Up' show by following these few links -
What Katie Does
jocheung.com
Amelia's Magazine

Everything has been going well here, we've been busy printing the sleeves for "Reacharound" records first release. This is only our second day but we're already overwhelmed by the large amount of lovely visitors, including 'The Gentle Author.' You can read his interview with Rob Here

We had our private view at the Pick Me Up exhibition last night, fun was had!

Well, we have started to settle in to our new temporary home in Somerset House, although it is a bit weird trying to act as if it's all perfectly normal !!

I won't deny that the last week has been a bit of a nightmare ! Last year in a moment of considerable madness I agreed to take part in an exhibition that involved moving my entire studio across London to be re-installed in a gallery and to work there for the best part of 2 weeks.
Hmm. Well the time to do it has finally come around, and much packing has been done this week- the move begins tomorrow and the installation continues throughout the week and then from Friday 23rd for 12 consecutive days I will be working everyday in The Embankment Galleries, Somerset House, London. You can find more details
Here .
I'm not sure how it is going to work out until it starts happening. The show is billed as a showcase of Graphic Design talent, well for a start I have never claimed to be a Graphic Designer and don't feel as if I am even remotely like one ! But who cares anyway - it's all just labels ! The idea of doing it was it was supposed to be fun !!! If anyone reading this is in or near London and comes down to the show do please come up and say hello etc because I think that is what it's all really supposed to be about. Quite simple really.

Just a quick note to say that tomorrow's Independent newspaper contains a supplement that I designed the cover for. I've never made a post without an image attached before and it feels pretty boring. Last time I do this !!!

Two weeks ago our kiln went into meltdown and after much rebuilding (thanks Steve) we eventually got around to firing our Easter 2010 egg cups. Hopefully this will become an annual event (kiln permitting) for more images go to
Ryantown Shop Blog

The Lomo Camera people sent me this Lomo 'Diana' to customise. It had a bit of a bobbly textured surface that didnt encourage things to be stuck to it so me and the most excellent and lovely Noortje (on extended loan to me from the Eindhoven Design Academy) made little paper stencils and colored it with spray paint.

My "Our Adventure" lasercuts have been cut out and mounted. They'll be in RYANTOWN this weekend and are also available from my Etsy shop Here

Recipe for Disaster......Having a sort out through a load of old stuff this weekend my wife found this collection of rambling drivel in one of her old recipe books. It was written 19 years ago when I was out of college a few years and by the look of things I was having a bit of soul searching about what this whole 'art' thing was about.I had a young family and was worried about money (and the lack of it)and our future prospects (and the lack of them) It's funny but I guess I would say the same sort of thing now !

Following on in the shortest series on the planet of picture I own and love, this is another Ardizzone illustration, it is the last picture in Eleanor Estes book 'Pinkie Pye'. It reminds me of the end of a perfect summer day sitting on a little balcony enjoying warm cool of evening. I dont have a porch but one day... one day...

Spring is coming I'm sure, on summer afternoons in the studio I have to pull the blinds down on some of the windows because the sun shines too brightly onto the big desk, recently I've been balancing a few paper and lazercut thingies on the window frames and was surprised at how nice they looked as shadows when for the first time in 2010 the blinds came down in the daytime !

It's always a day of major excitement when a delivery arrives from the lazercutters ! Seeing them all piled up on top of each creating deep canyons is one of the few brief moments when I see my work as 'sculpture'.

My shop Ryantown in London's Columbia Rd has got a blog that I have neglected to keep updated for a while now....but all this is going to change !!
Cynthia, who runs the shop is going to take over the Blog from now on and I am sure it is going to a constant delight to check into on a regular basis.

Go to
RYANTOWN

I work everyday at this big desk and I thought it might be a good idea to send my trust assistant Hazel up a very high step ladder to take a snap of the entire thing from above. It's not as exciting an image I thought it might be but it was a pretty impressive angle to show off my Krusty the Clown hair do in all it's bald and awful glory !!

Every year around this time I make a St. Patricks day card to send to family and various friends and in case anyone's interested it's posted up here New Stuff Blog

... and it ends up looking like this !
Facts alert ! The paint I use is the Montana Gold range and this has been sprayed 'True Blue'. It has been lightly stuck down with pva onto art white foamcore board.

I am a bit in love with the town of Rye in Sussex, so when I was invited by a magazine to create a poster a la homage to the beautiful posters advertising seaside towns produced by British Railway Companies in the 30s, 40s and 50s Rye was always going to be my town of choice ! This is almost finished. I cut my papercuts out of the same paper and spray color it afterwards ....

This funny little drawing hangs in my living room, it doesn't have a title and is one of many thousands of pencil studies Stanley Spencer must have made in his incredibly productive life. Lots of people see the womans figure as an owl ! The fact that she is headless and armless doesn't help though I'm sure would have been of interest to Freud ! The clinging boy seems to be naked and dressed at the same time ! Hmm.

On the website there is a new picture of a skateboard collaboration I did with London based Skate board Supremos luvnskate go here New Stuff Blog

This small pen and ink drawing by the italian sounding english illustrator Edward Ardizzone hangs on the wall to the left of the TV at home and I often find my gaze being drawn away from the box to this little picture.
I like pictures that seem to hold a hidden story, what is this young girl (dressed like a maid) looking out from her attic window thinking ? Is she a prisoner ? Is she waiting or looking out for someone ? It's all a mystery but it seems somehow full of hope. And I like looking out of high windows because like the girl in the picture I'm a bit of a dreamer too.
The picture actually illustrates a story in Eleanor Farjeon's 'The little bookroom' It's a wonderful collection of stories, but I think this picture, like the best illustrations stands up as 'art' in its own right - whatever that is.

On the website blog we have posted a new hanky design we have just printed, go to New Stuff Blog

Hello, now the new website is up and running Misterrob.co.uk and the blog showcasing new stuff should be starting up on a regular basis,(I've just done the maddest starriest papercut ever - New Stuff Blog)
this blog is going to be as promised a bit more diverse.
I thought I might share with you some of the pictures that I own and have hanging on my wall at home. Pictures that I look at everyday and give me joy and fill me with inspiration.
This picture is by the American artist Maira Kalman. It is included in her brilliant book 'The Principles of Uncertainty'. She is fairly unknown in England but I discovered her many years ago in the old Zwemmer graphic design bookshop inn Charing X Rd where they stocked her childrens books with beguiling magical titles like "Hey Willie, see the pyramids", "Swami on Rye" and my favourite "Chicken, Soup, boots". These incredible books I always felt were my own little secret. I find it hard to say how great I think she is - THE WOMAN IS A GENIUS OF KINDNESS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
This picture of a man and woman walking in the rain is I believe set in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. When I was a student I did a 3 month exchange to an art school which was situated just across from this beautiful park and I walked through it on my own all the time. Living alone in a city where you can't speak the language and have no friends is a pretty solitary existence but I was always happy and can't remember a single sad day.
Last year I was in Paris for a couple of days with my wife and we had a nice morning in the gardens just strolling around, we sat down and watched people play tennis (being unsporty myself I enjoy, with an air of bemusement watching people throw themselves around needlessly), we watched children play with nice old sailing boats on the big round pond (not unlike the one in Central Park!) which you could hire from a punky looking boy sitting by his shed, and then it began to rain a little and we sheltered together under an umbrella not unlike the couple in this painting, contented and still in love.

Misterrob is now , I believe the term is - 'LIVE'.

Finally my website returns. We are still adding lots of old stuff to the back catalogue - but it will continue to grow and grow.
On this new website there will be a blog feature that will be similar to this one, just general latest stuff I am working on as it happens.
I am going to keep this blog up as well though it is going to change in style a little bit and become more of a working visual diary and maybe a way of looking at my work from a more personal viewpoint. I don't know quite how that will work out, time will tell !

I decided to do a red edition of the Valentines printed lasercut, it's now available online via Etsy

This year I've produced a limited edition of 250, hand screenprinted Valentines Lasercuts. Find them at Ryantown from Saturday 30th January. They are £47 each.  Available online via Etsy

This weekend our window display featured Lulu Guinness's 'Columbia Road Tote Bag' which will be available from her lovely Ellis Street shop very soon.

I was asked to be a part of an exhibition organised by the brilliant "If You Could" I collaborated with the wonderful Michael Marriott and made this screenprinted rocking chair.