Spotlight on... Artbooty, Brixton

London Design Festival looms and details of interesting events are popping into my inbox.

If you've never been, the main thing to know is that, aside from the main events (the likes of Design Junction, Tent and 100% Design) it's pretty much an excuse for the design-inclined to show off and have visually stimulating parties for the best part of a week in September. What's not to love?

One such event, Artbooty, part of Brixton Art Trail as well as the London Design Festival (LDF) and hosted by local design shop, BRIXI, is on my doorstep in south London – and if you're in the capital for the festival, it promises to be worth the trip to these parts.

The event – an art sale with booze, installations and performances and food – runs for one afternoon/evening and you should take cash for beer (and, quite possibly, spontaneous art purchases). Here are some of the highlights in pictures.

Nigerian-born folk painter and architect, Abe Odedina, was a BP Portrait Award nominee in 2013 with his painting The Adoration of Frida, a self-portrait and tribute to the Mexican artist. He works in London and Salvador, Brazil.

Obedina has been inspired by "the expressive figurative paintings found in the streets in cities like Lagos, Salvador, or Port-au-Prince adorning the sides of lorries, the walls of temples, beer parlours, love motels or advertising the services of barbers, vulcanisers, healers and other specialists'.

Over the years I've been going to BRIXI to browse the always-intriguing and beautiful and frequently joyfully unusual selection of wares on sale, Obedina's paintings have often hung huge from the walls and totally sucked me in. They're pretty special. www.abeodedina.com

Also...

These humorous pieces – named (clockwise from main image) Atkins Day (a diet themed sculpture); GGrrrrrrr and I Lost My Head – are by ceramics restorer and artist, Amy Douglas. As well as offering her artworks for sale Douglas, I believe, will be touting cabaret from a golden horsebox on the night.

Douglas also does 80s themed linocuts (this one will only make sense if you know the lyrics to Wham Rap). Check her out at www.theartofsalmagundi.co.uk

There's also some of this.

Stephen Wright is so much more than a mosaic artist, as you'll know if you read this previous post on his quite astonishing home/museum, the House of Dreams. For the Artbooty, Wright will be taking the quirky creatures he creates on a road trip.

Other artists will be: recycler, Jo Gibbs (see her lacy tiles, above); Soozy Lipsey; textile artist, Brian Merry; surrealist printmaker, Lizzie Learman plus her printing press for demos; sculptor and inventor Stephen Stockbridge, who's offering confessions; Jamie Palmer (AKA Pen & Gravy, whose work, pictured below, is for sale on Etsy and is written about in this previous post).

Which artist's work do you most like? Do share your comments below.


ARTBOOTY takes place on Tuesday 22 September 2015, 4-11.30pm, Brixton East 1871, Barrington Road, Brixton, SW9 7JF. See more about what's going on in the area at www.brixtondesigntrail.com or check out the city-wide events at London Design Festival www.londondesignfestival.com. Read about the Artbooty organiser in this previous post.

Pen & Gravy and Modernish Portas Pilot pop-up shop

Earlier this year I posted about a small design company called Pen & Gravy, run by Jamie Palmer, whose beautifully decorated plates and lampshades caught my eye in my local market. You can read the original post and see the work here, or below.

Anyway, Jamie dropped me a line a few weeks ago to tell me he was opening a Christmas pop-up shop, alongside his brother-in-law, Dan, of Modernish, a fellow purveyor of Good Things for your home (more of which below) and some other pop-uppers in southeast London, as part of one of Mary Portas' save-the-high-street pilot schemes (which you'll also find out more about below).

I love Jamie's designs and thought the whole scheme sounded interesting. I hope Mary P's role as saviour of our high streets is being taken seriously by the Government, but it's hard to believe when all you see are big brand chains and Metro/Local supermarkets bulldozering any soul from neighbourhoods (there are five of the latter in less than a mile on one single road near me, it is sickening). But enough of that – let me hand you over to Jamie, who can tell you GOOD THINGS: more about his shop, the scheme and some of the other shops taking part.

Jamie (right) and his brother-in-law, Dan, 
outside their pop-up shop in southeast London

"Hi… this is Jamie. I’m a self-confessed doodle addict who has channelled this addiction into producing one-off, patterned lampshades and plates… I also dabble in a bit of screen-printing when I’m all doodled out!

P&G plates and lampshades, £15-£45; X-large P&G lampshade, £55

Since February this year I’ve been braving the elements to flog my wares at numerous south London markets. However, on 1 December I opened a pop-up shop in southeast London in conjunction with my brother-in-law, Dan, of Modernish Designs.

So how did two dishevelled dads and part-time market traders end up running the Pen & Gravy Vs Modernish pop-up shop? We recently found out about the SEE3 Portas Pilot for Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill [which has been created with government funding following Mary Portas's 2011-commissioned review into the state of British high streets] and put in an application to be one of the first three SEE3 pop-ups shops that will run from 1-24 December (or fingers crossed a little bit longer!).

It has always been an ambition to have our own shop but expensive rents and long leases have always put us off taking the plunge. The Portas Pilot is allowing us to fulfil this dream by offering cheap rent and lots of invaluable support – in return we hope to bring something new and original to the high st which will hopefully be beneficial to other local businesses and the community.

Carlton Ware moneyboxes from the 1960s, £50 (now sold out)

Original travel poster from 1960s designed by Daphne Padden, £80

Norwegian ceramic tray, £30

So what to expect at the shop? Lampshades, plates and screenprints from me (see images at top of the post), mid-century British and Scandinavian graphic posters and ceramics (a few examples pictured above) sourced by Dan...

2013 calendar print by Spring Once More, £16

Crystal Palace Screenprint by Mike Roberts, £15

Lion screenprint by Mashka, £45

Train prints by South London Prints, £15

Cocktail screenprint by Serge Seidlitz, £65

....and a great selection of art and design products from some talented buddies (a selection, above).

You’ll also get the chance to bring out the inner-graffiti artist in yourself by contributing to the ‘Me, Myself, & Kirkdale’ competition doodle wall (above), and participate in some family art workshops. There will also be some late-openings throughout December (details at bottom) where we might even treat you to a glass of mulled cider! 

There are a lots of exciting things going on in the SEE3 Zone including new makers and food markets and the two other pilot pop-ups – Conquer Clothing, in Sydenham, an ethical clothing company, and The Butchery Ltd. Both shops have had amazing transformations and have had very good feedback since opening their doors.

For up-to-date happenings at Pen & Gravy Vs Modernish, please see our Twitter feed. For See3 Portas Pilot for Sydenham, Kirkdale and Forest Hill updates, please see the SEE3 website. 

Hope to see you all at the shop soon!

Find the Pen & Gravy Vs Modernish pop-up shop at: 

161 Kirkdale London SE26 4QJ. MAP

Here are a few of Jamie and Dan's upcoming events...

Fri 7th Dec Late night opening until 9pm

Thurs 13 Dec We're having a private party/viewing from 7pm onwards. A number of artists that have work featured in our shop will be present and there will be special promotions on their work for ONE NIGHT ONLY.  If you would like to come along please email me penandgravy@gmail.com  If you haven't been down to the shop yet and would like to see the type of products we've got for sale you can check them out here.  

Fri 14 Dec Late night opening until 9pm

Sat 15 Dec Art Teacher Extraordinaire Tamsin Wildy will be running a free Family mono-printing Workshop from 10am-12pm. If you think you might be interested in coming along please can you email me so we get an idea of numbers...

Sat 22/23 More Art Workshops – full details TBA soon

Introducing... Pen & Gravy

At the weekend I walked through my local market, to-do list in pocket and not intending to stop – but then I got drawn into a little stall selling the most beautiful, colourful graphic patterned plates – and also striking hand-drawn fabric lampshades with the same repetitive designs. 

Turns out the seller, also the designer and maker, is Jamie – aka Pen & Gravy (pictured at his stall, below) – and, in his own words, he "draws on lampshades and plates", as well as selling screen-printed versions of his designs as wall art.

The patterns remind me a little of the West African wax prints I'm often found banging on about enthusiastically here, or those geometric colouring books you used to be able to get – anyone remember what those were called?* Many a rainy childhood Sunday was eased with one of those and some felt-tips.


Visit the Pen & Gravy blog to see more of Jamie's work, and you can buy some of it via his Etsy shop, though, as Jamie warned me on Saturday, there isn't much stock online. Best thing is if you like any of the things in the pictures on his blog, just email him and he'll either dig one out or knock you one up bespoke styles. Plates start at £20 and A3 prints start at £10. 


* A helpful reader knows exactly the ones - see comments section to find out if you're interested