As part of World Collage Day on Saturday 9th May I will be hosting an online 1-hour Collage Composition Workshop via this Zoom link...

Who is it for? 
This 1 hour long workshop is for artists and students aged 16+ and of all abilities: it is a good workshop for anyone wishing to learn more about composition and how we look at and understand art. The workshop has something for beginners right through to advanced artists.
 
What is this workshop about?
Aim: To learn about composition and how we might use collage to explore composition within other aspects of art production.
 
We’ll discuss the rules and mathematics of composition and the golden section before undertaking a very simple exercise in composition.
 
What you will need?
Please have available a collection of collage materials. These can include plain coloured paper, newspapers, old books, magazines, wallpaper, stickers, labels, thin cardboard, tin foil, parcel tape, other tapes, photocopies, photographs, old/foreign bank notes, wrapping paper, paper doilies, tickets, receipts, leaflets, posters, old envelopes, postcards, stamps, etc, etc.
 
You will also need blank paper, a pencil, scissors or a knife, a way of making and cutting various sized circles, a ruler and glue. 

When?
This is a single one-off event on...
Saturday 9th May - 7pm GMT/BST (UTC +1) (UK)

Example start times in other time zones...
Saturday 9th May - 2pm EDT (New York)
Saturday 9th May - 11am PDT (Los Angeles)
Saturday 9th May - 8pm CEST (Berlin)
Saturday 9th May - 10pm GST (Dubai)
Sunday 10th May - 2am AWST (Perth)
Sunday 10th May - 4am AEST (Sydney)

Where?
Simply click this link 5 minutes before the workshop starts...
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89864198935

New collages uploaded in the web-store during the Covid19 Pandemic as part of the artist support pledge on Instagram (#artistsupportpledge). Once a target has been reached all money from sales will be reinvested in other artist's work. The works have been priced specifically for affordability so please support if you can. UK shipping on web-store - Worldwide shipping available - please email [email protected] for worldwide shipping prices.

​https://smithsonianrosterino.bigcartel.com

I'm pleased to announce that I shall be exhibiting some new work in another I Heart Art group show. 

In January 2018, 30 artists across Europe were paired and exchanged three statements to inspire each other to make original work specifically for the EXCHANGE show, to be shown firstly Friday 18th - 25th May 2018 at Stour Space, London and then in Antwerp. 

“We have far more in common than that which divides us.”

A paraphrased statement by MP Jo Cox from her maiden speech in 2015. She was murdered by a far right extremist during her referendum campaign in 2016.

The EXCHANGE show aims to explore the 'differences' that separate us socially, culturally and geographically and to attempt to bridge those gaps creatively and with humour.

In the not so distant past, as children at school, some of us may have been paired with 'pen pals' across the seas in the hope that in writing to each other we would improve our language and communication skills and perhaps find a friend or connection despite the distance between us.

Towns were 'twinned' across Europe, encouraging the idea that we were not so different from our cousins abroad, that our similarities and differences could be celebrated and that we might feel part of a global rather than parochial community.

Both actions encouraged broad thinking and a welcoming outlook to others, to 'the other'.
Recent political events have had the opposite effect – open arms have been crossed defensively, outstretched hands have become fists, dialogue has been shut down or deliberately misinterpreted.

We need not share a common tongue, a piece of land or a cultural history to share a thought, a joke, a feeling. To exchange a point of view, a vision, is both throwaway and precious. It means everything and nothing. It is all we have to give.

By pairing artists randomly across continents, by playing with boundaries, limits and borders in the exhibition space, by laughing in the face of adversity we can challenge this new, reductive rhetoric.

After all, what have we got to lose?

Artist pairing are as follows....

I'm pleased to announce I have some work in another "I Heart Art" group show, this time in Portsmouth.

The SUB exhibition, which opens on July 29th will feature collage, painting, sculpture, photography, textiles, ceramics, film and sound pieces.

Featuring... Wendy Kirwood, Stephen Maskell, Lee Hazeldine, Vikki Hill, Paul Whyte, Danielle Penhaligan, Cat James, Vikki Maltby, Smithsonian Rosterino, Ellen Lever, Mark Freemantle, Richard Martin, Hannah Baker, Mark Shaw, Frances Grant, Aron Spall, Jenny Walden, Brian Lunn, Louisa Dunn, Denise Leworthy, Anja Lubach, Vissey Safavi, Helen Lynwen Woods, Anita Wernstrom-Pitcher, Helen Smith, Jennie Fagerstrom, Chris Giorgi and Xavier White.

What: SUB... Beneath the Surface.
When: 29th July - 19th August 2017 (Private view 6-8pm - Saturday 29th July)
Where: Jack House Gallery, 121 High Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2HW

http://www.jackhousegallery.co.uk/sub

Many thanks to everyone that came to my exhibition at the Gate House Gallery last week. The show nearly sold out so I'm very thankfully to everyone who bought something. Here are a few photographs.

This event was supported by...

There was some great work on show at the I Heart Art "Cusp" group show at the 5th Base Gallery up in London last weekend. Here are a couple of photographs of my work in situ.

Left:
To retain friendship is to be tolerant, therefore it is time for you to forgive one of your friend’s mistake.
Paper collage, 41x31cm, 2017

Right:
Give yourself a present as an award for the work done.
Paper collage, 41x31cm, 2017

I'll be hosting a lecture at the Digital Greenhouse in Guernsey, Channel Islands entitled…
 
“The Originality and Appropriation of Art and Ideas and What Does it all Mean in the Creative Process?”
 
This lecture, supported by the Guernsey Photographic Festival and the Guernsey Arts Commission, is planned to raise just as many questions as it answers. It is designed to encourage discourse. In these post-modern times where artists are on instagram and instagram is art it is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate the world around us and to understand just what it is we are looking at!
 
Using examples from his own career along with case studies from international artists, designers and photographers together we’ll examine the following subjects:
 
What is creativity?
What makes a good idea?
When does inspiration become plagiarism and does it matter?
Is it OK to appropriate images?
The importance of context?

What: Lecture about creativity
When: Thursday 23rd March - 7:30pm
Where: The Digital Greenhouse, Market Square, St Peter Port, GY1 1AQ
Entrance: FREE - Please reserve a space BY CLICKING HERE

Click here for the PRESS RELEASE

This event is supported by...

The Gate House Gallery will host an exhibition entitled “How to Cut Your Losses and Make a Prophet - Seeing the Future and Making Money off It.”
 
After a five-year absence from the island Andy Smith AKA Smithsonian Rosterino returns with his usual blend of eclectic influences, styles and substance. In this exhibition Andy analyses the ‘post-modern’ world around us and deals with issues including…
 
Creativity, Recycling, Sampling, Appropriation, Re-appropriation, Misappropriation, Context, Found Imagery, Assemblage, Mixed Media, Practical Jokes, Arts Pranks, Lies, Deception, Truth, Stealing, Ideas, Imagination, Technology, Politics, Fake News, Presenting, Re-presenting, Intention, Homage, Inspiration, Copyright, Theft, Plagiarism, Repetition, Post-Modernism, Trump, Authenticity, Advertising, Photography and Art.
 
The exhibition will feature examples of Andy’s complex hand-cut geometric collages along side assemblages made from found and recycled materials, mixed media, light installations, sound installations, video and performance.

What: How to Cut Your Losses...
When: Private View - Friday 24th March 2017 - 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Where: The Gate House Gallery, Elizabeth College, St Peter Port, Guernsey

Click here for PRESS RELEASE

This event is supported by...

I'm pleased to announce I have some work in this group show in London. 6 months ago, 28 artists were asked to produce new work interpreting the concept of 'cusp' – to be on the brink, on the threshold or border between two states or actions. 

The resulting art works will be shown over 2 days only at 5th Base Gallery, 23 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ before being added to the I Heart Art online archive – a record of the work these and other artists have done as part of the I Heart Art Collective since 1999.

The CUSP exhibition in March will feature painting, sculpture, photography, performance, installation, textiles, ceramics, film and sound pieces.

Wendy Kirwood, Stephen Maskell, Lee Hazeldine, Vikki Hill, Paul Whyte, Danielle Penhaligan, Cat James, Vikki Maltby, Andrew Smith, Ellen Lever, Mark Freemantle, Richard Martin, Hannah Baker, Mark Shaw, Frances Grant, Aron Spall, Jenny Walden, Brian Lunn, Louisa Dunn, Denise Leworthy, Anja Lubach, Vissey Safavi, Helen Lynwen Woods, Anita Wernstrom-Pitcher, Helen Smith, Jennie Fagerstrom, Chris Giorgi and Xavier White.

What: CUSP
When: 10th/11th March 2017 (Private view 6pm - 10th March)
Where: 5th Base Gallery, 23 Heneage Street, London E1 5LJ

For more info about I Heart Art CLICK HERE.