It's Business Time

There are really only two periods in a year where things feel like they are legitimately happening for a freelance creative: March to May and September to December. Spring and Autumn. Summer and the long yards of Winter post Christmas are the dead zones. These quiet periods used to freak me out, make me feel like my career was over. Now I can appreciate their change in rhythm and use them more effectively to develop, play and plan.

September marks the start of a busy Autumn for me, one I’ve been planning since the first dead zone at the start of this year year. In January I booked a gallery space for a show at the end of October. At the time it felt almost too far away, like I wouldn’t be able to take it seriously until the deadline loomed around. Now its looming all right, the 30th of October opening is coming around fast and making me wake up in the middle of the night with a heady mixture of ideas and fear that only a solo art exhibition can elicit.

If the solo show was the only thing on my plate I might be able to get back to sleep more easily. But that’s not how it works, you don’t get to self fund a show, make all of the art and the do the promo for it in a silent vacuum while the rest of your work and your life just waits for you to come back. No, we must juggle, we must spin plates.

So, without further ado here’s a run down of things that are happening this Autumn that you might be interested in coming along to. In chronological order :

On Saturday the 13th of September from 2-6pm I’m going to opening up my studio as part of the annual Markfield Road Festival. Markfield Road Festival has really grown into a major event over the last few years. The festival shuts down our little industrial street in South Tottenham and turns it into a mini carnival for the weekend.

At its core though it remains an open studios event, with hundreds of artists and small creative businesses opening their doors for you to have wander round and maybe pickup a piece of art to go home with.

I’m going to continue to treat is an opportunity for a bit of a studio clear out. So just like last year there will be ‘sample sale’ prices with bargain prints and original works on offer for people who can make it down. The festival is on all weekend but I’m only open on the Saturday, because the Saturday night always turns into a really great party, but also because the next date for you diaries in on the Monday after…

If you’re unfortunate enough to be a teenager then September means back to school. But you aren’t (probably, hopefully) so now you can pick and choose when you decide to educate yourself. And, you don’t have to learn about oxbow lakes, you can choose whatever you want. So this September why not come and and get old school at Gold School?

There are just a couple of spots left for the September sessions of these day-long gilding workshops, and it now looks like these will the final Gold School dates this year. In October I’ll be focusing on work for the show and in November and December I’m going to be working on a couple of huge commissions that will take over my studio space and make it unfit to be a classroom.

So, if you want to learn about the wonders of surface gilding and directional burnishing in 2025 this your last chance.

Book Gold School

Alright the big one, the solo show: The Dance of Death 2025. This halloween I’m going to revive and reimagine Hans Holbein’s classic series of satirical prints The Dance of Death for the modern age.

I booked the wonderful 67 York Street Gallery back in January for this riotous Danse Macabre that will be open from the 30th of October to the 2nd of November.

For Holbein this dance was not just a reminder of mortality but also an opportunity for social commentary. In his series of 41 woodcuts the allegorical figures of Death torment the rich and powerful while helping the poor and needy.

I’ve continued in this tradition for my new series, taking aim at contemporary positions of power like Politicians, the Police, Landlords, Influencers and Footballers.

The show will also mark the launch of a new football team I’ve created: Death FC. A playful take on the commercialised cynicism of modern football. The 25/26 season Death FC home and away kits will be available to buy for the first time.

I’ll use this Susbtack to go into more detail about some of the work in the coming weeks. For now get the 30th of October in your diaries for the opening night on Halloween eve.