R.I.P Mavis Nicholson - 7/1/30 to 7/11/14

Box of Delights

Hanging Around 1 – "The Power of Small" Sketchbook shrapnel

Hanging Around 2 – "The Power of Small" - Sketchbook shard

Hanging Around 3 – "The Power of Small" Sketchbook kernel

ALERT! Small Publishers Fair 2014

Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, nr. Holborn
Do pop along, people.
Things to make you think - in ink (and pencil, and paint, and pixel, and thought, and sound. . . )

Click on the above to gain a full appreciation of the majestic line-up.

Intermission 2: Pop! goes the culture. . .

I recently RELISHED the first series of 'The Blacklist' (NBC 2013 - ).
The actor James Spader, here front-and-centre as Raymond "Red" Reddington – a former government agent turned international 'Concierge of Crime' – has long been a favourite (since his powerhouse turn as a lynchpin of the sorely-missed 'Boston Legal' – in which he stepped up to the formidable task of matching the mighty William Shatner, scene - for - scene for five seasons as Alan Shore).

With this new show (created by Jon Bokencamp) – and before he reincarnates once again as the main villain in next year's Avengers sequel for Marvel – he effortlessly inhabits a compelling, outrageous, murderously likeable new role. The twists and turns of the show are deftly done - truly brilliant storytelling. . .
If Spader were filmed simply buttering a piece of toast I cannot imagine it would be anything less than rivetting.

Bravo, Red!

Intermission: 1 – My fridge door

No further comment necessary.
Though you need to click on image to get the full benefit.

Media-Blitz!

A successful London Art Book Fair 2014, at the Whitechapel Gallery.
I even got a mention in the cultural dispatches of the Times Literary Supplement through the enthusiasm of a new 'bio auto graphic' reader, Michael Caines - see http://timescolumns.typepad.com/stothard/2014/10/books-unbound-and-prufrock-unlimited.html

The Dynamic Duo do it again.

And the publicity machine must have been working overtime - witness this at the end of my street in Stoke Newington, N16.
'Selfie' courtesy M.S.D. Ambeck

The Early Bird Catches the Nicholson

My new cover.
Which pleases me.
As with all visual material here, click on it and you get a bigger version. . .

Watch the birdie

Mysteries and puzzles await. And strange travelling companions, too.
T-wit, t-woo?

The Key word is

My transport awaits. . .

Pages, boxes, windows, doors

Note to self:
One must never feel confined.

bio auto graphic number 25

Indeed, since 2004 and my 'issue zero', I have created 24 other links in this chain of ink and ideas that I called 'bio auto graphic'.
The 25th is nigh.
Lines of communication are open. . .

London Art Book Fair 2014 - Whitechapel Gallery

The new issue of Ensixteen Edition's 'bio auto graphic' work will likely premiere here.
Do check out their website at

http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/book-fair/the-london-art-book-fair/the-london-art-book-fair-2014

Summer is done, and now to business

Yes.

The seasons have slipped by - much turmoil has swept through my life and continues to - but after a restorative visit with my dear Dane (to once again walk the beaches and woods of the National Park, of Thy, in Jutland) - see our recent e-card included here - I hope to present new work under the Ensixteen banner shortly.
Creativity as medicine? Something like that.

Give me an 'S'. . . . spells "Leeds!"

The way ahead is pregnant with possibilities.

The road is unclear, but solid underfoot.

Adieu.

Give me a 'D'

By the very nature of what I'm doing with 'bio auto graphic' as a whole series - self-awareness and observation taken to an arguably unhealthy level - I am always keenly conscious of looking over my own shoulder. . .

Give me an(other) 'E'

Workbook Fragment 2:
Plotting ahead and mapping out broad strokes is key to what I do each time an edition takes shape. . .

Give me an 'E'

Workbook Fragment Number 1:
The usual process of trial and error has been undertaken - this time to create a narrative reacting to local and world events on the four Sundays of February 2014.

Give me an 'L'

And so. . .
The new one is ready - premiered at this weekend's Leeds Contemporary Artists' Book Fair at the downtown cultural hub that is 'The Tetley' - see http://thetetley.org/17th-international-contemporary-artist-book-fair/
Here is the cover - mysterious as it is.

With any of these images don't forget to click on it to get the benefit of the detail. . .

Draw Breath

Ahead of the 17th Leeds Contemporary Artists' Book Fair in March, there will soon be a new kid on the block in terms of  Ensixteen Editions.
I have commenced work on the 24th in the series of 'bio auto graphic'.

The ink is the blood.

More soon.

Bridged, too

A note to mark the passing of the second series of - Scandinavian flavour of the media month -  

"The Bridge" (a co-production from Sveriges Television and Danmarks Radio). 

Series one allowed a solid replacement for those of us who missed Krister Henrikkson as Mankell's "Wallander" or the bleak cases of Sofie Gråbøl's Sarah Lund in "The Killing", but I think in this second run the two leads of this Danish/Swedish drama of opposites have raised their game, as has the show's creator Hans Rosenfeldt.

Sofia Helin (as Swedish detective Saga Norén) and Kim Bodnia (as her Danish counterpart – and 'only friend' – Martin Rohde) were captivating, and – especially in the closing episode - added layer on layer to their characters with deceptive skill.

Superb.

Happy New Year to T. Baker Esq.

It is the 80th birthday of Tom Baker.
Who? Why, the 4th of BBC television's Doctors (1974 to 1981).
Treasure of a national nature, the man.
I had the great pleasure of meeting TB several times whilst working on the series "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)" between 1999 and 2001.
He was wonderful company and all one might have expected, really.

Jelly baby, anyone?