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Manchester Artist heads off to “Th’Arctic” …

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admin
on Tuesday, March 31, 2009
in 2009, Art Commission, Art Gallery, Chorlton Arts Festival, England, North West England, Projects, advice, art, artist, bbc, blogging, blogs, creative, culture, environment, event, film, galleries, learning, links, manchester, northern, photography, project, uk and websites
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As ever Kate @ the Manchizzle shows she has the proverbial finger on the pulse of all things interesting and arty in the Manchester region.

th_arctic_image

Kate gave a mention to local artist Rebecca McKnight and her mission to explore the icy beauty of “Th’Arctic” (that’s Lancashire for The Arctic in case you were wondering).

A place so cold that the Ocean frequently freezes solid and only the hardiest of animals and plants survive. It is here the Polar Bear, Arctic Fox, Wolverine and Arctic Hare find their natural habitat.  For much of the year things are so unbearable that most living things hide away til the warmth of the short summer gives them a nudge to briefly explode into life. Though, if you are lucky, you may catch sight of the Aurora Borealis to take you mind off the biting wind!

jan_curtis_aurora

I got to know Rebecca last year as we both had work displaying at the Chorlton Arts Festival. This was May 2008 and she was already focused, excited and working hard on plans for the trip, so I have seen first-hand how dedicated she has had to be to make this project happen.

The logistics of pulling something like this together requires nearly as much determination and effort as surviving the Arctic elements. Sponsors and funding, website, journal, publicity, technical gear, experienced mentors, involvement of the community, travel plans, flights, visa’s, communications … not to mention a map and route! I’m sure that’s only the half of it.

She is hoping to become one of the first British people to ski up to 300 miles pulling a pulk (sledge) from Resolute Bay to Grise Fiord, the most northerly Inuit community in the Canadian Arctic. So, getting supremely fit prior to the attempt has been one side of the preparation, plus this trip is also a live art project which aims to “explore personal identity in relation to situation and environment.”

The use of the word ‘live’ was not a mistake. Check out Th’Arctic website, which has regular updates from the location, a live tracker map showing the groups progress and there is the ability to send the Team a text or email to keep them all on their toes and gain a real insight into the experience. There are no photo’s on the website just yet but as they have only just arrived at base camp I am sure some amazing work will surely follow.

The actual trek starts tomorrow (1st April) and the latest weather conditions sound tough (-60oC and blizzards). So best of luck Rebecca and everyone else, what a fantastic effort to bring such a dream trip to life.

You can follow things and send messages of support via:-
Th’Arctic website
Facebook page
artist’s talking a-n website
The Big Screen Manchester

plus there will be a live-link up with the team which is being co-ordinated with the guys at the Cornerhouse on Saturday 18 April.

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Manchester artist Ben Kelly’s new exhibition “Painting the Blues” @ Manchester City FC Museum …

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gill moore
on Thursday, February 19, 2009
in 2009, Art Commission, Launch Night, Projects, Show, Sport, art, artist, award, competitions, creative, culture, emerging, exhibition, fans, football, galleries, links, manchester, museum, project, salford and talent
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benkellyartexhib_feb09

Award-winning local artist Ben Kelly had a busy time last week.  Sadly, I couldn’t make his Preview Night due to work commitments, but judging by all the feedback and coverage, things went very well indeed.

His exhibition is called “Painting the Blues” and features new work created over the last 12 months.   The aim was to capture the highs and lows of Manchester City Football Club.  Any City fan knows more than most, the world of football is a hugely unpredictable one, where “emotions change from triumph to despair in the space of ninety minutes”.

Even for a club with Manchester City’s history, the last 12 months have been a rollercoaster, yet Ben was given free rein by City to wander wherever he wanted, with unprecedented access to witness activity behind the scenes  aswell as the regular matchday frenzy.  One has to congratulate the club for creating the opportunity for an artist to try and capture the season on canvas and as a huge City fan this was pretty much a dream assignment for Ben.

thefinalwhistle

He is certainly an artist on the rise; having won a massive £15,000 in December 2006 in a competition organised by the Lowry and Umbro called “One Love - The Football Art Prize”.  He beat 800 other artists from all over the country to scoop the prize when his painting “The Final Whistle” was chosen by a panel of judges, one of whom was Turner Prize winner Mark Wallinger (in the news this week with his ‘Angel of the South’ White Horse commission).
stop_benkelly

Next project on the horizon was an exhibition at the prestigious Cheshire gallery Firob & Peacock in Knutsford.   This work showcased some of Ben’s landscape paintings; each piece took the viewer by the hand on a beautiful foray into the woods.  Featuring forests and icy stillness, this exhibition was full of intense atmospherics, Lowry-esque figures almost lost within impossibly elongated trees.  Delicate tints and the occasional dramatic splash of vividity created wonderfully engaging work.

Grab the chance while you can, and see Ben Kelly’s latest work here in Manchester at the City of Manchester Stadium Museum, open now and ending on the 31st March 2009.  All work is for sale, though I understand quite a few were snapped up at the Preview.

Which leads me on to the subject of my next post …. “Where can I buy original Art in Manchester and why should I?”.   Yes indeedee, coming soon … check back on the blog tomorrow (probably!).

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Free Workshop @ Chorlton Library - “Selling on the Web” Thurs 5th Feb 09

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gill moore
on Saturday, January 31, 2009
in Chorlton, advice, business, event, free, help, learning, links, manchester, networking, photography, talk, technology, tips, websites and workshop
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For anyone in Chorlton or South Manchester thinking of setting up a website for selling this could be worth a look.  It is a free event organised by Manchester City Council and the MDDA (Manchester Digital Development Agency) with 20 spaces but only 5 left at the time of writing.  Hopefully it will be a good chance to pick up some good tips.  Here is the info from the MDDA site and to book a place click here: UPDATE, SORRY THIS EVENT IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.

mdda_info

In fact the MDDA site has some really useful articles, links and webcasts on this topic, including “How to attract customers to your site” “Marketing and Social Networks” and one I shall definitely be investigating “How to choose the right payment system for selling online“.

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What is ‘ecofont’ and where to recycle old printer ink cartridges? …

Published
by
gill moore
on Saturday, January 31, 2009
in advice, blogging, blogs, canon, eco, eco-friendly, environmentally-friendly, fonts, free, green, help, links, manchester, printers, sustainable living and tips
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ecofont

Many of us try and avoid having to print things out onto paper nowadays.   However, sometimes the need for a hard copy is impossible to ignore.  I stumbled across Ecofont the other day over at Manchester-based blogger Lucy Danger’s “3R’s Recycling” site and it sounds like an interesting idea.

Ecofont is a newly created print font which you can download for free onto your PC or Mac.  It has a crisp modern feel but because of the holes within each letter it aims to use 20% less ink than any other font.  Next time I need to do a printout I shall give it a go and report back.  You can download the font and read a little more about it on the ecofont website.

Continuing in the recycling vein, I recently had to replace a whole load of ink cartridges on my printer and spent some time researching the best place to recycle them.  It used to be difficult getting anywhere to accept Epson cartridges for recycling but it seem they are trying to improve their green credentials and now offer a free recycling box for companies which can be requested through their website.   For individuals it is possible to log onto their website and request a freepost bag or use their freepost address with your own envelope.

I had HP and Canon cartridges and used greenertomorrow.org.uk; very simple just visit the website, request a freepost envelope and pop your old ink carts inside and post back.

The greenest option, if you live in a town or city, might be to drop off used cartridges at your local charity shop.  Most of them offer this facility and the charity can sometimes get a small financial reward in the process.

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