December 2010

Coming February 2011: Wyrm

An exhibition of sculpture, inspired by cryptozoology and 19th century museum exhibits, to coincide with the 2011 Norwich Dragon Festival.

I'm presently creating a series of Dragon's head hunting-trophies, dragon fossils, and digital prints of the four different elementally themed designs.

The exhibition will be in Norwich Playhouse throughout February.

More info here, on the Wyrm pages.

November 2010

The Giant Beanstalk for Kings Lynn Corn Exchange has been installed, and looks an impressive site as it twists its way accross the wall and up the beams!

The finished creation contained over 70 mottled leaves, 20 metres of stalk and over 50 metres of wire.

More info here

October 2010

I've been commissioned by Kings Lynn Corn Exchange to make a giant beanstalk prop for their box office area. This is all to help promote Jack and the Beanstalk, this years pantomime at the venue. Still in the planning stage but will put more pictures up soon.

October 2010

Took a trip to Sheffield this month to discuss puppet ideas with students from Myers Grove School. They are creating puppets for their 'artifact' unit of the higher Diploma in creative and media. The students had lots of great character ideas that I helped them to work into construction plans.

Here you can see one of their prototypes named "Kip", made from a basketball! Picture courtesy of teacher Tom Helliwell.

September 2010

This month seems to have revolved around things with wheels! I've been working with Cameraman and lighting D.P Jonathan "Jip" Jones on some motion graphics for a well known F1 team. He provided the footage that I then animated for the intro sequences.

When the "Tour of Britain" cycling race passed through Norwich this month, I was there early in the morning encouraging passers by to use a bicycle as a paint brush. I hadn't gone completely mad, it was an initiative by The Forum to provide some bonkers bicycle based art for later in the day. BBC Norfolk made a time lapse film of the whole thing that was later projected onto The Forum's giant digital screen.

August 2010

Another summer of workshop madness that is the excellent Kidzones, a free weekly family event in the many parks of Norwich. I was co-running the drop-in puppet and mask making workshops, on behalf of Norwich Puppet Theatre, and City Council Events Team. (My 6th year now!)

July 2010

Congratulations to all the young people who took part in the BBC Voices Animation sessions I've been running this week in the Forum, Norwich. It's been part of the BBC Norfolk Children and Young People's Film Festival.

over the three days participants had the opportunity to have a go at both 2D and model stop motion animation. We had some terrific short films made in the two hour sessions (10-20 seconds!) based on mixing up characters from their favourite movies.

To the left you can see a still from Banners Bistro, a film made in one of the workshops. The model was made by talented young film maker, George Moore, whose Tim Burton-esque animation Clockwork Circus has been attracting a lot of positive attention.

Details of a showing of all films on the Chapelfield "Big Screen" to follow shortly.

July 2010

Long time friend and performer Becky Fury has started a new comic strip featuring one of her alter egos, the clown-like Penny Bizzare.

Photographer Francios Boutomey shot the scene, and I've crafted it into shape. Details of its publication coming soon.

July 2010

The pupils of Great Hockham Primary School were surprised to receive a message from outer-space this month; allegedly from an alien race hailing from "the planet Floyd: on the dark side of the moon!"

The green, one eyed, tentacled race were having great difficulty getting their babies to sleep, and were sending a distress signal to the school asking for help. It was of course concocted by yours truly, with the help of acting skills courtesy of Deputy Head Teacher, Claire Fowler.

The pupils spent the week writing poems, plays and nursery rhymes to send back to the aliens, and I spent the day helping Y6 pupils to make a video diary of the whole thing.

The films and pupils work can be found here

July 2010

I've been helping the guys out at Nomad Feat, a group planning on driving an Ambulance 4000 miles to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in aid of three different charities.

I've designed the team logo, and hosted their charity quiz night.

Wishing Olly, Jon and James a fantastic adventure and safe travels!

July 2010

I've cut a new showreel of 2D animation work, see the film gallery or watch the mini version to the left.

June 2010

The Creative Partnerships project in Peterborough has come to a successful and colourful end. The caravan gallery looked amazing once each class had installed all their work, and the pupils loved watching their animations, poems and artwork projected on the screen.

Coleridge class contributed to three short films; poems and photographs taken on the trip to Hunstanton, a "Virtual Fishtank" of characters made from beach objects and plasticine and a final piece of pixillation where we animated the class!

Congratulations to all the hard work by the school staff, creative practitioners and the pupils themselves.

June 2010

Plenty of different Workshops on this month as well as acting work in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

Thanks to those that came along to the Aylsham library Manga workshop, hope you had fun!

May 2010

This years round of films made with students of APHS in Wells Next-the-Sea have now all been edited and delivered to the school and have included...

Poetry Next-the-Sea, students performing their work written with the aid of Martin Figura. Publicly screened as part of the Wells poetry festival.

Postcards to India, Y8 pupils documenting everyday life in their school to send to a partnership school in the Punjab region of India.

News from APHS. An entry to the BBC's Newsround program, made by students with the help of Tim Edwards.

May 2010

Its the start of an exciting new project with Fulbridge Primary School, Peterborough. I will be working with Y8 pupils and a number of other artists on a sea-side themed installation, creating work to place in their very own caravan gallery and seaside zone that has been set aside in the corner of the playground.

Some others involved in the project include textile artist Gizella Warburton, installation artist Rosie Ward and photographers Jan Williams and Chris Teasdale who together run the Caravan gallery

April 2010

Sesame Street Competition!

I've been busy slaving over a hot laptop in an attempt to complete two new animations to enter into the Aniboom Sesame Street competition.

Working in collaboration with composer Jonathan Lambert The two shorts (aimed at preschoolers) feature a troupe of handsomely moustachioed gents who delight in performing dare-devil stunts to the count of ten. If you want to support my entries (and my chance to win a contract or cash prize) please visit Aniboom.com, create a free profile and click however many stars you think it deserves and 'favourite' both clips.

I must point out I accept no responsibility if the tune sticks in your head all day!

1,2,3,4,5,6,7...8,9,10!

March 2010

Another month and another new Creative Partnerships project. This time working alongside composer Kerry Andrew and year 11 students at The King Edmund School in Rochford, Essex.

History teacher Nairn Willens wanted his students to discover new ways of learning and remembering key facts surrounding the African-American Civil Rights movement. With Kerry's help four songs were composed and recorded, before I worked with students providing the framework and support to create memorable music videos to the tracks.

The results so far have been great, and I'm looking forward to seeing all the finished films!

February 2010

This month I am continuing the Creative Partnerships project that started last year at The Boswells School in Chelmsford, Essex. Working with staff to bring animation to Science, Art and even Maths lessons!

Y10 students have been working on demonstrating mathematical principles to their peers, through the power of stop-motion, some of the different approaches can be seen in the picture to the left.

Y9 Science students learnt about some of the technical aspects of animation and tried their hand at animating scientific equipment.

Art students will be able to look forward to a whole terms project focused around the creation of a stop-motion character, armature and scenery.

February 2010

C'mon Dad! Creative workshops are a series of Saturday morning drop-in activities for Dads who don't live with their children, based in the Norfolk town of North Walsham.

I've been running a variety of arts workshops including T-shirt painting, linocuts and printmaking, sculpting in modroc and even juggling!

For more information about upcoming activities please contact Griffon Area Partnership on 01692 407509.

February 2010

Over the next couple of months I will be back at Alderman Peel High in Wells-next-the-Sea, this time to work with year 8 students making video postcards about their school to send to a partnership school in the Punjab region of India.

I've also been filming the students performing poems they devised with the aid of poet and photographer Martin Figura.

February 2010

Working on a film and animation project with young people who have, or who's lives are effected by Multiple Sclerosis.

A team of young film-makers will be visiting Lotus, The UEA Sports-park and the BBC studios at the Forum, and documenting the events.

link to EDP newspaper

January 2010

Never mind the BAFTA's! The red carpet was rolled out in Harwich this month for the grand screening and award ceremony for all those involved in last years Electric Waves project.

The absolutely stunning little gem that is the Electric Palace Cinema, played host to the event, with all the young film-makers getting to watch the fruits of their labours on the big screen for the first time.

Here's what the local press had to say.

Here's a clip courtesy of Media Projects East