Making a splash!

In Deep Water, watercolour on paper with customised frame 2009

Lots to tell you this week! firstly my collection of new work 'All at Sea' is now on show! I have been documenting the progress of this work for the past few months and it can now be seen in reality at Taurus in Manchester's famous Gay Village until the 31st Oct. Here is the write up:

In the midst of Manchester’s Gay Village a new exhibition of maritime themed art work can be found. But forget the naughty nauticals, this collection of work delivers an emotive set of tales with a splash of sauciness.

Manchester based fine artist Gemma Parker has been inspired by her love of maritime folklore and all things nautical to create her new set of work. Her fascination with vibrant sailor art has been a natural progression from her love of vintage pin up work and burlesque, both of which make an appearance in the selection of new art works.

Taking its cue from nautical slang and its everyday use, All At Sea is a collection of paintings illustrating well known phrases while influenced by traditional sailor tattoos styles and pin ups.

The work takes the viewer on a romantic and melancholic journey featuring lost loves, cruel sirens and shipwrecked sailors.

Using both acrylics and water colours the paintings bridge classic sailor tattoo style with a wistful and dreamy narrative inviting the viewer to embrace the call of the sea with all its beauty and perils.

All At Sea can be seen at Taurus on Canal Street from the 1^st - 31^st of October. For more information go to www.gemmaparker.co.uk

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Gemma Parker is a fine artist who specialises in the celebration of femininity and the theatrical.

She has exhibited across the UK including ‘Ooh La La’, Britain’s first burlesque inspired art show in Nottingham and been artist in residence for the Sunderland Council art project, ‘What do you think you’re looking at…The Sunniside of burlesque’. She also takes private commissions.

Gemma is also one half of the burlesque double act The Chantilly Belles who were short listed for the best new talent award at the Big Burlesque Bout last year in Birmingham : www.myspace.com/thechantillybelles

Taurus Manchester's Award Winning Bar & Restaurant; 1 Canal Street, Manchester, M1 3HE Tel: 0161 236 4593. Opening hours; Mon - Thurs 12 noon - 11pm, Fri - Sat 12 noon to 1am, Sun 12 noon - 10.30pm

As mentioned in previous posts I have been collecting nautical paraphanalia to customise my frames with including; shells (some from my fab seaside holiday to Broadstairs) miniture anchors and ship wheels and also rope as can be seen on two of the works:

Rack and Ruin, acrylic on artist board with hemp rope 2009

The Devil to Pay, acrylic on artist board with hemp rope 2009

I've also added the real meanings behind each nautical phrase so when you see the show you will also get a bit of maritime history as well as the art work!

Other news:

Buy Art Fair went brilliantly! It was wonderful to have work on display as part of such a high prestige event. Artists such as Peter Blake and Damien Hirst also had work on show and the whole building looked amazing decked out in original art which was seen by over 5000 visitors during it's three day run!

My three works from my Bon Bons series can be seen along the left hand side of the stall

The Urbis Creatives stand was very impressive and I sold some work. One of my images was also used to represent the stand in the official catalogue. It was a good experience and a very exciting one too!

Show and Tell

Urbis Creatives also has a new exhibition running right NOW called Show and Tell. Members will be showcasing their work for the next three weeks at Urbis in the heart of Manchester. I am showing work from my 'My Baby's Got a Secret' series. Over the exhibition period members will be on hand to talk about their work as the title of the show suggests! Hope to see you there!

Are you ready to Buy Art Fair?

Peppermint Pattie 2008 acrylic on canvas 30cm x 30cm

I will be taking part in Manchester's hugely successful Buy Art Fair next week! With more than 80 galleries showing the work of over 370 artists all available to buy.

In addition the fair offers a whole host of FREE activities for experienced and novice art collectors to enjoy!

I will be situated on the second floor as part of the Urbis Creatives stall, this will be a fab opportunity for you to come along and see my work up close and maybe treat yourself to a little decadence!

About my work on sale:

Bon Bons is a series of decadent derrières encased in the finest of wrappings.
Playfully using the French slang which describes the area between the waist and thighs, this work sees a selection of peachy behinds all themed on sweeties and chocolates.
Each painting is enhanced by ice cream colours and sugary titles, and with the range including strawberry fondants to jellybeans, there should be a flavour to tempt anyone's taste buds.

This has been a really successful series and there are only a limited number of Bon Bons left to buy!

Other news:

It's been busy busy busy recently as the deadline for my exhibition of nautical tattoo inspired paitnings draws nearer! The show of select watercolours and acylics will go on show on the 1st Oct at Taurus in Manchester's Gay Village. I'm getting all the bits and pieces finalised at the mo, and even wondering whether I have time to do an extra painting before the show! I've had a new idea for one! BTW the show is to be called 'All at Sea'.

Also I will be showing work at Urbis form the 29th Sept to the 12th Oct. This will as part of a collective exhibition by Urbis Creatives called 'Show and Tell' More info to follow!

Learn the Ropes

Just a quickie this week! Here's a peek at the most recent painting for my nautical pin up series. I'm finding that as I work on it the theme is evolving, it isn't so much about traditional sailor tattoos anymore but heavily inspired by them. It is becoming a more fluid way of getting my ideas down. The theme is still nautical with each image taking it's cue from maritime sayings, but the outside influence is much looser now, I think the point when I was listening to Air in the studio while working and found myself going down a much more personal route really was the turning point.

With this image for instance I am definately getting a Kylie vibe through (probably as I keep listening to Boombox and Made of Glass) but also I have added my fascination with performance here and turned the mermaid into a kind of burlesque performer using japanese rope bondage as well as star pasties.

Other news:

The Chantilly Belles now have the video of our performance at Urbis for the Urbis Creatives launch night up online!

The night which took place earlier this year was to celebrate the launch of the Urbis Creatives website, a platform for the staff of Urbis who have creative projects outside of work. You can see the website HERE.

Urbis Creatives will have our own stall at this years Buy Art Fair to be held at Urbis from the 24th - 27th September. Along with other artists I will be showing and selling orignal artwork as part of one of the largest consumer art exhibitions in the country! More info to follow...

Just to let you know....

My portrait of burlesque performer and star of Channels Four's Faking It Burlesque Special, Miss Scarlet Fever, will be on display at Urbis until Wednesday next week! So get on down for your chance to see Scarlet and read about her story while you can!

A pic 'n' mix of tasty tidbits!

Last week's Urbis Creatives launch night went brilliantly! The night was a great opportunity to exhibit art work and show off our other creative skills within a gallery environment. For me it was a first in showing my art work and actually performing within viewing distance of it.

My portait of Scarlet Fever on display on the launch night.

I have to admit I was quite anxious about performing in front of my work collegues, as I was sure none of them really knew what my burlesque act was like, and the thought of prancing about in frilly knickers in front of everyone I was working with the next day did give me the jitters just before going on. But the great thing about being in a double act is the pressure is shared and much easier to deal with, and even if I say so myself The Chantilly Belles rocked Urbis that night! I decided to exhibit my portrait of Scarlet Fever, the star of Channel Four's, Faking It, and a good friend of mine. I wanted to highlight her story which I think sets the scene for modern burlesque and shows it as a contemporary form of feminism and female empowerment. This piece of art work combined with my own burlesque performance blended really well and created a strong presence on the night. The great thing is Urbis were so pleased with the entire show they have asked for it to be left in situ for the forseeable future! So if you are around Manchester this week pop in to the city's landmark building and gallery of city life and take a look at Scarlet in the flesh as it were!!!

Other news:

The Chantilly Belles are proud as punch to announce that we will be performing as part of the Comedy 4 Christies night to be held at The Lowry next month!!!
We will be appearing alongside other acts including Justin Moorhouse and Barbara Nice from T.V's Phoenix Nights all in aid of a great cause! More details of our progress as the date looms to follow...

Rainbow watch:

A few weeks ago I told you about a commission I'm doing for a friend of mine of her pussycat Rainbow. Now I know this isn't the usual kind of subject I'd paint, but if any cat could have been a pin-up queen it was Rainbow, and I just couldn't say no!
I've been working on this piece between other projects and have finished half of the bag Rainbow is sitting in. Here's a peek of where I'm up to now:

Rainbow ponders the bigger issues of life while sitting in her favourite pondering bag

In the meantime I'm still working on my nautical pin-up tattoo seires and have been researching some fab artists that I hope to share with you over the next few weeks!...

A night of art and entertainment!

It's an age old situation; many an artist or musician has had to work full or part time while pursuing their creative ideas, yet in this instance art and job have combined in a new website to showcase their work!

Next Wednesday will see the launch of a brand new concept for artists and galleries! Urbis, Manchester's premier landmark building and gallery of city life, will be hosting Urbis Creatives. This one of a kind brand new project has been put together by the staff from Urbis to showcase the various creative expertise we have outside of work.

The evening will also include orignal artwork on display, workshops, live music and myself performing in The Chantilly Belles burlesque act!

With creative endevours ranging from; Photography, graphic design, fine art, illustration, creative writing and music this is sure to be a very unique and orignal event!

I will also be displaying examples of my artwork, so come along and support the best artistic talent Manchester has to offer for a very fun and different kind of private view!