Creased creatures

Sipho Magona folded his first paper plane at just 5 years old, and fifteen years on he ran out of designs and so started to invent his own.

His intricate insects and ceased creatures will now feature in a British exhibition early next year -and they far from qualify in my opinion. Now, 29, this young artist turned his eye to nature and the environment, after winning dozens of design awards for installations and abstract light fittings. All of these can be seen on his personal website, which I have linked on his name at the beginning of this entry.

His incredible fish, insects, birds are so detailed that I'm not afraid to be honest, they literally trick my eye into believing they are real. We are all properly wondering about their worth; these creations pictured here sell for more than a massive £1,500! This is huge, perhaps excessive I think, but if it's any justification, each piece can take up to 20 hours to fold, and, more than 6 months to design.

If you fancy a go, the advice is to start with a single, square sheet of paper. Personally, this evidence of superior origami puts me completely off even having a go. Whatever I make now, I would be forever conscious how inferior it is. I never was good with folding, I don't think I'll start now -better to just sit back and admire on this one.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU

Tremendous.

1 Working Space

Her work is based on the theme of the human individual. An exploration of diversity within similarity. As far as I take her work, it glances at construction and interpretation of identity. She clearly combines Post Modern ideas of a single person's visual appearance.

This body of art is in the classical portrait medium of oil paint. For me, it does serve to question the value of a portrait. What is the value of a portrait today in light of new and ever more accessible technologies? Why is this art type still present and why is it necessary?

Shelley Hughes was one of four artists at the MA Fine Art Exhibition I visited in Lancaster at the Peter Scott Gallery during my A-levels (Sept 2006).

The four artists took four lines of enquiry, combining four different disciplines, but, within one working space. They each unavoidably connected with ideas at tangents from their own, enhancing and broadening their practices until a kind of coherence emerged.

One single working space=effective and productive for the subconscious sharing of research and information.

Technical, but true.

Hatton Crafts, Warwickshire

Set in converted 19th Century converted farm buildings the shopping village features 25 craft and speciality shops, an antiques centre and a clothes factory outlet. I have made regular visits there since I was a child with my parents and 6 siblings, more so with the sole intention of rides on Tristan the runaway tractor, falconry displays, farmyard tea-time, panning for gold and fun on the bouncy castles! Instead, the reason for my driving back there yesterday, was to eye up the costume rings in the antique centre, and stop off at the various craft shops.

Along my way, I was quite taken by the complete one-offs of 3 Dimensional Design Artist, Alan Wright.

Ian gained a first class honours degree at the Central St. Martins School of Art, London, and later became a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and a Freeman of the City of London. Working with silver, gold, bronze and titanium Alan often uses images inspired by the natural world and merges two or more media. His work has been sold at Liberty and Garrards, London as well as pieces supplied to Kewait and the Sultan of Brunei.

An enormous amount of time, energy and effort goes into each unique hand-crafted item of jewellery. To see this man working in his studio, surrounded by what seems like millions of little intricate tools, makes you appreciate just where the £40+ price tags stem from. His skills don't stop here either, he had small framed pictures put together too, boasting sculpted molten metal. There was a complete set of about 6 or 7 moon/ellipse stages.

He glanced up and smiled as I entered his studio and made some light conversation, although I was slightly conscious I may be distracting him. Alan was so contented doing what he was doing. Creating problems, solving problems, and he is there doing just that 7 days a week from 9 to 5. A true artist, and one that you can meet and greet. Quite rare.

Mutants

This is a pretty awesome project by GAD CHARNY. His Mutants exhibition takes plastic kids toys and transforms them into hybrid mutants. If you in any way happen to be in Tel Aviv, stop by the Artists' House Gallery, from now until 17th August.

Follow the Leader

ANTJE DRESCHER'S trio of illustrations for Follow the Leader are some of my favourite yet. They are both clever and sweet. I love the girl cutting out life size paper doll clothes for herself. Antje is a German illustrator, and since her website is in German, I can't tell you too much about her work, other than that she's done some really great illustrations! Check out her portfolio here.

Puppet master

ERIK SANKO is one of those extrordinary artists that does it all. He is a musician, artist and marionette-maker. The marionettes are complete works of art all by themselves. Erik took it a step further by bringing his characters to life in a marionette show called The Fortune Teller. Danny Elfman provided the erie score (Danny also did the score for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas). It's a morality play featuring the Seven Deadly Sins. I wish I could have seen it! If you'd like to get a little taste check out this video.

"The Fortune Teller reveals a world of curiosities as seven unusual characters are invited to the estate of a late millionaire industrialist and informed they've been included in his will.

On a dark night, the strangers arrive at the late millionaire's mansion only to learn their inheritances will be based not on a will, but on the readings of a fortune teller. One by one, each is delivered what they have coming to them, but perhaps not what they are expecting.

Seven strangers' twisted tales are brought to life in a handcrafted marionette play and woven with haunting music to tell an eerily comic story of fate and fortune..."

If you visit his Website you can follow the links to listen to Erik's Solo music project as well as his band, the Indie outfit, Skeleton Key. Don't forget to follow the link to artist Jessica Grindstaff too.

Nowhere to start and nowhere to end

I genuinely don't feel I can do this guy justice by describing and breaking down what he does. You absolutely must go to his website as he documents his work in a far more professional, organised and inspirational way, than anyone else ever could do on his behalf. There are no limits to what he can or can't do, whether it be installation, performance, large scale or intricate cut-out. Everything he does is unquestionably, beautiful.

Spend some time on the 'about me', you won't want to miss a thing. PETER CALLESEN: http://www.petercallesen.com

Bon Voyage

I wish, wish, wish I had a few images to show, so if anyone knows of this exhibition after reading, and has any kind of resources, please send them to me. Between 7th June and 26th July 1997, Birmingham Ikon Gallery gave a temporary home to TONY HAYWARD'S 'Bon Voyage' collection. They were photographs, if my mind serves me right, of miniature landscapes built using holiday souvenirs, and random small finds. His quirky constructions highlight our consumerist desire to own holiday mementos, and the ritual of positioning them in the house. Quite amusing really considering we have all fallen victim to the 'looked good at the time' snow globes, Eiffel Tower models and tragic postcards.

The public on a pedestal

ANTHONY GORMLEY's commission for Trafalgar Square's "empty plinth" will see it occupied for 100 consecutive days, 24 hours a day, by members of the public.

Interested members of the public register, the computer then chooses a representative cross section of 2,400 names.

They are matched to the 2,400 hour-long slots on the plinth which run 24 hours a day from July to October.

Each individual will be fork-lifted up 25ft to spend their hour in full view, with no banister or barrier to protect them, other than a safety net skirting the plinth.

Then they can do exactly what they want, while being lit, filmed and recorded for an archive Mr Gormley hopes will produce a portrait of Britain.

Water great idea...

London aqua artist MARK MAWSON is creating quite a stir in the art world.  He takes different kind and colours of paint and drops the blobs into a tank of water, before capturing the result on camera. Viewers can see different things in them and interpret the images for themselves. Sea creatures, dancers, old men and even Jimi Hendrix setting fire to his own guitar, have been some of the responses. What do you see?

Don't smell the flowers

Barton Grange Garden Centre at Brock, Lancashire, claim to the first business in the UK to install designer floral urinals in the men's toilets.

American artist Clark Sorensen designs the conveniences as elaborate flowers.

His urinal designs, which cost £3,250+ include daffodils, poppies, lilies and tulips.

The centre is now selling a postcard for those who have used the toilets boasting "I've watered the flowers at Barton Grange garden centre".

The only complaint the garden centre received was from men saying they couldn't get into the gents because of the number of ladies looking at the urinals.

4WALL

http://www.4wall.co.uk/

-their mission; to bring live painting to the forefront the the UK arts scene. 

Examples of their work include a 200m piece of freehand illustration at Bermondsey Square, live painting at Resonate's Summer Party, oil pen work in Selfridges entrance walkway, and live drawing during the FFA fashion show. 4WALL's artists work to any size for your space, and even directly on your walls, car, furniture  or floor. This could get verrry interesting!

My personal favourites:

DANIEL EGNEUS

In my house there is a secret garden

My bedroom

PAUL WILLOUGHBY

Childhood Memoirs