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| John Chamberlain at York Does Vintage in March 2012 |
Time to meet another one of stallholders. We like to offer a range of stalls at our events, including artists and one who we've had at our York fairs is the artist and illustrator John Chamberlain. This year John has been at York Does Vintage and also our sister fair Yorkshire Best.
1. At our events what do you have on your stall? I have a range of screenprints, original drawings and paintings as well as the chance to get your portrait made in the John Chamberlain style.
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| Marc Bolan. Ink, acrylic and pastel pencil on watercolour paper. |
2. When did you decide you wanted to be an artist?There wasn’t a ‘Damascene’ moment where I decided to become an artist but simply a series of fortunate events I have stumbled into up to the present time of writing. My North Norfolk ‘grandpop’ was always highly skilled at making wooden toys, chocolate, jam, bread, ships in bottles and light bulbs as well as having writing, drawing and storytelling skills. I think I would like to be similar to him, simply making and doing things with no interruptions to the process.
I have a degree in Illustration from Edinburgh College of Art and I suppose the influence of my art school years is undeniable. It was an incredibly tumultuous and difficult three years but definitely worth it and I would say to any younger person thinking of pursuing their creative passions to do it.
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| Carlos Slim, Mexican Tycoon . Ink on freepost envelope. |
3: How would describe your style of art?Narrative art inspired by magic realism.
4. Who are your major influences?It depends on the commission or the project but at the time of writing I am interested in the writing and illustration of the late Mervyn Peake. Otherwise a canter along Cecil Court in London, with the bookshops, poster and art print shops is always inspiring. At one end of Cecil Court, there is a shop that sells prints and posters of Picasso and Matisse and opposite there is a framers that sells rare engravings of Hogarth and Rowlandson.
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| The Duchess. Fine line pen and graphite pencil on sketchbook paper. |
5. If someone wanted a portrait do you do commissions? Please do send me your ideas, questions, queries or general enthusing via email or otherwise. In short, commissions are always welcome in order to ‘put bread on the table!’
Over the last year there has been such an unexpected raft of commissions, opportunities and queries, from making storyboards for a York based Film Company to being artist in residence at the York Theatre Royal to creating theatre posters and pamphlets for various York based theatre companies.
6. Have you done any exhibitions and where can people see your art work?I have done countless art shows but currently I have some screenprints in the Lotte Inch gallery, York. The interest this gallery has shown has galvanised me into rediscovering printmaking and given me fresh impetus to persist in making things.
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| Uxorious Chet. Screenprint on tea stained paper for the Lotte Inch Gallery, York. |
7. What projects are you currently working on?There are numerous but one of the most important ones is collaboration with a Scottish storyteller and dancer currently residing in the capital of France on a children’s book set alternately in York and Paris.
My hobby time is spent meeting up with a Hertfordshire computer genius living in Leeds. We have a music project underway and are composing and consolidating a music E.P. under the name of ‘
B.T.D.’ or ‘
Beat the Devil.’ For this I am creating a lush raft of album art.
(
www.facebook.com/officialbeatthedevil)
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| A Christmas Carol. Promotional poster for Nightshade Productions. |
8. Where would you like to be in five year’s time?In an ambitious art workshop shed adjoined to a Georgian terrace building with drawing room piano.
If you're interested in John's work and would like to find out more, then follow the links below:-
I used the money I got for Christmas to buy myself a vintage cupboard for my kitchen. I'm not too sure how old it is - it's either 1940s or very early 1950s, but when cleaning it out I found a George VI stamp in the bottom, so I'd date it from the 1940s. I lined all the shelves with brown paper and I'm now using it to store my sheets and towels. To make them smell nice I've hung up a few handmade lavender bags and now I get a lovely smell every time I open the door!
After a couple of days I waxed it with beeswax to make it wipe proof and here's on the left is the final result! It's now beautiful and it looks like it's made out of rosewood. In fact the thing I like about it best is it's the exact colour I wanted and it goes so well in the room that it looks like it was always that colour.
