David Bowie 'Space Oddity' 45th Anniversary Print

'Ground Control to Major Tom…' Can you believe it’s 45 years since ‘Space Oddity’ was released as a single? Crazy, eh? Released on 11 July 1969. And so now I wonder about Major Tom, and I wonder if, as the song still plays, he’s still up there, in the imaginary pop-osphere, floating in his tin can. So I made this print to commemorate the anniversary. It’s available now in the Standard Designs shop on Etsy.

It’s simple but effective, with a little bit of the late Pop Art of the period in the way the Earth is heavily colour halftoned, and a touch of the Art Deco revival of the early 1970s in the typography.

It’d look great on your wall. Treat yourself to one here.

Waiter, there’s a mid-60s abstract on the floor. Would you...

Waiter, there’s a mid-60s abstract on the floor. Would you kindly mop it up, please, as it’s putting me off my food.

Where Can I Find Storage Solutions Inspired By Late 1960s Formalist Minimalist Painting Round Here?

Oh, there you are.

The Cock

As seen in Sutton. The Cheam reference on the sign makes me think this is some kind of lodestone marking the intersection of the Carry-On films with Tony Hancock. But conjecture is cheap, and research requires paperwork, so I will leave it there…

Kate Bush 'Aerial' As If Written As Novels

This is the fourth in my series of Kate Bush albums reimagined as collections of books (after 'Hounds of Love', 'The Kick Inside' and 'The Sensual World'). It’s her colossal 2005 album 'Aerial'. Each of the books here represents a track on the album, and they’re all arranged in the same order they appear on the original CD release. It’s available now from the Standard Designs Etsy shop.

The print measures 42 x 29.7cm (which fits very nicely into a standard IKEA Ribba frame, as you can see above).

It’s printed on some rather nice 200gsm premium archival paper. It’s a substantial print.

The books (all Penguins) have been chosen to echo the warm colours of the original CD’s artwork.

There’s also a special offer in the shop where you can buy all four of my Kate Bush prints for the price of three with free shipping - click here for more information.

Washing machine… washing machine…

Doodling = Thinking

Somewhere in amongst these and their hundreds of siblings my next print is waiting to be discovered. But where, where? Ah, the joys of being an artist. 99% inspiration, 1% perspiration, 64% frustration (artists are notoriously bad a maths, as anyone who’s looked through a painter’s end-of-year accounts will attest to).

Oasis '(What's the Story) Morning Glory?' As A Series of Books

Another print as if the Gallagher brothers had started out as novelists instead of musicians. The print is available in my Etsy shop via this link.

It's Thomas Pynchon's 77th Birthday

He wrote this, didn’t he…?

(Print available here)

Oasis 'Definitely Maybe' As A Collection Of Books

This is my new print, available now in the Standard Designs Etsy shop.

It’s crazy to think that this album was released almost 20 years ago now. Like a lot of my people in my generation I have warm memories of my first encounter with it - the video for ‘Supersonic’ (still one of my favourite songs) was I think the first thing I watched on the crappy black & white portable TV in my first ever flat that I moved into while working at my first ever job. The song’s extended derisory vowel sounds were music to my ears. Literally. And they still are.

The great thing about the sentiments expressed in a lot of these songs is that despite being quite contemporary they relate back through a culture of working class effort and aspiration that had been kicking at fences since the 1950s at least. I hear echoes of ‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ and ‘Billy Liar’. In a strange way I also hear echoes of Morrissey.

Anyway, there you go.

New Wave Post Box

At our local sorting office. Something quite 1978-1982 about this. New Wave, or late punk, or Two-Tone, or Peter Saville-ish.