NASA’s latest sun video shows the awesome raw power of our star in an ethereal beauty like no other.

I’ve always been inspired by, not only local space and the infinite universe, but man’s incredible & increasing technological prowess in attempting to connect with it. I’m a fan of sci-fi and this video of a recent solar flare kind of connects sci-fact with sci-fi.

Rook & Raven Gallery is proud to present ‘Nostalgia’, their first show of 2012, featuring an eclectic mix of artwork from a diverse collection of artists. The exhibition will feature work by renowned photographer Terry O’Neill.

I have a few pieces of work going into this show. I’m very excited to be involved as Rook & Raven is a gallery with a great space, location, young experienced directors with grand ambitions.

The show runs for a month. Private view Thursday 26th January (For guest list please email: RSVP@rookandraven.co.uk), open until 23rd February.
Gallery address: 7/8 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1HN.

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I worked alongside Bic for a competition last year (see here), and they are now giving away 50 BIC 2012 diaries exclusively through me. All you need to do is email: BICFacebook@3-monkeys.co.uk with your name and address. The first 50 people to do so will automatically be sent a diary.
Bic is waking up to the creative potential that myself and others see in their pens. They now have a Bic creative Facebook page reflecting this: http://www.facebook.com/BICcreativity

OK… so it’s not GQ or whatever, but Addlib is actually a pretty cool magazine:

Add Lib is a quarterly London lifestyle magazine that provides insights into the very best of arts & cultural trends, architecture, fashion, restaurants and entertainment venues within the capital.

You can actually read the magazine online here!
OK if you’re not sure what the mag is or where to get it, it’s Addison Lee’s magazine, that is in all their executive cars (apparently 3,500 of them) in London.
I’ve been on the front cover of a magazine before (see here), but this is the first cover in the UK, hopefully not the last!

click to enlarge…

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Spent over two months working on probably the “biggest” commission I’ve done. I’ve done bigger sized works, that have taken longer, but this was “big” in how much I loved it, that there were 3 (a tryptich) to do, involving things I’ve never done before etc etc.

The three butterflies (above) are a set of artworks created using ballpoint pens and spray paints. These are certainly the most colourful, vibrant photo-realist drawings I’ve ever done. I usually use black Bic ballpoints for my drawings, this time I also used some colour ballpoints that I have never used before (light green, light red, light blue) on top of the normal red, green, blue Bic ballpoints we all know. I used a bit of colour crayon for orange and yellow bits over the ink.
Obviously the backgrounds were done in spray paints.
The left image shows the drawings in various stages, you can see the different ballpoints being used, in the middle image you can see how i was layering the different colours over each other to achieve the desired effect.

What I love most about these is the fresh, vibrant feel of them. That feeling is what I got when I saw Damien Hirst’s butterflies (below). But I do prefer mine, obviously , because the (hand created) realism adds more impact.

I plan to do a fourth, that when complete, I will do a very limited edition, very large print of the four butterflies (along with their respective background colours), 2 above 2 on one large square print. I will definitely have this on show at my next solo exhibition.

A new gallery called Rook and Raven Gallery has just opened in central London. Just a couple doors down from Lazerides gallery.

I went to their gallery opening & first show opening (“You Rest You Rust”) evening a few nights ago (click image left to enlarge) and was impressed at the space in general. I really like the artwork/artists they show.

The art is “edgy” (corny term in artworld i believe) whilst actually nice to look at, also very well priced. My favourite painting from show is right (by Daniel Lumbini, click to enlarge)
Run by 2 lovely young people, one of whom I’ve met a couple times recently, and I hope to work with them in some way in the future.

China’s global influence has been growing so much over the last 2 decades that few governments question their human rights policies, for fear of falling out of favour with their potentially lucrative trading partner.
Did you know that they actually call The Dalai Lama (Buddhists’ symbol of compassion and infinite wisdom, also winner of the Nobel Peace prize & Congressional medal of honour) a terrorist. This is because he still gives hope to the many Tibetans who’s culture, lifestyle, and ownership of their land has been forcefully eroded over the past few decades.
Recently Tibetan monks have been setting themselves on fire in protest of China’s interference in their ways of life. And at the same time China has been putting pressure on The south African government to deny his entry to the country to celebrate Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday (at his invitation) because they want to deny Him international recognition & attention.
All in all it is so sad that this is all happening , under the noses of the international community. The Dalai lama’s only wish in life is to help humankind attain spiritual happiness. But China just want him and the hugely rich and valuable Tibetan Buddhist culture wiped from history for ever, to the in-comprehensable loss to humankind
Luckily The Dalai Lama is still here, and will never give up being there to help us all