SLART 2023 Retrospective

A year in the life of an artist and new father.

Twenty Twenty Three blessed me with a baby, six art exhibitions and three trips to Tate Britain, amongst many other adventures.

Parents reading this will know how much time and energy it takes to raise a child, especially as first-time parents! So I’m so incredibly grateful that I’ve continued my art practice despite the limited time I’ve had working full-time and raising a baby girl.

Join me on a wonderful 2-0-2-3 retrospective, lets go…

SLART Note: Thank you for being a paid subscriber. It truly does mean a lot to me. Every time I get a paid subscriber notification, not to sound cheesy, but I feel so full of gratitude. It shows a vote of confidence in my work, and my confidence to create grows.

January

January brought the arrival of my baby daughter, a life-changing event, those who are parents will understand! I want to tell the full story at some point but now doesn’t feel like the right time.

Thomas Berryman chatted with me about Hip Hop, art and 80s culture. You can check out the entire thing here if you wish.

Short clip:

I drew an ex-colleague Karl Dix:

Created a paid commission for a client who was a Slim Shady fan.

Finished off my piece “Time: The Great Equaliser”

Here are some WIP pics:

When I was still on Twitter (I’m so much happier being off of Twitter!), pre , Art Critic Jerry Saltz said:

A couple of my art pieces were put up in a Cotswolds pub (left and right) these were reprints from commissions I did a couple of years ago, the lady was over the moon that her sons were being displayed in a pub.

We saw my father-in-law in a James Bond Film (the guy in the middle background).

I loathe rejection. This hurt, especially after seeing some of the accepted entries (MEOW – I’m kidding). A reply was sent regarding my application to paint a huge dog for the SwinDogs art trail.

Here are my entries:

Above: Local legends of Swindon. I had the idea to draw local legends so it’s in keeping with Swindon and therefore it would be sellable to a local business or individual. Any money raised would go to a local hospice.

Above: A cross-section of a spotty dog showing its x-ray on one side, I thought this would be interesting for kids!

February

I had an exhibition with the wonderful Harrie Dearing.

Here’s the promo video lol I felt so awkward recording this.

The official poster:

As I reflect on the year, I’m thinking, I’ve got all of these event posters and it’ll be cool to look back at those in 10 and 20 years. Who knows? People might even be interested in buying them.

Here’s the video walk-through of the exhibition:

I was so blessed to paint a kid’s bedroom mural. This was loads of fun, as I had a rough design to start with, but then I added my inspirational touches as I went along.

Progress Shots:

The mural was a surprise for the woman’s 4 kids, the look on their faces was priceless!

The first mock-ups were created for a community mural project. It’s themed on a district of Swindon called Rodbourne Cheney.

I created a piece for my brother and sister-in-law. They’re young, cool and live in Margate. So maybe other young, cool people will see my work.

I started prep for a mural commission, it’s a 5-minute walk from my house, on the side of their garage. A memorial piece for their late mother.

I created some one-off custom prints for a little exhibition at Baristocats Coffe Lounge in Swindon.

At my local ‘shopping mall’ (I say it in quotes as I’m British lol) I noticed some Ken White paintings, hilariously, by the toilets! He wasn’t happy about that.

March

The comedy legend shared my art on Instagram. Well not in March, but I took a screenshot of it in March to share.

A drawing inspired by a Nils Frahm video.

WIP on my Fighting with Picasso painting.

I started creating AMA videos on Instagram (Ask Me Anything), in strenuous efforts to get more engagement. I had to bloody speed it up to fit it into the required 60 seconds, I talk slowly! lol

This question is “How do I choose a subject for my art?”

In hindsight, a big compliment that my art isn’t boring. Affordable Art Fair in London rejected my application:

I exhibited at The Holy Art fair at the end of March. Hindsight is a great thing, I tried to cram too many artworks in and it looked crowded.

I only went for the opening night, so another time I will do the whole 3 days and enjoy having many conversations.

Here are some pics from the rest of the show.

This was my favourite piece of the show, by… (Click below to check out her Etsy).

It’s stunning! What do you think?

A little video walkthrough in timelapse mode:

April

I go through cycles of whom I read, this month I started reading the work of Genevieve Davis again.

I had the idea to post my photos and videos on Google Maps, as a novel way to get my art seen. As of Dec 2023, I have had 1 million views of my posts. Vanity metrics mainly, but I enjoy coming up with ideas on how to share my work.

Some examples:

My two most viewed photos:

You can see my profile here, and have a look at what I’ve posted.

I also went through a burst of creating new reels:

Might I add, there is an element of enjoyment in creating these, but then I think, why am I doing this?

My friend James and I went to a hugely inspirational art exhibition called “Beyond The Streets” at London’s Saatchi Gallery.

I took soooo many photos, so I’ll have to narrow it down a bit to a few faves.

I had a wonderful visit to Tate Britain.

My wife, baby and I went to London to see my brother run his first London Marathon. We were so proud of his achievement! Especially as he hurt his knee with 12 miles to go. A good Samaritan saw him struggling and walked the last 12 miles with him!

We celebrated my Biological Dad’s 60th Birthday. We don’t have the best relationship, it’s not a negative one, it’s just that we are only peripherally in touch via a family WhatsApp group. I got in touch with him when I was 21, pre-Facebook, on a site called Friend’s Reunited. I’ll speak more about him in a future post.

Every time I’m in Margate, I make sure I visit the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery.

May

Chas and I had a trip to Bristol, including a trip to the Arnolfini art gallery. Garry Fabian Miller’s solo exhibition.

I loved reflecting on quotes that hit me during another part of the year.

We went to the largest street party in the country! This is the only photo I got!

Visited my mum’s old friend, Marg, and had a glass of sherry to toast my late mum. Went to a mate’s house and his mum had all of this wonderful art on her walls!

June

Fun studio session, I was child and wife free for the weekend!

I started a fitness class but really didn’t enjoy it. Lesson: do what you enjoy.

Random sketch:

A little commission for a friend’s kid:

July

July is the pivotal month of 2023. The month I started my Substack, Cream of The Crop.

27th July 2023, My first post:

A quote from a short piece of hard-hitting, close-to-home fiction by . You must read it!

Pulp, Pipe, & Poetry

Retirement

Editor’s Note: I always enjoy a short story from Frank Kidd. His style speaks with a primal energy that is enjoyable to read. Watching him work and sharpen his storytelling axe only inspires me to continue to improve my own craft as a writer. Our final entry this week is a cautionary tale that will make you stop and think about the trajectory of your lif…

Read more

a year ago · 55 likes · 34 comments · Frank Kidd

Another lovely trip to Tate Britain, followed by Karaoke with mates!

It’s tricky to rap…

I had an exhibition at Tower 42 in London, but unfortunately, I couldn’t make the event in person.

Here’s the original flyer for the originally planned exhibit in May.

August

I started sketching using my canvas pad to and from work during the commute.

It later turned into this:

I borrowed some Dyson Zone headphones from work and had to do all of these posey shots wearing them.

My crew and I finished this community mural in Swindon. I won’t go into it, but it wasn’t an enjoyable experience dealing with the organiser, let’s leave it at that!

Here’s the final design sketch I did:

My section was the local school and I had to redo the church. You can see the completed version on the right.

A couple of videos.

I asked GPT who Jed McKenna is:

My August ‘Stacks:

September

September was a quiet creating month. I did do a bit of sketching but not much else. However, it was an eventful month, including a great Artist’s Roundtable with Yulia Topchiy, a beer with a mate at a local fete, and a third trip to the Tate Britain of 2023 before I visited the Houses of Commons. You can read more about this stack below.

Swift pint of Guinness before my train home.

September’s ‘Stacks:

October

Check out the Oct 23 retro below. Cover art of

November

I also shared everything in the November retrospective, check it out! Cover art of

December

Starting the month with a little promo post about my Tupac Hoodie, 0 buyers lol

Cheeky little Sketch of and a goat.

Did a little sketch of too.

…Then

Stumbled across this tweet I printed out and instantly felt shit about my body! Look at this guys washboard abs! I’m so glad I left Twitter this year!

The wonderfully talented drew a portrait of me and my dog son, Bruno. It’s arrived! I just love how cute Bruno looks!

Adam Crosland and I had a wonderful joint exhibition on the 9th of December:

Check out the video walk-through, my art is on the left of the room, and Adam’s is on the right.

I did a quick sketch to big up who received a rejection for her novel.

I had a little fun playing with some blank face templates. I have printed 10 of these on my desk. We sometimes take our art too seriously, so I thought I’d just have fun with it, taking little breaks from work to draw a quick face.

I created a little anti-scroll artwork on my new circular canvasses.

This quote hit home.

Also, loved this one: I had this inner child running the show who kept asking for permission, but no more. I love him but he needs to mature now 🙏

We went to a delightful light show in Swindon.

This was my favourite part of the show.

I got this book for Christmas!

My December Substacks:

I had a wonderful studio session on the morning of 31st December. I finished off a couple of paintings and started off in a new direction with my art. Watch this space!

Work in progress for the 2024 direction. I’m excited to see this evolve, I’m in a new headspace and open to experimenting, like one of my art heroes Jean Dubuffet did. It puts the focus on fun and play rather than having to please others or sell art.

I thank you for your reading my words this year. Many blessings to you and your family for 2024 and beyond!

SLART