Happy Halloween

Year One got up to some Pumpkin mischief this week - you could probably smell the stench of Pumpkin seeping out of the studio. The finished pumpkins were lit and photographed and all had real character. The results will be on the wall of the corridor soon.

Charles Hively Lecture

The Rise, Fall and return of American Illustration

Charles Hively, a creative director, art director, ad agency founder, graphic designer, and sometimes copywriter and former illustrator, is the founder of 3x3, the only magazine in the United States devoted entirely to contemporary illustration. He is doing a talk at Sheffield Hallam on Wed 4th Nov at 1.30pm.

If you are interested in going you are welcome to. It is in the Pennine Lecture Theatre, the directions are as follows:


Come out of the train station and cross the road at the crossing to your right, you then need to walk up a small hill (next to the transport exchange) which is paved, at the top you'll enter the University by Sheaf building (that's where we're based). Keep walking on and you'll come to 2 flights of steps, go up these and you'll enter the University at the main atrium - the lecture theatre is on the left, about 10m from the double doors, it's well sign posted.

6X6 Launch night

As part of the Manchester Literature Festival, the '6x6' book was launched last Friday (23rd of October)
In the grandeur of the Lord Mayor's Parlour the authors gave readings from their books and the illustrators were interviewed to reveal the working processes behind the images. It was a great success with both authors and illustrators speaking confidently and professionally, once again suggesting that collaboration is the future.
As the wine flowed and the books flew off the shelves (competitively priced at only £4) the plotting began to create
a bigger better version next year.

Graves Art Gallery Sheffield

If you haven't popped up to the Graves Gallery recently, you might be pleasantly surprised at the gallery's recent makeover. Over the last six months the home of Sheffield's visual art collection has been refurbished and repainted, giving works by legendary artists such as Turner and Cézanne the home they deserve.New displays take you on a lavish journey through the collections, spanning the 16th to the 21st century and including works by famous names such as Edward Coley Burne-Jones and Bridget Riley, and local heroes such as George Fullard and Derrick Greaves. The redisplay also includes popular pieces from the city's collection such as John Singer Sargents The Vickers Sisters and a host of treasures which have not been seen on display since the closure of the Mappin Art Gallery in 2003. Bringing the Graves Gallery bang up to date in the contemporary-themed gallery are Sheffield's most recently acquired works: Marc Quinn's Kiss and Sam Taylor-Wood's Self Portrait Suspended VII. The work has been made possible by:
grants from local and national funding organisations
donations from visitors and the Friends of Museums Sheffield The Graves Gallery is in the centre of Sheffield above the Central Library and close to the Millennium Gallery.

"Didn't See It Coming" in Magma

You might remember last year 2nd & 3rd year illustration students worked on a collaborative project with Kingston University the resultant "Didn't See It Coming" book went to press in Summer 09 we are delighted to inform you that this book will soon be available in Magma stores in Manchester and London (Covent Garden)
Congratulations to all students involved in this project, its the quality of the work that has secured this small step into entrepreneurial publishing.

6 x 6 - It's here!

Six By Six is an exciting new publishing project which brings together MMU Cheshire’s latest Creative Writing graduates with Stockport College Illustration undergraduates. Earlier this year, Alice Slater, Liz Smith, Naomi Potter, Jason Weight, Jack Boardman and Tom Heinsohn handed over their unusually accomplished short stories to the cream of Stockport College's Illustration degree programme: Alan Dalby, Liz Ardolino, Natalie Wood, Chris Madden, Libby Vickers and James Peters. The result is a stylish and cool illustrated short story anthology. Join them this evening for a special launch event featuring readings from Six By Six and an exhibition of the artwork that so vividly enhances these fictions. Look here for details.

Don't miss this!

We have been invited to join the students at Salford University for this talk given by the collective Le Gun on Monday 19th October 12.30pm at the Allerton studio. Google it to find a map and get down there. Look at their amazing work here.