Published! Drawings from Van Harskamp exhibition at Kunstraum Gallery, September ’14

art, drawing, Exhibition, Illustration, location drawing, press, Quotes, reportage

In September I had the chance to work an a very interesting project created by Nicoline Van Harskamp. A reading of Pygmalion. It was live-translated back from over 14 different languages back into English and recorded. My drawings capture the reading in progress.

Nicoline-van-Harskamp-banner-800px

My drawings were then published along with the script in a limited edition book by Onomatopee.

Blanche Ellis Kunstraum Gallery '14 05

Some of my reportage drawings from Nicoline Van Harskamp’s exhibition are showcased by the publishers Onomatopee. A fuller set of my drawings from the days events have been published by Onomatopee in the book which resulted from the reading Nicoline set up at Kunstraum Gallery in Hoxton, London.

Blanche Ellis Kunstraum Gallery '14 06

I really enjoy reportage drawing and capturing the mood of the participants and how the marks of the drawings echoed the varied marks of the many written languages in the open books.

Blanche Ellis Kunstraum Gallery '14 01

There was a great humour in some of the phrases as they were re-translated, the process also showed up some fascinating cultural assumptions and differences.

Blanche Ellis Kunstraum Gallery '14 11

Blanche Ellis Kunstraum Gallery '14 03

I hope to have the chance to work with this project further as I find the links between text and images and the cultural crossover and divergence fascinating.

First Sketchbook Update for 2015

art, drawing, portrait, sketchbook, Underground Portraits

Play blancheellis.wordpress.com

I’ve been puzzling out the space between work and play recently, and racing through my sketchbooks…. here’s the last of the last one….

Old sketchbook - new sketchbook - they started out the same .

Old sketchbook – new sketchbook – they started out the same .

Sketchbook Update

art, drawing, Illustration, location drawing, London Underground, portrait, sketchbook, Underground Portraits
Train Window

Train Window

I’m only half way through this sketchbook but i’ve got lots of images to share from it already. A lot of them are portraits, including those done on the London Underground/Overground – so if you’re a Londoner there’s a tiny chance you’ll find your own picture. If you’re part of my friends and family there’s a much greater chance. I’ve decided to make a portraits page on this site as I do so many.

I’d also like to make a small note about the lovely sketchbooks which I have been working in lately. They’re from a little french company called Alibabette, personal and friendly with charming designs (i’m quite fussy with designs on my sketchbooks – I generally prefer them plain) and I really recommend them. The covers are paper, so they do get grubby but I don’t mind that in the least as beat-up old looking things only increase in beauty to me. The paper is creamy and thick enough to take watercolour, though the colour of the pages dulls the paints a little. They have lots of sketchbooks but ‘Artbooks’ are 200 pages and, in my opinion, make a great journal.

click to enlarge drawings

Tom - UpThinking

Tom – UpThinking

Sketchbook – Music – Istanbul

art, drawing, Festival, Illustration, sketchbook
Jam at Arsen Lupen - Istanbul

                                                Jam at Arsen Lupen – Istanbul

Well it’s been a little while since making a post. Largely because I’ve been busy making music which has resulted in lots of drawings of musicians and talented friends who I’ve seen or shared stages with throughout the summer…… I have just finished a sketchbook between August and October and thought I would share some images.

I also had a wonderful trip to Istanbul in October, a city I would like to re-visit for longer, and have a collection of sketches from there – about half of which come from a fun and whiskey fulled night spent in a lovely little hideaway bar which we found 4 floors up, in a two man lift, from the back of an old hotel, down a side street – and where we found a beautiful jam. Always music.

Some of the music I have been making can be found via the links below…. naturally I have been unable to sketch myself in the act so recordings and videos will have to suffice !

Solo: soundcloud or Facebook or Youtube

Various Guises on Soundcloud or Facebook

Obsession – This Friday !

art, drawing, Exhibition

 

Looking forward to the opening of the Obsession Exhibition this Friday 27th 6:30-9:30 at the Embassy Tea Gallery near Southwark station, London – do come along, we set up yesterday and it it was exciting to see such a mix of different styles around the theme.

See more information here.

Download the catalogue of exhibition

Map of gallery. See you there !

Unworded 'Letter' '12

Obsession – June 24th – 29th

art, drawing, Exhibition, metamorphosis, press

 

Upcoming exhibition…….
Print

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How to reach the gallery – Map

Further information about the theme and curator can be found here.

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Feature in Level25 Art Journal

art, drawing, metamorphosis, philosophy, press

I’m happy to say that my artwork has been featured in Level25 Art Journal. 

To view the artwork and interview, focusing on how senses, especially touch, play a part in my making process, click here

Level25 Art Journal #5

Level25 Art Journal - Blanche Ellis - 1

Obsession: Love, Ritual, Collection

art, drawing, Exhibition

I’m happy to say I’ll be taking part in a group exhibition Obsession: Love, Ritual, Collection at the Embassy Tea Gallery in June.

My work for this exhibition is based in the art of letter-writing, as a certain ritual that embodies love, collection and, sometimes, obsession. I find that there is a spill over from words into images and vice versa…… subtle links between our verbal and image-based languages that can be very powerful.

Letters are a subject I have been exploring for a long time both in personal and in community work: Painted Veils

 

Further details of the upcoming exhibition below:

Obsession, Love, Ritual, Collection

Obsession, Love, Ritual, Collection

OBSESSION: Love, Ritual, Collection 

EMBASSY TEA GALLERY 

195 – 205 Union Street London SE1 0LN 

Exhibition open by appointment only 24th June – 27th June 

PRIVATE VIEW FRIDAY 27TH JUNE 6PM – 9PM 

Exhibition continues 28th – 29th JUNE 

A group show in aid of OCD UK 

curated by

Charlotte Meddings

www.charlottemeddings.com

http://www.facebook.com/TheCuratorLondon

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Prints at WeMakeLondon

art, Camden, Camden Market, Market Stall, Prints
Helicopter Leaves in Violet '13

Helicopter Leaves in Violet ’13

Since taking a stall to sell prints and framed work at Camden Market in 2013 (currently in hiatus – or hibernation) I have been selling prints at the lovely little shop WeMakeLondon in the west yard of the market next to all the yummy foodstuffs. Lots of different artists have their work there so if your by and want to see some artwork there’s quite a lovely mix – do pop in !

Find WeMakeLondon in the market here

http://www.wemakelondon.co.uk/

wemakelondon shop

Willow Series '13

Willow Series ’13

Artist in Residence

architecture, art, drawing, Exhibition, Illustration, location drawing, location painting, Painting

I am happy to say I have asked to be an artist in residence at the Caravanserai project in Canning Town following the 21Artists exhibition in late November for which I created and showed artwork based around the local area. The piece itself can be seen in progress below and further images and details on the project found here.

http://caravanserai.org.uk/artists-in-residence/

an-east-paint

I look forward to working on future projects with Caravanserai.