hole in my pocket

Potato - fun words to say

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:50:00 +0000

Funny the things that go through your mind when you should be doing something else. The word Potato just got stuck in there and I realised what a fun word it is to say. It is also a very versatile and tasty veggie who provides his service in many forms from mash to crisps. Here's to the Potato.

Shout

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:58:00 +0000

I keep a folder on my desktop into which I save images I find which I like. Today I realised that there are now nearly 5,000 of the little blighters. Having just spent the best part of an hour clicking through and reminding myself about how many brilliant artists, designers and crafty types there are out there I am both inspired and very daunted to start drawing a new project. There are a lot of really talented folks out there making some amazingly cool things. I have just spent the last hour going "oh boy I wish I'd drawn that." This has also made me think about a nice little interview I read earlier today by an artist whose images are in my little image shrine.

You can see one of the many illustrations that Shout has drawn above and you can read more about his work and the story behind his name here on Illustration Friday.

Happy 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:34:00 +0000

GFF2012 Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:10:00 +0000

Here's the little trailer I directed for the Glasgow Film Festival with the brilliant help from Joanna Susskind and Savalas. Further to my previous post about the concept I thought I'd share a brief piece about the production.

PRODUCTION

As well as running creative duo Hole in my Pocket, I'm also an architect by day so the quick turnaround required for the project was going to give me a few problems (especially as the nights were fast drawing in and the chances of grabbing the right location photos were disappearing in the darkening evenings and miserable weather). The first thing then was to find a talented animation collaborator who could interpret my thoughts and stitch the whole sequence together. Joanna Susskind was the ideal person and I was hugely lucky that she was both available and interested in teaming up on the project. I really like her work: she's made some brilliant trailers for lots of different people including one for The Citizen Theatre's production of A Clockwork Orange, which used a similar technique to what I had in mind for this film.

After our first meeting it became clear that we were both on the same wavelength and that my two years of thinking meant we had a strong plan of exactly how to structure and sequence the film. A couple of long days photographing later and we had all the components in place to make the piece. (Special thanks to Roddy and Bruce for their roles in capturing Glasgow's very own Gene Kelly. His outfit was spot on.)

While Joanna put together some mock drafts for the GFF team to review I got chatting with Savalas who were due to mix the Dolby Cinema track for us. They liked our idea and very kindly offered us the use of their studio and sound bank to produce the audio. This was a big life saver as there wasn't a budget to hire a composer to produce a special piece of music, as I had originally intended. As a compromise we came up with the idea of the tuning radio sound with the images fading from one to the other like the channels are being changed. A couple of days in a dark sound studio in Govan and we had the rough audio bones for the final piece. We then spent a very enjoyable day in Savalas Dolby Studio (the only one in Scotland), where we played about with the directions and locations the sound hit us from, making little helicopters zooming round our heads.

We were really pleased with the final piece and think it looked good in a test run on the GFT screen but really looking forward to seeing it properly when it runs before movies. For fun we hid a few wee things in some of the shots for the more eagle eyed film geeks to spy. So keep your eyes peeled when it hits the screens later this month. We are also working up some other film scenes for a series of stills and possibly an extended trailer. Once we started coming up with ideas we just couldn't stop!

Here's hoping it will get people thinking about Glasgow as the setting for films - a new generation of stories set in our fair city, creating the myth and legend of what the Glasgow of the next century will be - and not just the set dressing that it has been recently for the likes of Batman, Cloud Atlas and Brad Pitt's World War Z.

Lumberjack Mug Brand

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Just finalising the little mark brand for the base of the lumberjack mug.

Insomniac defence

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 17:22:00 +0000

Days off are for wimps

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:51:00 +0000

Drew this to make myself feel better about not having had a day off for several months (I know it my own fault). Sure lots of other folks working freelance in various creative industries are in the same boat.

Got a bit sick yesterday from all the people tweet/gloating that the Scottish windy pops had allowed them to go home early (Most not only work but also live in Glasgow City Centre where it wasn't that bad.) What was the number one thing these people did with their day off apparently? Watched news 24 images of the storm!!! It was outside, why didn't they just look out the window?

We weren't much better to be honest. We spent much of the day checking out the window to see the tents of the anti-capitalist protesters in the park and taking bets on when the first would blow down. The happy campers were up to the task though and through some extra rope and some sandbags they survived. Still not sure why they don't have banners or signs up explaining the purpose behind their demonstration but suppose it was just as well as those would have definitely vanished up the street.

Home and Interiors Scotland October

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:47:00 +0000

Last month I got interviewed by Home and Interiors Scotland magazine and you can read my waffling by clicking on the image above. My Adam and Eve dolls were also one of the editiors picks at their recent exhibition.

Good grief it is windy today, the trees in the park opposite the flat are all bending quite alarmingly. I think a little trip up onto the roof to batten down the hatches might be in order, though might have to tiw some weights to my shoes to stop me flying off.

Hope the wind dies down before tomorrow when I will be running a stall at Sloans Outdoor Market in Glasgow. It takes place in the narrow wynd outside the old coach house/ restaurant and I'm wondering how much of a wind tunnel it might be? Watch out for bargins as my belongings blow away down Buchanan Street. I'll be there 11-5 on both Saturday and Sunday pop along and see me.

Made in the Shade - Holiday Hullabaloo

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:00:00 +0000

Its back. The wondrous event that is the Made in the Shade market @ The Lighthouse. After at least 12months absence the girls from MITS have been persuaded to organise another of their design/ art markets and this time I shall be there too, so if you are after some unique hand made gifts then pop along.

"We are pleased as festive punch to invite you all to join us at The Lighthouse on Saturday 10th December for a special, one-off edition of our Made in the Shade shopping event.

With over 40 of Scotland's best designer makers and indie crafters taking part, you can expect to solve all those pesky Christmas gift dilemmas in one swoop! From textiles, homewares, stationery and ceramics to jewellery, accessories, millinery and fashion, Made in the Shade is giving ol' Mr Clause a run for his money this year. We might not have the sleigh (or the reindeer), but my word, we surely have the finest pick of unique presents and treats you ever did see. To whet your appetite and to plan your shopping strategy, you can meet our Holiday Hullabaloo vendors here. Stay tuned to our blog for vendor profiles and gift guides in the run up to the event.

We want to make this one-off edition of our Made in the Shade event extra special. With a little help from our friends, we're set to bring you THE festive shindig of the season!"

New Folksy

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:36:00 +0000

I'm liking the new Folksy site. I know there have been a few wee bugs but the new clean style makes everyones products look great and has highlighted that I really need to spend a couple of days reshooting images of all my stuff.

One thing I noticed which is a funny coincedence, the new logo above has almost the same colour arrangement as the one I mocked up for my interview with them earlier in the year. Most spooky was the fact that I almost went with a logo minus the black outlines too. Good minds think alike it seems.

Poppytalk - Pre Christmas Market

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 10:35:00 +0000

I am very pleased to say that I have a stall with online market extraordinaires Poppytalk. Created by husband and wife team Jan and Earl who have been running a brilliant curated market of creative types since 2005. In that time they have built up a hugely impressive range of sellers and their daily blog is a great source for inspiration.

Check out their blog and the work on sale. They have also made pretty cool gift guide to take the hassle out of Christmas Shopping.

Blog & Buy Sale - December 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:47:00 +0000

This month I have an online market stall with Blog&Buy with a great selection of other independant makers of interesting things. Here's a bit about it all.

"ROLLLL UP! ROLLLLL UP! Every month the BlogAndBuySale online Stalls showcase the very best independent creative sellers. This month sees the launch of their 6 week Christmas special. Rummage through the online Stalls to find that perfect festive gift; from brussel sprout wrapping paper to hand made stripy mittens, they have it all. The BlogAndBuySale Stalls will help you discover amazing creative talent and point you in the right direction to buy that perfect present.

You can support you the sellers by sharing their Stall with the world and also be in with a chance of winning some great prizes.

This months Stalls can be found here :
http://www.blogandbuysale.com/blogandbuysale-stalls-christmas-showcase/

A little more about BlogAndBuySale...

Intended to promote artists and designers who sell their work on the internet, BlogAndBuySale is all about helping up and coming talent looking to get noticed and make some real cash to boot. There are so many brilliant things getting sold by independent artists and designers, but the problem is the public doesn’t always stumble upon them. "

GFF2012 Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Great news, I've been asked to create the trailer for the Glasgow Film Festival 2012. The Festival HQ is in one of my favourite places in Glasgow, the GFT where I once worked as a doorman so I'm delighted to be involved with them. The idea behind my trailer is actually a revised version of the concept I was shortlisted to make for them in 2010. I really loved the idea then and think it will make a great film. Here's a little background to my idea.

CONCEPTGlasgow has always had a strong connection to the cinema, from their very dawn back in the 1890's through to their hey day in the 1930's when we had more cinemas per person than any other city outside of America. A cinema within five mins walk from your house and people on average going once a week. Even today in the UGC we've still got Britain's busiest cinema - I guess Glaswegians really like popcorn.

My proposal played with this history and relationship. I found it interesting that despite our love for the cinema and despite lots of films being made here, few are actually ever set here. I started to wonder, what would the classics of cinema's past have been like if their setting had actually been Glasgow and not London, New York or Tokyo.

In many ways cities are in part defined by the films and literature that are set within them. These stories sit overlaid onto the streets and buildings shaping our perceptions and imaginations of what can happen there - be it the smog filled streets of Sherlock Holmes' London or the zippy fast talking of Woody Allen's Manhattan.

My idea is therefore an animated sequence of 3D paper cut outs with blend different famous movie shots and scenes into Glasgow settings. These will take you on a fast paced and quick cutting tour of the city and its relationship to film history.

I'll be collaborating with the brilliant Joanna Susskind on the project, I really like her previous work, she's made some pretty cool little trailers for other folks. I think my idea and her animatery skills should combined to turn out a great film, fingers crossed.

Its quite a short production time so I shall keep a little blog update of the process as we go along. Tonight will be our first brainstorming production meeting.

Try Stripes

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 18:35:00 +0000

Had a very nice little meeting today about possibly directing the trailer for the Glasgow Film Festival next year. Its a fun wee idea we've come up with so got our fingers crossed that we get it. Should find out over the weekend. More news Monday.

Print & Design Now! Returns

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:56:00 +0000

PRINT & DESIGN NOW! 2011 was an exhibition that I was in at the SW1 Gallery in London town earlier in the Summer. From the photos it looks like a lot of fun and you can spot my piece in the below photo - the lady with grey top and black handbag is gazing at it in what can only be described as awe (or bewilderment.)

The exhibition is now on tour and travelling to interesting other locations - next top is Bearspace from 4 November until 16 December. If you are in the big smoke it should be worth a visit. You can also see the majority of items online too.

BEARSPACE Gallery

152 Deptford High Street, London, SE8 3PQ Googlemaps
Open Wednesday—Saturday 10-6 pm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything smells of Carrots

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:23:00 +0000

My all time favourite Christmas joke in card form.

Etsy
Folksy

Bad English

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:58:00 +0000

This morning I got my first real spam/scam contact through my online shop. Thankfully up until today most correspondence I've received through my online shops has been lovely and friendly and most importantly genuine. I've had lots of nice messages from people throughout the UK and also from elsewhere in the globe. The problem I've found though is that opening your shop to an international global market means that quite a few of your customers may not use English as their first language and any email they send automatically triggers the junk mail sensor in my head. This makes me feel incredibly guilty as I don't like mistrusting people, its sad that someones knowledge of English can make me react in that way but it really has come to be the number one signal that something is wrong with an email. (As someone whose spelling and grammar can be pretty atrocious at times I could easily fall foul of the same prejudice myself.)

When I first started selling online I got an email from a customer in Brazil which was really poorly written and was quite hard to understand. She started by apologising that her English wasn't great and that she wanted to buy something from me but that she needed a rather odd postal arrangement as it was a surprise gift. After a good bit of correspondence and some Googling of her name and email address I finally decided that she was in fact real and took a risk on the posting the item. Thankfully it all worked out great and she was delighted with the print but I very nearly just decided to give it a miss.

Here's the message I received today, if you get the same message just ignore it. (saves you getting on their spam message radar.)

"hello, i want to make immediate purchase of your item, what is the present condition?

do you accept PayPal as mode of payment? what is the final asking price?

kindly get back with your reply to my private email: tracymichael2011@yahoo.com

hope to read from you soon. Best Regard"

I however wanted to hear the spammers story (I somehow enjoy how ridiculous their messages can be) so dropped them a polite reply and got one of the old classic stories in return. The Spammer, in pigeon English, really like my item much. want to buy for secret present for mum who very important not know item is coming. Sadly they are oceanographer and on sea so cannot complete sale through Folksy. Please tell how can pay and pick up agent will come and pick up item direct. All need is direct Paypal details and will arrange payment.

Delete, block and forward to Folksy's spam police.

The other scam I've had people try isn't an attempt to rip off bank details its more a bit of a cheeky attempt to get a discount. I've had people contact me pretending they run a shop and wanting to purchase a range of items wholesale. It sounded good so I sent them wholesale prices and asked for more info on their shop. They emailed back to say they wanted to just test the water and would only take two items at the wholesale price and ignored my request for more info on their shop. I'm a bit picky about where I sell so again asked for more info and got a quick reply saying its a very small shop in New York, with no name or real details. A Google search later it turned out that they didn't have a shop at all they were really just buying the items for themselves and the whole shop thing was just an attempt to get the items cheaper.

All these little scams can be very annoying but as long as you keep your wits about you, ask for details about them and their company and do a bit of research into user names/ email addresses whenever you are suspicious then you can usually spot any dodgy characters pretty easily. I just hope the scam artists don't realise that a little investment in some English lessons might pay off pretty quickly!!!

Anyways its not all doom and gloom some people are trying to make a positive out of a negative and find creative uses for spam - here are a two of my favourites:

My friend Eilidh MacAskill created the Spam Song lifting lines from spam emails she received into a hilarious and rather rude song as part of her project ">Eilidh's Daily Ukulele Ceilidh. (snippet of the Spam Song about half way through linked video)
Big brother to one half of Hole in my Pocket and our IT guru, Richard Airlie created the wonderfully addictive ">Spam Radio which takes junk mail and turns it into a hypnotic robot voiced monologue with electronic soundtrack.

Dr Jessica and Little Miss Hyde

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 12:25:00 +0000

The spooky true story of the life and fate of little miss Jessica Hyde and her chemistry set.

Got a nice email today to say that I was being featured on the brilliant Poppytalk site which is one of my favourite places to find interesting new artists and designers so am feeling pretty pleased to be in amongst them and am going to go have a celebratory bowl of soup. Here's a link to their post.

Happy Halloween Weekend to all.

Have your elf a merry little Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:10:00 +0000

One of the new (set of five) Christmas cards I've made for this year.
Folksy

Ho ho ho

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:51:00 +0000

Not sure if making cards is going to be all that fun. It forces you to start thinking about Christmas far too soon. All my stockists are currently getting their winter goods in and so I've had to get my new Christmas cards printed up already. Quite pleased with the new set, a different style to last years range. (which will be available again this year too.) Will be uploading the rest to the online shops over the next few weeks but at the moment the above is the only one on there.

Etsy

Folksy

Infographics show @ Sho Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 19:04:00 +0000

Mario Klingemann: Dada Visualizations

Hole In My Pocket: Heaven or Hell & Christmas Comparisons

Matt McKenna: Tenements

Ellen Mueller: Practical Preparedness Videos

Some images of the rather cool looking Infographics show at the Sho Gallery in Cardiff, you can spot our two images hiding in the background. The show proved very popular and the Cardiff Design Festival directors liked it so much that they have extended its run and moved the work to the festival HQ @ the Cardiff Story Museum in the city centre where it will be exhibited until the 9 November. All images are by Sp:ke Dennis and can be viewed here.

Infographics Exhibition

Private View

Hole in My Pocket: Heaven or Hell & Christmas Comparisons

Ellen Mueller & Phil McCollam: Practical Preparedness Videos

Daniel Ulf Hansen: On Yer Bike Mate

Alix Martin: The Facts About Rape

Innes Jones: Rant #1

The Perpetual Age Dilemma

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:52:00 +0000

HIMPTOLOGY @ Cookie for Bungofest

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:26:00 +0000

The stainglass window from the outside

A version of the HIMPTOLOGY exhibition is now on display in brilliant cafe/ venue/ restaurant Cookie in the Southside of Glasgow. "Bringing their thoughts on faith, belief and belonging to Cookie, Hole in my Pocket form their own religion and ask you to become a true believer."
Its part of the inaugural Bungofest organised by The Strathbungo Society and The Arches. In and around various Strathbungo locations there will be a host of free spoken word, poetry, theatre, kids workshop and music events. The full list is below and you'll see quite a few are roving the area. The idea is for you to drop into one of the local bars/ cafes and get some free entertainment at the same time.

Lots of great people are involved with local author Alan Bissett reading scenes from his novels, the amazing Eilidh MacAskill leading her Arches choir in full song and the evening topped off with performances from comedian Bratchy and performer Kieran Hurley.

Looks like its going to be a great day. Our work is on display and for sale at the venue for the next month. If anything catches your interest drop us an email or visit our online shop.

COOKIE

Cookie Scotland

72 Nithsdale Road
Glasgow
G41 2AN

9 of the Himptology drawings are on display

3 of the Himptology commandments are on display

5 of the Himptology diagrams and the giant HIMP LOVES YOU print are on display

Diners enjoying their meal with the stainglass window in the background

Cookie Exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:20:00 +0000

Currently reprinting parts of our Himptology show for an exhibition at local restuarant Cookie as part of the Bungofest festival organised by the Strathbungo Society and The Arches. Looks like a really great community event. I'm also going to have to make another stainglass window so a busy evening of cutting up rolls of coloured cellophane awaits me. Huzzah.

EDIT: Well completed last night (cheers to Kieran and his ladder climbing skills). I wasn't sure how it would work in a smaller setting but the modified show is actually looking really good and the big window has turned out rather cool. Will try and get some photos this weekend. Click the link below for the Facebook page about the festival its going to be great with performances from such Southside greats as Alan Bisset and Eilidh MacAskill.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=186335201437515

Infographics @ Sho Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Alburt) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:36:00 +0000

Two of our prints will be part of the Infographics exhibition at the Sho Gallery as part of the Cardiff Design Festival. Should be good. The two prints on display are available to buy at the following links Christmas Comparisons. and Dyslexic Christians.

About:
As Part of the Cardiff design festival, "Infographics" at The SHO Gallery, curated by Spike Dennis, presents work by an international selection of artists and designers whose work addresses the current trend for information visuals, or ‘Infographics. The breadth of topics covered is vast and Spike is hoping that visitors will be inspired, shocked, educated, enlightened, and perhaps most importantly, made to smile.

Exhibitors:

Alix Martin \ Amy Kett \ Chris Glynn \ Daniel Ulf-Hansen \ Hole in My Pocket \ Innes Jones \ Juan Manuel De J. Escalante \ Mario Klingemann \ Matt McKenna \ Ninian Carter \ Phil McCollam & Ellen Mueller \ Rob Stevens \ See What You Mean

Location:

The SHO Gallery, The Coach House, 1A Inverness Place, Roath, Cardiff CF24 4RU

Opening Hours:

Monday: Closed

Tuesday – Wednesday: 10.00 – 17.30

Thursday: 10.00 – 18.30

Friday: 10.00 – 17.30

Sunday – 11.00 – 4.00