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I have done a little blog about the first Salon event of the year, A Sense of Place: Southend in literature.

Find it here: http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2012/05/salon-southend-in-literature.html

Come and join Matt ArtPix and yours truly at the fab Betty Blue Eyes Handmade and Vintage fayre in Leigh-on-Sea next Saturday, 24th March! Matt will be showcasing some new designs (cards, foamboard posters, framed images, retro football) and some interesting books! Loads of amazing traders as always, and tea and cakes… Free entry!

http://www.mattartpix.blogspot.co.uk/
http://www.mattartpix.com/#!news

http://www.bettyblueeyesvintage.com/

Do you have (loads of) money and are looking to buy a property in France as well as doing something for Art? Then Jean Linard’s ”Cathedral” might be the one for you!
It is a truly amazing place and could be an ideal B&B and art gallery… Linard was a very well-known, eccentric French artist (his art is ”L’Art Brut”) and passed away in 2010. His home, the ”Cathedral”, is under threat.
The estate agency is here (English version): http://www.chateauxetpatrimoine.com/en/Manor-564.html

The campaign to save the place is here: https://www.facebook.com/SauvonsLaCathedraleDeJeanLinard

The Arts Council has today (30 January 2012) launched a new £37 million fund to ensure more people living in places where levels of involvement are currently low, experience and are inspired by the arts.
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/news/arts-council-news/creative-people-and-places-fund-opens-applications/

I have written a review of Joolz Denby’s Wild Thing. People really should read it. It is awesome (the book, not my review!).

http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2012/01/review-wild-thing-by-joolz-denby.html

If you love music and literature, then you should go and see Joolz Denby reading some extracts of her stunning novel, Wild Thing.
It’s February 6th at the Monarch in Camden, London. (some other nights have been organised around the country, you can find the poster here: http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2012/01/ignite-books-gala-nights.html

I will be reviewing Ms Denby’s novel myself (it will be up on my blog this weekend), but in the meantime, Leigh-on-Sea dweller Phill Jupitus had this to say about Joolz’s novel:

’Joolz Denby is a supremely gifted writer with a wonderful eye for detail. Her characters are so keenly observed, the world they inhabit so vivid that you often have to stop reading just to take it all in. She brings her well honed poetic sensibility to the dense world of the novel, which infuses the work with a sparkle, wit and rhythm that you rarely see.
Wild Thing lifts the veil on the myth of corporate of rock and roll, and those who vainly worship it. It seems fitting in the year of the Dickens bi-centennial, that I find myself reading a modern writer with a similar unerring talent for depicting a grimly seductive world of louche urban decay, sparse Northern desolation, human degradation, populated by a cast of superbly drawn characters.
Joolz Denby pulls no punches in her prose, and then like any caring human being, takes the trouble to tickle you as well. ’

Saturday, 11th February, I will be helping Matt ArtPix at the Vintage Victory Valentine’s fair (http://vintagevictory.com/).
Craft, vintage, art and design…
This will take place from 10.30am to 3.30pm at the Shenfield Parish Hall.

Matt ArtPix will be showing his new Dazzling Decades collage: the Tipsy 20s, some more 60s, 70s and 80s cards and a special ”LOVE” series!

A sneak preview of the 20s design here: http://www.mattartpix.blogspot.com/2012/01/tipsy-20s.html

Then of course it will be the Leigh-on-Sea Handmade and Vintage fair on March 24th!

Hi,
tomorrow, Saturday 14th January, I will be selling CDs on Matt ArtPix’s stall at the Big Society Department Store 106 Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff… If you’re interested in buying cheap CDs (electro/industrial/indie/rock/metal/gothic – even three J-Rock albums!) then come to the stall where Matt Art Pix sells his wares, we’ll be there! It’s £1/album, 50p singles/Eps and I might even do £25 for the whole lot! Quite a few are promotional copies from when I was a music hack!

The John Martin exhibition at Tate Britain, Apocalypse, ends this Sunday.
Go if you haven’t been already.
It is quite something.

http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2012/01/2.html

Indie, Rock, Electro, Industrial, Metal, Gothic… This Saturday 14th January, I will be selling some CDs (very cheap!) at the stall Matt ArtPix is sharing at The Big Society Department Store in Hamlet Court Road. Everything must go, preferably! Pop in in the afternoon if you are interested!

Have you been to THE BIG SOCIETY DEPARTMENT STORE at number 106, Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff? Well, you should, especially if you are looking for some good value vintage, antiques, art, design, craft, furniture and jewellery…

My partner in crime MATT ARTPIX is now selling his goodies there (vintage inspired designs, retro football collages, photography; all available as cards, framed images, posters…)
Find all you need to know about it on Matt’s blog: http://www.mattartpix.blogspot.com/2012/01/big-news-at-big-society.html

And if you would like a stall there, there is still some free space, so pop in and ask…

A very interesting article about how creativity and art could become a very important force for growth in the current economic situation.
http://chicagopolicyreview.org/2011/11/21/ushering-in-the-creative-age-alan-freeman/

Tomorrow Saturday 26th November, I will be helping Matt ArtPix at the Truly Madly Handmade and Vintage fair. It’s at the Shire Hall in Chelmsford, 10am-4pm and it is free to get in.
Matt will have a few surprises … More details on his blog: http://mattartpix.blogspot.com/2011/11/truly-madly-vintage.html

Blog update: I have reviewed Syd Moore’s ”The Drowning Pool”. Syd Moore is the founding editor of Level 4 Magazine, the cultural magazine for the Southend area, and her book, based on the local story of Sarah Moore, the sea-witch of Leigh-on-Sea, is quite a thrilling read. Find the review here: http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2011/11/review-the-drowning-pool-by-syd-moore.html

Yesterday was Night of The Demon at the Palace Hotel, organised by The White Bus: http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2011/11/night-of-the-demon.html

We had a great evening at Chalkwell Hall: Ghost Stories, Tales from Beyond The Grave. I have written a blog about this, here it is!
http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2011/10/tricks-and-treats-at-chalkwell-hall.html

Dorset… its quiet creative energy has put me under its spell…
The blog also contains an update on the campaign to save the Bridport Art and Vintage quarter and the links to follow if you were interested in knowing a bit more about it…

http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2011/10/a-week-in-dorset.html

A little report (ok, it’s a bit long-ish, but it’s got images in it!) on the Fulham Palace Art Fair that has taken place this weekend in London… It was rather fab!
http://missgish.weebly.com/1/post/2011/10/the-fulham-palace-art-fair.html

December will be super busy (snow permitting) for Matt ArtPix and consequently myself, his little helper!

We will be appearing at the following events:

December 3&4: Made in Essex Xmas Art, Craft and Food fair, Hedingham Castle
December 10th: Silver Jam Tea Club (Vintage and handmade fair), Upminster
December 17th: The Vintage Victory Market, Shenfield

For all the dates and more details about venues, etc. go to Matt ArtPix’s blog:
http://mattartpix.blogspot.com/2011/09/dazzling-december.html

The first draft of ”The Book of Thoth” is now standing at 57,000 words, and I am no way near the end… It’s still early days, so much of the story still to go… I can already think of a thousand things to do on draft 2!
”I Am a Muse”, my first novel, is currently with two literary agencies, two indie publishers and one novel competition panel. Phew.

Still manage to find the time to blog about culture, literature, art and writing though…
http://missgish.weebly.com/blog.html