and there will be unicorns

Just got back from a most excellent week shredding the gnar with the good folk of Ilovedust. I remained uninjured throughout, which I consider I great success.

One month in to 2011 and I’ve already managed to tick off some big ticks on this year’s tick list…. go snowboarding, get engaged to my girlfriend, get swine flu and get an agent. Swine flu was a late comer to the list, but it seemed everyone’s doing it these days and it coincided nicely with getting engaged and snowboarding. Kelly came down with it the day I proposed, which was also the first day of our snowboarding trip. I followed shortly after.

With those three points out the way I then secured myself world-wide representation courtesy of the good folk of AgencyRush, who will be handling all illustration briefs for me from now on. So now we’re  recovered, the celebrations can finally begin. Here’s to you 2011, you shit!

I am lucky enough to be included in the upcoming Freakshow Exhibition, curated by my clever and pro-active friends, Mister MegaMunden and Mister Johnny McCulloch. The exhibition features such big name talent as Luke Insect, Shan Jiang, Yuko Michishita, Steve Wilson and Matt Taylor amongst many other talented peoples. The private view is next friday 30th April 7-9pm.

The Exhibition will run every saturday throughout May between 10am and 5.30pm.

For those who have not yet heard of Glug, it’s the craze that’s sweeping the nation, like hula-hooping and binge-drinking. Glug is a place where creative types get drunk in a room together, whilst a selected few industry figureheads create a veneer of purpose through some most excellent show and tells.  The night has spread to Brighton from London, and the next one takes place next friday at New hero – where I will be creating a piece of proper art with old fashioned pencils and paints throughout the evening. Find out more here.

Apologies to anyone caught by my out of office reply debacle. I unwittingly ticked the ‘reply to all emails’ box and thus sent a reply to every single email already in my inbox. Thus, a lot of of people have been told countless times that I was out of the studio for the last week. For those who remain unaware, I have just returned from Austria, and as you can see, it was quite nice.

Up until the weekend, the only enjoyment all this snow had brought me was watching the various news channels’ hilarious attempts to squeeze an emotional narrative out of every inane event that occurred in front of their snowbound cameras. Working from Home, I had become convinced that all roads were impassable and, paradoxically, the snow on the hills ten minutes from my house would have melted within hours of settling as usual.

Turns out I was wrong.

The pub at the foot of the slopes provided excellent apres ski and definitive Proof that we were still in England.

I had hoped that our new arrival, Cortez The Kitten, would follow in my footsteps and take up the family trade. However, despite spending all day within a two foot radius of my mac he has failed to grasp its significance. The only sign of cognition he has shown was to chew through the broadband line…twice. He is no longer welcome in the studio.