Showcase Archives

Today’s showcase features the breathtaking digital creations of Polish artist, Karol Kolodziński. This 21-year-old uses Photoshop to stunning effect, designing mind-bending abstract images that astonish with their pseudo-organic, chaotic allure. Every piece of work in his portfolio is unique in its appeal, from the dark and brooding Chasin the Wind, to the anarchic and colourful Tower. It is hard to pick one particular favourite from the set, but we were instantly drawn towards Deep Breath and hooked by the manipulation of light and the seemingly bottomless depth of the digital painting.

The majority of images are non-commercial, although Karol does feature a sample of his commissioned work – such as the vibrant wallpapers created for Lech beers, one of the biggest breweries in Poland. His website, Sugarrhyme.com, is slick and manages to avoid the common issues of a Flash production (namely, over-the-top effects and loading times) while still looking absolutely gorgeous with a sheen effect on the thumbnails that never fails to delight the more childish side of our otherwise professional nature…

This is a truly inspirational portfolio that proves how far you can go with dedication, imagination and (of course) the right software. If you can’t get enough of Karol’s work, there is always a portfolio of his website designs and his DeviantArt profile for your entertainment.

Everyone loves Harry Potter, right? Well, OK so there are those who argue it’s poorly written, inconsistent yada yada yada. But no one can deny that it’s a rip-roaring read and has inspired millions of children to discover the joy of books. Now it seems that Potter-culture refuses to stop there, and what has ArtsWom discovered lurking on MySpace, but the Wizard Rock EP of the Month club! A scintillatingly enchanted space that will ship you the best in magical pop, indie and rock ‘n’ roll monthly.

From the whimsical joys of Harry and The Potters to the lo-fi riot grrrl wailings of Ginny and the Heartbreakers – if you fancy an aural blast of super songs based entirely on J.K. Rowling’s enchanting series (and lets face it – who doesn’t) that get over to the MySpace page without delay. Muggles, half-bloods and pure wizards are all more than welcome, and in the spirit of the wizard rock genre, we are assured that everything is being kept entirely commercial free.

And what’s more, it’s all for charity. Membership fees (after covering costs of course) are entirely donated to First Book, a non-profit organization that gives children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. So whether you have embraced the power of dark side and want to listen to the evil-loving Voldemort who thrash out dark metal from Norway – or prefer the rather sweeter strains of The Remus Lupins who preach ‘fight evil, read books! – Take a look at www.wizardrockclub.com.

For some reason, a rather majestic mallard had decided that this morning was an ideal time to waddle up the road to the ArtsWom HQ, despite the nearest pond being over a mile away. Seeing the adventurous fellow on his expedition made us think - Artswom has been rather neglecting our feathered friends recently so, as well as crumbling up a slice of toast for him, we felt it was only right to scope out an artist like Rebecca Latham for our daily showcase.

A realistic wildlife and nature painter, Rebecca has been widely exhibited across the world and her critically acclaimed paintings have won her favour (and membership) with a host of prestigious fine art societies. What’s more, Latham has a rather fascinating blog where she details various stages of her work, and the destinations of her work, so one can take a look at the beautiful paintings take shape over time.

However, Rebecca is not all about producing splendid works for our viewing pleasure and, throughout her career, this dedicated individual has taken some serious time out to help the objects of her affection. Raising thousands of dollars for wildlife conservation through her artwork and paintings, she aims to bring the beauty of the natural world to the public, whilst encouraging young folk to experience the joys of fine art and wildlife.

A change of tack in today’s showcase sees ArtsWom journey to the centre of the internet’s literary core, revealing a treasure chest (or website) containing a veritable bounty of handwritten treasures (or a collection of rather super stories and the like). Ladies and gentlemen – this is www.pulp.net.

With each issue packed full of in-depth reviews, informative nuggets of information from guest editors (who in the past have included the likes of Helen Cross, Peter Hobbs and Laura Hird), happenings in the world of literature and three works of short story prose, Pulp.Net is a regularly monthly treat for anyone who wants to get their teeth into a good piece of original writing. And what’s more, two of the three stories included are guaranteed to be submissions from Pulp.net readers. What better way to get your work out there?

So how does one subscribe – and what’s the cost? Well the good news on that score is that to sign up to your monthly digest of literary luxury costs absolutely nada – just head to pulp.net and fill in your email address. Then, simply sit back and enjoy succulent semantics from across the globe - or put your best creative boots on and pen a masterpiece worthy of the eyes of an expectant nation (that incidentally will net you a £100 writer’s fee)… No pressure though.

‘Cool without being intimidating’ - The Guardian

‘Excellent fiction site’ - Erica Wagner, literary editor of The Times

Showcase, showcase – we love these showcases… And today’s hot picks are a troupe of fresh faced troubadours from Oxfordshire, who write the kind of sun-kissed, melodic nuggets of fruity pop that could well inspire you to spend a summer day blissed out in front of the cities dreaming spires.

Sounding a little like Belle and Sebastian lovingly preening the glossy locks of the Velvet Underground, but yet unmistakably forging their own identity, Foxes! (don’t forget the exclamation mark) exude the warmest of aural welcomes, yet manage to maintain a hint of punky DIY about themselves, with sparky riffs that nestle themselves joyfully into almost every song.

And whether they’re crooning about the Jacobite rebellion, or picking up a pack of cigarettes, singer Holly B exudes an unmissable charisma – offering every inch the vulnerable charm that Isobel Campbell or Regina Spektor have become so famous for. So head to their MySpace page or website without delay and give them a jolly good listening! Stand out track: 6 O’ Clock.

NME says “They won’t be the preserve of Oxford for long” – and it’s hard to disagree.

Featuring in today’s showcase - Cows with Guns is an “epic musical tale about the great cow revolution” with music by Dana Lyons and animation by Camedser.

In country and western style, Lyons’s song tells the tale of an abused, degraded and routinely massacred populace being punished under the brutal heel of an oppressive regime. From amidst the ranks of the downtrodden, a farsighted and dynamic individual emerged in a daring attempt to lead his compatriots to freedom. Despite his passion, this great cow guru was ignored and isolated by those he was so desperately attempting to save. Perhaps, the story would have ended there had the righteous rebel not been captured and carted off for summary execution.

With arrogance being their downfall, our hero’s captors were ill-prepared for the determination of their prisoner and quickly fell under his relentless – and resourceful – attack. Escaping from the clutches of the ruling classes, our protagonist destroyed the symbols of cow oppression and rejoined his comrades - inciting them to discard their cow-bells and fight for their freedom.

Whilst fortune may favour the brave, victory generally favours the better equipped and although our rebels are unparalleled in valour, the forces of tyranny have them severely outgunned. As the story draws to a conclusion, the beleaguered bovine face certain, bloody defeat…what could possibly turn the tide? Watch the video and find out.

With instantly addictive melodies, refreshing pop hooks and intriguing vocals – Windmill is a band poised on the precipice of super stardom. The heart of the group, Matthew Thomas Dillon, has developed a unique, intoxicating style that lifts his tunes away from the crowd and offers the listener a pleasant, dream-like experience.

Windmill’s MySpace page provides a sample of their style with four complete tracks from their debut album, Puddle City Racing. There are also a couple of music videos for your enjoyment that further promote the style of the band and their focus on music.

As a testament to their growing success, Windmill has a number of European tour dates lined up in the forthcoming months and their album – released on the 21st May – has received rave reviews from prestigious publications. It has probably been said, however, that one cannot claim true success until one has been showcased in the ArtsWom annals and so, Windmill, congratulations – you’ve made it!

As the second of our guests due to depart for the fine coast of Wales tomorrow to enjoy the literary fest that is Hay, it seems only suitable for today’s showcase to feature the blog of “working writer and reader” John Baker.

Long-term readers of ArtsWom may remember an article reporting on John Baker’s Learning to Write series (now in its 30th installment), that offers comprehensive and insightful advice on improving your writing skills. This alone should be incentive enough to warrant a gander, though John’s love of literature should prove intoxicating for all arty-types.

The site is very well designed, being easy to browse and determinedly ad-free. Helpful links along the side point you to his latest posts, latest comments and most popular articles with separate sections for his recently read books, favourite films and chosen stage & theatre productions.

There is also a link to his bookshop, where you can browse and purchase his growing library of novels – with the option of the author signing them upon request. Fingers crossed this showcase is enough to warrant a free copy…

Well the Hay Festival has officially kicked off and - for ten days at least – Wales will be the hottest destination for all literature lovers on the planet. Our sponsors, Sky Arts, are already there to provide daily coverage that will begin 8pm Friday night giving you an hour round-up of the best of the days events in a show called Hay-on-Sky. We are in the (annoyingly slow) process of uploading some clips from the programme, showing presenter Mariella Fostrup interviewing a selection of authors about the festival. Hopefully, these will be up soon!

If you can’t wait until then, Sky Arts have generously offered to accommodate guests from the blogosphere to cover the event and the first should be there as we speak!

Debi Alper is the author of the novels Me John and A Bomb, De Nada Nirvana, Trading Tatiana and Nirvana Bites. She also writes a great blog, is very forgiving towards simple art bloggers and their poor organisational skills AND is capable of almost ArtsWom-level punning… All in all, we were more than pleased when John Baker (another of our guests who will be travelling down on Saturday) gave us her name.

Debi left for Hay this morning and we look forward to reading her first posts from the festival. To get into the spirit of things, we recommend you jump across to her blog now to sample some of the pre-Hay hype and her response to our very last minute invitation!

Breaking into the world of professional art and design can be notoriously difficult. The Internet abounds with imaginative and creative portfolios from the hands of both the aspiring and the inspiring – eager to prove their ability and attract a following. In the past, the ArtsWom showcase has featured such people and the future will surely see many more added to our roll.

In a slight deviation (pun intended) from the norm, for today’s showcase we are celebrating the work of a great artist who has set up a DeviantArt profile simply to help others live up to their creative potential.

Falln-Brushes has created a gallery of free-to-download Paintshop brushes of amazing quality. Inspired by previous showcase artist, Agnieszka Szuba, we have already sample Falln-Brushes’s Smoke sets and are keen to push our imaginations to the limit with others. We stress that developing brush sets of such beauty is not easy and Falln-Brushes only asks to be credited in your work. For the amateur digital artist this is an excellent resource from a generous and talented individual.

Yet again, the intrepid ArtsWom team ventured deep into the dark underbelly of the hulking behemoth that is the Interweb (in a very cool, Inner Space kind of way – at least in our minds). Inevitably, we found ourselves misplaced around the proverbial lower intestine and realised that, sometimes, great art is just a few clicks away – as long as you know where to look.

So, motivated by either laziness or a desire to illustrate a point – you decide – we opted to spend the morning browsing the buzzing hive of artistic beauty that is Flickr, where we happened upon the work of Artolog.

Artolog is no stranger to recognition, having had his work featured on the cover of Wavelength and included in the Fotolog book. There is a large number of images on offer, divided into sets offering The Neighbourhood Owls, Circus and Baseball, for example. However, always enticed by ambiguity, ArtsWom were drawn towards the set titled, Interesting?

It would be futile to try and pigeon-hole Artolog. He has photographed people, places, flora and fauna all marked with a colourful vibrancy that, to us, proves his love is for the subject and the natural beauty he has captured in the moment.

[Updated - 6th June - Included link to Wavelength magazine that we carelessly neglected first time around. The resident ArtsWom Link-Slopper has been routinely beaten with due consideration]

Written by the malleably-named, Pliable, On An Overgrown Path is an involving and knowledgeable resource for classical music fans. The site layout is very simple, using only the basic Blogger template, which is by no means a criticism. The clean, white design means the blog is uncluttered and simple to navigate – the plain background never distracting from the excellent content.

Pliable updates the blog regularly, with some outstanding insight on the subject which clearly provokes a lot of passion from the writer. The articles are original and offer an extensive appraisal of current affairs in the classical music world, engaging the reader with commentary based on the author’s experience.

To consolidate its role as a comprehensive resource for all classical music enthusiasts, On An Overgrown Path boasts a massive blog roll providing a vast array of interesting links sure to keep you entertained for hours or, if you have an Internet connection currently operating as slowly as ours, even years…

For today’s showcase, we want you to sit back, turn the speakers up, close your eyes and think of….um…Scotland.

Billy Bates hails from Glasgow, Scotland and we found his “humble page of music” on MySpace a short while ago. He is a truly talented artist who describes teaching guitar as one of his greatest passions in his modestly, self-deprecating ‘about me’ section. Sadly, the page features samples of only four of his songs, but the haunting melodies and emotive singing will leave you wanting more.

He describes his influences as ‘mostly people who improvise’ and seems to have a very powerful ethic with regards to his evolution and style saying, “My own approach to music is a continuous development of listening and trying to form some kind of musical language…”. The hard-working artist has several shows lined up over the upcoming months, starting off on 25 May at the Ox-Fuzz Terminal Bar in his hometown.

Today’s showcase features the work of Agnieszka Szuba, an illustrator and graphic designer with a highly imaginative flair and seemingly inexhaustible talent. At the age of 28, Agnieszka can boast of an impressive CV and a truly inspiring portfolio that is bursting with quality work.

Agnieszka has created some fantastically melancholic and timelessly evocative illustrations that sit alongside clean and modern page layouts positioned next to bright, colourful flyers and children’s comics. There is something to appeal to everyone whether you just want to soak up the style or gain some inspiration. Enjoy.

Inspired by this recent thread uncovered in the web’s choicest community of creative conversation, Wetcanvas - ArtsWom went on a hunt for the best digital artist we could find to feature in today’s showcase.

For those so enamoured with our humble, little blog site that they can not bear to get click-happy on our pretty, blue links, we’d best summarise the discussion alluded to above to allow you a brief insight into our motives.

Tammy, who has just recently extended her artistic endeavours to breach the relatively recent shores of digital art, has been seeking advice and comfort from her fellow forum members regarding the perception of the form as ‘not real art’. Fortunately, the community responds with some excellent nuggets of wisdom that spark a lively discussion on the merits and application of digital art. Some ArtsWom staffers have been practicing digital art (on a purely amateur level) for a while now and take the view that this is a dynamic, exciting art form with almost limitless potential.

Liliana Sanches is a perfect example of how traditional media (in this case, photography) can be altered and enhanced by using computer software and accompanying technology, such as a Wacom tablet. Her Dark Art photoset on Flickr is a beautiful illustration of how the application of digital editing software can add an extra dimension to already great work. The photos resonate with emotion and draw the observer into the illusion to brilliant effect.

The New Art blog is the type of art blog that is far too scarce in the cyber landscape; it is simple in design, informed, interesting and well-maintained.

Vvoi looks after the site and is clearly a connoisseur of developing art. This is shown by his May 13^th entry on the theme of the tautological. He seems to have tastes that are akin to that of ArtsWom, listing among his favourite musicians Beck and Bjork with a little Tom Waits added to the mix.

Based on the Blogger template New Art is a testament to what can be achieved through the blogging medium. Vvoi’s site is exactly as it describes itself in its log line, ‘notes on installation art, performance art, theatre, cinema, painting, sculpture, digital art, and more…’.

To visit his site click here.