Time out in the Shed: a cup of Tea with Joshua Morris, our Artist of the Week

We caught up with Joshua Morris, our Artist of the Week, to find out a bit more about what brought him to photography, and what he thinks makes a great shot. Enjoy!

Classic Iceland

Joshua Morris

1. What first drew you to photography?
Honestly, I haven't been doing this for that long, and Chelsea is the main reason that I started to take photos for reasons other than to put in my holiday album.  Ive long followed her work and although I probably can't dedicate enough time to reach her level of expertise I hope to improve in my own way.

2. What is your favourite photographic memory, and why?
I suppose it would be not a picture but a camera.  As far back as I can remember my father owned this fancy Olympus camera.  This was back in the 70s and I dont remember other cameras, but this one was cool!  Many years later I found it in a box and cleaned it up.  Now its a cherished memory for me. Here's a picture of it:

  

Joshua Morris

3. Who is your favourite photographer, and why?
Well, I cant say Chelsea again, can I?  I would actually keep it close to home again and say its a tie between two of my friends (one of which is on the Shed)...Marisa Lopez and Aitor Rubio.  They both take amazing photos with vivid colours.

4. What would be your ideal camera, and where would you take it?
If we are being ideal, then its going to be the camera on my phone so I would have it with me all the time!  

The Face

Joshua Morris

5. Tell us what you enjoy most about your own work, and what has inspired you recently.
What I most like about my own stuff is that they are completely natural.  I dont use any filters or alter them in any way.  This can be a disadvantage sometimes because sometimes there is only a small flaw which turn a good photo into a great photo.  The biggest inspiration that I got was travelling through Iceland.  You can pretty much just take out your camera, point, shoot and come out with an award winning photo.  This is what inspired me to lean more about nature pictures and still life (although having said that my favourite picture has people in it).  

6. Do you have bursts of creativity - and when/where are you most creative?

Absolutely, but I know when they come since it is when I'm travelling and in the mindset.  


7. What are the most important elements of a successful photo?

There are so many things that can make or break a photo. But all successful photos will make people do a double take.  If someone looks at your photo, looks away and then feels compelled to look again, you're doing something right.

8. Tell us about your favourite photograph, either your own or someone else's, and please send us a copy if you have one!
My favorite photo is indeed my own, and one of the first that I took which I knew was a good one. This was just in front of one of the thousands of waterfalls in Iceland and this guy was taking close ups of his son.  The lush green grass and the water spray highlighted by an almost perfect lighting came together in this one.  If you look towards the left side of the water spray you can see the green reflected.  The area behind the fall is rock, so it wasn't coming from there.  

Joshua Morris

To see more of Josh's work, please visit his Shed Profile. And to buy prints of images by any of our Shed Creatives, feel free to visit our online Shed Shop!

New exhibition in Barcelona - a Shed Collaboration

A collaborative exhibition between the Shed Photography and independent artists in Barcelona. Including work by Tim Edwards (cover image), Alfredo Lietor, Paula Youens, Andy White, and many other Shed Creatives, the show opens on the 7th June and runs until 6th July. 

Coco-Mat are hosting the exhibition in their beautiful store in the centre of Barcelona. Don't miss it if you are in town! And we'll have some pics of the show to show those of you in the UK how it's looking when the set-up is complete.

For those of you near enough to come along to the exhibition, here is a link to a map of the venue. 

Artist of the Week: Joshua Morris

Our Artist of the week this week is Joshua Morris - a Barcelona-based photographer, who really enjoys his new found passion. We'll be hearing from Josh throughout this week, so to get you started, here is an introduction from the man himself, and a selection of his portfolio images. Enjoy, and happy Monday!

Abandoned House

Joshua Morris

I am far from a professional photographer as I dont look to make a living from taking pictures.  What I feel is special about photography is that more often than not its luck to get that special shot.  You can go out and search for beauty or something interesting, but you need a coming together of different elements to get the best shots.

If you know what you are looking for, then you can get it. 

- Josh Morris

Icelandic Street Artist

Joshua Morris 

Lisboa Textures

Joshua Morris

Formentera Sunset

Joshua Morris

To see more of Josh's work, please visit his Shed Profile, where all the images are for sale!

Shed Creatives exhibit in Lyme Regis!

Shed Creatives Moya Paul and John Marriage are two out of three exhibitors in this exciting new exhibition, opening in Lyme on Friday June 1st. Get along and see it if you have the chance!

Reflections on the work of other Shed Creatives, by Ian Dicks, Artist of the Week

Here are some Shed images I like. I avoid pretentious analysis; there is basically good, bad and indifferent; these are all good!

- Ian

Mural Shadow

Jess Douglas

Screen 2 Oil on Canvas

Sally Shrubsall

Rings

Maisie Hill

The Face

Joshua Morris

Thanks Ian, for this and for all your contributions as Artist of the Week! It's been great to see more of your work and get to know your process. 


To see Ian's work, please visit his Shed Profile, where all the images are for sale, and also take a look at his own website. 

Time out in the Shed: a cup of Tea with Ian Dicks, aka Dixie, our Artist of the Week

We had a virtual cup of tea with Dixie, our Artist of the Week, to find out a bit more about his work and how he came to it. See previous blog posts (below) for more of his latest work - we're pretty sure you'll love it!

What first drew you to Illustration?

If you'd have asked my mother she would have told you of the hours I would spend sitting in my high chair drawing and painting, so I guess that's when it all started, though it wasn't until much later that I realised that people would pay good money for me to do this.

What is your favourite illustrative memory, and why?

I expect my important memory was my first commission.

I had recently been ejected from my job in advertising and in a sink or swim situation I switched from graphic designer to illustrator. Armed with a hastily cobbled together portfolio I visited the Radio Times; in those days situated in a homely building in Marylebone Lane with a moustachioed uniformed doorman. Blessed with the naivety of youth I swanned confidently into the artroom only to be ticked off for a set of non-politically correct Uncle Tom-style caricatures I'd done. Chastened, I was nevertheless given a drawing for one of the regional pages. The regionals were a great place to try illustrators out as only the inhabitants of Scunthorpe or Newquay ever saw them...The job that would years later have taken 30mins took a weekend of angst. Looking at it now I'm amazed it was published but it was instrumental in launching me into a career I never dreamed I'd follow and which has fed and clothed me for 30 years.

First published illustration/Radio Times

Mozart/Mail on Sunday

When I first began working as an illustrator I used layout pad, pen and ink and concentrated American Doc Martin (no relation to the boots) watercolour inks favoured by airbrush artists. Wonderful colours but incredibly fugitive. My nibs came from the last specialist nib seller Mr Poole in Covent Garden . If you think a nib is nib is a nib you would have thought again...there were left handed nibs, gilt nibs, fluted nibs, a cornucopia. The nibs I used and still use ..were 'ball pointed' nibs that didn't dig in the paper which came in beautifully decorated gross boxes marked 'as supplied to The Empire'.

I'm digital now though I still draw on paper but scan into the computer and colour using a stylus and digital tablet I would never have thought in a million years that I would end up an illustrator and an exponent of the computer. Funny old world.

Who is your favourite illustrator, and why?

R O Blechman a very famous cartoonist who worked for the New Yorker in the 50's and sixties he produced wonderful visual ideas with incredible economy of line. Something I've always tried to emulate. 

What would be your ideal drawing tool?

A tool that I'd love to try is a A2 touch sensitive drawing tablet which means you can draw straight onto the screen as with the ipad. Alas too expensive to buy on a whim.

Tell us what you enjoy most about your own work, and what has inspired you recently.

I love conveying ideas and information simply and succinctly; as a result I developed a parallel style working as Ian Chamberlain. Drawing about 10mm high and enlarging it several hundred percent means that anything unnecessary is omitted . My most recent piece is for a London Transport poster competition for which I've just been short-listed.

Creativity and sleep/Ian Chamberlain

Do you have bursts of creativity - and when/where are you most creative?

Being an illustrator there's no time to sit around waiting for the muse, a looming deadline concentrates the mind incredibly.

Tell us about your favourite photograph, either your own or someone else's, and please send us a copy if you have one!

Years ago an American gallery owner found a black guy called Bill Traylor sitting on a dusty sidewalk drawing feverishly with anything that came to hand. Although naïve and crude his work has a freshness and vivacity that usually eludes 'trained artists'. 


- Thanks Ian - it's great to hear more about how you came to your craft, and your experiences of the industry. 


To see more of Ian's work, have a look at his Shed Profile, and follow him on Twitter @Cartoonist_No1. He also has two websites - one of his own work, and one to help people explore Dorset's Jurassic Coast - www.dorsetdorset.co.uk

New work from Dixie, Artist of the Week

Enjoy this collection of some of Dixie's latest work.Great, huh?

See more on Ian's Shed Profile, and please do leave any comments or feedback for Ian below -he's love to hear what you think.

Dead Mickey

Ian Dixie

Dead Donald

Ian Dicks

In Dog

Ian Dicks

Love, Actually

Ian Dicks

Party's Over

Ian Dicks

Guest blog from Ian Dicks, our Artist of the Week

Thankfully, I'm not an artist, I'm an illustrator...When artists hear this they immediately regard me pityingly as if this is a terrible handicap. It's not...it's terribly liberating; for while artists are forced into the straitjacket of a particular style, I'm at liberty to adopt whatever style pleases me

My Shed images are definitely not 'serious' art but 'fun' art..highly uncool in these days of stuffed sharks and unmade beds.

As the crowds dutifully queued sheep-like for Bankys' exhibition I thought...'I could do that,' and then I thought...'do I really want to be be caught clutching a spray can and worked over with a truncheon?'

The coward's answer was digital graffitti; a combination of carefully shot walls combined with my artwork and of course good old photoshop.

Through the medium of graffiti one can convey everything from political comment to the plain silly the result as these examples hopefully demonstrate.

Jubilee

Ian Dicks

- Thanks for this Ian! To see more of Ian's portfolio, visit his Shed Profile. Also check out his illustration website, and follow him on twitter @Cartoonist_No1 :-)

Artist of the Week: Ian Dicks

Introducing our very own Banksy, sorry, I mean Dixie - our Artist of the Week, and graffiti-artist-in-residence!

Urban Gorilla

Ian Dicks

Ian Dicks has his very own take on graffiti art, combining illustration with photoshop, old school craft with modern capabilities...or, in his own words:

So I thought... Why let Banksie have all the fun?... and then I thought...why end up breaking you neck or serving an uncomfortable prison sentence? And so Dixie was born... the wit of Banksy combined with the comfort of working from a cosy studio. Up the revolution! ...just give me a 'mo to put on my slippers..

Vegan Mary

Ian Dicks

Ian will be contributing to the blog all week, and we'll be showcasing some of his newest work. So watch this space! And in the meantime, check out his Shed Profile to see more. 

FTSE Cameron

Ian Dicks

Frederick Wilfred: an unsung photographic legend

Great article and gallery on the work of Frederick Wilfred and his London photographs, soon to be exhibited at the Museum of London. Click here to see the article, and link to the photo gallery. 

Milkboy

Frederick Wilfred

Helen Clark, our Artist of the Week, picks a few favourites from the Shed Gallery

In reflecting on some of the other Shed creatives, I have enjoyed looking through them all.  I find Graham Wiffen's work just lovely, especially "Morning mists over the Marshwood Vale".

Morning Mists over the Marshwood Vale

Graham Wiffen

Also Rob Reeks' "Frosty awakening" is a great photo, I just love it. 

Frosty Awakening

Rob Reeks

Benjitas' "The Cobb Lyme Regis" is a really nice shot, very simple and the black and white really stunning.

The Cobb Lyme Regis

Benjitas

- Thanks for these reflections Helen, it's always great to hear what Shed Creatives appreciate most about each other's work.


To see Helen's own work, please visit her own Shed Profile, and also pop into our Shed Shop where you can buy prints of all the work in our Shed Gallery!


And thanks again to Helen for all her contributions as Artist of the Week. It's been lovely!

A couple more favourites from Helen Clark, in Western Australia

We live in an amazing place, and sometimes can have a whole beach to ourselves. White squeaky sand and turquoise water make our beaches very appealing.

Enjoy!

- Helen

Shelley Beach Patterns

Helen Clark

Translucent Turquoise

Helen Clark

And they really are stunning shots! Especially on an especially dreary UK May day....

To see more of Helen's work, do visit her Shed Profile :-)

Time out in the Shed: a cup of Tea with Helen Clark, our Artist of the Week

We had a virtual cup of tea with Helen Clark, our Artist of the Week, to find out a bit more about her and her work. Enjoy!

1. What first drew you to photography?

I've always been drawn to nature and landscapes, and I think photography really was a result of this. I travelled and always had an SLR with me for a few years, then once I had children, it all went on the back burner. However as the children have become independent, and now left home, I have re discovered photography, and digital makes it so much easier...apart from all the technology involved, which I am getting my head around gradually.

Evening Glow at Whaling Cove

Helen Clark

2. What is your favourite photographic memory, and why?

A favourite photographic memory....not sure as there are many. Will come back to that one!

3. Who is your favourite photographer, and why?

Favourite photographer. Well, as I live in Western Australia, (I signed up for the Shed after visiting the exhibition in Lyme Regis in September last year) some of my favourite WA photographers include Christian Fletcher from the Margaret River area, Steve Fraser from Perth and the iconic Ken Duncan. David Noton, Joe Cornish and Paul Gallagher are some of my favourites from the UK.

Sand, Seaweed and Sun

Helen Clark

4. What would be your ideal camera, and where would you take it?

Ideal camera...well as technology is not my forté thats difficult to answer. However I love my canon 600D. I just wish that DSLR's and the lenses could be minature, so carrying them around is easier.

5. Tell us what you enjoy most about your own work, and what has inspired you recently.

I am inspired by light...a certain quality which is hard to put into words. Here on the south coast of WA, the autumns are the best time of year for photography as the wind drops, the evenings calm with golden light. A couple of weeks ago, we had a series of fantastic evenings, which were magical for being out with a camera....that's probably when I am at my most creative. If I can capture light, movement and perspective in a shot that draws me into it, then I am happy with it.

Smooth Cascades

Helen Clark

6. Do you have bursts of creativity - and when/where are you most creative?

Think I just answered that!

7. What are the most important elements of a successful photo?

All good tutorials and texts will teach the "important" elements of a successful photo. However it is such a subjective thing. For me, I want to feel drawn into and through a photo, or it tells me a story, or it evokes a real emotive response. Any photo that causes an emotional response and  captures me, in my eyes has an element of success.

8. Tell us about your favourite photograph, either your own or someone else's, and please send us a copy if you have one!

A favourite photo...there are so many. so, i might include one of mine that I snapped by pure luck, being in the right place at the right time....my cat nose to nose with a mouse! .....just don't ask what happened to the mouse. 

- Thanks very much Helen - and what incredible timing to get that last photo!

To see more of Helen's work, please visit her Shed Profile, and as ever feel free to comment/respond to/feedback on Helen's work by commenting here.

Camera Series, by Michelle Frederick

Michelle Frederick has a new collection of Camera sculptures - the beautiful pieces began as a commission for Moritz Barcelona, and have since gained a momentum of their own, as Michelle has explored and played with her creative process. Each piece is unique, and has different feature, as seen below. They are selling for 80 euros each at the moment - contact Michelle to buy or commission your own!

Camera I

Camera II

Camera III

See more of Michelle's work on her Shed Profile, and on her own blog, and contact her by clicking here.

Helen Clark, Artist of the Week, introduces herself..

Helen Clark is our Artist of the Week - UK born, she has spent the last 30 years living in Western Australia, where she is still based. She introduces herself below!

I spent over 2 years away in my early 20’s. I did Midwifery training in Taunton, Somerset and spent time in Yeovil, Chard and in fact got to know the local area quite well. I had an old mini traveller, with holes in the floor board and would travel down to Cornwall to visit my Father’s cousin, and drive all over the place, to Exmoor, Dartmoor and beyond, taking photos in those days with a Pentax K1000, SLR. My feet would get splattered when it had been raining, and I remember when the brakes failed going down the hill near Widdicome in Dartmoor;  my friend was hauling the handbrake and I was desperately trying to get into 1^st gear….succeeded and eventually drove into a driveway somewhere! I think it snowed…anyway it was that cold while we were waiting for the AA. 

Great memories.

Which is why I re visited the UK 30 years down the track….A long time coming, (that was 2011) but had a great time catching up with old friends and places that were so nostalgic.

I now work as a Child Health Nurse (similar to a UK Health visitor but with our emphasis on 0-4 years) and Lactation Consultant. Now that my children are virtually grown up, as my youngest is at University this year, I have been re discovering my creative side.   Digital has been a blessing ( and a curse as technology is not my forté) and has allowed me to learn at a much faster rate. It is a journey of discovery, one that I am greatly enjoying.

- Thanks Helen! 

More from Helen on her work and inspirations later in the week. In the meantime please visit her Shed Profile to see her work, and follow her on Twitter @Helenrobem36 if you are a Tweet-er yourself!

Artist of the Week: Helen Clark

We are very pleased to present Helen Clark as this week's Artist of the Week! Helen is currently our furthest-flung Shed Creative, as she is based in Western Australia. She joined the Shed after visiting our September Exhibition, Looking Out Looking In, in Lyme Regis last year. Her work is very much about nature, and captures those transient moments when the light is working it's magic on the landscape, or when the detail of the woodland catches her eye.

Clearing Rain over the Dales

Helen Clark

Swirls and Curves

Helen Clark

Tree Lichen at Wainwath

Helen Clark

As ever, we will be hearing from Helen throughout this week. Please do feel free to visit her Shed Profile to see more of her work, and if you're on Twitter, follow her @Helenrobem36. 

Anders Petersen in the Guardian

There's a nice piece in today's Guardian featuring the work of Anders Petersen, Swedish photographer of London's Soho since the 1970s. Definitely worth a look! Click here to go to the article, and here to visit the gallery of his images they have collated. 

London 238

Anders Petersen

Time out in the Shed: a cup of Tea with Tricia Scott, our Artist of the Week

We had a virtual cup of tea with Tricia, our Artist of the Week, to find out a bit more about her, her work, and what drives her love for photography. Please feel free to respond with any thoughts or feedback by commenting, at the end of this post!

Smugglers Haven

Tricia Scott

What first drew you to Photography?

I’m not exactly sure, it has fascinated me from early childhood … I remember how I always had my eye on my mum’s cherished box camera and how thrilled I was when I got my first camera, a Kodak Brownie 127 at age 10.

What is your favourite photographic memory?

How proud I was to be able to photograph the Duke of Edinburgh with my father, shortly after getting that Brownie 127 – I still have the photo. My father was Skipper on a Lowestoft trawler that was selected for inspection by the Duke.

Rusty Porthole

Tricia Scott

Who is my favourite photographer and why?

I can’t say that I have a particular favourite as the diversity and creativity of photography is infinite! However, two photographers that I admire greatly are Ford Jenkins and Herbert Ponting.

Ford Jenkins was a local photographer who captured the very essence of the Herring Fleet in the 1950’s which followed the Herring round the coast of Britain, arriving in Lowestoft each year around October /November. Each Sunday would find me down at the harbour from dusk to dawn, watching the fleet go out, returning to land their catch and then watching the women, heads deep in the barrels, packing and salting the fish.

Ford Jenkins

Herbert Ponting’s work is awe-inspiring. His photographic journal of the Scott expedition to the South Pole is brilliant from team photos to capturing the stark beauty of Antarctica in the early 1900’s when taking and developing photos was vastly different than the ease of digital imagery today. The sheer magnitude of lugging the equipment and glass plates from pillar to post and keeping them safe is mind boggling.

Herbert Ponting

What would be your ideal camera and where would you take it?

The latest top of the range professional Canon would be ideal, but only until the next bigger and better one came along!! I would take it to the same place I would like to take my present camera – both the South and North Poles.

Tell what you enjoy most about your own work, and what has inspired you recently.

The thing I enjoy most about photography is its portability. No matter where I am or where I am heading, my camera is always a welcome companion. Out of hundreds of photos it is finding that something unexpected in a photograph that you thought to be an ordinary shot that excites and inspires me.

Do you have bursts of creativity, when and where are you most creative?

Yes most definitely. I have always been drawn to the sea and it is what energises me when I find myself unmotivated and generally feeling low. I love the sheer power and beauty of a stormy sea and it is where I feel the most creative. The sea, coast and marine life offers me an unending source of photographic opportunity.

The Journey

Tricia Scott

What are the most important elements of a successful photo?

For me a photograph has to tell a story. For instance, when I am shooting old derelict boats, an abstract section of layers of peeling paint, a section of rusted metal, and/or the textures and contours of the weathered wooden frame it will trigger my imagination as to what untold adventures it could tell.

Tell us about your favourite photo.

My favourite photo is always the perfect but elusive one I ‘take’ when I have left my camera at home! You can never recapture the magic of that particular moment no matter how hard you try, and that to me is the true magic of photography – capturing the moment.

Sea Worn II

Tricia Scott

Thanks for sharing this Tricia, it's great to get to know a bit more about you and your relationship with photography.

To see more of Tricia's work, please visit her Shed Profile! And feel free to pop by our online Shed Shop too, where all Tricia's work is for sale, along with that of all of our Shed Creatives!