Betsey's Winterlude 2011

My initial design, not yet finalised for Betsey's Winterlude 2011. Should be a brilliant day, get yer tickets quick.

SALE MADNESS!

Enter promo code XMAS before 20.12.10 to receive 15% off at my online shop.

VIKING, DOGGER, GERMAN BIGHT...

'Viking' 1 colour Screen print on Colourplan Natural 270gsm paper Open Edition, signed and dated by James Brown Paper Size: 30 x 42 cm. Image Size: 26 x 37 cm

£31 available here

Behold!-A new print

I was approached by The Independent to produce a alternative piece of royal memorabllia to commemorate the up and coming wedding. The article runs this Sunday in the colour supplement and features eight other designers reaction to the brief.

My print can also be purchase here.

Festive Fair at The Museum of London in Docklands

Thu 9 Dec, 6-9pm FREE Join me at my favorite London museum for an evening of crafts, carols and Christmas cheer as the Museum of London Docklands opens its doors to some of the city's best craftspeople (and me). There will be mince pies and mulled wine to accompany carol singing, craft-making activities and stalls selling unique gifts from jewellery and ceramics to badges and stationery. Please bring cash and cheque books along as credit card facilities may not be available.

The Sutton House Christmas Craft Fai

I shall be selling my wares this weekend at The Sutton House Christmas Craft Fair. Come and do your Christmas shopping with mulled wine and mince pies in the oak paneled rooms of east London's oldest house. Saturday 4th & Sunday 5th December 2010. 11am-5pm Father Christmas' Grotto 2pm-5pm both days 2&4 Homerton High Street Hackney E9 6JQ Adults £1.50 Children FREE National Trust members FREE www.nationaltrust.org.uk/suttonhouse

Anorak- The happy mag for kids

I have an illustration in the latest edition of Anorak magazine. As a result I have gained much respect from my 9 year old son, Charlie. Phew!

It's their book issue and my illustration accompanies a great story by Rachel Eling

The summer of 1976 was a scorcher. I was living with my Mum in an airless flat with no garden, high up above Earls Court tube station. Two weeks into the school holidays we could bear it no longer. Mum borrowed a tent and a couple of roll-up sleeping bags from a neighbour, turned a sliced loaf into Marmite sandwiches and we headed for the coast.

We caught the first ferry that was going to France. Mum got chatting with a pair of students who were going to brush up their French. Over squashed Marmite sandwiches and warm lemonade we invited ourselves along, and landed a lift in their tomato soup coloured Vauxhall Chevette, all the way to their campsite in Concarneau.

Days were spent on the beach, jumping in and out of the water and feasting on hunks of deliciously fresh, crusty bread and chunks of cheese that looked – and tasted – nothing like the yellow brick of Cheddar in the fridge at home.

Cuddled up to Mum at night, I would watch the stars through the open tent flap, and will myself to stay awake to make the holiday last as long as possible. Every morning as I woke, hungry and a little stiff, I was disappointed not to have seen the sun rise.

One morning, when we woke and headed for the showers, there was a buzz in the air. Something was happening. Leaving the campsite for the boulangerie in town, we rounded the corner and there it was, faded canvas in shades of cream and gold, pitched just on the edge of the dunes. The Big Top. Le Cirque was in town! I spent the day sat on the sand, watching the wiry boys setting up the little wooden benches, laying out coconut mats as a makeshift floor and rigging up the high wire and the trapeze. As the sun began to set, I raced back to the tent and hauled Mum along, determined to get a ringside seat.

The show was simply magical.

The dancing girls with their shining smiles and long glossy hair, the tiny acrobats spinning through the air like butterflies, and the surly ringmaster, bellowing in French and then smoking silently between acts.

A toy circus made flesh, just for me. That night I fell asleep instantly, with the tinkling of the band still in my ears, dreaming of the tumbling acrobats turning somersault after somersault in the cool night air. In the morning, I knew I had to see it again.
For five nights I kept my place in the front row, until one morning I woke up knowing it was our last. After a quick breakfast, we packed up the tent and got ready to return to London, but not before I took one last look at the circus tent, damp with dew and leaning slightly, like a paddling pool left out all night.
That summer was meant to be an escape from the city heat, but it turned out to be so much more. I came home with legs covered in mosquito bites and a lifelong love for life under canvas. I’ve not run away to join the circus yet, but there’s still time.

Christmas handbill

I have just proof printed my Christmas handbill that I shall be scattering across the land from my B52 over the next few weeks. I shall be printing them on my Arab Press which I am very excited about as I have not had a chance to use it yet...

Its Friday! Shake it out...

... with Mad Lizzie and The London Boys!

Knees up Mother Brown...

I have blogged about my Dad and my Brother so I thought it only fair to mention my Mum too, children's book author and illustrator extrordinaire Ruth Brown. Like me she has the same name as a popular American soul singer.

This isn't her...

... but this is.

Hogan Brown- Painter

He's my Brother and you can see more of his work here

I'm gonna get my dad on you

In 1983 my Dad, Ken Brown made this TV public information film for the Central Office of Information. (I can now see why at the time he was so keen to see Tron in the cinema.)

Anyway, 27 years later I am listening to BBC 6 Music and suddenly hear the familiar voice of Madeline Bell warning me to "...read the road, there's a junction coming..." over and over again, the whole track has been 'sampled' with added, drums, synth and tamborine and eventually the voice of Jim Noir coming in at the end.

Download Jim's 'Melody Junction' track for free here.

"If you don't give my football back, I'm gonna get my dad on you
I only kicked it over your fence and broke a silly gnome or two
Eanie meany, run away
Eanie meany run away"

Eanie Meany by Jim Noir

St Judes in the City

St. Jude's return to London for an exhibition of prints, paintings and St. Jude's fabrics from artists including: Penny Bhadresa · Chris Brown · James Brown · Chloe Cheese Peter Clayton · Hand and Eye Letterpress · Jonny Hannah Mark Hearld · Jonathan Gibbs · Peter Green · Michael Kirkman Ed Kluz · Angie Lewin · Andy Lovell · Jon McNaught Charles Shearer · Alice Stevenson · Emily Sutton Plus vintage furniture from Retrouvius, upholstered in St. Jude's fabrics. From Wednesday 10th until Sunday 21st November 2010 at The Bankside Gallery, 48 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH

The Guide

I have illustrated the cover for tomorrows The Guardian Guide, also an illustration inside to accompany an article about Chess Records

Small ads/ big snakes

Saw this ad in a newsagents window.

Elphicks at Multiplied

Today, I have been helping Sharon Elphick set up her stand at Multiplied, the contemporary editions fair at Christie's. The stand looks fantastic and I would recommend you all have a look round the show.

Christie’s, South Kensington
85 Old Brompton Road
London SW7 3LD

Public viewing
Friday 15 October 9am – 5pm
Saturday 16 October 11am – 5pm
Sunday 17 October 11am – 5pm
Monday 18 October 9am – 7:30pm

Admission to Multiplied Art Fair is free.

Cath Kidston update

Sales of my prints for Cath Kidston seem to have made a promising start. I popped in the Marylebone High Street store yesterday to check out the merchandising.

Fakery in Greenwich

I have lived in London for most of my life, I have worked in Greenwich and I go there often, but I have never before today been to to the Royal Naval College. I have always assumed the hoards or Italian students where visiting the Cutty Sark, The Observatory or my personal favourite, the Maritime Museum.

I was dumb struck when I walked into the The Painted Hall in the Naval College, it is the most amazing example of nautical trompe l'oeil I have ever seen, even the flutes on the columns were expertly faked. Nelson's body (which was pickled in a cask of brandy) lay in state here two months after his death at Trafalgar.

Outside the painted hall in the grounds of the College a modern form of fakery was taking place with the filming of The Pirates of The Caribbean 4. Huge scaffold backed facades extended from the original buildings, smoke and wind machines were buzzing, huge blue screens were being erected to enable the latest CGI trickery and the London Fire Brigade hosed the ground to simulate muddy streets for the horse and carts and Tricorned extras.

The Colleges Chapel is also well worth a visit but I was most impressed by their amazing harvest festival display. My mum and son were convinced one of the red peppers wasn't real, I do hope they were right as it would carry on the theme of the day.

The 'C' word

Yes I know its still only September.... so I apologies for mentioning the 'C' word. I have designed the flyer and poster for Columbia Road's Christmas Wednesdays which takes place throughout December. For more info on Columbia Road E2, click here

Point of Sale

Just made this to display my HAT badges.

Keep your hat on.

Balmoral bonnets, Kepi hats and pith helmets.... Its almost as if my HATS print has come to life in a Kent car boot sale.

V&A 'Cherry on the Cake'

The ‘Cherry on the Cake’ range is the V&A’s designer collection, and

represents the best of the best in its shops. It brings together

designers, ideas and products in a collection of exclusive editions to

match the diversity, originality and quality of the V&A itself.

The third 'Cherry on the Cake' collection, focuses on paper and brings

with it a resurgence of interest in the medium, the collection includes

traditional printmaking, paper engineering, typography and paper-cut

techniques.

I have been invited as one a group of 12 artists whose working practice

has an affinity to the Museum to produce a piece for this new Paper

collection. The other artists are Aardvark, Fred Butler, Nina Chakrabarti,

D-BROS, Lisa Jones, Ed Kluz, Angie Lewin, Charlotte Mann, Tom Martin,
Rob Ryan and Chisato Tamabayashi.

Check out the whole range on display in the V&A Shop and online at

www.vandashop.com from the 15th September.

My contribution was to illustrate the William Morris quote;

"Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful."

Blink

BLINK LONDON is a new fashion reporting and consultancy service offering a unique insight in to the best of the British fast fashion womenswear. BLINK interviewed me, read it here.

Hat badges

Five 25mm pins per pack, collect all three sets here

Cath Kidston

I have done a collection of 4 limited edition screen prints for Cath Kidston. They will be going into the following 10 stores on 13th September and also available online £65 unframed and £125 framed;

York

Liverpool

Tunbridge Wells

Kingston

Marylebone

Cheltenham

Wimbledon

Winchester

Windsor

Sloane Square

Victor(ia) & Al(bert)pha

My ALPHA poster now available in the V&A shop.

X is for Xylographer

'A was an Artist' hand-coloured woodcut 1898

William Nicholson 1872 – 1949

In my ever so humble, a true 'A', one half of the 'B'-staff Brothers and a master 'X'.

A was an Artist

B is for Beggar

C is for Countess

D is for Dandy

E is for Earl

F is for Flower Girl

G is for Gentleman

H is for Huntsman

I is for Idiot

J is for Jockey

K is for Keeper

L is for Lady

M is for Milkmaid

N is for Nobleman

O is for Ostler

P is for Publican

Q is for Quaker

R is for Robber

S is for Sportsman

T is for Trumpeter

U is for Urchin

V is for Villian

W is for Waitress

X is for Xylographer

Y s for Yoke

Z is for Zoologist

Squirrel

New Print- SQUIRRELS.

3 colour Screen print on Off White 315gms Heritage Woodfree Paper Edition of 150, signed and dated by James Brown Paper Size: 34 x 34 cm. Image Size: 27 x 27 cm

Available here for a mere £66

Little London Fields

This Saturday 7th August I will be selling my wares at Little London Fields, a free one day festival showcasing an array of talented up and coming bands, record labels, artists, designers and performance collectives. If you happen to be in London Fields E8 on Saturday then please stop by and say 'hello'.

Hat's the way, uh-huh uh-huh

I like it, uh-huh, uh-huh....

New print finished at last and with typo corrected.

'Hats'

5 colour screen print on off White 270gms paper
Edition of 140 signed and numbered by James BrownPaper Size: 36 x 50cm, Image Size: 28.5 x 40cm

£95 available here

Hold on to your hats!

New print coming soon...