Created in Birmingham

• Eastside Projects Hosting: What is Art? Charity event at St Basils 13/01/12
  Organised by ESP member Kartal Uppal, this evening will look at and debate the question; What makes something Art? With contributions from Gavin Wade (Director, Eastside Projects), Tyler Cann (Curator, Ikon Gallery) and Cathy Wade (Artist and Lecturer)
• Things Team Fierce looks forward to in 2012. . . | Fierce Festival
  Lots of good stuff, with plenty happening around Birmingham
• Sarah Ray illustration: Screenprinting workshops
  Learn to make your own cards, posters or whatever. Silkscreen printing always looks to me like being a very satisfying process
• Flatpack Festival founder: Ian Francis
  A decent little interview
• Follow the Dancing for the Games projects online
  Loads of links to the projects that are part of the Dancing for the Games programme
• Aga | Luthien Photography
  Kamila’s been shooting around Digbeth (via Digbeth is Good)
• Birmingham NYE 2012 fireworks
  Sounds like things went a little wrong. If you’d read our New Year events round-up you’d have known to expect ‘low level pyrotechnics’

• Birmingham’s flagship garden show to be held in derelict bank
  Sounds pretty cool to me.
• Project Platform Review – Bright Space- Eventbrite
  Project Platform was an interesting thing and here’s an invite to a follow-up discussion. Given some challenging circumstances, ‘how can we build on our successes and improve the relationship between youth and culture in Birmingham’?
• Birmingham City Council insists on £2,000 tea at three-hour meeting
  In April, the Local Government Chronicle did a list of ‘the 50 most influential people in local government’. People asked why there was nobody from Birmingham City Council. Here’s your answer.
• Sarah Ray illustration: Art markets this weekend
  Moseley market and Harborne carnival are both on this weekend. Sarah will be at both
• Dirty Bristow Issue Two: Beast | Dirty Bristow
  “80 pages packed with essays, stories, opinion pieces and artwork on the theme of ‘Beast’”
• Piccadilly Arcade – Part II « Birmingham Conservation Trust
  A look at the ceiling of Piccadilly Arcade
• Birmingham Royal Ballet – Carmina burana rehearsals on Vimeo
  “Céline Gittens and Tyrone Singleton in early studio rehearsals for David Bintley’s ballet, Carmina Burana”
• Fierce Festival Caravan of Artists 2011 – 12 | Fierce Festival
  “These are the artists that will form the core of the festival in Spring 2012. Over a nine month period they will develop their ideas with us, through city walks, discussion and residencies in Birmingham. We will share the process and development of these works over the year, online, through ad-hoc events, words and pictures. We invite you to follow and share that journey.” With pics and vids and everything
• People’s Festival « Active Arts
  “The Castle Vale Active Arts People’s Festival brings together performances, workshops and activities across the area.” 29 June to 9 July
• Museum Network Warwickshire
  “News, useful resources, events, training, joint projects, support and issues will all be here”
• IdeasTap Student Ambassador x 4
  One wanted for Birmingham City University. Could be a good thing to be involved in
• Urban Breakfast
  “Birmingham’s Premium Weekend Breakfast Delivery Service”. Granted, it’s not yer usual CiB thing but it’s a compelling service all the same

Pointe Blank is:

An exhibition of original images inspired by the story of Coppélia. In a first-of-its-kind project for Birmingham Royal Ballet, 27 artists and designers have been invited to produce individual pieces of artwork based upon toymaker Doctor Coppélius, and his attempts to breathe life into his most prized creation

The exhibition has been pulled together by Rob Lindsay at Birmingham Royal Ballet and Claire Hartley.

It features the work of (deep breath…) Ashley O’Brien, Ben Javens, Chris Henley, Christine Hughes, Claire Hartley, Crayonfire, Darren John, Dave Hughes, Gavin Auty, Harriet Grey, The Hidden Dingbat Collective, Ian, Caulkett, Jamie Littler, Jimmy Rogers, Jo Spencer, Katie Parry, Luke Tonge, Mezzetty, Middle Boop, Nathan Monk, Rachel Tighe, Ryan Dean-Corke, Sam Pierpoint, Sarah Ray, Simon Wild, Studio Family and Sweaty Eskimo.

It’s all online so go and have a look. There’s some lovely work there.

It launched tonight for one night only (I was there – that photo stands as slightly blurry proof), although there are plans to exhibit the prints elsewhere and maybe sell them online or something.

It always seems to me that the illustrators around Birmingham are a very talented but criminally underserved bunch. When they get together and do something it tends to be really very good – see also the Not My Type exhibition that we hosted at the CiB shop last year.

Still, a very well done to everyone involved in this.

Colour is the night run by Cib alumnus Katie Spragg and it returns to The Victoria on Thursday 15 October. Back in February (that long ago) they brought Charlie Parr along – there’s a video of him performing a fantastic version of ‘Cheap Wine‘.

This time round they’ve got a Commercially Inviable special starring World of Fox with support from James Summerfield, Friends of the Stars and Richard Burke.

Pixie Sixer’s already written all about it on More Canals Than Venice so check that for more info. I’m really posting this for an excuse to post Ruth Green‘s artwork for World of Fox.

Ruth is a recent addition to the Love to Print collective – a project explained on the rather wonderfully named Shoulder to Crayon. Most of that collective are also involved with Girls Who Draw, including Karoline Rerrie and Sarah Ray.

There seems to be quite a tangled web of ladies out there producing pretty, quirky illustrations. See also i heart joan and the Inkygoodness folks.

Girls who Draw is an international group of female artists and illustrators, including 3 of Birmingham’s finest: Jane Anderson, Sarah Ray and Karoline Rerrie. For those of you who are planning a trip down to London town before 3 March I urge you to check out the ‘MISFITS AND MISCELLANY’ exhibition at The Exposure Gallery.

The exhibition is to celebrate the production of the ‘Girls who Draw’ book which was printed by Tuckey Print Limited in Birmingham.

The girls have chosen some of their favourite images from the book to exhibit alongside an eclectic mix of their illustrations and artwork.

Lizz is an illustrator from Birmingham who likes black tea, knitting and cats. She works in a similar way to other illustrators, such as Sarah Ray and James Nash, creating personal small press comics and working with others to produce animation. All three illustrators exhibited their wares at the Alternative Press Fair in London last sunday.

On her website you can devour some Comic Sushi: Tales of German cats, hairy midget elves and Mr Lemon. Takeaway titbits include badges and postcards. You can pick up a copy of her comic Tofu and Cats at the Ikon Gallery shop.

• KateGoes and Writes a BBC Theme Tune
  “KateGoes are doing a theme tune for a new BBC sitcom called Coming of Age” as spotted by Dunc from the Autumn Store
• Crisp dust and car boot sales- is it art?
  BBC preview of the forthcoming Margaret Street MA show
• Light House September/October Events
  Spaghetti Gazetti have the list of what’s on over at the Light House in Wolverhampton
• Juneau Projects Live Album Launch
  Fused also report that “Juneau Projects will be launching their live album ‘I Went to the Woods’ at New Art Gallery Walsall on Thursday 28 August 2008, 6pm-8pm and admission is free”
• Help break a World Record this week
  If you have any free time this week everyone working on the Big Picture would love to see you at Thinktank to help build this huge artwork. You can turn up at any time between 10am – 4pm each day until Thursday this week (if you’d like more details see the Big Picture site)
• Sarah Ray exhibition
  Fused report that “The very talented Sarah Ray will be exhibiting her work at The Marcus Galleries from the end of this month”

June’s Out Of Hours, the creative sector socialising shindig at the Light House in Wolverhampton, features a look at the work of Sarah Ray, a Birmingham-based illustrator who’ll be introducing her exhibition Good Day.

Among many other things she’s been featured by 4Talent magazine (as per the pic) who will also be there to talk “about how illustration helps shape their visual identity”.

A backdrop will be provided by VJs Cinecull. That’s on Monday 16 June, 7-9pm and entry is free.