Hello Beautiful Edinburgh!

A selection of La Shuks artwork will be exhibited at the Edinburgh Art Fair this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (18th to 20th November 2016) Showing at Liberty Gallery's Stand: C7

Address: Edinburgh Corn Exchange, New Market Road, EH14 1RJ 

Open 11am daily. 

More info from the Edinburgh Art Fair HERE or get in touch with Liberty Gallery HERE

A few sexy close-up shots

A closer look at that neon pink breeze slowly heading up and over Hazy Ridge. 

Detail from my screen print coincidentally called "Breeze Over Hazy Ridge"! Part of the Jealous Gallery Exhibition; On til Nov 20th at Jealous East, 53 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3PT

A couple more juicy photographs of the print from different angles.

This limited edition print is now available in the La Shuks Online Shop too. £95 with free UK shipping.

It's Showtime at Jealous Gallery!

It's ON! Catch the screen printed artwork from 66 big names in the art world alongside new and emerging artists in one colourful space! The almighty Jealous Gallery is showing 'Jealous Needs You' from now until the 20th of November.

Just some of the artyness awaiting!

I was excited to be selected as part of this amazing project.
The only brief: 50 X 70 cm dimensions and you could only use 3 colours. It's a feast of arty produce from the minds of 66 different artists and designers. Every one completely different, but they work great together!

Ooh there's mine!

Come and see the show at Jealous Gallery 53 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3PT until 20th November. Then in January the whole exhibition heads over to Saatchi Gallery!

Below is my piece for the show in full: 'Breeze Over Hazy Ridge' Also available HERE

Prepping for the JealousNeedsYou 2016 group show

I'm pleased as punch that my new artwork "Breeze Over Hazy Ridge" was chosen to be part of the Jealous Needs You group show, put on by almighty Jealous Gallery.

La Shuks in real-life signing action drama!

In their own words: 
JEALOUS NEEDS YOU IS BACK AND BIGGER THAN EVER! 

THIS YEARS PORTFOLIO WILL REVEAL AND EXHIBIT A SERIES OF SELECTED ARTWORKS FROM ESTABLISHED ARTISTS AND GLEAMING NEW TALENTS FROM THE OPEN SUBMISSION COMPETITION THIS YEAR. 

THE EXHIBITION WILL RUN FROM 2ND-20TH NOVEMBER AT JEALOUS EAST, SHOWING SCREENPRINTED WORKS FROM MAGNUS GJEON, ROB RYAN, RUSSELL MARSHALL, Joe WEBB, MR PENFOLD  AND MANY MORE SPECTACULAR ARTISTS. 

Close up sneak peek at new screen prints being signed and numbered

JOIN US FOR THE PRIVATE VIEW 2ND NOVEMBER 6:30-8:30PM AT JEALOUS EAST, 53 CURTAIN ROAD, EC2A 3PT.  ALL WELCOME.

Exhibiting in Stockholm + Battersea this October

Ah cosy crisp October time... I've been extremely busy over the last few months creating new La Shuks artwork, and I can't wait to finally exhibit it! Catch the newest pieces at two back to back shows this October.
First up, this weekend it's the Affordable Art Fair, STOCKHOLM, 13-16 Oct 2016

Then the following weekend it's time for the Affordable Art Fair, BATTERSEA, LONDON. 20–23 Oct 2016

You'll find my La Shuks work at the Liberty Gallery stand at both shows.

If you'd like to visit AAF Battersea, Liberty Gallery have a limited amount of complimentary tickets available for all dates including the Charity Private View on Wednesday 19th October and the Late View on Thursday 20th October (more info here). Please email info@liberty-gallery.com or myself lashuksart@gmail.com

Got a cool write-up on inspiring design blog Young Gold Teeth

Link to: Young Gold Teeth Blog Post 

"Candy Moss" long-listed for the People's Choice Award!

You know that time in the future, when the humans have long gone, and all the earth's rubbish & trash starts to evolve on it's own and grow consciousness? Well, that is exactly what is happening in my artwork "Candy Moss"!

Delighted that this piece has been long-listed for the "people's choice award" for the Secret Art Prize by Curious Duke Gallery. But I would love and appreciate your vote immensely! Please vote for La Shuks here: http://www.secretartprize.com/2016/08/katie-mac/

@curiousduke  

It's just future nature...

Once a year, these organisms (evolved from discarded chewing gum wrappers) swim excitedly upstream to spawn. The "Phylar Wrappids" are teaming with life!

Extreme Close up:

Brand new artwork! See it on the website shop Here

Snaps from the Affordable Art Fair: Artists, Ducks, Ponds & Posing.

A little selection of snaps taken at the Liberty Gallery stand at the Affordable Art Fair.
I love that it's situated in the middle of the park of Hampstead Heath, with all it's leafy glory and duck filled ponds. 
Bit of posing next to work going on here, and lots of fun with fellow artists Joe Webb and Maria Rivans. Only one more day left of all the artyness!

Affordable Art Fair Hampstead 16 - 19 June 2016

I'm excited to be exhibiting once again at the magnificent Affordable Art Fair in London's leafy Hampstead Heath this weekend. Showing with Liberty Gallery, Stand A3.
Get in touch if you'd like to get your hands on some tickets for the Private View (Weds15th) or Late View, Summer Art Soirée on the Thursday!

MORE INFO

New Artwork number 3: 'Gloominous'

Brand new artwork: Fresh and sizzling hot, straight out of the artist's mind and into existence! It's "Gloominous"

Sure, what's going on here is self explanatory... But for a little back story, please take a peek at my previous blog post below. Gloominous is soon to be printed... watch this space!

Extreme detail! zoomed in close-up from Gloominous

The Story of La Shuks: Where, When, Who and Why??

Part 1: Where & When?

So the scenes in La Shuks artworks take place in future times.... but when EXACTLY I hear you wonder. Well I thought it best to explain by means of a simple timeline of bite sized diagrams:

1: Present Day: Billions of people inhabiting the earth, all busily selling their brands, creating logos and adverts to get noticed.

2: Fast Forward to the distant future: the earth is now overflowing with even more branding, logos and advertising. More people, more advertising, more more more!

3: Fast Forward to thousands of years further on from the distant future... and human beings no longer inhabit the earth... but all their designs, packaging, branding, advertising and logos remain. 

4: Fast Forward to a million years on from thousands of years after the distant future..... and something unbelievable has happened; all the creations leftover from ancient human times, have long since lost their original meaning, gradually become engrained in the natural elements... and eventually begun to evolve themselves, and even grow consciousness...

This is when La Shuks was born!

Part 2: Who and Why?
From a young age I was immersed into different cultures. Moving to Seoul, Korea at aged 4 for four years, the first signs of an never-ending fascination with characters and lettering design on packaging started to appear....

mmmm....Lotte Choco Pie "premium quality" memories....

Then came 8 years living in Hong Kong, where this fascination only grew stronger! There was just a beauty in the shapes and bold outlines of the Korean, Japanese and Chinese characters on my favourite snacks. "Too much daydreaming" every school report card reported!

Little Twin Stars and cheesy Pack Man crisps?!? Swoon...

The next country move was to Dubai for another 8 years. This gave an additional brand new perspective, and another world of fascinating packaging design to admire!

After fiendishly travelling in the many years that followed... all these childhood influences still swirling around, started to merge with a love of natural settings... and eventually developed into the form of La Shuks!

A frozen hot mocha chocolate ice cream with an Inukshuk nearby, while sitting on a mountain? Yes. 

So hopefully that explains everything. Thanks for reading! For further discussions about anything on your mind, feel free to get in touch.

New Artwork number 2: Pin-Up Falls

All the images of glamorous pin-ups (that had been used to sell products on packaging, back in human days)... were finally free to gallivant and frolic, and form into waterfalls! 

Yep, I'm pretty sure this will happen a few million years from now..

"Pin-Up Falls"

(coming soon as a limited edition print.)

Zoom In! Detail from Pinup Falls

New Season, New Art !

I'm thrilled to finally be putting out into the world the first of a whole new series of artworks. The process has been riddled with set backs galore, (including a pretty bad shoulder injury... damn you, screen printing) but I'm powering on through!

A whole load of exciting things bubbling up in the world of La Shuks over the coming summer months. But for now, this is "Sunsents"
(a sunset, but not quite as we know it back here in 2016...)

La Shuks hits Dubai!

The lesser spotted desert-salmon (top left)                   Mutated logo-beasts glamming it up (middle)

Woweee Dubaiiii!
What a difference a decade makes. I spent a sizeable chunk of my youth here. And now I'm back... on another photographic research trip /family visit /vaycay... with a bit of sketching in the 40 degree heat, taboule munching, supermarket loitering and a pinch of yachting. 

My Art Ispiration / Photographic Research Road Trip to the Rockies of Canada!

A few months ago, (well, 5 months ago to be exact... it's taken me THAT long to get around to making a little blog post about it) I went road tripping through the most gorgeous parts of Canada, taking photos of the eye-poppingly beautiful scenery to use in my artworks.

 Sights like THIS: Lake Peyto. One of the most stunning places to visit and have lunch by, and soak up all it's glacier-made luminous turquoise-ness!

Not in the least bit nervous about heading into bear country...

There was a fair bit of hiking to get to the best views... Didn't actually see any bears though, I'm slightly relieved to report.

Except for this one.             Saw a whole delicious load of stunning mountains though...

Except for the highest mountain in Canada, Mount Robson. I really wanted to photograph it for my work, but the cloudy weather that day didn't allow it. Another trip I guess..

                                                                 Finally spotted Mount Robson! (on a poster in the gift shop)

I was so excited to stumble across a beach festival of inukshuks. Little piles of stones historically used as landmarks for navigation in the wilderness. 
These ones though, were just hanging out for fun.

blending into the forest...                                      and over-excitedly riding the cable                                                                                                 cars near Lake Louise 

Has there ever been a lake quite as still as this? Lake Nicola playing tricks with your eyes..

Lake Louise... the stuff of chocolate boxes. 
Again with the turquoise water! I could live here on this lake.

This is real?!? More photos...

This is work.... honest, it's for research.

An actual glacier! It the flesh (so to speak). A fair few photos were taken up here at the Columbia Icefields Parkway.

Zooming in on the beauty of the glacier

not going to mess around any more... I'm going large.

Feeding my addiction to Dairy Queen's 'Peanut Buster Parfait', and knowing our love can't last.... (due to no Dairy Queen in UK... WHY?!!)

I had never seen a chipmunk before, and then suddenly this happened! An ambush while picnicking on a mountain side at Lake Louise.

The tenacious little cutie stole some bits for lunch.. here he is nibbling on a nutritious dried banana chip. One of his 5-a-day..

...and finally this stuff..POUTINE. Chips, cheese and gravy: a dream combo!
Serving suggestion: just add glacier.



Since returning from Canada, I have been busily creating a new series of artworks featuring some of my amazing mountainous finds from this road trip... coming soon!

Happy Easter from La Shuks!

hmmm... what do I call this? ..An Easter display / nest / still life (?) of holiday fun stuff. 

La Shuks lands at the Affordable Art Fair, Brussels.

I'm excited to be exhibiting at the always amazing show that is the Affordable Art Fair.... This time: Brussels!
Showing at the Liberty Gallery stand. Friday 26th until Monday 29th.

Sunset Rising and Dawn Merger

extra info: http://affordableartfair.com/brussels

Hello "Ruby in the Dust"...

Until now, the world of La Shuks has featured landscapes inhabited solely by tribes of little beasties, and critters formed from residual bits of once-meaningful ephemera from long gone human times... 

But it was bound to eventually happen... all these leftover bits of graphics, logos and adverts with their newly formed consciousness, then combined together, evolving into an even higher form of majestic being! Sure she looks humanesque...but is actually far more advanced than we could possibly understand, being merely humans... but she does seem to be delivering a peaceful message of some sort, whilst expertly surfing a piece of rock through the dust clouds in a most baddass fashion...

Close ups

final layer hot off the screen print bed!

This is a 7 colour-layer silk screen print, with an added little bit of lino cut texture to finish. Limited edition of 25... But each print's colour combinations are slightly different due to the individual layering up of the colours by hand. 

LINK to SHOP