Taylor Johns House got in touch with Bring Colour and asked us to deliver a quick street art workshop at The Pod. Taylor Johns and The Pea Pod Collective were hosting an arts festival at the pod, we went along and worked with two groups in quick-fire 15 min sessions. Everyone got the chance to make their own individual pieces using a variety of mixed media that they could keep.
The workshops we offer are flexible, creative, imaginative and fun.
If you have an enquiry or would like to book a workshop pleaseget in touch.
Throughout last summer we worked with Paul Taylor from the Fargo Team at trying to bring some colour to Far Gosford Street and the soon to be Fargo Village. We had mentioned to Paul that we had been planning an empty shop project, transforming a run down, empty shop into a gallery space for a pop-up exhibition showcasing the work of Coventry artists.
Paul liked the sound of our project and suggested we use an empty unit in the village, he showed us around unit 7, previously Backbeat rehearsal rooms. Unit 7 had been damaged by fire, Fargo had the roof replaced, the electrics sorted out and new strip lights fitted. The toilets and water supply didn't work and the place was full of rubbish, pallets and dirt.
We didn't commit to anything right there and then, although the space at Fargo had fantastic potential it also had a lot of work that needed doing to bring it up-to scratch for us to open up to the public as a gallery. We came away from unit 7 excited with the space but slightly overwhelmed with the workload and decided that it wasn't something we could tackle alone.
We had previously contacted Coventry council's Arts Development Service
seeking some help, advise and information on possible funding sources for our pop-up gallery project, but we were unsuccessful and were just left waiting. Fed up of waiting we decided that the opportunity at unit 7 was too good to let slip through our fingers so arranged a meeting between Bring Colour and the Hearts Gang.
We asked the Hearts Gang lads if they wanted to work together on the project and put on a Hearts Gang group exhibition, everyone liked the idea and seemed keen. We explained that we'll be doing it on a budget of £0.00 and the response was "who cares?"
We got the keys to Unit 7 and things got hectic. Dedicated volunteers, the HG lads and Bring Colour all rolled up our sleeves and got stuck in.
We emptied the unit
of rubbish and started on the walls, brushing off the flakey paint and
cleaning them up ready for white washing. We boxed in the electrics,
hung a new toilet door, even had a plumber come in and fix the
"un-fixable" toilet. After a good few layers of white emulsion and the building of a counter the gallery was taking shape and was ready for
Artwork to be brought in and hung on the walls.
The Handsome Gentlemen
exhibition included artworks from HG members, Abel, Andrew John Smith,
Body Odour, James Mewett, Kevin Donnelly, Pecks and Vel.
To celebrate
the launch of the Exhibition and the completed transformation from a
grotty warehouse to a white gallery, we threw a party. We invited
everyone to come down, check out the artwork, listen to some tunes and have a
drink with the gang. The launch party featured a live performance from
HG members Idyllic and Ricta as well as a super selection of tunes
from Eddie Goodtimes, KI Groover and Saul. The launch party was a
success and the gallery was well and truly open for business.
The Exhibition ran for a 11 days and we had over 543 visitors to gallery,
the feedback that we had from visitors was fantastic, a few of our
favourite comments in the guest book were:
"Not enough of this in Coventry - A must see" Johnny
"Excellent show of local artists with a unique style" Joel
"Brilliant effort, very welcoming. Hope you are working on the next one!" Ellie
"G ♥ ♥ D !" Fred
When we closed the door
to the public for the final time the work hadnt finished, we wanted to
leave the unit in a much better state than it was in when we first
entered. After taking down the artwork, touching up the white and
clearing all of our belongings we were ready to hand back the keys.
If you would like to purchase a Handsome Gentlemen T-Shirt, a limited number are available from the Bring Colour shop.
Thank You to everyone that came to the gallery and supported the Handsome Gentlemen exhibition.
Special Thanks to Paul Taylor, Andrew
Smith, Body Odour, Amelia Cook, Fredrock, Batch O'Neill, Russel Bristow, Joe Marshall, Abel, Tanith Smith, Zeth Johnson, Ricky Wyeth,Vel,James Mewett, Pecks, Idyllic, Andy
Slattery, Ricta, Kevin Donnelly, Imogen Cook, Hipp Dogg, Eliza Cook, Jake Montgomery,Jessica Pinson, Saul Adams,
Eddie Goodtimes, KI Groover, Auto Bodyworx, Tandy, The Baginton Oak, Fargo and everyone else that helped to make Handsome Gentlemen possible.
Mr Rax form the Kasbah asked Bring Colour to pop down to the club and create a couple of backdrops for Tricky Discos 1st birthday. To celebrate the 1st birthday of tricky disco, the Kasbah crew booked
headline act & hip hop legend Grandmaster Flash to perform. Bring Colour were asked to produce two graffiti/urban backdrops for either
side of the DJ box, so we went down to the club & got busy.
If
you are interested in a Bring Colour custom backdrop, have an enquiry or would like
to discuss the design solutions that we can offer you, then please get in touch.
Savvy from the Vendetta Bass crew got in touch with Bring Colour because he wanted us to bash together some graphics for Vendetta Bass's fifth release, VB-005.
For VB-005 Savvy wanted the same layout as the previous graphics we produced for VB-001 & VB-004, although the main image and colour theme for VB-005 had to be darker than previous ones as the theme for this release was the "Plague".
VB-005 is available 04/03/13 at all major retailers.
A - Savvy - "Plague"
AA - Digital Era - "Mayday"
If you have a graphics enquiry or would like to discuss the design solutions that we can offer you then please get in touch
Bring Colour were recommended to a lady in Kent who was searching for something to decorate the wall of her sons room but couldn't find exactly what she wanted. The vinyl stickers she had looked at were just too babyish.
When we
launched our January Sale on children's murals, she couldn't resist and
snapped us up on our offer. We were asked to use elements from their Joules
circus Duvet & cushion to decorate a wall in their sons bedroom.
We
popped down to Kent yesterday, got creative, painted a circus themed
wall, personalised it with a little 'W' for Will & continued the
theme nicely on to the ceiling with a few matching stars.
If
you are interested in our January Sale, have an enquiry or would like
to discuss the design solutions that we can offer you, then please get in touch.
The lads from Maison got back in touch with Bring Colour as they were setting up a new "Maison" over in Stratford. We had previously worked with the guys when they were based at Maison in Priory Place, they had taken over the empty Dogma unit and opened up Baby Buddha, as an attempt to put some life into the area.
We were called in to do some graphics for Baby Buddha & the guys were that happy with the results that they booked us in to do "Maison Stratford" when it was just a pipe-dream.
We spent a couple of days over in Stratford with the guys and did a few different bits for them. The main feature is the stairway where we painted some stylized cityscape's as they wanted a kind of sex in the city vibe. On the outside of the building we painted some signage and also a repeated Maison logo which would be a VIP photo wall.
Recently we popped back over to Stratford to put some Maison logos in the DJ area and on a coffin for some Halloween photos!
Our murals are bespoke, one-off, unique pieces of artwork.
Interior walls, exterior walls, vehicles, backdrops, canvases, we can paint the image you want where you want it!
If you have an enquiry or would like to discuss the design solutions that we can offer you, then please get in touch.
Hedgey must of been missing Bring Colour as he was back on the blower
asking us to pop down to the studio and do some more decorating. We
went over to the studio to see the man himself and find out what he
wanted doing this time.
Hedgey was off to the Amsterdam for a
weekend break & wanted us to paint a mural on a wall in the front of
the studio as a surprise for him when he returned. He left us the with
keys to the studio and the instruction "Paint something I'll like!"
So, Hedgey went off for the weekend & we got busy down the studio.
He arrived home on Sunday evening but couldn't wait till the following morning to check out what we'd done, so went straight to the studio and phoned us up... "You nailed it, I love it!"
Our murals are bespoke, one-off, unique pieces of artwork.
Interior walls, exterior walls, vehicles, backdrops, canvases, we can paint the image you want where you want it!
If you have an enquiry or would like to discuss the design solutions that we can offer you, then please get in touch.
We were contacted by an old college friend, who's brother wanted Bring Colour to create a graffiti mural on one of his walls. We popped round to see him and he threw a hundred ideas at us for the graffiti mural in his newly built summer house / gym.
After a lengthy design process, we created a design he was really excited about, went round and got decorating. He was so happy with the result we are now in the process of designing a second wall!
Our murals are bespoke, one-off, unique pieces of artwork.
Interior walls, exterior walls, vehicles, backdrops, canvases, we can paint the image you want where you want it!
If you have an enquiry or would like to discuss the design solutions that we can offer you, then please get in touch.
We have been planning an empty shop project in the Bring Colour camp for some time now, lots of planning, plenty of meetings and numerous knock-backs later we are very pleased to anounce something bigger and better than an empty shop project............... An Empty Warehouse Project!
Bring Colour presents Handsome Gentlemen, the debut group exhibition of Coventry-based creatives, The Hearts Gang.
OPENING PARTY - Saturday 3rd November - Be there @ 6pm.
GALLERY OPEN - Tues-Sun (2pm-8pm) - Til' Saturday 17th November
" Coventry isn’t famed for its art. Words like – Vibrant, Fresh,
Creative and Young don’t often take star roles in Coventry City Councils
shopping list – However… all this is about to change; HG have a gig,
and by gig I mean “Massive Warehouse” jam packed to the crumbling
asbestos, full of amazing art, delightful music and a crisp exciting way
of approaching life in this humdrum Coventry.
Handsome
Gentlemen don’t profess to hold any of the answers to the stagnant
mystery of Coventry’s “creative sector”. In fact HG don’t profess
anything, cards and chest etc. They do however offer a large bowl of
optimistic bread to the table - of course the bread is of good wholesome
quality; weirdly sweet in sentiment, warm and steamy.
Make no
mistakes, the group is a rabble. HG can be best described as a strange,
fuming, potion, flaring in a cauldron of confusion. A raggedy bunch of
tattooists, graffiti artists, musicians and photographers, who all excel
in their chosen field (And if they don’t they think they do) They’re
not short of confidence… However they do struggle for a voice. They
struggle for a voice in Coventry, a city that fattens daily with an
apathy for inspiration. Coventry sits spread, bursting with thick, grey
goo slipping from its seams.
HG endeavour to change the plight
of Coventry’s Creative Sector by breathing life back into the bowels of
the dwindling city. The raggedy, rabble plan to carry out their demonic
plot by showcasing an ethos of creativity, and expression. Pop along to
the warehouse or you might get shot! "
Dtain from Flip The Script Promotions got in touch with Bring Colour to create a backdrop for their new hip hop night, "Break City Limits". They wanted a big, bold, graffiti style backdrop to brighten up the West Indian Centre, ready for the b-boys, b-girls, MC's & DJ's to battle it out.
Break City Limits 2 is in the pipelines, so if you missed out on number 1, dust off those shell toes, polish up that name belt buckle, get your Kangol hat out of the loft and get practicing your b-boy stance!
The Groundwork gang have been running a youth project called 'Our Choice' for three years, working with young people aged 11-19 in the Tile Hill, Canley, Willenhall, Stoke Aldermoor, Hillfields & Foleshill areas of Coventry.
The 'Our Choice' project gave young people the change to get involved in their neighbourhood and get their voices heard on what they wanted to see happening in their neighbourhood.
Lou from Groundwork got in touch with Bring Colour, 'Our Choice' were having a summer BBQ for the young people at Coombe Abbey and wanted Bring Colour to come along and facilitate a workshop. The aim of the workshop was for the young people to create a piece of art, through which they could evaluate the 'our choice' project.
The head honcho over at Vendetta Bass called the bring colour phone and requested some new graphics for the record label and its forth release: VB004. He knew what he wanted, "a music robot made of speakers" to use for the label graphics and then some "bee themed" artwork for the release. He also knew exactly what he wanted it to look like and couldn't of been more helpful with direction, which made our job a lot easier.
VB004 Artwork
Robotic Vendetta Bass Artwork
If you have a graphics enquiry or would like to discuss the design solutions that we can offer you then please get in touch
Bring Colour artist, John Mckeown was invited back for the third year in a row to deliver a Graffiti / Street art workshop at Cardinal Newman's Community Arts Festival.
The school wanted the young people to create some artwork with a science theme for them to display in the science block.
The weather on the day was awful but the young people battled against the elements & got creative!
We were contacted by the guys at FARGO about possibly doing some artwork up Far Gosford Street, so we popped up to have a chat with them. They had a space on the road that was a bit of an eyesore, in between the Beer Engine and the newly restored shops. Their plan was to put temporary hoardings up and have them decorated with a mural until the derelict, former shops are restored.
The derelict site between the beer engine and the restored shops.
We were asked to paint two shop frontages on to the hoardings but we suggested that it might look a little flat and would look better with some depth to the mural. They understood what we were saying and we discussed alternatives. We agreed on having one half shop frontage and the other shops leading down a road to add some depth.
Far Gosford Street is a conservation area so everything has to go into the council for them to check that it 'fits' in to the right criteria. So we began the process, got the pencil and paper out and began sketching.
Initial sketch for the leading road submitted to the council.
We sent in our initial sketch idea for the mural to the council and it came back with a thumbs up, but they needed to see the colours that were going to be used in the mural, so we got busy again.
Colour illustration submitted to the council.
The Council were happy with the plans so we got to work and did our thing.
Hoardings painted with the leading road and shop frontage design.
There are lots of changes up Far Gosford Street that have happened and still lots more to come, if you haven't been up there for a while go check it out. They have restored some fantastic buildings back to there former beauty and have encouraged cool independent local business's to set up shop.
When Bring Colour artist, John Mckeown was back at his old school, Cardinal Newman for their 2012 community arts festival, he managed to get a photo of the artwork that they created at last years workshop, mounted on the wall in the music block.
Last week we did some work for the guys at Positive Futures. We were called in to deliver one on one sessions with a young person who had chosen to complete a 10 hr project on the theme 'Graffiti Art'. He chose a name to develop 'KASUM' and set to work in his sketchbook.
Through his sketchbook he showed how the evolution from a simple tag style name up to a colourful 3d piece.
He used what he had learnt over the week to create a final piece in the last session.
It was the first time we had delivered one to one sessions in this kind of format and it went really well, the young person worked really well, created artwork that he was proud of and also got to take his sketchbook home to continue creating!
If you have an enquiry or would like to book a workshop please get in touch.
Whilst we were up Holbrooks decorating Hedgey's tattoo studio we were introduced to a guy who was soon to be opening a Café down the road. The premises had previously been a Café, all he had to do was put his stamp on the place which is where we came in. He wanted us to paint some signage for the place and after a lot of deliberating he decided upon using his son's name and called it Curtis' Café.
About a year and a half ago we were contacted by a guy who wanted us to paint 'Supreme Kebabs' on the side of his Kebab Van. He enjoyed what we did to his van and got back in touch with us to create some signage for his brothers business GSK motors.
We were back down the Kasbah last week for a quick little job.
The third installment of "No Pain, No Gain" this time with Benga headlining. We had to quickly get rid of the Sub Focus logo from last time and paint up Benga's!
