Memento Mori

Ever heard of ‘The Penge Society of Awkward Walkers’?  Apparently they have an annual moseying competition where points are awarded for style, grace and speed. If I’m to believe the other half of id-iom he clinched it from the standing champion, a one Mr Fiac Cain, in this year’s final.

I used to do a bit of professional moseying myself back in the day and couldn’t really take this kind of thing lying down so set up a match with the other half and finangled Fiac Cain as referee. Two birds with one stone and all that. My winning mosey was a graceful mashup of my interpretation of a swan in flight and Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’. Nothing else came close.

As per the Ancient Rules of id-iom I demanded a piece of art showcasing how the loser felt for my prize. What I got in return was this piece titled ‘Memento Mori’. I’m interpreting the skull as his, not mine…

‘Memento Mori’ is A3 in size and made using imagination, a little resentment, acrylic paint and smoke from a magic candle. If you’d like to give it a new home just get in touch.

Love

id-iom

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Do tell dear Willhelm

It may not be entirely clear from the picture but this piece has been blasted by a shotgun. Let me explain, before i even remembered we had access to shotguns on the Isle of Man we thought about going to an archery range to fire arrows at a bunch of targets we had bought that we were going to paint on. This led me down the path of william tell who as legend states shot an apple off the head of a child. This is why this picture has an apple on it.

Now without any practise i can’t say if i’m good enough to reproduce such feats of marksmanship but with a shotgun in hand i can certainly hit something that’s for sure.

After finding a suitable place to shoot we had a quick health and safety meeting, can’t be to careful can you.

We were then ready, with a quick look over his shoulder, the other half of id-iom harbouring a nod and a wink at me,  blasted the artwork with a malevolence that one would only expect from the devil himself. In all of a too shorter time all the pieces had been shot up to kingdom come including this one.

Maybe we should still go to the archery range anyway just to see who has the best shot out of the pair of us…

Love

Id-iom

Dream big & aim high

In these highly charged times when we’re bombarded with negativity just about constantly it’s sometimes nice to let my cold and cynical mind warm up just a little in a small attempt to remind myself that the world isn’t entirely a terrible place. 

After our series of Demotivational Posters I thought I’d dip my toe in the action on the other side. To that end I thought a simple message of positivity might cheer me up some. What I’m left with is an angry looking warrior woman and the legend ‘Dream big and aim high’. A slightly anarchic motivational poster for young feminists basically. I should probably just get ‘Smash the patriarchy’ on there and be done with it…

Anyway ‘Dream big’ is on A2 and comes available in 2 dashing colours. Drop us a line if you’d like to give either a new home.

Love

id-iom

The Kid

John couldn’t quite put his finger on when it started. But it had been going on for a while and he’d had just about as much as his sanity could put up with. Whenever he’d go up to the attic where his extensive model railway was set up he’d find that things had been moved around. Never broken but definitely not where he last left them. He’d spoken with his wife but she swore on her life she hadn’t been up there in years, as agreed. After deciding it was extreme measures or his sanity he set up a camera trap. 

Sure enough when he next went up his things weren’t as they should have been. After checking the camera this mysterious and slightly feral looking child with a small bird on his shoulder was what he saw. The police were called but ‘the Kid’ was never seen again. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

The little tyke is on a nice 60x60cm square canvas and has been made using the power of imagination, stencils and spray paint. It’s finished for now but be quick if you want to give it a home as I’m already asking myself whether I can stand the minimalism…

Love

id-iom

Without music…

Today’s piece is so straight forward it hardly needs a write up. I can barely remember what I did yesterday but have fantastic recall for the lyrics of a wide range of songs – including ones I don’t even like. Now if that isn’t saying something about the intrinsic power that music has over humans then I don’t know what is. I do wonder however who the first person was in history to drop a sick beat and think ‘I may be onto something here!’…

‘Life without music’ is an edition of 2 because I couldn’t make my mind up on background (as per usual). They’re A2 in size and made using the magic of imagination, stencils and spray paint. Drop us a line if you’d like to give her a new home.

Love

id-iom

Mesmer Eyes

This poor soul has the misfortune of being a descendant of some pretty interesting people. So many of them in fact that it he has acquired a set of superpowers, well, sort of.

First of all he is said to be descended from Coeus one of the titans of greek mythology who was the Titan of intellect, the axis of heaven around which the constellations revolved and probably of heavenly oracles to boot. Now that’s not a bad start when looking at one branch of the family tree. Later Franz Mesmer the man credited with creating hypnotism was married to one of his relatives. And nearly up to present day there is of course ‘The great Otto’ who certainly isn’t great and not even a very good hypnotist but he did, of course, have a stage presence to rival that of Beyonce.

This kind of lineage has given poor Manfred here a set of skills that only someone with his inherited genetic code could have but also a set of skills that he certainly didn’t want. He can’t even so much as glance at another person before knowing all their secret desires and dark thoughts. Which can get pretty tiresome.

It is A4 in size and made using the magic of inspiration, acrylic, watercolour and paint pen. Get in touch if you would like to give it a new home….

Cheers

id-iom

Sam Crow

Let’s just start with the basics. Sam Crow here isn’t even a crow. He’s a raven. But he was raised by crows. His first name isn’t even really Sam either but he doesn’t know that yet. There is much that Sam is yet to learn.

His adopted father had enlisted him in the Royal Bombardiers when he turned of age and he’d been progressing rapidly up the ranks ever since he’d masterminded a devastating ambush on the gulls at the Battle of Subway.

His education and enlistment had all been part of a mysterious agreement made many seasons ago when Sam, who was fresh out of the egg, had been adopted by Belasko’s nephew. The reasons for the rush adoption had been unclear but the payment for doing so was less ambiguous.

All said and done the wheels are already turning and great things are afoot for young Sam Crow. But he doesn’t know that yet either…

We’ve got previous in the world of crow related art and this is just the latest instalment of an occasional but ongoing epic tale of urban avian skullduggery with more aerial combat, vicious peckings and egg smashings than any story has a right to contain. All conducted right above our heads on the busy streets of London.

They’re A2 and made using the magic of spraypaint, stencils and imagination. Drop us a line if you’d like to give either Sam a home…

Love

id-iom

Lady Themis & Dishonest Robin

In these dark and worrying times we all need heroes and I present the superhero power couple of Lady Themis and Dishonest Robin. You may be wondering what the lady of good counsel and personification of justice is doing hanging around with a robin who will steal, lie and cheat his way to gates of hell (and the deaf and dumb boy whom Robin commands around as his glorified perch/sidekick).

Well, when Lady Themis is disregarded in her judgement then Dishonest Robin comes into his own. He dons his superpower guise and turns into Nemesis, Lady Themis’ rightful antithesis. As Nemesis, he brings just and wrathful retribution to all of those who would not heed Lady Themis’ wise counsel. Basically a superpowered version of good cop, bad cop. Probably best to do just do what she suggests…

‘Lady Themis and Dishonest Robin’ are each on a 61cm x 61cm wooden panels and are made using the magic of acrylic, spray paint and paint pen. Drop us a line if you’d like to give them a new home…

Cheers

id-iom

Love will tear us apart

Sometimes it’s difficult to know where inspiration comes from. Was I listening to Joy Division’s ‘Love will tear us apart’ when I came up with this design? Or did I come up with it independently as it seemed fitting for the design? I really couldn’t tell you.

I can tell you however that the Joy Division version was released in June 1980. Apparently the lyrics were inspired by lead singer Ian Curtis’ marriage problems and frame of mind before his suicide in May 1980. Which is really quite sad all things considered. I’m not quite sure where I’m going with this so maybe best just to leave the rest to you.

They’re on A2 paper and are made using the magic of spraypaint, stencils and imagination. They’re £130 each if anyone wants to give either a new home.

Love

id-iom

Hindsight

It’s a beautiful thing isn’t it? Hindsight that is. If only I knew then what I know now, things would have been very different.

Frankie here can be a bit of a nightmare – as i’ve just found out. In passing one day I mentioned that she may make an interesting subject to paint and since then she just keeps turning up at the studio and taking her clothes off. I asked repeatedly to stop doing it but she kept saying she wanted to be painted. There was only so much of her hanging around drinking all the tea and eating all the biscuits before I had to relent and paint her anyway.

Afterward I told her about a nearby life drawing class and she’s now become a full time life drawing model. At least she seems happy now and people dropping by the studio no longer wonder why a naked woman is hanging around…

She is on A4 and made with the magic of imagination, smoke, pencil and acrylic.

Cheers

id-iom