Paul Bommer

Arms of Santiago de Compostela

2012-01-31T13:54:00.003Z

Arms of Santiago de Compostela

Santiago de Compestela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.

The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St, James, or El Camino.

Santiago is the local Galician evolution of Vulgar Latin Sanctu Iacobu " Saint James". As for Compostela, folk etymology presumes it proceeds from the Latin Campus Stellae (i.e. "Field of the Star"), but more probable etymologies relate the word with Latin compositum, and local Vulgar Latin Composita Tella meaning "burial ground" as a euphemism, or simply with the hypocoristic compositellam, "the well composed" .

According to a tradition that can be traced back at least to the 12th century, when it was recorded in the recently stolen Codex Calixtinus, Saint James decided to return to the Holy Land after preaching in Galicia. There he was beheaded, but his disciples managed to get his body to Jaffa, where they found a marvelous stone ship, which miraculously conduced the apostle's body and the disciples to Iria Flavia, back in Galicia. There, the disciples asked for permission to earthen the body to the local pagan queen, Lupa ('She-wolf'); she, annoyed with the newcomers, decided to the deceive them, sending them to pick a pair of oxes she allegedly had by the Pico Sacro, a local sacred mountain where a dragon dwelt, hoping that the dragon would kill the Christians., but at the sign of the cross, the dragon exploded. Then, the disciples marched to pick the oxes, which were really raging bulls which the queen used to punish her enemies; but at the sign of the cross the bulls calmed down, and subjected to a yoke, carried the apostle's body to what now is Compostela. The legend was again referred in the 15th century by the Czech traveler Jaroslav Lev.

The relics were said to have been later rediscovered in the 9th century by a hermit named Pelagius, who after observing strange lights in a local forest, went for help after the local bishop, Theodemar of Iria Flavia, in the west of Galicia. Theodemar was then guided to the spot by a star, the legend affirmed, drawing upon a familiar myth-element, hence "Compostela" was given an etymology as a corruption of Campus Stellae, "Field of Stars."

The Coat-of-Arms for the city show the star shining bright above the Apostle's Tomb. The scallop shell beside the shield is the symbol of St James, probably because mendicant pilgrims carried them to beg for small alms and food, and as a symbol of their peregrination. It is also useful for scooping water from streams &c. without disturbing much sediment and dirt.

In Whitstable children traditionally make crotters, piles of cemented oyster shells. The tradition has its origins in ancient Catholicism where small Grottos were made to honour St James (Patron saint of oyster fishermen) around 25 July, the saint's feast day.

Ink Sketch - 30 Jan 2012

2012-01-31T08:47:00.002Z

Ink Sketch - 30 Jan 2012

Still clearing out the cob-webs of my mind, and unblocking the spring, restoring flow, after the seasonal January doldrums. Next year, I think I'll take a leaf out of my friend Ben's book - to take pain-in-the-janus January off to recoup and spend my days beside pub hearthsides reading, supping ale and thinking soft thoughts. It would suit my nature better.

Here is another page of dip-pen and ink scribblings that I did last night, full o' the things that fill my brain these days - bone-yards & Death, words and letterforms, Dickens, Mother Shipton, ladies of the night, bird-faced fools and burly bearded men! The usual then...

Click on the Image to Enlarge

Twitter Ye Not - The Yalta Agreement

2012-01-30T15:40:00.002Z

Twitter Ye Not - The Yalta Agreement

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 11th February 1945, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement, which dictated how Europe would be ruled after the defeat of nazi Germany. Even at its signing, critics were already sceptical about Stalin's motives and his willingness to comply with Yalta's stipulations, as a Twitter feed from that time would no doubt have reflected.

I've shown old and sickly FDR of the USA on one side, Joseph Stalin of the USSR on the other. Uncle Joe is crossing his fingers, as he doesn't plan on keeping his word...

Ink Sketch - 26 Jan 2012

2012-01-26T15:33:00.003Z

Ink Sketch - 26 Jan 2012

I am feeling a bit stuck in a rut workwise/ creatively at the moment. That's not too unsual for this somewhat 'flat' stretch of the year, it happens (shit happens) from time to time and will usually, eventually, hopefully, with a bit of luck and some perserverence, lead to a re-charging of the spirit and fresh inspiration.

So to-day I thought I'd spend an hour or so playing about with inks and dip-pens and different lines and different ways of showing things. A bit of fun to loosen the old mind-forg'd manacles! There are the results...

Click on the Image to Enlarge.

Museum Journal - Part 20

2012-01-24T16:36:00.002Z

Museum Journal - Part 20

Part 20 of the Director of the National Museum of Britsh History's Diary, for regular client Museum Journal (MJ).

This month our man describes a punishment and humiliation for those Museum Directors who fail to tow the party line - they are forced to sit naked in a barrel of manure!

As always with MJ the final print size is minute (3 or 4 cm across tops) so its crucial to keep the design very simple and the detail to a minimum.

Twitter Ye Not - Election of George Washington

2012-01-24T11:42:00.002Z

Twitter Ye Not - Election of George Washington

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 4th February 1789, the Electoral Colleges of the United States of America unanimously elected George Washington as first president of their newly independent nation. Here. we imagine the Twitter reaction to that historic election.

I have shown President Washington on one side, holding his tricorn hat in his hand and looking on at an annoyed Uncle Sam, the personification of the US (Sam is annoyed as the president was NOT elected by the people, but a select few!). Washington rarely smiled in later life as he had ill-fitting false teeth, made from wood.

Between George and Sam is the stump of the apple tree that George infamously is said to have cut down as a child. When his father demanded to know who had commited this act of wanton malucide, honest Washington Jnr. immediately owned up 'It was I. I cannot tell a lie!'. What a champ!

Behind him is the Bald Eagle, symbol of the United States, and endangered species of that fair land.

Leopold Bloom sketch

2012-01-20T11:30:00.003Z

Leopold Bloom sketch

Ulysses by James Joyce is one of my all-time favourite books. I've read it a few times, and struggled quite a bit in parts I freely admit. Its dense and foggy at times, but also hugely inventive, irreverent, comic, touching, beautiful and keenly observed. It is full of layers, illusions and conundrums. Joyce himself said that if Dublin (where the book is set, all on one day, 16 June 1904, and where I lived for 5 years) were wiped from the face of the earth the city could be re-built in intimate detail from Ulysses alone.

I have long wanted to illustrate the book, or create a series of prints based upon it. Perhaps this year, I shall!

This is a sketch of the novel's anti-hero Leopold Bloom from the 13th chapter, commonly known as Nausicaa (Ulysses is so-named because, although set upon one day in Edwardian Dublin, it mirrors Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, which tell of the decade-long travels of King Odysseus, or Ulysses in Latin, from the battlefield of Troy back to his home and family on the island of Ithaca. As a result the un-named chapters of Ulysses are usually known by the names of those in Homer). Bloom has just noticed that his fob-watch has stopped (actually at 4,30, not 4 as I've shown. Mea culpa!) and wonders if that was the moment when his unfaithful wife Molly and her lover Blazes Boylan climaxed sexually “Funny my watch stopped at half past four” he notes, then ponders “Was that just when he, she?"

Done in my sketchbook using a black biro. I love the smearing and ink-spatters, especially when blown up large, that a biro can give. I've a tendency to overwork (or over-egg as Nick puts it) images and to smooth out blemishes and imperfections. Good then to put the brakes on my OCD every now and again!

Guardian - Frenchman stereotype

2012-01-18T17:01:00.004Z

Guardian - Frenchman stereotype

A pleasant surprise at the end of last week when the Guardian got in touch with me for the first time in ages. They said that the project they had in mind was for a colloboration between the Guardian and four other European newspapers - Germany's Der Spiegel, France's Le Monde, Spain's El Pais and Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza, whereby they would explore each other's stereotypes and preconceptions.

I was given France and the key-words the other four editors used to describe the french stereotype.

I attach two versions here, the original, annotated with the terms and adjectives used in the article, and an amended version without, as, in the end, the image was considered too busy by the Editor.

What do you think?

with significant contributions from Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El País and Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza

Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El País and Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza.

with significant contributions from Der Spiegel, Le Monde, El País and Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza

Twitter Ye Not - Pride and Prejudice

2012-01-17T16:30:00.004Z

Twitter Ye Not - Pride and Prejudice

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 28th January 1813, Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice was published in London. Almost 200 years later, it is still one of the most celebrated books in the English language. Here we imagine the reaction on Twitter to that first edition and its then anonymous author.

I have shown on the one side fat George the Prince Regent (later King George IV), based on caricatures at the time by Mssrs Gilray and Cruikshank. George ruled as Regent for ten years whilst his father, King George III, was incapacitated by madness. Georgy Porgy clutches a copy of the newly published novel, and thinks he resembles Mr Darcy (especially as portrayed by a wet Colin Firth).

Across from him is poet George, Lord Byron (mad, bad and dangerous to know), leaning nonchalently against a classical pedestal, and also imagining himself as Darcy. I have indicated Byron's club foot, which he was very sensitive about.

Behind the Prince Regent is a weeping willow, very popular at the time as a motif in furniture, art and ceramics. Between the two noblemen is the Royal Pavillion at Brighton. Very exotic!

Twitter Ye Not - Execution of Louis XVI

2012-01-05T08:45:00.003Z

Twitter Ye Not - Execution of Louis XVI

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 21st of January 1793, King Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine in the Place de la Révolution (now Place de la Concorde) in Paris, after being found guilty of high treason by the revoltionary National Assembley. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that dramatic day.

On the right stands Louis XVI, re-named Citizen Louis Capet after his deposition, about to get the chop from Madame Guillotine.

Facing him is Madame Defarge, from Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities, a tricoteuse or knitter who sat, booed and purled as the heads came off. The basket in front of her contains three balls of wool (red, white and blue for Liberté, Egalité and Fraternité) and the têtes of two ex-aristos. They had it coming...

Both Louis and Defarge wear the Phrygian Bonnets or Liberty Caps of the revolution, with a tricoleur cockade apiece.

Twitter Ye Not - Coronation of Elizabeth 1

2012-01-03T09:22:00.003Z

Twitter Ye Not - Coronation of Elizabeth 1

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 15th January in 1559, Elizabeth I was crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that historic day.

This is actually a reworking of an image I done before, the original trial for the whole Twitter Ye Not series. But this time around I added a few small details - pear-drop pearl ear-rings, ermine dots on the crown and the names of those portrayed (Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh). Plus I changed the little Twitter bird on the Orb resting beside the coronation throne. Images of her coronation indicate that she probably wore her long red hair down. but I have shown her as she's more commonly seen, with her hair in high tight curls.

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #10

2012-01-02T09:11:00.004Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #10
'Epilogue'

At the beginning of the last month (December) I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the tenth (and final) vignette. 'In the months after the burial of John Williams at the crossroads in Shadwell on 31st December 1811, some further evidence came to light. A search of The Pear Tree revealed a jacket with a bloodied pocket, blood stained trousers abandoned in the privy and a bloody French knife hidden in a mouse-hole – the knife that could have been used to slit the victims’ throats. However none of these items could be incontrovertibly connected to John Williams...'

I have shown the skull of John Williams as it may have appeared on the bar shelf of the Crown & Dolphin pub, on the corner of Cannon Street Road and Cable Street (just across from where his body was interred at the crossroad or 'four went way'). The supposed criminal's cranium sits lost amid the paraphenalia of a mid 20th Century public house - dusty bottles of whisky, port and gin, &c., postcards, tankards, a ceramic Virol pot, photographs, a toby jug and a brace of Staffordshire lions (based largely on items upon my own mantelpiece).

The Crown & Dolphin closed as a pub in the 1980s and has since been converted to flats. The whereabouts of John Williams' skull is unknown.

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2012/01/02/chapter-10-epilogue/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #9

2011-12-31T08:09:00.004Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #9
'A Shallow Grave'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the ninth (and penultimate) vignette. After his suicide (or possible murder, according to some) the body of the supposed Ratcliffe Highway murderer John Williams was taken from Coldbath Square Prison in Clerkenwell back to Shadwell where the killings had taken place. His body was placed upon a cart and paraded through the streets of Wapping, Ratcliffe and Shadwell - past the Marr's house at 29 Ratcliffe Highway, the King's Arms where the Williamson family was butchered and the Pear Tree where Williams lodged and was arrested - before being taken to the cross-roads of what is today the junction of Cable St and Cannon Street Road (then more sensibly known as simple Cannon St!). A small and shallow hole was dug - deliberately way too small for his body to lie with any dignity - and his body dumped in. Then, at the bequest of non-other than the Home Secretery, a stake was driven through his heart (using the still blood- and hair-caked maul with which the Marr family were destroyed!), lime thrown in on top and the grave quickly back-filled.

I have shown the moment just before the stake was thrust deep into Williams' heart. I got Nick to pose for this, kneeling on the edge of the sofa with a claw-hammer in one hand and a roll of cellophane (for the stake) in the other. The cart on which Williams' cadaver was displayed stands behind.

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/31/chapter-9-a-shallow-grave/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #8

2011-12-29T17:48:00.002Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #8
'A Verdict'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the eighth vignette. After his arrest prime suspect John Williams was taken to Coldbath Fields Prison (or House of Correction) in Clerkenwell. On the morning of the 27th December 1811 'the turnkey at the gaol had gone to prepare the suspect for his trip to Shadwell, when he discovered Williams suspended by the neck from the iron bar which crossed the cell, provided for prisoners to hang their clothes (surely a design fault if ever there was one!). The body was cold and lifeless, and the universal conclusion was that John Williams had passed judgement upon himself. Thus the days proceedings were undertaken on the assumption that his guilt would now be revealed.'

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/27/chapter-8-a-verdict/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #7

2011-12-29T17:32:00.004Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #7
'Inquest at Shadwell'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the seventh vignette. After the arrest of John Williams various witness were summoned for interrogation by the magistrates at Shadwell. Here I have imagined these gentlemen cross-examining the testimony of Mrs Vermilloe, landlady of the Pear Tree inn, where prime suspect Williams was arrested.

Upper Shadwell is to-day part of the Highway. Cut-throat Lane (now there's a name!) to the north later became Love Lane and more recently Brodlove Lane where my partner Nick once lived, at the Peabody Estate there.

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/26/chapter-7-three-wise-magistrates/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #6

2011-12-29T17:20:00.002Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #6
'Arrest of the Prime Suspect'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the sixth vignette. 'On Christmas Eve, a vital break in the case came when the maul used as the weapon to kill the Marrs was recognised by Mr Vermilloe, the landlord of The Pear Tree. He reported that the initials I.P. were those of its owner John Peterson, a German carpenter from Hamburg who had recently lodged at The Pear Tree and left his tool chest there for safe keeping when he returned to sea.

This breakthrough led to to John Williams. He was twenty-seven, an ordinary seaman who had once sailed with Timothy Marr on the Dover Castle. Upon his return from sea, he had taken lodgings down by the river at The Pear Tree in Cinnamon Street, Wapping – still cobbled today as it was in 1811.'

Note the Pear Tree sign at the top of the vignette and the landlord's name, Robert Vermilloe.

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/24/chapter-6-the-prime-suspect/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #5

2011-12-29T17:01:00.004Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #5
'Indescribable Panic'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the fifth vignette. In the aftermath of the two murderous bloodbaths, both within weeks and yards of each other, media coverage at the time sent the entire country into hysteria. Sales of guns, locks and rattles went soaring as public panic spread like wildfire.

I have shown a paper boy of the period running through the streets with news hot off the press. Although the panic was nationwide I have chosen to place our scene over the streets now occupied by Rupert Murdoch's News International media group, who themselves have whipped up many a media frenzy in the years since.

Rosemary Lane is to-day called Royal Mint Street, and for about 5 years Nick and I lived just off it in John Fisher Street Peabody Estate.

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/22/chapter-5-indescribable-panic/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #4

2011-12-29T16:41:00.003Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #4
'New Sanguinary Atrocities'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the fourth vignette. It shows the next remarkable turn in the tale of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders, when on the 19th December 1811, barely two weeks after the brutal murder of the Marr family at No. 29 Ratcliffe Highway, owner of the King's Arms pub Mr. Williamson, his wife Mrs Williamson and their servant Bridgit Harrington were found most brutally slaughtered.
The scene shown depicts resident of the King's Arms John Turner escaping the carnage below by dropping from his garret window using knotted sheets and crying 'Murder! Murder!' to raise the alarm.

New Gravel Lane is to-day called Garnet Street.

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/19/chapter-4-new-sanguinary-atrocities/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #3

2011-12-29T16:30:00.003Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #3
'Burial of the Marr family'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the third vignette. It shows the interment of the murdered Marr family at St George's-in-the-East churchyard on the 15th December 1811 'in the shadow of the pepperpot tower designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. In spite of the frost, crowds of mourners lined the Highway from early morning and at one o’clock the coffins were carried out from the draper’s shop at 29 Ratcliffe Highway, where the deceased met their end, and into the church where two months earlier the family had attended the christening of Timothy Marr junior.'

The pall-bearers are hidden beneath the black fringed drapes over the coffins - only their lower legs and feet are visible. beneath Atop the coffins are arranged black ostrich plumes in place of flowers.

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/15/chapter-3-the-burial-of-the-victims/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #2

2011-12-29T16:09:00.002Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #2
'River Police Headquarters'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the second vignette. It shows the building of the Thames River Police down at Wapping New Stairs, as it appeared in 1811, a site they occupy to this day. 'Once news of the murders on the Ratcliffe Highway reached here in the early hours of December 8th, Police Officer Charles Horton who was on duty at the time, ran up Old Gravel Lane (now Wapping Lane) and forced his way through the crowd that had gathered outside the draper’s shop. He searched the house systematically and, apart from the mysterious chisel on the counter, he found five pounds in Timothy Marr’s pocket, small change in the till and £152 in cash in a drawer in the bedroom – confirming this was no simple robbery...'

To know more go to http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/10/chapter-2-horrid-murder/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #1

2011-12-29T15:51:00.004Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Vignette #1
'Death of a Linen Draper'

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the first vignette. It commemorates the discovery of the brutally murdered corpses of young linen-draper Timothy Marr, his wife Celia, their two-month old child Timothy Jnr and the Marr's shop assistant James Gowan. The adults' skulls had all been violently stoved in and the infant's throat slit so that its head was almost severed from its body.

At the door stands the Marr's servant Margaret Jewell, who was sent out to buy oysters at the time the family was slain, night watchman George Olney with his lamp aloft and the Marr's next door neighbour pawnbroker John Murray emerging from the front door, having found the mutilated cadavers on the shop floor. He is recorded to have cried 'Murder! Murder! Come and see what murder is here!

To learn more visit http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/12/07/two-hundred-years-ago-tonight/

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Title

2011-12-29T15:30:00.002Z

Ratcliffe Highway Murders Map - Title

At the beginning of the month I was asked by the Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/) and publishers Faber & Faber (http://faber.co.uk/) to produce a map marking the bicentinary this month of the horrific Ratcliffe Highway Murders (December 1811), with vignettes indicating the location and dates of the pertinent events as their anniversaries occurred.

The vignettes were inspired by the book investigating the case 'The Maul and the Pear Tree', by P.D.James & T.A.Critchley, first published by Faber in 1971.

The map beneath was an 1811 map of the area, provided for me by the wonderful Stefan Dickers, archivist at the Bishopsgate Institute.

This is the title cartouche. The wording and text reflects the style of the time, the late Georgian/ Regency period. The skull above is flanked by two of the murder weapons, a maul and a chisel, and pear fruits, a reference to the Pear Tree pub in Wapping where the main suspect was arrested.

Note 'Pickle Herring Street' - they don't name roads like that anymore!

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #4

2011-12-29T09:43:00.003Z

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #4

Some months back I was asked by St Jude's (http://www.stjudesprints.co.uk/products/random-spectacular) to contribute to their forthcoming publication, Random Spectacular (http://randomspectacular.co.uk/), which was printed this week. And immediately sold out!

The brief: Anything, learned and lushly illustrated. I chose as my subject matter the Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the fantastical (and quite possibly fictional) account of a 14th Century English knight's journeys across the known world. On his way he encounters relics of Christ, the daughter of Hippocrates turned into a dragon, Sciapods, the bones of giants, enormous flesh-eating ants (pismires) hoarding mountains of gold, the Great Khan of Cathay, the Fountain of Youth (from which he drank), the Trees of the Sun and Moon (who foretold the death of Alexander the Great),the Vale Perilous and the Great Sultan of Araby, amongst many, many other wonders.

Here are four details of Page 4 (4 pages in toto). Where-ever possible I have used the names for people and places as described by Mandeville - Polainie for Poland, Cressy for Greece, Liban for Lebanon, &c., &c..

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #3

2011-12-21T09:44:00.003Z

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #3

Some months back I was asked by St Jude's (http://www.stjudesprints.co.uk/products/random-spectacular) to contribute to their forthcoming publication, Random Spectacular (http://randomspectacular.co.uk/), which was printed this week. And immediately sold out!

The brief: Anything, learned and lushly illustrated. I chose as my subject matter the Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the fantastical (and quite possibly fictional) account of a 14th Century English knight's journeys across the known world. On his way he encounters relics of Christ, the daughter of Hippocrates turned into a dragon, Sciapods, the bones of giants, enormous flesh-eating ants (pismires) hoarding mountains of gold, the Great Khan of Cathay, the Fountain of Youth (from which he drank), the Trees of the Sun and Moon (who foretold the death of Alexander the Great),the Vale Perilous and the Great Sultan of Araby, amongst many, many other wonders.

Here are two details of Page 3 (4 pages in toto). Where-ever possible I have used the names for people and places as described by Mandeville - Polainie for Poland, Cressy for Greece, Liban for Lebanon, &c., &c..

Twitter Ye Not - Woodrow Wilson's 14 Point Plan

2011-12-20T08:16:00.002Z

Twitter Ye Not - Woodrow Wilson's 14 Point Plan

On the 8th January 1918, in an address to Congress, President Woodrow Wilson outlined his 14 Point Plan, which would become the blueprint for the German surrender at the end of the First World War. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed of that week-end.

On the right-hand side I have shown the 28th US President, Woodrow Wilson, his 14-point plan rolled up under his arm. The points included the formation of an independant Poland and the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France.

Across from him stands British Premier (and notorious Welsh womaniser!) David Lloyd George, a bit miffed at having not been consulted on the drafting of the document.

All around them lies the devastation of WWI, whilst between them sits a nervous Dove of Peace.

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #2

2011-12-19T18:07:00.001Z

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #2

Some months back I was asked by St Jude's (http://www.stjudesprints.co.uk/products/random-spectacular) to contribute to their forthcoming publication, Random Spectacular (http://randomspectacular.co.uk/), which was printed this week. And immediately sold out!

The brief: Anything, learned and lushly illustrated. I chose as my subject matter the Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the fantastical (and quite possibly fictional) account of a 14th Century English knight's journeys across the known world. On his way he encounters relics of Christ, the daughter of Hippocrates turned into a dragon, Sciapods, the bones of giants, enormous flesh-eating ants (pismires) hoarding mountains of gold, the Great Khan of Cathay, the Fountain of Youth (from which he drank), the Trees of the Sun and Moon (who foretold the death of Alexander the Great),the Vale Perilous and the Great Sultan of Araby, amongst many, many other wonders.

Here are two details of Page 2 (4 pages in toto). Where-ever possible I have used the names for people and places as described by Mandeville - Polainie for Poland, Cressy for Greece, Liban for Lebanon, &c., &c..

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #1

2011-12-17T15:10:00.002Z

Random Spectacular: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, #1

Some months back I was asked by St Jude's (http://www.stjudesprints.co.uk/products/random-spectacular) to contribute to their forthcoming publication, Random Spectacular (http://randomspectacular.co.uk/), which was printed this week. And immediately sold out!

The brief: Anything, learned and lushly illustrated. I chose as my subject matter the Travels of Sir John Mandeville, the fantastical (and quite possibly fictional) account of a 14th Century English knight's journeys across the known world. On his way he encounters relics of Christ, the daughter of Hippocrates turned into a dragon, Sciapods, the bones of giants, enormous flesh-eating ants (pismires) hoarding mountains of gold, the Great Khan of Cathay, the Fountain of Youth (from which he drank), the Trees of the Sun and Moon (who foretold the death of Alexander the Great),the Vale Perilous and the Great Sultan of Araby, amongst many, many other wonders.

Here are two details of Page 1 (4 pages in toto). Where-ever possible I have used the names for people and places as described by Mandeville - Polainie for Poland, Cressy for Greece, Liban for Lebanon, &c., &c..

Museum Journal - Part 19

2011-12-17T11:22:00.002Z

Museum Journal - Part 19

Part 19 of the Director of the National Museum of Britsh History's Diary, for regular client Museum Journal (MJ).

This month our man describes a meeting about one of the wealth of Dickens exhibitions planned nationwide in 2012, the bicentenary of the great man's birth. I have alluded to Oliver Twist here (and more specifically the Artful Dodger), although the article was actually a parody of A Christmas Carol.

I shall be joining the general Dickensian mêlée myself next year with a few CD-inspred prints planned! Watch this space!

As always with MJ the final print size is minute (3 or 4 cm across tops) so its crucial to keep the design very simple and the detail to a minimum.

Twitter Ye Not - Arthur Guinness

2011-12-16T13:46:00.003Z

Twitter Ye Not - Arthur Guinness

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On New Year's Eve 1759, Arthur Guinness took out a 9,000 year lease on a site in Dublin for a fixed rate of £45 per year and began brewing Guinness. Here, we imagine the impact of that event on the New Year's Eve Twitter feed.

On the left hand side stands Arthur Guinness, chuffed and raising a pint of 'plain' in salute. Across from him, wheeling her infamous bivalve-bulging barrow through the Dublin streets (both wide and narrow), stands Molly Malone, also raising what in Ireland is termed a 'glass' (or half-pint) of the black stuff. Behind Mr G stands (anachronistically - it wasn't started until 1786!) the Four Courts (in Irish; Na Ceithre Cúirteanna), centre of Irish Law.

Between them both stand the gates of the Guinness brewery on St James' Gate. Between 1992 and 1997 I was a student at the National College of Art & Design (NCAD) on Thomas Street, just down the road. On most days you could smell the warm, sickly Guinness fumes emanating from the brewery. And on most days we would retire to The Clock pub next door and down a few scoops of the stuff - to help us through those difficult, taxing art school days ;-) !

A statue of Molly Malone was erected outside Trinity College on the corner of Nassau and Grafton streets whilst I was there, and was immediately dubbed, as only a Dub can do, the Tart with the Cart. A perfect accompaniment to the Anna Livia statue, nicknamed the Floosie in the Jacuzzi, that in honour of James Joyce (the prick with the Stick), &c., &c..

I loved living there, back in its dirty and different pre-Celtic Tiger nonsense heyday, and miss it still...

Restaurant Magazine - December 2011

2011-12-12T14:09:00.002Z

Restaurant Magazine - December 2011

A piece for my regular Strets & the City slot (written by financial analyst Mark Stretton) in monthly trade publication, Restaurant magazine.

This is the investment forecast for 2012 - very little in terms of loans from Banks, but much financial input from Private Equity. (Yes, I don't understand it either!)

Not a large piece, so kept pretty simple.

Twitter Ye Not - The Abdication

2011-12-12T13:32:00.003Z

Twitter Ye Not - The Abdication

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 10th December 1936, Edward VIII signed the instruments of abdication, which allowed him to give up the throne in order to marry the American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. Here, we imagine the reaction on Twitter.

As I had drawn Mrs Simpson before (for the piece about Amy Johnson) I have chosen here instead to portray the abdicating Ned VIII (very stylish, but definitely a bit of a shit) kneeing the Crown across to his reluctantly succeeding brother George VI (known to his family as Bertie).

Poor Bertie, the present Queen's pop, famously had a terrible stutter (the subject of the film 'The King's Speech' - hence the mic), as did I until about the age of 8 or 9. It can come back occassionally to this day if I get nervous or shy (surprisingly often).

Mine was largely cured by my primary school teacher Sharon Shapiro, who taught me to sing and spent many long hours helping me during lunch hours and breaks. I am forever indebted to Ms Shapiro. Thank you!

Behind Edward lies a pile of commerative mugs - obsolete then, but now worth a fortune!

This is the last TYN for this year - I'm having a Christmas break!

The Royal Oak (screenprint)

2011-12-06T16:11:00.005Z

The Royal Oak (screenprint)

This is one of the 6 new screen prints I created especially for my Wunderkabinett solo show a couple of week-ends ago.

This year I became involved with Simon Costin's Museum of British Folklore, and this design was created with that in mind. I have always been fascinated by pub signs, and how they record the vagueries, alignments, beliefs and appetites of society throughout history. The Royal Oak, still a popular tavern name to this day, more than anything else says 'Down with Puritanism' and the need to control, after the sour dry years of the Cromwell's Commonwealth when theatre, colour, music and even Christmas were banned. Posterity dubs Charles II the 'Merrie Monarch' in contrast to that prior austerity, but here, as yet uncrowned and furtively concealed within the Boscobel Oak, he seems a little anxious as Roundheads sweep the country looking for him.

The print measures 29.7 cm wide by 42 cm deep (A3), and is printed in 2 colours in a limited edition of 50. He is available to buy at £45 (a snip), plus Postage & Packing, from my Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulBommer - along with many other treasures!

John Barleycorn Must Die (screenprint)

2011-12-05T08:16:00.002Z

John Barleycorn Must Die (screenprint)

'John Barleycorn (must die)' is a traditional British folksong. The character of John Barleycorn in the song is the personification of Barley, and of the alcoholic beverages made from it, namely Beer and Whisky. In the song, John Barleycorn is represented as suffering attacks, death and other indignities that correspond to the various stages of barley cultivation, such as reaping and malting. Although killed over and again, his Spirit lives on!

Earliest printed versions of the song date back as far as the 16th Century, but the best known re-telling is Robert Burns' poem of 1782, a verse or two of which are included at the foot of my print. John Barleycorn Must Die was also the name of British rock band Traffic's fourth album, released in 1970.

The pose Sir John takes upon the barrel is a reference to traditional representations of Bacchus or Dionysis (God of Wine) a-stride a keg, glass or tankard raised, dripping tap between his legs, oblivious.

The print measures 29.7 cm wide by 42 cm deep (A3), and is printed in 2 colours in a limited edition of 50. He is available to buy at £45 (a snip), plus Postage & Packing, from my Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulBommer - along with many other treasures!

'Then let us toast John Barleycorn, each man a glass in hand!'

Spitalfields Life Header

2011-12-02T07:28:00.004Z

Spitalfields Life Header

The Gentle Author, who writes the amazing daily blog Spitalfields Life (http://spitalfieldslife.com/), asked me to produce a Header for the site for this month. It is based on late Georgian prints of the area around Nicholas Hawksmoor's beautiful St George-in-the-East church in Shadwell, east London, very near to where I used to live.

The scene is early evening/ dusk, as the shops light up their tallow candles and the moonlight falls gentle upon the church tower and the plumes of smoke rising from the chimbleys.

Click on it to enlarge the image. There you may perceive, if you squint hard and use your imagination, the Britannia Inn, Ince & Co. Umbrella-makers, Appleton & Robson Silk-merchants, and Bommer & Belch, tripe-dressers.

Spitalfields Life is featuring, every day up until and including Christmas Eve, my Advent Calendar. Subscribe now to the SL site so you don't miss a thing!!

The Wildman of Orford (print for sale)

2011-11-27T17:31:00.002Z

The Wildman of Orford (print for sale)

One of the 6 new prints I created for my solo show Wunderkabinett last week-end.

This handsome fellow is the Wildman of Orford (aka the Mer-man of Orford).

This wonderful piece of East Anglian folklore was brought to my attention earlier this year by the poet Chrissie Gittins, for whom I illustrated a wonderful book of her poems, the Humpback's Wail, which included one about this strange and misunderstood creature.

Caught in fisherman's net off Orford Ness in 1167 the Wildman was described as bald on the top of his head, but otherwise covered, head to toe, in thick matted fur. He could speak no English and did not recognise the church as holy. He would eat anything offered him, so long as it was cold and he had squeezed all the juice from it. He was held captive at Orford Castle (shown in the print) for some time, where he was hung by his feet and beaten, but still he would not speak. Eventually the Wildman of Orford managed to escape when allowed to bathe in the sea where he swam away to his freedom, never to be seen again.

Printed for me by the talented Mr Yann Brien of Handwash Studios, the print measures 29.7 cm wide by 42 cm down (A3), and has 2 colours. It is a limited edition of 50 (although quite a few have sold already!) and is available from my Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulBommer) at the very reasonable price of £45 plus P&P. Snatch him up whilst you may!

The King o' the Cats (print for sale)

2011-11-27T16:27:00.003Z

The King o' the Cats (print for sale)

One of the 6 new prints I created for my solo show Wunderkabinett last week-end.

Gather 'round Ladies and Gentlemen, and I shall share with you the tale of the King o' the Cats.

A man one night was travelling to the house of a friend. Lost in the fog on the way there he espied a light ahead of him, which he followed to an old and gnarled hollow willow tree. Peering within he saw a tiny wooden coffin surrounded by feline mourners, each holding a candle between its paws. Startled by this sight, he ran on until he reached at last his friend’s door.

By the roaring hearth he recounted all he had just witnessed on his journey to his incredulous host and his wife. As he finished the tale the tom-cat asleep by the fireside sat suddenly bolt upright and declared aloud - ‘Then Old Peter is Dead. And I am King o’the Cats!’. With which, he disappeared up the chimney, never to be seen again.

The folktale is generally thought to be Scottish, but other regional versions exist across the country. In Oxford-shire the same tale is told, but this time with Tim Toldrum (and not Old Peter) as the name of the deceased cat!

Forzino the Strongman

2011-11-27T09:57:00.004Z

Forzino the Strongman

One of the 6 new prints I created for my solo show Wunderkabinett last week-end.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I introduce to you Forzino the Strongman.

Appearing nightly at the Winter Circus (le Cirque d'Hiver) in Paris, Forzino, was, in his youth a sailor, and also a soldier in north Africa, to which his tattoos allude. The designs are based on genuine french prisoner tattoos documented by criminalogist Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne of Lyon in the 1890s.

The french below translates, approximately, as 'The Strongest Tattooed Hercules in the World, and the Most Beautiful Physique in this Genre!"

Printed for me by the marvellous Suki Hayes at the Print Block in Whitstable, the print measures 29.7 cm wide by 42 cm down (A3), and has 2 colours. It is a limited edition of 50 (although quite a few have sold already!) and is available from my Etsy shop (http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulBommer) at the very reasonable price of £45 plus P&P. Snatch him up whilst you may!

(For I Will Consider) My Cat Jeoffry

2011-11-24T16:49:00.010Z

(For I Will Consider) My Cat Jeoffry

My new screen print for sale, created especially for my Wunderkabinett exhibtion in Spitalfields last week-end.

It is based on (and features) a poem, commonly called 'For I Will Consider My Cat Jeoffry', by Christopher 'Kit' Smart. It is an excerpt from a longer piece entitled Jubilate Agno ('Rejoice in the Lamb'), written around 1760 whilst Smart was an inmate at St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics on Old Street, Upper Moorfields, in London.

Printed in two colours on high quality Fabriano 5 paper by the Print Block in Whitstable, '(For I Will Consider) My Cat Jeoffry' is a limited edition of 50.

The print measures 50 cm wide by 70 cm high (a standard frame size, conveniently) and includes 80 vignettes and 89 cats!

The print is available to buy, through my website (http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulBommer) and through other reputable outlets, for £120 plus P&P.

Twitter Ye Not - The Mary Celeste

2011-11-23T22:19:00.002Z

Twitter Ye Not - The Mary Celeste

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 4th December 1872, the brigantine merchant ship Mary Celeste was found by another ship, the Dei Gratia, drifting under sail some 600 miles west of Portugal. All her passengers and crew were missing, and no trace of them was ever found. Here. we imagine the Twitter reaction to that mysterious event.

A departure this time - No people. Just the empty ship and laden breakfast table, with still-steaming cups of tea (apparently invented by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as was his more fanciful name for the vessel, the Marie Celeste)! The portrait of vanished Captain Briggs looks down forlornly from an oxford frame upon the wall. Through the port-hole the Dei Gratia, under the command of Captain Morehouse, can be seen approaching.

Museum Journal - Part 18

2011-11-23T22:09:00.003Z

Museum Journal - Part 18

Part 18 of the Director of the National Museum of Britsh History's Diary, for regular client Museum Journal (MJ).

This month our man attends a meeting to assign Scotland with satellite English Museums. The campaign was christened 'Lebensraum' after the Nazi regime's term for colonisation. In keeping with that WWII flavour I drew a map of northern Britain recalling the opening credits for Dad's Army.

As always with MJ the final print size is minute (3 or 4 cm across tops) so its crucial to keep the design very simple and the detail to a minimum.

'Delftware' Tile - The Wit To Woo

2011-11-22T17:52:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - The Wit To Woo

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

The Owl is a symbol of the Norfolk town of Holt, where our friends, Will & Marie, have a wonderful shop, Old Town. Apparently the town was plagued by a particularly noisy one back in the mists of time and tried to drown it by sticking said bird up the church drain pipe. Fortunately the wise owl outwitted the townsfolk and escaped to hoot another day...

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - Apples & Pears

2011-11-22T17:49:00.005Z

'Delftware' Tile - Apples & Pears

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

Apples & Pears is the best-known Cockney rhyming slang expression, meaning Stairs. Followed closely by Frog & Toad, for Road. Up the Apples, down the Toad..

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - Hello Sailor

2011-11-22T17:45:00.004Z

'Delftware' Tile - Hello Sailor

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This inked matelot is a handsome chap. Franco-phone/phile Miles Kingston once said that the french navy took as its motto 'To the Water! Its the Hour!'. But of course, it was said in french...

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - The Gentle Author

2011-11-22T17:41:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - The Gentle Author

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

GA is a reference to the Gentle Author, the mysterious pen behind the astonishing Spitalfields Life blog. http://spitalfieldslife.com/

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - Mr. Pussy

2011-11-22T17:32:00.005Z

'Delftware' Tile - Mr. Pussy

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

Mr. Pussy is the feline friend of the Gentle Author, the mysterious pen behind the wonderful Spitalfields Life blog. http://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/11/14/paul-bommers-wunderkabinett/

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - W.B.

2011-11-22T17:28:00.004Z

'Delftware' Tile - W.B.

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This is supposed to be my friend Will Brown. Alas the likeness is not the Mae West. But the Drink More Gin framed poster, playful cats and pint of stout are bang on!

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - Mister Frederick Adams

2011-11-22T17:23:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - Mister Frederick Adams

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

Mr F.A. is the husband of the infamous (but sweet) Fanny Adams. Neither do nor think nor know very much. And they're happy with that.

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - Alfino

2011-11-22T17:20:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - Alfino

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This perky little fella is my pal Angela Hartnett's jack russell Alfie (known as Alfino in cod italian)

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - The Golden Heart

2011-11-22T17:12:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - The Golden Heart

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This represents the Golden Heart pub, just around the corner on Commercial-street. It is run by the amazing Sandra Esqulant and has a beautiful panelled back-bar. The name is a reference to the Golden Heart of Our Lady - an appropriately Catholic name for devout Catholic Sandra!

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - The Ten Bells

2011-11-22T17:07:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - The Ten Bells

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This represents the Ten Bell pub, just around the corner on Commercial-street. It has a fab restaurant upstairs (I'm told). The name is a reference to Hawksmoor's Christchurch, Spitalfields, which stands opposite.

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - Cycliste Parisien

2011-11-22T17:03:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - Cycliste Parisien

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This mutton-chopped bonhomme is on his way to this Saturday's London Tweed Run. A little Gallic charm is always welcome!

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - London Cyclist

2011-11-22T16:56:00.005Z

'Delftware' Tile - London Cyclist

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This moustachioed fellow is dressed in his finest tweeds and heading back home from this Saturday's London Tweed Run. Hope he hasn't drunk both those bottles!

SOLD OUT

'Delftware' Tile - The Bommer Pig

2011-11-22T16:47:00.003Z

'Delftware' Tile - The Bommer Pig

One of the 13 faux Delft tiles (actually acrylic on panel) I created last week especially for my Wunderkabinett solo exhibition at the week-end. The Show was in a Georgian period townhouse, which not untypically have blue & white Delftware tiles surrounding the hearths.

This porky pig with the butcher's chop-marks (and my tragicomic surname above him) is a reference to St. John's Bread & Wine, a nose-to-tail eaterie, just around the corner.

SOLD OUT

Wunderkabinett - Poster

2011-11-13T17:58:00.004Z

Wunderkabinett - Poster

The Poster form of my Wunderkabinett solo show invitation, with all t'information cunningly placed on the one same side for your ease and convenience!

Twitter Ye Not - Tutankhamun's Tomb

2011-11-11T11:29:00.003Z

Twitter Ye Not - Tutankhamun's Tomb

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On November 22nd 1922, Lord Carnarvon and archaeologist Howard Carter first entered the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Here we imagine the Twitter feed excavated from that day.

I have show Howard Carter, in his linen suit and remarkable white shoes, and Lord Carnarvon, his aristocratic sponsor, both flanking a selection of the treasures found in Tutankhamun's tomb. Above the hoard floats a cartouche containing one of King Tut's names (he had several, including a 'throne' name) in hieroglyphics. Behind Carnarvon are two of the three Great Pyramids at Giza, and a date palm. Near his ear buzzes the mosquito that bit his cheek the following Spring, and which led to his unfortunate death and the notion, popular in the Press at the time, of a Curse of the Pharoah.

I saw the treasures of Tutankhamun's tomb as a small child, at the British Museum in 1972, a-top my father's shoulders. I remember being much taken with the animorphic bed I have shown and the chair with lions' feet. My mum tells me that I admonished the guard who kindly asked me if I liked 'Toot'n'karmen' by telling him it was pronounced ' Toot-ankk-ar-Mooon' (a pronunciation I recently and gratifyingly heard to be correct by a scholar on Radio 3!). What a precocious little toad I was (am).

My partner Nick and I have a secret and unprovable belief that we espied each other for the first time at that exhibition, me upon Dad's shoulders and he a school-boy a little older. I am quite certain it did happen!

Wunderkabinett - Signing new prints

2011-11-05T09:07:00.002Z

Here I am signing and numbering two of the new prints for my forthcoming Wunderkabinett show in a fortnight's time.

John Barleycorn Must Die is based on a poem by Rabbie Burns, about the embodiment of grain and the drinks made thereof.

The Wildman of Orford is based on a medieval legend of a woodwose caught in a Suffolk fisherman's net!

Wunderkabinett - Invites & Rubber-stamp

2011-11-05T09:02:00.003Z

Wunderkabinett - The Invite/ Postcard, printed for me by RCS.

Mostly posted out, delivered and flying off local gallery, shop and café counter-tops!

Plus the By Hand rubber stamp I had made up by Blade Rubbers.

Twitter Ye Not - The Mayflower

2011-11-02T16:32:00.003Z

Twitter Ye Not - The Mayflower.

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On what is in the modern Gregorian calendar 21 November 1620, The Mayflower dropped anchor in Cape Cod Bay, at the end of a 66 day journey across the Atlantic from Plymouth. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed of that fateful time.

In April 1621 the Mayflower, a privately commissioned vessel, returned to England. In 1623, a year after the death of Captain Christopher Jones, the ship was dismantled for scrap timber at Rotherhithe, London. There is a barn in the village of Jordans, near Chalfont St Giles in Buckingham-shire, also the final resting place of William Penn (as in Pennsylvania), said to be made of the Mayflower's wood!

On the left is William Bradford, leader of the new community, and credited with inventing Thanksgiving - Turkeys, pumpkin pie, all that stuff.

Opposite him stands Tisquantum, more commonly known as Squanto, the Patuxet indian who assisted the pilgrims after their first winter in the New World, and who was integral to their survival. Behind him stands an alarmed turkey.

Between them stands the famous ship.

It is commonly believed that the pilgrim fathers left England for the New World to escape religious persecution, but in fact they received little in a time when puritanism was steadily gaining ground. No, the reason they set up home in Americky was so that they were free themselves to religiously persecute! (Discuss).

Twitter Ye Not - The Loch Ness Monster

2011-11-02T16:13:00.002Z

Twitter Ye Not - The Loch Ness Monster

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On November 12 1933, a British Aluminium Company worker named Hugh Gray was walking home from church when he saw an object rise from the waters of the lake beside him. The image he captured on his box camera was the first to purport to offer proof of the existence of the Loch Ness monster. Here, we imagine the reaction on Twitter to that iconic photograph.

As I was unable to track down any images of Hugh Gray (or at least, be certain I had the right Hugh Gray) I chose to show a more generic Scot, be-kilted with a tam o'shanter hat, hip-flask and crafty smile.

Opposite him stands British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, also mentioned in the article and on the ascendency at that time. All very scathing, and rightly so, but I did point out to the commissioner that, if memory serves me well, the Daily Mail were firm supporters of Mosley's movement before the War. No comment... ;-). Their version of the swastika was the Lightning Bolt badge, which Ossie wears on his ridiculously high belt.

He was married to Diana Mitford, and both spent years in gaol during WWII. Diana and her sister Unity were both dyed-in-the-wool fascists, but their younger sister Jessica (known as Decca) moved to America and became an ardent communist.
She was unbending about Diana's steely and unrepentant Fascist history. Visiting London with her son, Benjamin Treuhaft, who was half Jewish, she noted Diana's offer of a meeting: "I thought better not, as I didn't want Benj turned into a lampshade."

Between these men Nessie, the monster herself, rises from the murky depths of the vast loch.

Twitter Ye Not - The Gunpowder Plot

2011-10-25T16:20:00.003+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - The Gunpowder Plot

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

In the early hours of the 5th November 1605, Guy Fawkes was discovered in the undercroft of the Palace of Westminster, guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder, intended to blow up the State Opening of Parliament later that day. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that turbulent night.

On he left-hand side we have Guy or Guido Fawkes, terrorist or free-fighter depending on your standpoint, some say the only man to ever enter Parliament with honest intentions, having a thoughtful smoke. A bad idea considering he is surrounded by powder kegs. Good thing most of them are too damp to ignite!

Opposite him is King James I of England (and James VI of Scotland), first of the Stuart line of British monarchs. The son of Mary, Queen of Scots, James is famous for several things - his ugliness, the Gunpowder Plot, his possible latent homosexuality, his poetic translation into English of the Bible (seen here under his arm) and his dislike of Smoking, which he described as 'a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless'! Not a fan then!

Restaurant Magazine - November 2011

2011-10-25T16:08:00.002+01:00

Restaurant Magazine - November 2011

A piece for my regular Strets & the City slot (written by financial analyst Mark Stretton) in monthly trade publication, Restaurant magazine.

As usual with this particular client the idea was suggested to me by the Art Director. It concerns the changing fortunes of restaurant mega-group Paramount, which owns the chains Chez Gerard, LiveBait and Bertorelli. Too much debt and too few customers and the whole business is out of kilter. Even a financial dummkopf like myself can understand that much!

Not a large piece, so kept pretty simple.

Museum Journal - Part 17

2011-10-21T10:28:00.002+01:00

Museum Journal - Part 17

Part 17 of the Director of the National Museum of Britsh History's Diary, for regular client Museum Journal (MJ).

This month our man attends the Museum Association's Annual Meeting in Brighton.

As always with MJ the final print size is minute (3 or 4 cm across tops) so its crucial to keep the design very simple and the detail to a minimum.

Wildman Life Drawing #2

2011-10-21T09:51:00.001+01:00

These are a few more of my sketches from last night's life drawing class at the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury for the event 'What is it?' Bigfoot Life Drawing Class

For the lesson the organisers had managed to capture a genuine Wildman o' the Woods, or Woodwose, controlled with great sensitivity, and, where necessary, sharp cruelty by master 'Nervous' Stephen Fowler.

A simple creature, the woodwose must be appeased with chocolate, pork pies and fruit, and hugs, and kept in check with caustic flicks of the malacca cane.

As you can perhaps tell I saw the Wildman with my medievalist eye...

Wildman Life Drawing

2011-10-21T09:37:00.002+01:00

These are selection of my sketches from last night's life drawing class at the Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury for the event 'What is it?' Bigfoot Life Drawing Class

For the lesson the organisers had managed to capture a genuine Wildman o' the Woods, or Woodwose, controlled with great sensitivity, and, where necessary, sharp cruelty by master 'Nervous' Stephen Fowler.

A simple creature, the woodwose must be appeased with chocolate, pork pies and fruit, and hugs, and kept in check with caustic flicks of the malacca cane.

As you can perhaps tell I saw the Wildman with my medievalist eye...

Twitter Ye Not - The Wall Street Crash

2011-10-17T16:03:00.002+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - The Wall Street Crash

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On 24th October 1929, the value of stocks on the New York Stock Exchange went into freefall. The volume traded on what was dubbed 'Black Tuesday' was a record that would not be broken for another 40 years - and made this the single most catastrophic day of the Wall Street Crash. Here, we imagine the twitter feed for that day.

I have shown on the one side uber-rich moneybags John D. Rockefeller, for whom the day was a bad one. On the opposite side of the street, Wall Street, stands gangster Al Capone, who did rather well out of it. Both pretty odious, Rockefeller thin and lizard-like, Capone fat and smug like a toad. Al holds a violin case - those mafiosi sure loved to fiddle!

Another case of history repeating itself and none of us learning our lesson me thinks...

Wunderkabinett - An Exhibition of Work by Paul Bommer

2011-10-14T15:59:00.002+01:00

Wunderkabinett - An Exhibition of Work by Paul Bommer

The design for the reverse of the promo-invite postcard!

So much still to do!

Wunderkabinett - An Exhibition of Work by Paul Bommer

2011-10-11T16:43:00.002+01:00

Wunderkabinett - An Exhibition of Work by Paul Bommer

My invite for my first solo show towards the end of November.

Wunderkabinett - An Exhibition of Work by Paul Bommer, including Images as yet unseen by the World.

Private View Friday 18 November 6 - 9 pm
Saturday 19 November 11 am - 6 pm
Sunday 20 November 11 am - 6 pm

15 Wilkes-street,
Spitalfields,
London
E1 6QF
map

NB; The Image is based on one of my new print designs.

Twitter Ye Not - The Battle of Edge Hill

2011-10-03T18:05:00.004+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - The Battle of Edge Hill

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On Sunday 23 October 1642, King Charles I led his Royalist army (Cavaliers) against rebellious Parliamentary troops (Roundheads)at the Battle of Edge Hill (or Edgehill) in Warwickshire, the opening campaign of the Englsih Civil War. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that week-end.

I have shown on one side, 'warts and all', puritan leader Oliver Cromwell (one of history's big bastards in my opinion. Boo! Hiss!). Facing him across the battlefield stands weak and vain King Charles I (also Boo! Hiss!).

The Civil War raged for many years but eventually ended with the Parliamentary forces victorious, beginning the Commonwealth, in which taverns, theatres, drinking, even May-poles and Christmas, were banned! Not good. In the absence of any fun the Puritans amused themselves by prosecuting and executing a lot of witches! Nice.

Charles Stuart (Charles I) was beheaded on Tuesday, 30 January 1649 on a scaffold outside the Banqueting House on White-Hall, Westminster. His grandmother was Mary, Queen of Scots, who was also famously beheaded.

Cromwell died on 3 September 1658 and was briefly succeeded by his ineffectual son Richard, known to history as Tumble-Down Dick or even Queen Dick. Cromwell Jnr's reign was immediately followed by the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 when Charles I's son Charles II, known as the Merry Monarch, took the throne.

Twitter Ye Not - The Cuban Missile Crisis

2011-09-30T09:15:00.002+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - The Cuban Missile Crisis

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On October 14 1962, an American U2 surveillance plane flying over Cuba photographed a Soviet missile site under construction. Those photographs precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis, now regarded as the closest the Cold War came to a nuclear conflict. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that tense week-end.

On the left I have shown British premier Harold Macmillan, known affectionately as SuperMac, looking on anxiously at Soviet missiles pointed towards the West, and puffing away nervously on his habitual pipe. Opposite him stands Cuban president Fidel Castro, also puffing away, but not at all nervously, on an Havana cigar (possibly not rolled on the thighs of a Cuban beauty).

This incident, of course, more closely involved US president JFK and Soviet president Nikita Krushchev, but I have already done those two for the Twitter feed regarding Kennedy's famous 'Ich Bin Ein Doughnut' speech.

Restaurant Magazine - October 2011

2011-09-27T08:39:00.003+01:00

Restaurant Magazine - October 2011

A piece for my regular Strets & the City slot (written by financial analyst Mark Stretton) in monthly trade publication, Restaurant magazine.

Here the idea was suggested to me by the Art Director so I didn't really look at the copy too well. But it would appear that Aviva, the company in question, have a Hire 'em - Fire 'em policy when it comes to HR.

I was told to make it look like London (there are sharks in London, right?) and had to check twice that St Katherine's Dock near the Tower of London is in fact St. Katharine (with an 'a'!) Docks. And I thought I knew London!

Not a large piece, so kept pretty simple.

A New Webpage

2011-09-21T09:40:00.002+01:00

A New Webpage

For sometime my website www.paulbommer.com has been in a sorry, sad & neglected state. Hard to read, and with links going no-where - like Kafka, but with jolly sketches.

but not any longer! Please check it out, and let me know what you think.

Many thanks
Paul B

Twitter Ye Not - Stephenson's Rocket

2011-09-21T08:07:00.003+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Stephenson's Rocket

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 8th October 1829, Stephenson's Rocket won the Rainhill Trials, an engineering competition designed to select a locomotive design to be used by the almost completed Liverpool and manchester Railway. Here we imagine the Twitter feed from that exciting day.

On the right-hand side stands civil engineer Robert Stephenson, son of the equally celebrated railway and locomotive engineer George Stephenson, with his (or, according to some, their) invention the Rocket behind him. Robert was president of the Institute of Civil Engineers for two years from 1855, a fine institution that I myself was once a member of some decades ago in a former life of mine!

Opposite him stands hero of Waterloo and Prime Minister at the time Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (aka the Iron Duke). Dublin-born and a strong advocate of Catholic emancipation the Duke of Wellington, twice British premier, was a fascinating character. I have shown him here as he looked in the 1820s, with greying hair and dressed in a long frockcoat (and without boots!).

Ten locomotives were invited to compete in the trials, but only five showed up - they were the Rocket, the Sans Pareil, the Novelty, the Cycloped and the Perseverance. The Prize money was £500, a considerable sum back then.

Museum Journal - Part 16

2011-09-19T13:42:00.003+01:00

Museum Journal - Part 16

Part 16 of the Director of the National Museum of Britsh History's Diary, for regular client Museum Journal (MJ).

This month our man finds out exactly how important government policy and spending decisions are made - by a drugged and drunk tripping octopus in a tank called Mystic Mash picking one or other of two coloured balls!!

As always with MJ the final print size is minute (3 or 4 cm across tops) so its crucial to keep the design very simple and the detail to a minimum.

Twitter Ye Not - Ford Model T

2011-09-19T10:02:00.003+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Ford Model T

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 1st of October 1908, Henry Ford put the world's first mass-produced car, the Ford Model T, on the market. Here we imagine the Twitter reaction.

On the left-hand side I have shown Henry Ford, proud of his new invention. Opposite him stands fat and fun King Edward VII, resplendant in suit and homberg and resting against an Art Nouveau plant-stand, who apparently wanted one of the new inventions for his own. Between the two men is the Model T.

The Edwardian period (often defined as the period between the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and the outbreak of the the First World War in 1914) was a time of great style, design and optimism. Here Edward looks a little sour, essentially his mother Victoria with a beard, but was, by all accounts a great bon vivant, enjoying many of the fine things in life - exquisite tailoring, food, drink and women (including the actress Lillie Langtry and socialite Alice Keppel, mother of Vita Sackville-West's lover Violet Trfusis, and great grandmother of Eggheads' Judith Keppel and future Queen (?) Camilla Parker-Bowles)!

Twitter Ye Not - The Golden Hind

2011-09-13T14:06:00.004+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - The Golden Hind

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 26th September 1580, Francis Drake sailed into Plymouth Harbour on the treasure-laden Golden Hind, having circumnavigated the globe. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that momentous occasion.

Here I have shown Sir Francis (he was actually knighted three years later in 1583) on the left-hand side, standing proudly with his foot upon a chest of stolen Spanish gold he had looted on his voyage. Between his legs is also one of the bowls he was famously reputed to have been playing upon Plymouth Hoe when he received news of the coming of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Behind him I have shown a beacon, lit from hill-top to hill-top to spread the word to the Queen's Palace at Greenwich of his arrival back in England.

On the far side I have shown William Shakespeare (one of my heroes, and also mentioned in the Twitter feed), in a pose reminiscent of Scheemaker's statue of the Bard at Poet's corner in Westminster Abbey.

Between the two men we can spy Drake's ship the Golden Hind moored at Plymouth Harbour. The ship was named in honour of the crest of Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor and court favourite of Queen Elizabeth I.

The No-Body Was Keen To Get A-Head (Print for Sale)

2011-09-12T16:31:00.003+01:00

The No-Body Was Keen To Get A-Head (Print for Sale).

My latest screen print design, executed for me with deftness and aplomb by M. Yann Brien.

The No-Body (literally, the figure of a man with arms and legs but no torso) was a popular folk character during the Elizabethan, Stuart and Georgian periods and featured in a play ("No-Body and Some-Body"), street pamphlets, ceramic statuettes (the V&A Museum have a fine pair!) and shop-signs. He represents the very (dis-)embodiment of the hapless and insignificant English Everyman.

Here our No-Body, tired of his lot, is keen to get a-Head and climb the elusive and slippery social ladder. A poster-boy for the Modern Age if ever there was one! I see him week-in, week-out talking nonsense too loudly in Soho cafés and outside Shore-ditch House. Good luck to you No-Body!

The print is the first of my new Small Standard (A3) screen-prints, and measures 297 mm across by 420 mm down (approx.). Printed in 2 colours on high-quality 300 gsm paper. It is a Limited Edition of 45 and is available to buy for £45 + P&P - a most reasonable and affordable price-tag!

Tom Molineaux v. Tom Cribb

2011-08-31T10:34:00.003+01:00

Tom Molineaux v. Tom Cribb

The lovely folks at Hero of Switzerland (http://www.heroofswitzerland.com/) asked me to contribute to their annual group show, opening for two weeks at the end of this week at the VZ Gallery (http://www.vzgallery.com/) on Cheshire Street, off Brick Lane, E2. If you're about, please pop along.

The theme and title for the show is 'Heroes & Villains' and I started to look at bare-knuckle boxers, thieves and highwaymen, who straddle both camps by being both outlawed or criminal, but also folkloric heroes.

In the end I settled on this dyptich of the famous bare-knuckle boxers Tom Molineaux and Tom Cribb, who first met in December 1810 in a match that lasted a brutal 39 rounds and ended with Molineaux unconscious and Cribb declared the victor.

The rules of boxing at this time were simple and few:

Fights are with bare fists.
No kicking, biting, gouging, or elbowing.
Grappling and throws are allowed above the waist.
A round ends when one fighter is knocked down. Fighters are given 30 seconds to rest, and the next round begins
There are no judges to score the bout. The fight ends only with complete unconsciousness from one of the fighters or when a fighter quits.

Cribb was a hard, accurate puncher. While considered by some critics to be slow, Cribb's style was awkward and effective. He was a skilled man in the ring, and his style gave many of the best of his era considerable problems. He was also quite strong, a good wrestler (important in those days), and incredibly durable--he took massive beatings in many of his fights and refused to quit. Originally from Bristol, Cribb came to London as a teenager to work as a coal porter at Wapping. He was said he trained by punching the bark off trees!

Molineaux was a former slave from Virginia, America and was a tough, durable fighter. He learned English pugilism, of a sort, in order to fight in the brutal matches that slave owners arranged from time to time between their slaves. Molineaux's boxing career ended in 1815. After a stint in a debtor's prison he became increasingly dependent on alcohol, and died penniless in the regimental bandroom in Ireland three years later from liver failure. He was 34 years old.

The fight caused a national sensation and scandal, discussed feverously across the country in taverns, from pulpits and ven in Parliament. Not because of Molineaux's colour, nor his numerous affairs with white women but the much greater offense, in their eyes, of being an AMERICAN! The idea that a foreigner could take the sacred trophy of British sporting was unthinkable.

The paintings are painted in acrylic on mdf/ masonite panel and both measure 12" across by approx. 16" down. They are for sale at £300 the pair.

Twitter Ye Not - Blackpool Lights

2011-08-31T09:32:00.003+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Blackpool Lights

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 18th September 1879, the Blackpool Illuminations were turned on the first time. The display consisted of just eight ar lights and preceded Thomas Edison's patenting of the lightbulb by 12 months. The light generated was called "artificial sunshine" and these were possibly the first electric street lights in the world. Here we imagine the Twitter feed that might have accompanied that exciting event.

On the light-hand side we have American inventor Thomas Edison. In illustration & animation an idea is usually represented by an electric lightbulb suddenly switching on - in Edison's case that literally WAS his idea! I have shown an accurate(-ish) portrayal of that first bulb.

Facing him on the right is Poet Laureate Alfred Lord Tennyson (called Alfred Lawn Tennis-on by James Joyce in 'Ulysses'!) who, apparently, invoked the muse and penned a poem on the occassion. I have shown the pen that did the penning in his outer breast pocket. Tennyson cut quite a dash sartorially, often sporting a cape, cavalier-style shirts and a broad-brimmed hat, which here I have given a cheeky sea-side air with the legend "Kiss Me Quick". Quick kissing is very much de rigeur on the English coast.

The Blackpool Tower (and Ballroom below), standing anachronistically between the two gentleman at the AD's behest, was opened to the public on 14 May 1894.

Restaurant Magazine - September 2011

2011-08-30T14:22:00.004+01:00

Restaurant Magazine - September 2011

A piece for my regular Strets & the City slot (written by financial analyst Mark Stretton) in monthly trade publication, Restaurant magazine.

This was a piece about Steve Easterbrook, president and chief executive of McDonalds UK, leaving the fast-food chain to become chief executive of Pizza Express and its subsiduary companies Zizzi, Ask and Byron.

I have shown Easterbrook in McDo-style uniform, slicing up the company pizza.

Twitter Ye Not - Hadrian's Wall

2011-08-25T12:04:00.006+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Hadrian's Wall

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

It was during mid-September in 122AD that construction began on Hadrian’s Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman territory in Britain. We imagine the Twitter feed of that ancient and industrious time.

On the one side I have shown the Emperor Hadrian, aka Publius Aelius Trajanus Hadrianus Augustus, third of the so-called Five Good Emperors, supervising contruction of his famous wall. He holds a-loft a map of the northern outer reaches of the Roman Empire, with his proposed barrier separating unruly Caledonia from the rest of Britannia and mainland Europe.

The wall was built by Roman centurians (hence the hard hat sign) - even then you couldn't trust English manual workers!

On the other side of the construction stands an irate Pict, unhappy at the thought of being hemmed in so discourteously. Contemporary accounts say the Picts usually fought naked (in Scotland! brrrrr!) with only swords, shields, a neck torc and talismanic woad 'tattoos' for protection. The markings on his skin are based on actual Pictish designs.

Hadrian was homosexual (that's why he's enjoying the view that extra wall-block shields from our eyes!) and when his Bithynian Greek lover, Antinous, was drowned tragically in the Nile, Hadrian founded the Egyptian city of Antinopolis in his memory, and had Antinous deified – an unprecedented honour for one not of the ruling family. Now that's what I call a send-off!

Twitter Ye Not - Richard the Lionheart

2011-08-22T08:47:00.004+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Richard the Lionheart

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 3rd September 1189 Richard the Lionheart was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey. We imagine the Twitter feed from that historic day.

Richard I, known as Lionheart (or Coeur de Lion in french) on account of his bravery in battle, was the son of Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and great-grandson of William the Conquerer (aka William the Bastard). He is described as being of quick-temper, tall and handsome, with red or blond hair and furious grey eyes. Quite a hottie then.

On the downside Richard is tarred with episodes of violence against Jews, and of course with the Third Crusade (hence the stone Cross in my image). Raised in France and speaking no English, during his ten year reign Richard spent less than 6 months on English soil, claiming that it was 'cold and always raining'. Cheeky sod! Sometimes we have 'cold and windy' too! Richard spent most of his time in the Holy Land (fighting Saracens) or at the French Court - he is rumoured to have had an affair with King Philip II of France. Oh la la.

Coeur de Lion, as the name of a small English apple, was corrupted to Codlin, a common word until the middle of the last century.

A bat flew around Richard's head at his coronation apparently, but sadly I didn't know that at the time or I'd have snuck a little pipistrelle into my image!

On the other side, in front of the famous Oak that bears his name, stands Robin Hood, aka Robin of Locksley, out-law hero of Sherwood Forest. He's clearly a big fan of Richard (but then he did have to deal with Richard's evil and scheming brother John, so fair enough). I have based him on Errol Flynn.

I know a great story about Flynn, a towel and a salami, but regrettably its too blue for an open, family-friendly website like this!

Museum Journal - Part 15

2011-08-22T07:53:00.003+01:00

Museum Journal - Part 15

Part 15 of the Director of the National Museum of Britsh History's Diary, for regular client Museum Journal (MJ).

This month our man is called to an emergency meeting at the National Gallery of all London national museum directors after last week's outbreak of rioting and looting.

The bit I liked best was when Sir N (our man's boss in government) proposed to issue a Statement condemning people who steal, are obsessed with materialist consumer goods, don't care about anyone else, don't pay taxes, and destroy the society in which they live, until it was pointed out that he had just described his collecting policy and the profile of his biggest donor! Haha. I can think of a couple of supermarket chains who fit that description!

My image is, of course, a nod to grafittista Banksy. 'Cos I is so Street, issit.

As always with MJ the final print size is minute (3 or 4 cm across tops) so its crucial to keep the design very simple and the detail to a minimum.

Twitter Ye Not - Great Fire of London

2011-08-15T17:13:00.004+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Great Fire of London

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

In the early hours of Sunday 2nd September 1666, the Great Fire of London started at Thomas Farriner's bakery in Pudding Lane. It would burn for four days and destroy more than 13,000 homes, 87 parish churches and the old St Paul's Cathedral. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed from that turbulent time.

On the one side I have shown Samuel Pepys, naval administrator, diarist and Member of Parliament, whose detailed private diary (kept from 1660 until 1669) is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague, the Second Dutch War and, of course, the Great Fire.

Despite being a happily married man Pepys was not averse to the odd extra-marital affair, although, in fairness, he did always regret it immediately afterwards! When describing sexual trysts his language would shift suddenly to (pidgin) french or spanish - here's a saucy sample (avert your eyes now if easily offended!);-
“…we did send for a pair of old shoes for Mrs. Lowther, and there I did pull the others off and put them on, and did endeavour para tocar su thigh but ella had drawers on, but yo did besar la and tocar sus mamelles, elle being poco shy, but doth speak con mighty kindness to me that she would desire me pour su marido if it were to be done. Here staid a little at Sir W. Penn’s, who was gone to bed, it being about 11 at night, and so I home to bed.”

Opposite Pepys is Nell Gwynne (or Gwyn or Gwynn), actress, whore, theatre orange- and sweetmeat seller (hence the basket of fruit) and long-time mistress of Charles II, aka 'the Merry Monarch', by whom she bore two illegitimate sons. Pepys described her as 'pretty, witty Nell' and she is especially remembered for one particularly apt witticism, which was recounted in the memoirs of the Comte de Gramont, remembering the events of 1681:

Nell Gwynn was one day passing through the streets of Oxford, in her coach, when the mob mistaking her for her rival, the Duchess of Portsmouth, commenced hooting and loading her with every opprobrious epithet. Putting her head out of the coach window, "Good people", she said, smiling, "you are mistaken; I am the Protestant whore."

Behind the pair the city, all wood and pitch and straw as London then was, burns to the ground.

Twitter Ye Not - Charles Darwin

2011-08-04T15:17:00.003+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Charles Darwin

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On 20 July 1858, in a joint submission with Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin first published his theory of evolution in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London. Here, we imagine how the Twitter community reacted.

On the right-hand side I have shown Charles Darwin as he looked in the late 1850s, a copy of 'On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle of Life' (phew!) under his arm. At his feet stands a Beagle, a reference to the ship on which Darwin first began to formulate the idea more than twenty years before. The bone at the dog's feet is, of course, also a nod to the fossil evidence for the theorem found on that famous voyage!

Across from him stands Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, who famously opposed the publication, and in a debate with Thomas Huxley (known as 'Darwin's Bulldog') asked Huxley whether he was descended from monkeys on his mother's or father's side (and got soundly and eloquently rebuked!). He was known as 'Soapy Sam' after a comment made by statesman Benjamin Disraeli, who referred to the cleric as 'unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous' (ie slippery, evasive and soapy).

Darwin was grandson of both the royal physician Erasmus Darwin and the potter Josiah Wedgwood (and thereby also related to cousins Tony Benn and Margaret Rutherford!). I've given CD a monkey's tail as many satirical cartoons at the time did.

Twitter Ye Not - Marie Antoinette Arrested

2011-08-01T10:06:00.004+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Marie Antoinette Arrested

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 13 of August 1792, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France, along with their children, were arrested by republican revolutionaries and imprisoned at the Temple in Paris. The king would be executed six months later with his queen - 'Widow Capet' - following him to the guillotine within a year. Here we imagine the Twitter feed of that fateful week-end.

I have shown on one side a nervous Marie Antoinette looking fearfully at the guillotine's bloodied blade. Beside her is a shepherdess' basket, full of brioche. It was 'brioche', and not 'cake' that she alledgedly told the peasants to eat in the absence of bread. Either way they didn't see the funny side...
Facing her is old Madame Marie Tussaud, former art tutor to the Royal family, with a bucket of Plaster-of-Paris in her hand for casting the royal and aristocratic death-masks she was forced to make post-Revolution to prove her commitment to the new cause.

Restaurant Magazine - August 2011

2011-07-27T18:09:00.003+01:00

Restaurant Magazine - August 2011

A piece for regular client Restaurant magazine's Strets & the City section (written by financial analyst Mark Stretton).

This was about huge food and drink conglomerate M & B (Mitchell & Butler) and their rapid management turnaround, hence the IN and OUT swing doors!

Punch & Judy (Work in Progress)

2011-07-26T10:16:00.004+01:00

Punch & Judy (Work in Progress)

Many, many months ago I was asked by Daniel Bugg of the Penfold Press to contribute to one of his screen-printing projects, this one about Marriages and Partnerships. I chose Punch & Judy as these violent and grotesque anti-hero puppets have always fascinated me.

Unfortunately just after I was asked I somehow or other damaged my back (we now think its a pinched disc in my upper back/ shoulders) which for months on end made working almost impossible and slowed me right down. Shedloads of treatment and medication later it is generally much better, although not a day goes by when it doesn't still hurt.

This last week or so I have turned my attention yet again to the poster design, and have made some good progress. Here are Punch and Judy's weapons of choice - his Slapstick or Club, and her Rolling Pin. These guys don't do sweet-nothings!

Fear not Dan, the design is on its way! Slowly. But surely!

Twitter Ye Not - President Nixon Resigns

2011-07-26T07:41:00.004+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - President Nixon Resigns

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 8th August 1974, Richard Milhous Nixon resigned as President of the United States of America in the wake of the Watergate scandal. He remains the only American president to resign from office. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed from that dramatic time.

I have shown the 37th President, shame-faced and crest-fallen, delivering his resignation speech, while his wife, First Lady Pat Nixon, and their beloved springer spaniel, Checkers, look on sadly. Behind Pat hang the new plaid curtains she's just had fitted at the White House (very 70s!).

Tricky Dicky was relatively easy to capture (IMHO), but his wife much less so. As First Lady at the cusp where 60s slipped into 70s there are some great photos out there of Pat Nixon in various garish and ghastly yellow dresses, polo necks, etc and more lacquer in her onion-shaped hair do than you'd find in all Kowloon's furniture factories put together! By the time I'd got a likeness I was happy with I had really grown to love Thelma Catherine "Pat" Ryan Nixon!

Gunpowder Plot (Print for Sale)

2011-07-24T06:57:00.008+01:00

Gunpowder Plot (Print for Sale)

A 2-colour Screen Print about the fiendish Gunpowder Plot of November 5th 1605.

Remember, Remember
The Fifth of November
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.
I see no Reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot...

My image has three scenes;

At the bottom is the undercroft cellar beneath the Houses of Parliament (Westminster Palace), rented from one John Whynniard and filled with barrels of gunpowder (accurately portrayed!).

At the top I have shown Guido (or Guy) Fawkes in the upper room of some tavern, discussing the planned terrorist attack with the man who's idea it all was, Robert Catesby. (Note leaded window, Popish crucifix, piss-pot, clay pipe, blown-glass bottle of Canary wine, horn beaker and pewter tankard).

Between these two I have the heads of some of the other conspirators impaled on spikes outside Westminster Palace after their execution (Hung, Drawn & Quarter'd) - Thomas & Robert Winter, John & Christopher Wright, Thomas Bates, Ambrose Rookwood, Everard Digby and Thomas Percy et al..

The print measures 39 cm wide by approx. 60 cm deep, is an Edition of 25 and is available to buy from me directly at £50 + P&P (paul@paulbommer.com)

Wildman (Print for Sale)

2011-07-19T10:42:00.005+01:00

This is my Wildman screen print.

Wild Thing,
You make my Heart sing,
You make everything...
Groovy!

I have a thing for savage Wild-men o'the Woods, also known as Wode- or Wood-woses. They are a popular feature in Medieval,Tudor and Stuart heraldry, folklore and design.

The wodewose has no conscience, ate 'til he was full, and possessed a wild, unbridled sexual appetite. He is hairy from head to toe, is often decorated with oak leaves and carries a huge gnarly club! My kinda guy.

3 colour screen-print,
limited edition of 40,
50 cm by 70 cm,
on South Bank white 250 gsm

Available for £75 + P&P.

The Gentleman Relishes (Print for Sale)

2011-07-18T16:36:00.009+01:00

The Gentleman Relishes

A 4-colour limited edition screen-print, exploring ideas of taste, hunger, desire and appetite.
Dimensions: 50 cm wide by 70 cm high (standard frame size).

'Being a Diagrammatick shewing the divers Effects of Desire, Relish & Sauce upon Man's Physionomy'

Available to buy at £120 + P&P

La Maison des Sangliers

2011-07-17T11:14:00.004+01:00

La Maison des Sangliers, Noyers-sur-Serein

Alas, it seems that Nick and I will not now be able to visit are great friends Andy & Claire Squire and their lovely garçons Joseph and Jean.

Andy and Claire are both potters and live in an amazing medieval town in Burgundy, Noyers-sur-Serein, in a 14th Century townhouse on the market square called La Maison des Sangliers - the House of Boars (on account of some carving, now sadly almost indistinguishable, of wild boars on the house's external beams).

Lack of funds, work commitments, tax bills, exhibitions, offers of house-stays in Wales, Kent and Cromer and an exhibition of a very talented friend's work in Ripon have all conspired against the probability of Burgundish trip (at least for now). Maybe later in the Autumn or Winter?

In their honour I have created this image of a tusked and grunting sanglier. The image is based on a medieval pewter badge and, if anything, I have rather diminished this boar's vigour (lets say) from its original and happy state (before anyone says anything)!

Like Obelix, I'm getting kind of hungry just looking at him!

I met the wonderful Chris Brown for a Bastille Day martini at Duke's Hotel on thursday evening. I was inspired by his delightful work to attempt something resembling a lino-cut (at which Chris excells), so here it it - plain and simple.

La Vie est Breve (Print for Sale)

2011-07-17T08:47:00.004+01:00

Only a couple of these left!

The words are from a poem by George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a French-born British cartoonist (Punch) and author.

PEU DE CHOSE
La vie est vaine,
Un peu d’amour,
Un peu de haine,
Et puis—Bonjour!

La vie est brève:
Un peu d’espoir,
Un peu de rève
Et puis—Bon soir!

For the non-francophone out there, its roughly this;

Life is short
A little hope, a little dream
And then - Good-night!

The image was originally called (in my head) Le Flâneur. Flâneur is a word I love, and Flânerie is one of my favourite pass-times.

Where & Who is This? A Rebus.

2011-07-11T11:59:00.004+01:00

Where and Who Is This?

Another little conundrum and jeu-de-mot.

Who can tell me whereabouts this rebus represents? And who is the Lady buried here, whose Life was cut so cruelly short?

Answers on a postcard. Or a comment.

All shall be revealed to-morrow or the day after!

Oranges & Lemons: For Sale

2011-07-07T18:13:00.012+01:00

I have always been fascinated with London folklore and with nursery rhymes, and with this poem in particular, but as a kid only knew the standard, and more modern, shorter version. This more ancient form of the famous rhyme dates from around 1830 (although the poem itself is doubtlessly much older) - so I have chosen scenes and costumes from around that period.

I love this fuller form as it refers to more of the City and its amazing layered history.The lines and images connected to each bell refer to trades and events local to each parish - Old Bailey (St Sepulchre) because it stood by the debtors' prison at Newgate, Stepney because it was always associated with sailors and seafaring, St John's chapel in the Tower of London because of its torture chambers and dungeons, &c., &c..

The print is a limited edition of 50 (with almost half of those already sold!), 2 colours (the colours were chosen to reflect traditional orange (and other fruit) tissue wrapping designs), 50 cm wide by 70 cm high (a nice convenient standard frame size!), high quality paper (approx 300 gsm). Available from me directly, and soon a number of as yet unconfirmed other sources, at the bargain price of £95 + P&P.

Rabenschnabel Kalender 2012

2011-07-07T09:38:00.002+01:00

Rabenschnabel Kalender 2012

I was asked by the delightful Achim Von Boxberg to contribute a few of my old images to his annual publication, the Rabenschnabel Kalender, in exchange for a small stack of copies to sell on or give away as Xtmas gifts.

Here is a selection of a few of the images he/we chose!

http://www.rabenschnabel.de/

Click on the images to Enlarge

Twitter Ye Not - Baden Powell

2011-07-06T09:15:00.003+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Baden Powell

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 1st of August 1907, Lieutenant General Robert Baden Powell arrived at Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour for the first ever boy scouting camp (to test his ideas for the book 'Scouting for Boys') - now recognised as the origin of the wolrdwide Scout movement. We imagine the Twitter feed from that momentous week.

I have shown Baden Powell, a national hero of the Anglo-Boer war, sitting on a camp stool and toasting marshmallows with a Boy Scout over an open fire. BP has burnt his, hence the cross look upon his face. Ne'ertheless, the boy looks on with great admiration - this is after all a new century, and a bold new institution free from class distinctions (well, almost!).

The marshmallow probably first came into being as a medicinal substance, since the mucilaginous extracts comes from the root of the marshmallow plant, Althaea officinalis, which were used as a remedy for sore throats.

The camp lasted a week and boys there engaged in activities around camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Regarding the latter, although I am a proud (mongrel) Englishman and love English history and folklore, I tend to agree with George Bernard Shaw on the subject - 'Patriotism is a pernicious, psychopathic form of idiocy' and 'Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it'. Genius!

The Scouts motto 'Be Prepared' was, of course, a play on Baden Powell's initials.

When I was a nipper, back in the '70s, I was in the Cub Scouts. My division was named 7th Wembley. I didn't much like it - too much saluting and woggle-wearing for my tastes, so never graduated to the Scouts proper. My Mum met Lady Baden Powell when she was a Brownie, back in the '30s!

Twitter Ye Not - Bonnie Prince Charlie

2011-07-05T11:26:00.004+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Bonnie Prince Charlie

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

On the 23rd July 1745, Charles Edward Stewart, known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, landed on the remote Scottish island of Eriskay and began to muster an army in order to challenge the Hanoverian King George II and regain the crown for the Jacobites. As the Twitter feed for that day demonstrates, it seemed like a good idea at the time!

I have shown BPC (aka the Young Pretender) on the one side in all his Scotch finery (he was actually Rome-born to an Italian mother, and educated in France!). He looks on at Flora MacDonald, a loyal Scottish supporter who helped him escape pursuers on the Isle of Skye by taking him in a small boat disguised as her Irish maid, "Betty Burke," evaded capture and left the country aboard the French frigate L'Heureux, arriving back in France in September.

The cause of the Stuarts now lost, the remainder of his life was — with a brief exception — spent in exile. Charles's flight from Scotland after the uprising has rendered him a romantic figure of heroic failure in later representations. The famous "Skye Boat Song" commerates the flight, and I have shown Flora's 'wee bonnie boat' in the background. I sung this song quite a lot as a child (without knowing much of the story I'm ashamed to say).

Both figures are tartan-clad as later romantic portraits would represent them. All about them grow thistles, symbol of Scotland, and, for a time, a thorn in the Hanoverian side. Looking at images of Charlie, I'm not sure our modern sensibilities would consider him 'bonnie' - but then again, "Girly Prince Charlie" doesn't have quite the same ring to it, does it?

Twitter Ye Not - Gold Rush!

2011-07-04T16:12:00.003+01:00

Twitter Ye Not - Gold Rush!

A regular piece for the Daily Mail Weekend magazine about how figures in history might have twittered or tweeted or whatever, had they the chance, inclination and technology.

In mid July 1887 the first successful prospectors arrived in Seattle, bearing gold mined from the Klondike and Yukon rivers. News of their find marked the start of the (short-lived) Gold Rush. Here, we imagine the Twitter feed for that historic time.

I have shown on the one side a prospector, panning for gold at the river's edge. He's based a little on Klondike Pete, the branding character from 1970s breakfast cereal Golden Nuggets (I remember them being delicious, but when they revived them in the late 90s I realised, to my disappointment and chagrin, that they were, in fact, filfthy. Sometimes, its best just to remember these things, and not relive them!).

On the opposite side stands Calamity Jane, just blown in from the Windy City. She was a real-life person, but I've chosen to show her as played by mental butter-wouldn't-melt actress Doris Day in the eponymous musical.

In front of them flows the mighty Klondike, behind them stands a mighty Canadian pine-wood forest (Yukon, Canada was, of course, at that time a British Territory).

Computing Which? - PayPal Pitfalls Exposed, #2

2011-07-04T16:06:00.003+01:00

Computing Which? - PayPal Pitfalls Exposed, #2

A piece I just finished before the week-end for regular client Computing Which? magazine.

It's about difficulties, queries and accountability of internet giants PayPal and ebay - the pitfalls that exist, and how best to avoid them and resolve any complaints.

The composition was suggested to me by art director Mark Massey (who is himself a great photographer) - a poor, small consumer/ customer from the original tug-of-war image (see previous post) has finally got the upper-hand against the giants PayPal and eBay (but my idea to have them bound with the rope from the original composition!).