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Shambala Festival 2010

September 1st, 2010

Shambala Festival

Creaturemag at Shambala Festival 2010 – The 10 Picture Challenge

Shambala festival is a teeming tented circus town, a brew of sensory stimulation that is just right and ready. It’s all about the participation, there is an emphasis on open expression, friendliness and a staunch resistance against commercialisation and consumerism. It’s a truly eclectic gathering of characters, creative explorers and hedonistic experimenters stirring up a very special atmosphere and one that is very unique to Shambala. Our challenge was to sum all this up in 10 photos.

Arriving at 4pm on Friday, equipped with the necessities and armed with 10 photographs yet to be taken, we embarked on a 48 hour exploration of this new found land. Soaking up the splendid array of music the fields awash with art, costume and splendidly happy people all willing to make, do and see whatever they want. This is a creative enthusiasts dream and a field full of inspiration ready to be harvested.

The following photos form Creatures visual diary, 10 photos and some commentary that we feel sums up our Shambala festival 2010.

1 – Welcome to Shambala
Shambala Festival

Overlooked by a mansion house sat beside a lake on the edge of the woods lies a creative wonderland. Shambala is brimming with well considered art installations that make this festival an utterly extravagant garden for the senses. The sculpture above sat in the lake, you could walk to it over the water on a bridge just below the surface. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy Friday – Nikki Pinder – New solo show.

August 27th, 2010

Illustration by Nikki Pinder - Mechanics of the mind

Artist: Nikki Pinder
Project: Happy Friday! – A new illustration every Friday.
Website: nikkipinder.co.uk

This week we celebrate an extra special Happy Friday with the announcement of Nikki Pinders new solo exhibition “The Mechanics of the Mind”.

Here are the details:

“The Mechanics of the Mind”
A solo exhibition of artwork by Illustrator, Artist and Designer Nikki Pinder

Saturday 25th September 2010 – Saturday 15th January 2011

Telford’s Warehouse
Tower Wharf
Chester
CH1 4EZ

Nikki’s work is intrigueing and very unique, you should defeinately think about popping if you are in the area.

Enjoy!

Read the rest of this entry »

End of the Road Festival 2010 – 5 must see acts.

August 26th, 2010

End of the Road Festival

End of the Road Festival is fast approaching, tickets are completely sold out and with a line-up of such impressive musical calibre and headline acts like Modest Mouse, Yo la Tengo and Wilco for you to gawp at, that is no surprise.

We are looking forward to catching sets from Iron and Wine, The Low Anthem and of course, Edwyn Collins. We also know that End of the Road offers a whole lot more in terms of lesser known independent acts and  upcoming performers who have that little something special.

We have selected five acts that we feel will be little golden nuggets of joy at this years EOTR (in alphabetical order, we simply couldn’t rank them!):

Catlin RoseCaitlin Rosemyspace.com/caitlinrosesongs
Creature saw Caitlin perform during the summer and we were impressed by bags of country song writing talent, a great voice and a strong repertoire. This 23 year old very highly recommended by Creature. Expect assured country songs tickled with melody and emotion.

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Django DjangoDjango Django myspace.com/djangotime
One word: “Storm”. We fell in love with that song on first listen. Django Django are certainly an upcoming act with much potential. What they do is difficult to explain but a joy to listen to. Based on reviews, their set will cause us to dance our little socks off and be left with a new favourite band.

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Left With PicturesLeft with Pictures myspace.com/leftwithpictures
Creature saw an intimate set from Left With Pictures a couple of months ago and we will surely be in attendance at EOTR. Folk songs with a classical edge. These guys do it differently and captivatingly, expect sweet arrangements, interesting vocals and whimsical songs such as “Professional help”.

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Ra Ra RiotRa Ra riot myspace.com/rarariot – Dropped out Unfortunately.
Creature has become quite attached to Ra Ra Riot over the past few years. We are excited to see that they are at EOTR. Their arrangements have an urgency and propelling energy about them. Expect tumbling drums, uplifting strings and some intriguing lyrics. This is good to move to.

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WoodpigeonWoodpigeonmyspace.com/woodpigeon
There will no doubt be many performances from these guys throughout the weekend. Please be sure to see at least one of them, especially if you are feeling a little worse for wear, this is healing music, full of wholesome musicianship, succulent strings and sweet vocal harmonies that will calmly caress you.

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Whether or not you are going to this years End of the Road Festival these acts are sure worth a listen. If you have heard them before then great, if not then soak it up, it’s the good stuff! We’ll see you at the end of the road!

This year we will be helping with Croquet (www.croqueteast.co.uk) on the lovely lawns of the Larmer Tree Gardens. If you are in attendance at the event then pop along for a relaxing game, if you managed not to make it this year then sorry to be rubbing this in. Go next year!

4. Django Django myspace.com/djangotime
One word: “Storm”. We fell in love with that song on first listen, go hear it, you wont regret it. Django Django are mainly from Scotland and now based in Dalston. Mark Riley was banging on about them ealier this year, they are certainly an upcoming act with much potential. It’s difficult to explain what they do musically but it’s different and a joy to listen to. We are not entirely sure what to expect from their set but based on reviews we willapparantly dance our little socks off and be left with a new favourite band.

The inside Thoughts of Now – Thom Kofoed & Steven Jarvis – Puis, j’ai été à Paris

August 24th, 2010

 Puis, j'ai été à Paris - The inside thoughts of now - Thom Kofoed & Steven Jarvis

Artist: Thom Kofoed and Steven Jarvis
Project: The Inside Thoughts of Now
Image title: Puis, j’ai été à Paris
Website: sj-illustration.co.uk, thomatronics.com

This is The Inside Thoughts of Now, a collaborative project initiated by Thom Kofoed and Steven Jarvis. Thom writes and Steven draws. It works! The guys will be producing new investigations into their deepest inside thoughts and presenting them here every other week for the readers of Creaturemag.

We love Thom’s direct observational writing style and the complementary illustrative collage that Steven develops around these words. The two seem to merge well and create something really personal and intriguing. Keep up the great work guys.

This weeks piece is entitled, Puis, j’ai été à Paris. Digest the poem, drift off into the atmosphere of Thom and Steven’s merged inside thoughts. Enjoy!

Their last Creature contribution, Space was also included in www.illustrationfriday.com “star gazing” topic last week, click here to view all the entries.

Freak of the Week by Kim Roberts

August 23rd, 2010

Kim Roberts Illustration - Freak of the week+ Enlarge image

Artist: Kim Roberts
Project: Freak of the Week
Website: www.kimsbrainjunk.com

This weeks Freak comes from our new contributor Kim Roberts. Some insane sea dwelling freaks drawing sailors onto the rocks. This one makes me feel a little uneasy. A slimy fish kiss! Short and sweet. Enjoy.