knitting

Posted by Gary Northfield on July 19, 2011

Derek The Sheep Is Dead! Long Live Derek The Sheep!

Whilst the nation still mourns the loss of regular comic strip shenanigans in the Beano from our favourite woolly nutjob Derek the Sheep, it’s time to rejoice at his major new reappearance this Sunday 24th July at the spectacular festival knees-up New Cross Turn Left!

Check it out!

At 2pm you can bear witness to my brand new Derek the Sheep play for all the family, starring Chloe Lewis as Cecil the Bee and Nick Ofield as Derek the Sheep! Directed by Robert Clayton of Legend Theatre, this production will bring to life the madcap comicstrip craziness we all know and love in front of your very eyes. It’s very stupid and perfect for the kiddies, but kids of all ages (i.e. everyone) will undoubtedly love it too!

The actors aren’t being paid, so punters are encouraged to donate spare change to show their appreciation. I’ll also be selling and signing limited copies of Derek’s book.

And there’s plenty more going on at New Cross Turn Left! As well as exclusive exhibitions in the Olde Police Cells (including a topical, slightly deranged, performance piece by me and Matt Abbiss), there’ll be Lauren O’Farrell‘s Graffiti knitting workshops, comedy with Shabs and Nathaniel Metcalfe, comic clinics, an exciting book launch, DJs in the evening and a plethora of comics for sale during the day (alongside tea, cakes and booze for sale).

Here’s the timetable:

2PM – Derek The Sheep and The Quest for the Googly Glasses
3PM – Comics Clinic in the Fleece Station
4PM – Graffiti knitting workshop by Lauren O’Farrell
6:30PM – Art History Dropouts Launch

7:30PM – Comedy: Shabs Kazim and Nat Metcalfe

Check out the website for regular updates and directions.

A big thank you to Ellen Lindner for organising this amazing event! Check out her new comic Art History Dropouts co-created with Barnaby Richards exclusively launched in the evening!

Hope to see you there!

Graffiti Knitting

Posted by Gary Northfield on October 11, 2010

Graffiti Knitting eh, What’s that all about? Little old ladies tagging trains with bits of wool in the dead of night? Well, sort of. Apart from the “old ladies” bit. And maybe skip the “dead of night” bit too. Ok, and maybe they don’t tag trains neither. In fact, why don’t you go read this brilliant article out today in The Guardian, featuring The Fleecestation‘s very own Graffiti Knitter, Deadlyknitshade. That tells you everything you need to know about the little-known art of Yarn Storming…

Interesting to note that the first comment on the knitting article by some humourless know-it-all says, “Been done before”.

Why yes, yes it has been done before. 65 million years before in fact. Check it out:

I painted these dudes at Ally Pally Knitting and Stitching Show whilst I was selling (the soon to be completely sold out) Derek the Sheep books. I was sharing a table with fellow Fleecestation studio mates, the afore-mentioned knitting supremo Lauren O’Farrell and children’s book uber-illustrator Sarah McIntyre, who were selling books and badges like they were going out of fashion.

Trying to tap into a market that catered for both my lovely drawings and knitting, I concocted the above tiny series of on-the-spot watercolours featuring Graffiti Knitted Victims of The Jurassic. I love dinos, but I totally guessed the Jurassic bit, so someone rang their expert friend after I’d just painted the stegosaurus and I was spot on! Woohoo!

I might make these as prints, and if they take off then I might consider Graffiti Knitting victims of the Triassic. The world is my prehistoric oyster.

Derek the Sheep comes to New Cross!

Graffiti Knitting