James Bourne

Kingshurst RAMPAGE!

2009-11-11T01:48:00.000-08:00

I travelled to Kingshurst, near Chelmsley Wood in North Solihull last night to work with a group at a youth centre. Inspired by the 80's NES game RAMPAGE, we created a set of monsters to destroy/protect Kingshurst. Was good fun. Here's a detail from the paper mural the kids created.

The birds and the hares...

2009-11-08T22:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some photographs from a recent project. Bennetts Well Primary School in Chelmsley Wood are merging with Hatchford Primary School. I've been invited to work with the pupils at both schools on a project that will help ease the transition process. The first part of the project involved installing a set of animals into each schools playground...

Christmas is a coming...

2009-11-02T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a christmas card design I was asked to do by Medcalf Gallery in Islington, London

Birmingham Arts Fest

2009-09-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

I joined Mark and Gareth from Them Lot to decorate the railings at the foot of Broad Street in Birmingham as part of Saturdays Art Fest. The sun was shining pretty hard which made the day a good one. Cheers to Laura Rayner for the photo's and anyone else who popped down to say hello.

2009-09-10T03:32:00.000-07:00

Cuddles is DEAD!

Arts Fest Birmingham

2009-09-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

I'll be working with Gareth Barnett and Mark Long to create a superhero scene on the railings at the foot of Broad Street in Birmingham as part of Arts Fest. We will be painting from around 12pm - 5pm

Island Bar

2009-09-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

Over the summer I was commissioned by the Island Bar to paint a large tiki mural in their bar upstairs. The result is the below. I've since been back to paint a few palm tree's around the rest of the bar.

Summer Arts School

2009-09-01T12:45:00.001-07:00

I recently took on the role of a lead artist at Solihull Summer School. This involved working with a group of children to create costumes and a backdrop for a play they were putting together with local drama and dance artists which was an animal interpretation of Romeo and Juliet.

Medcalf Exhibition

2009-09-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

Me and Mark Long (www.marklongillustration.co.uk) were invited to put on an exhibition at Madcalf Gallery in Islington, London. We decided that we had enough time to make a new body of work and both created work on the theme of animals. The show is on until September 12th.

Y NOT FESTIVAL

2009-09-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Them Lot got asked to provide some visuals and workshops at the Y NOT Festival at the Peak District in August. The rain poured hard, but we still managed to get people making some masks and also found some shelter to create some paintings on wooden panels. Here's my HAPPY XMAS piece.

ON THIS DAY...

2009-06-25T02:27:00.000-07:00

Them Lot will be hosting an evening of drawing, live performance, writing and music at the Island Bar from 8pm tomorrow evening...come along!

Line Steppers

2009-05-26T05:24:00.000-07:00

Piece made for the Line Steppers exhibition at the Jibbering gallery on Floodgate Street, Digbeth...show's open for 2 weeks

DIY Bus Stop

2009-05-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

Bit of drunken fun on Alcester Street in Digbeth...http://digbeth.org/

Victoria Pub Logo

2009-05-19T01:40:00.001-07:00

I was asked to design a logo for the Victoria Pub in Birmingham. Here's the final outcome...

O SUPER

2009-05-05T07:39:00.000-07:00

This is a piece for a local magazine that will accompany a poem called 'O SUPER'. The text describes the transition of a human to a mutant hero.

Mouldy Loaf

2009-05-01T05:40:00.000-07:00

I've teamed up with the clothing outlet Mouldy Loaf and designed some tshirts and sweatshirts...see here http://www.themlot.co.uk/shop.html or nip down to the custard factory and say hello to Neil who runs his own shop full of cool little bits and pieces to cover your body with

Size? Mural

2009-05-01T05:39:00.001-07:00

A while back me and few lads from Them Lot painted a mural at the Size? store in Birmingham

Dear Miss Hubbard exhibition photographs

2009-05-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some photographs taken of the recent Dear Miss Hubbard exhibition in which I collaborated with Solihull Primary School children and other artists...cheers to everyone who got involved...the show runs until May 16th 2009

Dylan

2009-03-26T04:44:00.001-07:00

Here is a recent piece of work inspired by the Bob Dylan tune 'Times They Are A-Changin'.

The work is a submission for the magazine AN ENDLESS SUPPLY.

Cops and Robbers

2009-02-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a piece connected to the COPS vs ROBBERS chess poster below...again, for the exhibition in March...when will it all end!?

Miss Hubbard Collaborations

2009-02-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

As part of the ongoing project with Solihull Council, I asked Primary School students from across the town to write a letter that they imagined was inside an unopened envelope addressed to a MIss J.E Hubbard...these letters were then sent to different artists across the country...below are interpretations from The Outcrowd Collectives Ben Javens and Si Peplow

Cops vs Robbers

2008-12-28T06:31:00.000-08:00

A poster inspired by some writing I have done inspired by the unopened envelope. This time, Miss Hubbard recieves a letter inviting her to see her jailbird husband participate in a charity chess match.

NYE 09

2008-12-27T06:32:00.000-08:00

I will be helping decorate the Victoria Pub and Island Bar in Birmingham with a few other of THEM LOT on NYE...come see and drink

The 12 Days of Christmas

2008-12-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

Continuing the festive theme, I have installed 2 Christmas tree's made up of objects from the song the '12 Days of Christmas'.

One is in the Rainbow Warehouse in Digbeth, and the other is in the Victoria Pub in central Birmingham.

Posters and Fliers...

2008-12-10T08:35:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a fair few posters for people of late, so I thought I'd pop a couple up that I've designed recently...

Cross breeds...

2008-12-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

As part of my ongoing project with school children in Solihull, I asked some of them to cross 2 creatures together and create a new breed of animal. I have taken some of my favourites and interpreted them myself.

Christmas card design

2008-12-02T14:43:00.001-08:00

Currently TRYING to get into the festive spirit...

SQUARE PEOPLE

2008-12-02T04:30:00.001-08:00

Here are some ideas for an installation piece I'll be putting into Solihull Gallery early next year

Hopes and Fears

2008-11-14T01:19:00.001-08:00

This Friday (14th November) I have some work going up at the Centrespace gallery as part of the group show 'Hopes and Fears'. Other artists include Andy Council, Paul Roberts and Ben Newman. The piece I have done is in 2 parts and has been made for the lyrics of 'You Are My Sunshine'. More info at www.inkygoodness.com

The Victoria Pub

2008-11-14T01:14:00.000-08:00

The new owners of the Victoria Pub in Brum have given the place a much needed facelift...as part of that, me and the rest of THEM LOT were asked to paint up some characters in their backroom

Dear Miss Hubbard...

2008-11-13T03:18:00.000-08:00

As part of my ongoing project with Solihull Council, I have been visiting Primary Schools across Solihull with my BIG WOODEN ENVELOPE. The envelope is full of letters that trigger visual activities, which have led to Year 6 students coming up with some leftfield ideas. All the work will be exhibited at Solihull Gallery in March, along with my own show on the theme of the unopened letter.

BIGGER THAN BARRY

2008-10-06T10:39:00.001-07:00

THEM LOT were down at the Rainbow Warehouse on Saturday night raving it up at BIGGER THAN BARRY. We had a barber in our room, so we turned it into a big barber shop...cheers to everyone who came to support us

GIANT ENVELOPE

2008-10-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

For the last few weeks I have been working on an education project with Solihull Gallery. The work is based around an unopened envelope from 1970 (see previous post for more work). I have created a giant wooden version of the envelope that is full of sealed replica envelopes. Inside the envelopes are letters that I have written, that explore what could be inside the sealed package. These letters are the starting point of educational activities for school kids.

The kids will be making their own interpretations of what could be inside the package by writing some of their own letters. These letters will be posted to a number of artists who have agreed to get involved in the project. These include Si Peplow, Ben Javens, David Shillinglaw, Newso, and Sarah Coulston, amongst others.

Birmingham 1969

2008-09-15T09:16:00.001-07:00

This is a drawing I have done of Birmingham in 1969. The work is part of a commission I am doing for Solihull Council, that involves childrens interpretations of what could be inside an unopened envelope from 1970. The final show takes place at Solihull Art Gallery in March 2009.

Actress and Bishop Gig

2008-09-04T10:59:00.001-07:00

I was asked to create a backdrop for a gig at the Actress and Bishop in Birmingham last Friday...

ITS YOUR NIGHTMARE

2008-08-30T02:28:00.001-07:00

It's your nightmare...it's been a hard week on the road...you've been up for 3 days...when you return to your home, your mums swapped your bed for a tangerine

It's your nightmare...you go to the fridge for your breakfast and it's waiting inside for you

It's your nightmare...your at Wembley Stadium watching Simply Red

These images and text are taken from a collaborative book between myself and Richard Templeton...it's just a bit of fun really, lost of worst case scenarios

FUSED Ltd Edition Art Market

2008-08-26T05:03:00.000-07:00

I'll be flying the flag for Them Lot at the Custard Factory this coming Sunday (31/08/08), selling prints books and other bits and bobs at the Fused Ltd Edition Art Market...the show will be in the reception area and runs from 11am to 4pm

Shambala Festival

2008-08-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

It was the Shambala Festival in Northampton this weekend. Log from the Studio 4 Gallery in Birmingham got a few of the Outcrowd Collective, along with me, Paul Roberts and Nathan Chan to produce a 10 board mural on the theme of nature.

A spider I painted.

There were artists working on boards at the festival...some from Bristol, including Rowdy...

...Newso was also there flying the flag for Brum

Urban Outfitters Show

2008-08-25T10:18:00.001-07:00

On Thursday August 7th 2008 we (themlot.co.uk) put on an exhibition at the Urban Outfitters store in Birmingham.

The show was accompanied by a mural we did that can be found at the rear of the shop...or if you stand outside Waterstones on New St and look upwards at the store, you should be able to see it...on a clear day...maybe

Bad Dancer

2008-08-25T10:01:00.000-07:00

I was commissioned by the good people at Puregroove records to create a visual identity for the music artist BAD DANCER. The work is a mixture of ideas from myself and Bad Dancer. His concept of an alien type figure entering the earth is depicted in the first image, which has been edited into the album cover shown next.

2007

2008-08-25T09:13:00.001-07:00

2006

2008-08-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

2005

2008-08-14T16:28:00.000-07:00

'London Landmarks'
London Transport Competition Entry

'The Golden Inkwell'

Commission for the Belvedere Writers Club

'Aquatic Ape Theory'

Images Annual 06

'RIP Biro'
Commission for IQ Magazine

2004

2008-08-09T09:36:00.001-07:00

'The Loke'

An illustration taken from a story written by Alex Barrett

'The Frown, Chad Brown'

A set of wrestlers that were based on some of the kids I went to school with

'Eating out in Tokyo'

An editorial brief set at University

New Blog

2008-08-09T09:13:00.001-07:00

I should have set this up a long time ago

Most of my time has been spent organising the collective I am in, Them Lot

If you get time, have a look at our site >>> http://www.themlot.co.uk/

good work from the likes of Andy Council, David Shillinglaw, Gareth Barnett, Paul Roberts and Mark Long to name a few