"DRAWN" - Exhibition Of Drawings By Harris Sofokleous, Rich Johnson, Derek Jones, Hannah Longmuir and Gill Walton at The Coldstream Gallery, Scottish Borders, 15 April - 23 May 2015

 

 

A small selection of my recent work in a group show starting tonight at the Coldstream Gallery! www.coldstreamgallery.co.uk We are only an hour's drive south of Edinburgh or an hour and a half north of Newcastle Upon Tyne so, please drop in if you are in the neighbourhood! Comments and constructive criticism are welcome.

 

 

"In Memory Of The Charlie Habdo Attack Victims" by Harris

 Still in shock from the mindless killings at the Charlie Habdo offices in Paris this week. My heart goes out to the families and friends of all the victims. Such a high price to pay for merely expressing your views on politics! It was so depressing to see so many talented people wiped away by some useless thugs whose only "charisma" was to shoot guns... Well, when it comes to properly influencing and inspiring the masses, guns don't stand a chance against writers' and artists' pens - I think...

"2015, New Year....Happy?" By Harris

Just testing out my new SAKURA drawing pens and this was the result. The surface of the paper was a bit rough though, which affected the sharpness - I should have known better.

"Cat Squabbles" By Harris ("MAN" magazine, Nicosia, December 2002 issue)

 

Here is another one for the end of the year! I was looking through my - very old - portfolio the other day and I came across the series of comic strips I used to produce for this monthly magazine in Cyprus, 11-12 years ago. The subject, being seasonal (families, in-laws, booze and Christmas trees) should be fairly uplifting... Happy New Year to all!

"2013 Christmas Card" By Harris

 

By the way, this is the drawing for my Christmas cards design this year. I was unusually organised this year, finished it early, and managed to get all cards printed and sent in time! All comments are welcomed...

"Marlene Dietrich" drawn by Harris (2013)

This is one of a few pencil studies I've been working on recently, inspired by the masterful black and white photography of the 1930's and 40's cinema. I've always been fascinated by the way the characters from that era were created larger than life with the use of atmospheric lighting and exaggerated angles (in addition to all other standard tricks like make-up, costumes, hair-styles etc). I'm sure Hollywood borrowed a few hints from past European artists like Rembrandt, Daumier, Velazquez and others and quite rightly so.

Anyway, this is from a film called "The Devil Is A Woman" (1935) starring Marlene Dietrich. I love the way the camera portays her as angelic and serene, in complete contrast with the title of course! I am still working to capture that expression and the deapth of the light and the shadows...

"The President Of Cyprus - Nikos Anastasiades: The Lone Rider", by Harris (2002)

It's hard to miss the stories on Cyprus and its unfortunate, troubled banks all over the media these days. As a Cypriot living in the UK, hearing the occasional story from home featured in the main BBC news is normally a pleasant experience ; I never thought I'd ever see such a huge volume of headline stories unfolding daily from our tiny country - with potentially catastrophic effects on millions of people through out Europe! Surely, whatever the deal between the Cypriot government and its "partners", trust in the banks of any European country (not to mention the European Union itself!) will be gone forever. And the banking system, surely, cannot function without trust. After six years of Bank scandals around the world why should any one leave their money in their hands or invest in them in any way?

This is a portrait I did of Mr Anastasiades (the hapless cypriot president) back in 2002 for MAN magazine in Cyprus. I had the idea then to present him as "The lone rider" (inspired of course by Lucky Luke!) as he was having difficulties forming coalition with other parties at the time. How prophetic this image turned out to be eleven years later as he was returning to Cyprus from Brussels today alone, penniless, and with no partner standing by him...

"Christmas Card 2012" by Harris

 

I have finally posted away the last of my Christmas Cards (sample above) so I can get on with my other work as normal... It's actually a picture of our house - and some of its residents! We do have a number of mature holly trees in the garden that look lovely this time of the year with their bright red berries, saving us the trouble of Christmas decorations outdoors. I know it looks a little spooky but that's part of its charm...

Beetles Series, 2012 (Harris)

Here are some more pictures I'll be showing with Society6 - the link is: http://society6.com/sofo7 There are thousands of other artists on this site, quite a number of pictures each so it's incredibly difficult to look for anything specific. Some of the work is very imaginative and of high quality but it varies a lot. We'll see what happens...

"Knapweed" 2012

I've recently added some of my work for sale on the Society6 website - any comments are welcomed. I was going to post a link to it but their website seems to be offline at the moment for maintenance so I'll try again tomorrow.

My new mangle...

No pictures from any book today, only photos of an old mangle that I bought last month! A lovely looking machine used originally for drying clothes back in the Victorian days. Yes, I know you can get tumble dryers nowadays, but this is to convert into a printing press. I've always dreamed of having a press of my own since my art student days for printing etchings, lino and woodcuts but printing presses can set you back thousands of pounds (specially this one, that could print up to A2 size). I reckon the conversion of the rollers and the bed shouldn't be too hard to do and even counting in the cost of the blankets it will be way cheaper. It will certainly look a lot more attractive than the machines available on the market today. I'm hoping to post photos of the (successful) result one day soon along with samples of my prints...

Another Christmas Card, (2011)

I thought I may as well show this other design of mine, too. It is loosely based on our greyhound - a characteristic pose he often takes in anticipation of food. His name is Teddy which could also double up as a Christmas present I suppose.

My Christmas Card

This is not from any old book - just a Christmas Card design for friends and family. I think the owl looks a bit too merry...

Submission for the "Infectious" design competition

Thought some of you might like to vote for my artwork entry to last month's www.infectious.com design competition - I don't believe that the design with the most votes wins anyway. I think they just select the design that could potentially sell the most products. Some interesting illustrations on this website on the whole though. Here's the link to mine:http://www.infectious.com/voting/harris13/cannot-commit/8781

"Jeani"

Lost one of our greyhounds last week in what appeared to be a massive heart attack - she was only eight years old. It affected all of us more than we ever thought possible. Never barked or whined, she had the most gentle and subtle manners, always considerate and patient. Here's a drawing I did of her a couple of years ago trying to capture one of her reflective moods. May you rest in peace, Jeani, your spirit will always be with us...Rabbits in the garden and chicken roasts unattended in the kitchen are quite safe now...

Just a Christmas card - unpublished

This is one I've made for myself - it took so long to finish I had no time to print or post it to anyone! Oh well... I'd better be more organized for next Christmas. Enjoy.