SALT SURF & SAND

A new exhibition at the Byron Bay Library. It runs from 27 May till 30Aug.

The Rusty Plank

About a year ago friend Jim Blower and myself decided to enter the 2016 Swell Sculpture Festival held every year at Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast in southern Queensland.

A surfboard made of steel?

Combining our creative and sculptural expertise we decided to build a 3.7 metre surfboard out of steel. The whole concept came together through our passion for surfing, sculpture and of course steel.

Forged from cor-ten steel and weighing over 130kg. we have spent close to 100 hours creating our vision for this years, Swell Sculpture Festival.

The festival is in it’s 14^th year and has 48 artworks displayed on the Currumbin beach from 9^th till the 18^th of September.

Starting to add cor-ten steel to frame.

Finished deck…. love that curve.

Jim finishing the bottom.

Sanding the rails.

Delivering to festival site.

The Swell Sculpture Festival, Currumbin. Gold Coast  2016.

"Men of Steel"

Jim and me.

BOTANICALS. New artworks by Potts & Anne Leon @ The D-bar Gallery, Coollangatta. Qld.

                                           
The theme for this show came about when we realised we are both working independently with Australian plants and nature. Through we have very different styles and approaches to our subject, our work sits well together, and is complementary.
What makes this show unique, is the fact that we have taken a very traditional genre, 'Botanical Studies', and given this timeless subject a contemporary feel, by implementing techniques that stretch traditional use, and combine to give the viewer a fresh look at plants, flowers and the natural world.
The scale of the flowers in Potts' work reflect a joyous re-interpretation of this timeless fascination man has with botany.
Annes' works display a new way of allowing plants to imprint onto paper by extracting the juices and tannins of the plant, through a cooking process, leaving a delicate buy defined "eco-print".

  

My fascination in oversized plants & flowers has led me to create this new body of work, which draws on my Graphic background, but injected with a passion for Pop Art. A bit like Margaret Preston goes Pop! Wood block printing meeting silkscreen printing.
My original artwork is drawn on 'scrapper board at 1/4 the size of the proposed finished art. I then enlarge the artwork and photographically expose it onto a silkscreen. From there I print & hand colour the work on canvas.This whole process gives the finished work the look of an over-sized, textured, wood-block print.

    

POSTBOARDS -- wooden postcards. A new business project

The Story

Husband and wife creative team, Graham (Potts) Porter and Anne Leon have integrated their time honed skills: Potts’  graphic design background with Anne’s many years of screen printing experience, to produce a unique range of timber postcards.

They design, print and produce their Postboards from their studio in Mullumbimby, NSW, employing sustainable eco practices, which are the driving force behind their products: timber from renewable plantation resources and solvent free water based inks, are used in production.

The graphics are designed to capture an iconic Vintage look of places, cities and natural environs, from around Australia.

Each POSTBOARD is a hand-printed piece of art, capturing the essence of Australia!

At Lord Howe Island in June 2016, designing a Postboard for the island's museum shop.

PRODUCT RANGE TO DATE….

C O A S T a group show at the NRCG Ballina NSW Australia

Andrew Wells, Rusty Miller and Potts at the opening night.

Mural Kings Court Reserve, Lennox Head. NSW Australia

On the 22-10-14 I blogged that I was waiting final approval to start painting a mural that has been commissioned by the Ballina Shire Council. Approval & funding came though at the end of April this year and painting commenced mid May. I stopped at the end of May for a 10 day holiday in Bali with family. On our return I finished the painting on the 2nd. July after a few hold ups with bad weather.

Manchester United "The Last United Supper"

The Last United Supper

A few years a go I was asked by a friend to do a surfboard design of the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples dressed in Hawaiian shirts. Last year I relooked at this image and decided to take it further into the 21th Century.
This in turn lead me into conversation (over a few beers) with my mate Jim, who is a huge Liverpool supporter. He told me Manchester United are the most supported football team in the world and dared me to take the Last Supper idea and make the MU team the Disciples with Sir Alex Fergusion as Jesus.
And I think I got close…

These posters are now for sale at my Etsy Shop. Just click on the Etsy logo on your right and that will take you to my shop 'Pottsprints".

If there is any problems or the shop is out of stock, just email me.

The Last Surfer

H L Emagazine

In October last year Jade Hopley from H L Emagazine contacted me about an interview for her Emag. She came to my studio in mid November for a chat and to take some pics. Below is the article she published in Issue 5 December 2014.

http://www.holisticlivingtv.com/hl-e-mag.html

New Works for Summer

Here are some new works I am planning to release this Summer. I am still working with the Image Release technique, and getting some fabulous results.

Kings Park Mural Lennox Head, NSW Australia

In early April this year I was approached by the Ballina Shire Council (Nth. NSW) to tender for a mural to be painted on to a recycling water tank above Lennox Head in the north of the shire. On the 23rd. of April I was awarded the tender.
The theme for the mural is around suburban living & the healthy coastal lifestyle of Lennox Head. I approached the design with a collage concept in mind. I researched the history of the area & visited the mural site & township many times taking notes & reference photos.

After 3 to 4 weeks of researching & making notes, this is my first drawing. It was done in about 20 minutes to try & give a visual of all the images that had been running through my head over that time.

Taking my first draft I then fine tuned & drew to scale, pushing the strong ideas & refining the weaker areas.

This is the full colour rough that was presented to Council. So far it has been well received. We are now waiting for public opinion before proceeding to the next level, which is putting the paint onto the wall. Stay tuned…...

This is a new sculpture I have just completed. It does carry an element of ridiculous, but hey, someone had to do it.

'Sea Worthy' A new solo show

New Works

Over the last 12 months I have experimenting with collage using the Image Transfer technique. I find that this treatment frees me up from silk screen printing/painting, which can be restricting with costs & sizes etc. Image release lets me add as many colours & images to any size I want when I need. Perfect for these collages.

Commission April 2013

This is a commission I finished awhile ago, but have only just photographed.
It is a collaboration I did with my wife Anne for her brothers beach house. This is the first time we have really worked on a painting together and at 1.5 x 2.3 metres it was a big undertaking. I did most of the background and the above sea level stuff. Then Annie finished it off with everything below sea level, which is a mix of silk screen printing and painting.
The painting is inspired by Chris's love of flying and love of the ocean, and is called "Leon's Reef".  

Ritzenhoff Mini Piggy Bank

In 2009 Ritzenhoff asked me to submit some graphic designs for their 'Mini Piggy Bank' range. "Currency Commando" was 1 of 2 designs that I produced for them. At the time I was (still am) very happy with the graphic use of world currency symbols as camouflage, I felt it was a strong design & for filled their job brief with the humour required.

Alas, the design not excepted. Last October I received an email from Ritzenhoff asking if I still had the artwork for my Commando Piggy Bank, as they wanted to put it into their 2013 range. And so here it is 4 years later.

Beachscapes, A solo show

Here is a preview to my new solo show at the D'bar Gallery in Coolangatta, Queensland, Australia. It will run for 2 months with new works being added every week or 2. This show is running in conjunction with this years 'Bleach' surfing arts festival (22nd. Feb - 3rd. March), & the Quiksilver Pro surf comp (2nd. March - 13th.) at Snapper Rocks, which is located just out the front of the gallery. So get along to my show, then take in some of the festival & see some world class surfing at the same time.

http://www.bleachfestival.com.au

http://quiksilverlive.com/progoldcoast/2013/

Time Drifter

For the last year or so I have wanted to design & build a clock out of driftwood. Every idea I tried never amounted to much. Then 1 day late last year I was driving past a farm & noticed an old windmill, a seed was sown, & so now we have a driftwood clock on our living room wall.

SurfToons

I have lots of surf cartoons in my sketch books & this year I decided to take some of them to full colour & give them a life outside of these books. Here are the first 3, which I have printed onto driftwood using the Acrylic transfer technic.

New Exhibition "Coastal Lines"

'Coastal Lines' is the first collaborative exhibition I have done, with my wife Anne. It is representative of our love of the ocean & the beach, which has been a great source of inspiration over the years.
As we built up this new body of work, we realised our friend Barbara was working with similar subject matter & we invited her to join us in this show. Her ceramic crustaceans are a perfect complement to our work.
Through this exhibition we hope to raise the awareness of the delicate and fragile beauty of our over-loved & exploited coastline.

                           Here is a little preview...