New work in the making

Today I finally received my latest print. It got send off to the UK by mistake, and didn't seem to move at all for a while. I got quite nervous about even getting it at all. I know they would have probably send me a new one if it didn't get here, but as I am planning my next trip to Japan soon I am once again running out of time. I hope to find some time this week to finish it with some airbrushed colour.

New Stuff

I have to say, with all the new ways of communication these days, it seems to get harder and harder to keep every single one up to date. I now have besides this blog, my own website, a Facebook page and an Instagram account which you can follow. If you do so you might have already seen what I am trying out these days (putting some more colour in my work as a test for possible future prints). But what I have not mentioned yet is that there will most likely be a new exhibition this September. More details about that will most likely follow as September gets nearer.

For the ones that haven't been able to see the latest try-out I made here it is again:

KunstRAI

I am currently working on yet another new print, as I heard last week my work will be shown at the KunstRAI in Amsterdam. I was very exited by this news and have decided together with the gallery to make a large print on brushed aluminium. Measuring 100 x 150cm. this will be the largest print I have made so far. I hope I will be able to finish it in time as the KunstRAI opens on the 27th of this month. If anyone is interested and able to go I think this would be a great opportunity to see my work displayed.

KunstRAI

Open Studio

Today we had our first day of the open studio. We have been doing this for a few years now, and it has always been  a very welcoming push to finish some work and clear out the studio space to make it look a bit like a gallery. This year however we decided to focus a bit more on Manami's work, which came out as a very good decision as I am having quite some exhibitions at the same time now. This means that I won't be able to show any large size coloured prints on brushed aluminium, but I did manage to keep a little one at home to show people what I am working on now. The day went by pretty quick and we where very surprised when we got a visit by my teacher from the AKI college of art (where I did my bachelor).
I can only hope tomorrow will be as successful as today.

The Netherlands

I am now back in the Netherlands, and already started a new series of prints. The first one already came in (a small one 60x40cm.) as they sent them in 2 separate packages (I don't know why). It's Easter now so I'm afraid it will take a little longer before I get the large prints. I will be making them for the upcoming AAF (Affordable Art Fair) in Maastricht. I am very excited about that as it will be the first time I can actually visit it myself.

I am also preparing our studio space for the open studio tour that will be held on the 25th and 26th of this month. We will be showing a little more of Manami Yoshimoto's work as she has been working on a whole new series of oil paintings.

St. Maartenskliniek

I have quite some exhibitions coming up at the moment, and the first of them has just opened. Unfortunately I wasn't able to put up the work myself as I am still in the UK, but luckily I have an amazing mother that took care of that for me. I have to say that I am very happy with the way it turned out and am looking forward to go and have a little visit myself. the show will be up until the 28th of May at the St. Maartenskliniek, Hengstdal 3, 6574 NA Beek-Ubbergen (Nijmegen). Once again a huge thank you to my mom for taking care of hanging all the work, and to Corry Steinmann for asking me to do the exhibition.

Printing on Metal

Thanks to Gallery Post + García, I am now once more able to do what brought me to print making. They found a place for me where I can print on aluminium. I have ordered my first test prints and was so happy with the result that I am now waiting on my 3rd order. This order consist of 2 full size prints (105 x 70 cm.) which I will colour in with airbrush for an upcoming art fair. I will post more details once I know them on my Facebook page and website. And will try to give some more information about the process of this new series on this blog. For now I would like to share some example images of my first test prints which will be available to see in my upcoming show at the St. Maartens kliniek in Nijmegen (NL).

Exhibition Maastricht

I am very happy to announce that after my work went to the Realisme art fair in Amsterdam, it is now on display in the Gallery space from Post + Garcia in Maastricht. The show is open until 28-02-2015 and consists of work from Armando, Michael Lauterjung and myself. For more information you can visit this website (Dutch only).

Moving forward with my own exhibition room/gallery

Right before I went to the Netherlands I had been talking to my dad about getting a big stand for my prints. I thought it would be easier for people to browse through my work that way. As my prints are quite large, and the wall space in the gallery is limited (not to mention that it is quite costly to frame all my prints). We initially wanted to make one ourselves, but when looking on how to do this I stumbled on one for sale. It was very cheap and too good a deal to let go (and luckily no-one else beat me to it). Sometimes you are just looking for the right thing at the right time. So when I got to the Netherlands I already had a nice stand waiting for me.

Besides having a new stand there is also a new series of postcards added to my shop, as well as a re-stock of the other cards. It is all starting to take shape!

New Prints, New Website

I finally finished a new series of prints, after a long time of struggling with finding the right materials and the right way to do it (It is becoming harder and harder to source material and workplaces that I need for my large size prints). This time I decided to focus a bit more on the surroundings of the car, as well as a bit more urban areas instead of lonely fields. I am quite happy with the result, and am pleased to announce that they will all be available at Galerie Post + Garcia in Maastricht soon.

Since I had to add this new work to my website I thought it might be nice to try something new and gave my whole website a little makeover. Let me know what you think!

Sushi

Something different this time, as I am still waiting to hear back when I can go make some more prints at the print workshop.
My new job has given me some quite handy new skills, and I decided to try them out at home.
I hope you like the result, I thought they where quite tasty!

Donald Ray Pollock

Hello All,
First of all I have to apologize for letting you wait so long for a new update. I have been doing a bit more on my official Facebook page (Sander Schoonbeek), but heard from quite a few people lately that they miss my blog posts. I do have something fun to share so thought it would be a good way to give you all another update this way. I have been contacted by a publisher in the Netherlands about using my artwork for one of there new books. The book is by Donald Ray Pollock and is called Knockemstiff. He is a writer from Ohio and since I feel quite connected to that state I was very happy that they wanted to use my work for their cover. Please check out the interview with the writer in this video and let me know what you think about it!

AAF Maastricht

Last weekend Gallery Post + Garcia took my work to the AAF (Affordable Art Fair) in Maastricht (the Netherlands). Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to have a look myself but thanks to Laura Post and my parents I ended up with some nice pictures. I think they went all out and gave a better presentation of my work than I expected. Besides showing 4 new prints that I made especially for this occasion they also showed 3 of my large prints. The concept of the AAF is to make Contemporary art more accessible for everyone with prices going from 500 to 5000 euro max. I think this is a very good concept and hope to see more of these events in the future. I included some pictures of the show but also some to introduce my latest series of prints.

 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, in the new year.
As usual I have been doing all sorts of stuff, but I thought I would share this one with you all.
As in Japanese tradition we went out very early to see the first sunrise of the new year. Unfortunately it was a bit too cloudy to actually see this sunrise, but Hove being a beautiful place at the sea I managed to get some nice pictures either way.

I wish you all the best and hope to see you in this amazing new year!

Web Shop

It's getting closer to December and I'm still trying to find out what to do with my life.
But on a more serious note I am having a good time in Hove and have a lot of fresh inspiration and ideas to go with. One of those ideas has already turned into something real. Today I opened my first web shop on my website. I have made a new series of post cards from my latest series of screen prints (including my latest), and put them up on the site. I thought it would be a good time to finaly try something like this as I have always been interested in it. These days it is getting easier and easier to set something up like that and the only really hard thing is to figure out how the tax and payment systems work. So if you feel like getting some amazing cards to send something truly unique for Christmas or just something for yourself to enjoy (or maybe just to support a struggling artist ;) ). make sure to have a look at my new web shop. I am giving away free shipping if you buy the complete set until the 5th of December (just use coupon code: 689) so don't let that hold you back. Alternatively for those of you outside the Netherlands or UK please feel free to contact me if you are interested in getting a set as my shop is not yet set up for dealing outside of those countries yet.

http://www.sanderschoonbeek.com/shop

Bus

Besides taking some more pictures I have also been able to finish up a print I have been wanting to make for a long time. It has been a bit more difficult getting the color the way I wanted and I think it looks better in real life than on the picture but you will get the idea.
I am still getting used to living in Brighton (Hove) and am trying to find my way into the local "art scene". So far I found a nice little artist collective which I am hoping to join (someday).
Also the temperature outside is starting to drop and I am loosing the illusion of a never ending summer (moving here from Scotland it is definitely warmer though).

I hope you are all ok and still enjoying my update's.

The Untitled (Bus) print is made in a series of 8 all colored in by hand (110 x 74cm.).

The Residency ends

It has been a weird couple of months, with my first solo show in the Netherlands and the Artist in Residence at the glass program in Edinburgh coming to an end. I have been going about quite a bit and that makes it all feel a little surreal. Not being able to find (or get) a job that I would really want here in Edinburgh made me decide it might be time to move on to the next adventure. Failing to persuade my wife to move to Japan (still not giving up on that though ;) ), we have decided to move to Brighton. This because it is just a much better location for going to the Netherlands (from Edinburgh you either have to fly or spend 18 hours on a boat if I want to bring some of my work along). It is also a city with an interest in art as there are many gallery's and it is very close to London. So who knows I might actually have more to blog about!

Before I am leaving though I want to show a little bit more about the stuff I am working on at the moment. It is kind of a strange closing as it feels that I am leaving with what started it all. You might remember the many efforts I made trying to make a mold of the USA cutout and how difficult it was to get it the way I wanted. Well I didn't give up and this week I was able to take the first of 2 out of the kiln. It is so strange when you spend so long trying to get every detail to show up in the mold starting over and over until you get it right. Well it amazed me that when I took the piece out of the mold and I didn't even care that all that detail failed to show up in the glass. I got back to what I enjoy most in my work, that little uncontrollable element that makes it come out just a little different than you anticipated.

well here is a little preview of the first piece, it's time to think about how to move on from here.

I want to thank all the people that I came to know and got close to me during my time here in Edinburgh, I will miss you!

New Event

Before my show will end in August there will be one more event held at the gallery.
This time it will be a night event with enough to do! There will be a little tour (led by myself), and some poetry by Shinta Lempers. The night will also reveal more of the projections that have been shown together with my work. So if you are interested, haven't been yet or just want to enjoy another great night, please feel free to come along! After this the show will be open until the 4th of August.

I did a quick translation of the invite so please forgive me for any mistakes. I will put up the original version (in Dutch) on my website soon.

Radio

During the first week of my show I have been interviewed for by the local radio station (L1). It was an exciting day and Despite being quite nervous I think the interview came out quite well. Thanks to Emil en de Kunst and also to Laura post who I think did better than me!


Click on the linkto hear the interview!

http://www.l1.nl/audio/emil-en-kunst-sander-schoonbeek-29-jun-2013

Opening

I'm once more sorry to keep all of you waiting for another update. Things have been busy again but in a good way. I have had an amazing opening thanks to Laura Post and Gallery Post + Garcia. I never had a show this big and it was amazing to see all my work together in one room. I was also pleased to see so many people at my opening and would like to thank everyone who managed to come out and see the show.