2011: in Review

Well, what a busy year 2011 was! I feel like my Christmas rest could perhaps have done with being a little longer. 2011 was probably our biggest year at Soma in terms of events, exhibitions and projects. Some of the ideas that were in our heads were actually realised this year and we had our first ever events in our gallery space.

Going backwards a little bit... In August 2010 we moved to our new building, which really kick started things with actual storage space (instead of none!) and a lovely big light filled gallery space. Following this in November came our new, easy to operate website to replace the one I had designed and built (poorly by current standards) way back in 2005 and was on its last legs as well as being a pain to keep updated. So we had a good platform to kick 2011 off from.

Some of the great things we've done this year are highlighted below.


Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration at Soma

We started in May with our first event, the Bristol leg of Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration book tour. Amelia gave a talk and signed copies of the book whilst Lahloo Tea, Juiceology and Harts Bakery provided the refreshments.



You can read about it on our blog here
And again after the event on the blog here
Or see photos on Flickr here
And view the book online here 


Lesley Barnes Tote for Soma

Also in May, we comissioned Lesley Barnes (who we worked with a few times in 2011 - more to come!) to design an exclusive promotional Soma tote bag. She came up with this fabulous dancing bear design. Lesley designed loads of other little characters for us which we have on badges for online orders.



You can buy the tote on our website for £5 here.


Andy Smith's Sunny Side Up Exhibition

The next event was Andy Smith's fantastic 'Sunny Side Up' solo exhibition. This show featured brand new silkscreen prints on both paper and wood plus hand painted pieces from Andy. This was the first time a solo artist had shown in the first floor space and fortunately Andy is quite prolific as there was a lot of space to fill!



This show ran from 24th June and was due to end on 20th August but by popular demand was extended!



Most pieces from the show are now sold out or are just about to sell out. You can view Andy's page on our website here.

You can read about it on the blog here
And a review of the show and private view on the blog here
And see the photoset of the show on Flickr here


Gemma Correll Exclusive Tote Design

In August we comissioned Gemma Correll to design a tote for us. She came up with this great cat on a scooter design 'Au Revoir'.



You can buy this tote for £10 here


Crispin Finn's Pack Rat Exhibition

The next exhibition was 'Pack Rat' from the fantastic Crispin Finn which opened at the end of September.



You can read about the show on the blog here
And more on the blog here
And see the Flickr photos here


Soma for Not Another Bill

We put together the October Mailout for Not Another Bill which was released at the start of the month.



Bristol based Peskimo and Tom Frost created exclusive prints and badges for this and Lesley Barnes designed an exclusive tote bag.

You can read a bit more on the blog here
And see photos on Flickr here


Tatty Devine Workshop and Book Signing

Then in November Tatty Devine came to Soma to host a workshop and book signing for their new book 'How to Make Jewellery with Tatty Devine'. They taught people how to make a tape measure rosette, one of the projects in the book. Lahloo Tea also were there to provide delicious refreshments once again.



Read about this on the blog here
And here
And see the photos here


Lesley Barnes Wrapping Paper Design

Also in November we launched this beautiful wrapping paper by (yes, her again!) Lesley Barnes. We sell this wrap in sheets and use it for gift wrapping online orders.



You can view this wrapping paper online here.


Christmas Exhibition

And finally at the end of November we had our annual Christmas Exhibition which went down really well, with original pieces from Andy Smith and Gemma Correll selling out as soon as they went on sale!

Soma for Not Another Bill

I was asked by Ned from Not Another Bill to put together the October mailout. For those who haven't heard of Not Another Bill before, it's a fantastic idea by Ned Corbett-Winder, a subscription service where you get a surprise present in the post every month. Each month is produced by a different creative or group of creatives.



I asked Bristol based illustrators Tom Frost and Peskimo to each produce a print and a badge for the packs and Glasgow based Lesley Barnes to design a tote. Each pack contained a print, a badge and a tote.

Both Tom Frost and Peskimo hand printed theirs - which was no mean feat! Tom's (pictured above) is a two colour silkscreen print on reclaimed card and numbered using a pin perforating machine and Peskimo's (pictured below) is a three colour silkscreen print. These prints were specially commissioned for Not Another Bill and not available anywhere else!



Lesley's tote was silkscreened in Cornwall on 100% organic tote bags using environmentally friendly inks. It features the great creatures she has designed for us. She designed the dancing bear tote that we sell in Soma and you can see the bear in the middle of this design.



You can see more work by Peskimo here, by Tom Frost here and by Lesley Barnes here.

And you can visit Not Another Bill here.

Dancing Bear tote bag by Lesley Barnes for Soma

This lovely tote bag has been kindly designed by the very talented Lesley Barnes especially for us. They are silkscreen printed onto fairtrade cotton totes. Until the end of May all orders over £20 in our online shop will receive a free tote bag plus matching badges. Or if you just want a bag, they are £5 each plus postage and free badges.

We're also offering you the chance to win a tote and badges. All you need to do is follow us on Twitter and send us this message "@somagallery I want to win a tote #dancingbear" or join our Facebook page and comment on the 'Win a Tote' message. We will pick a winner at the end of the week on both.

View the tote bag on our website here

View Lesley Barnes' page on our website here

Bookmarks by Lesley Barnes in Anorak!

The new issue of Anorak features the bookmarks of Lesley Barnes that we sell here in Soma. You can view Lesley's bookmarks and prints online here.

Lesley designed our super blog header and will be designing something special for us very soon. Keep an eye out!

New Blog Header Designed by Lesley Barnes

Our super brand new header has been designed for us by Illustrator and Animator Lesley Barnes. Lesley has been selling her fantastic bookmarks with us since last summer and they have proved to be a very popular addition to our stock.





Bookmarks by Lesley.

Glasgow based Lesley loves tea, brass buttons vintage books and old lady hats. She started as an animator and her graduation film 'Herzog and the Monsters' has shown at film festivals over the world and won a nimber of prizes including BAFTA Scottish Students on Screen and best animation at the Chicago International Children' film festival. Since she graduated in 2006 she have worked on a few short films for BBC Scotland, designed title sequences, directed adverts (for the economist and the charity tommys). Her last two animation projects were animations for a Channel 4 documentary (she worked with Matt Saunders aka rabbitportal on this) and also a short web based film for DBB in new york on preventing teenage suicide in America.

Herzog and the Monsters from Lesley Barnes on Vimeo.

Lesley only started Illustrating about a year ago, although she has managed to fit a large body of work into that small time. One of the first projects she was involved in was for Amelia's Anthology of Illustration. As well as having work included in the book, she created the contents and the endpages of the book.



A spread from the book above and the endpaper pattern below.



One of her current personal projects is to illustrate a pack of cards. You can view her progress here. She hopes to eventually build a huge house of cards!





Other projects include animating a title sequence of the BBC and an animated short called '7' with Thereza Rowe. The image below shows some of the characters they have created.



We can't wait to see what she will do next!

Go to Lesley Barnes page on the Soma website
An Ace in the Pack blog
Lesley Barnes