Soma is 10!

On the 6th June Soma turned the grand old age of 10. To mark this pretty remarkable achievement we created a limited edition box set of 10 prints by some of our favourite artists who we have worked with over the last 10 years.

The artists who created a print are Adam Bridgland & Lucy Gough, Graham Carter, Gemma Correll , Crispin Finn, HelloMarine, Alice Pattullo, Peskimo, Hazel Nicholls, Andy Smith and Spencer Wilson. 

All of the prints are available as singles for £30 each of the full set of 10 presented in a beautiful box for £275 here.

We had a very successful event on Saturday 7th in our shop and gallery space to launch the prints and to celebrate the anniversary. We had some amazing goodie bags with tape from Hazel Nicholls, Newspapers from Rob Ryan, badges, printed tea charts and posters from Peskimo and more contained in a printed cotton tote bag designed by Peskimo or Gemma Correll! There was a lucky dip with items generously donated by our amazing artists and other people we've worked with including Andy Smith, Peskimo, Graham Carter, Not Another Bill, No Place Like (To Dry For), Rob Ryan, Lesley Barnes and more!

You can view photos from the event on Flickr

View all the prints on our website here




Crispin Finn

Crispin Finn is a small, London based design partnership. Founded and run by Anna Fidalgo - a graphic designer and Roger Kelly - a fine artist, their shared love of screenprinting, stationery and vernacular design inspired them to collaborate and develop their trademark style. Working predominantly in red, white and blue, a restriction they initially set themselves in order to hand produce simple and affordable designs, the colour scheme has become part of the Crispin Finn identity.

View all work by Crispin Finn here



Andy Smith

Born and raised in Norfolk, Andy Smith studied illustration at the University of Brighton and the Royal College of Art, London. Graduating in 1998 he quickly established a client list of advertising, publishing and editorial clients including Orange, Mercedes, McDonalds, The Guardian, Expedia, Sony, Vodafone, Random House and Penguin Books, directing Run London, a commercial for Nike in 2000. He lives and works by the sea in Hastings, East Sussex.

View all work by Andy Smith here




Spencer Wilson

Spencer is a London based illustrator and co-founder of the illustration, design and animation company Peepshow Collective Ltd. He has been working to commission since 1998 in a world of neat piles of mess, coffee cups and ordered chaos. His work follows this theme with the creation of sketchy ideas and twisted thoughts, carried through into clean vectored, balanced images placed in dynamic flat colour compositions with the occasional introduction of texture.

View all work by Spencer Wilson here

Hazel Nicholls

Hazel Nicholls lives in South East London. 14 years ago she moved from Northern Ireland to attend Camberwell College of Arts. She left Camberwell with a degree in Illustration. Hazel loves Real Ale, the seaside, ten pin bowling and of course a good pun. Her work is mostly influenced by a longstanding love of cross stitch and an interest in old phrases. Her designs have found themselves on limited edition prints, ceramics, textiles, packaging and more recently a giant fibre glass egg (as part of the Faberge Big Egg Hunt, 2012). She learnt how to screenprint five years ago and I hasn’t looked back since.

View all work by Hazel Nicholls here





Graham Carter

Graham Carter is one of the most exciting illustrators currently working in the UK, and has worked at the forefront of his industry for the last 15 years. Graham's client list is extensive and he has enjoyed successful campaigns with Aviva, Bupa, Orange, Waterstones, Visa and Monster.co.uk. His illustrations can also be spotted in a wide variety of editorial publications such as The New Scientist, The Guardian and The Sunday Times.

View all work by Graham Carter here

HelloMarine

Marine was born in Paris, grew up in South of France and moved to Brighton to study Graphic Design. Now living and working in Brighton as an illustrator she divides her time between commissions for clients such as The Guardian, Penguin, Coca-Cola, TruThoughts, Amelia's Magazine, Jazeera Airways, and personal work that she exhibits regularly. Her work has been described as vivid, vibrant, sometimes retro or slightly surreal.

View all work by HelloMarine here





Alice Pattullo

Alice Pattullo is an illustrator and printmaker based in London. She graduated in 2010 with a First Class Honours in Illustration from Brighton University. Alice works predominantly in screen print producing limited edition prints for sale in various outlets across the UK and online. Research is at the heart of her practice and her work is often inspired by British folk tradition and superstition, 1930s American musicals and celebrity culture to name a few! She is inspired by mid-century design and strives to create a nostalgic aesthetic in her own work through colour choices and composition.

View all work by Alice here

Gemma Correll

Gemma Correll has qualifications in basic first aid, grade 5 flute and a first class degree in Illustration from the Norwich School of Art and Design (UK). These skills have enabled her to forge a career in freelance cartooning and illustration (and also help you out if you break your finger or something). She divides her time between commissioned work, producing illustrations for clients including The New York Times, TeNeues and Hallmark, and working on personal projects.

View all work by Gemma Correll here





Adam Bridgland & Lucy Gough

Born in 1979, Adam Bridgland studied printmaking at Norwich School of Art & Design and then studied at the Royal College of Art (MA Fine Art Printmaking). Since graduating in 2006, Bridgland has used a diverse range of materials and working methods to pursue an incisive and often witty exploration of distinctively British sentiments.

Lucy is currently living and working in Cambridgeshire and has been a practising artist since graduating from Norwich School of Art and Design in 2002. She has exhibited widely in the UK and Internationally as well as completing commissions for institutions including University College Hospital London and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Lucy’s prints use simple graphic lines and bold colour blocks.

View all work by Adam Bridgland here

View all work by Lucy Gough here





Peskimo

Peskimo is Jodie and David and they live in sunny Bristol in the south west of England. Their illustrations combine curious details and streamlined design with a generous pinch of nostalgia to create art that has won admirers far and wide. They find inspiration in cartoons, vintage graphic design and overhearing people in the post office queue. The pair has worked with a wide variety of clients including Sony, Barclays, BBC and Vodafone and has appeared in publications such as Monocle magazine and The Guardian. They hope one day to have their own ice cream van.

View all work by Peskimo here

Pick Me Up 2013

We are very pleased to announce that we will be returning to Pick Me Up graphic art fair at Somerset House later on this month.

This year we will be showing the work of regular exhibitors, Peskimo and Tom Frost alongside new to Soma artists, Hazel Nicholls, Nicholas John Frith and Telegramme.

The show runs from the 18th - 28th April at Somerset House, Embankment Galleries, London.

Pick Me Up 2012

 

We are very pleased to announce that we will be exhibiting at Pick Me Up at Somerset House this year with Andy Smith, Crispin Finn, Tom Frost, Gemma Correll and Peskimo.

The show runs from 22nd March until 1st April and is open from 11am - 8pm daily with late nights on Thursdays until 10pm.

We will post more info in the coming weeks. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to find out more news.

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.

New prints for April 2011

Sam Chivers

We have several new prints from Brighton based Sam Chivers including the print above '42' and a giclee version of the incredibly popular 'That's No Moon' print.

See more prints by Sam Chivers here.



Spencer Wilson

We have two brand new planographic prints from Spencer Wilson. 'Strongman' on the left and 'Pinocchio' on the right above.

Both prints by Spencer and two more in the series available here.



Tom Frost

Bristol based Tom Frost is one of our newest artists in Soma. We've only had his prints for a couple of weeks and they've been very popular so far! We have some screenprints from him as well as some hand printed wooden lovebirds and dead wrestlers (above left)!

You can view more prints by Tom Frost here.



Graham Carter

We have a large selection of new prints from the very prolific Graham Carter! We have a mixture of silkscreen prints and silkscreen with foiled details including gold and metallic foils.

View more prints by Graham Carter here.



Peskimo

Peskimo have produced a couple of affordable large run litho posters. In A4 and A3 (print above) these make great gifts. We also received a top up of Peskimo prints recently too.

View all prints by Peskimo here.

You can view all new arrivals on our website here.