I made an impressionistic photo-collage of my neighbourhood, Manchester’s Northern Quarter and it’s distinctive skyline. As you can see from looking at my blog, I love texture and paper, and it wasn’t long before my bohemian skyline design became like a print on a crumpled paper shopping bag. Then I fed the images through the kaleidoscope on my phone and arrived at what appears to be lo-fi retro wallpaper prints. I love recycling stuff! You can see the original source images here and here.
Break out the bubbly, because The Vibes has been vibrating for a whole twelve months.
The best thing about blogging has been connecting with artists, photographers, poets and other creative types. I love the Nature, Photography and Art pages: that’s where I find the wow factor. The worst thing is the hate speech on the ‘religious’ topic pages. There’s a lot of people out there with issues and it ain’t pretty.
The hardest thing was customizing my theme until I’d wrestled the Adventure Journal into something that reflected my personality. I’ve managed to build myself a bit of a profile on WordPress, shown off my artwork and photography and upset some Cross People.
It all began with a modest post about sprinkling the ashes of my beloved cat around Merlin’s Well in Alderley Edge. I think the Wizard and King Arthur would be proud of the travel/photography scrapbook which has emerged since then. And it has to be said: when I press Like, it means I really like something and I’m not just being a shameless blogtrollop. So, hi to all my followers, thanks for sticking with me and here’s to another year!
Now. Is there an electrician in the house?
On my recent trip to London, I managed to grab some shots around Soho and the West End. Theatre Land is currently booming, with increasingly lavish productions competing with each other. This part of the city has the most character, and sitting in a Soho cafe, you can watch the world go by. All life is here, and Old Compton Street is almost like a film set, bustling with extras and rickshaws.
There is an urgency here, to see and be seen. I just wandered round casually taking pictures, and spotting celebrities. David Walliams strategically positioning himself under a spotlight with a leggy blonde outside the Palace Theatre, and Ian Brown trying to look mean and hard while waiting for a bus. Things must be going well if he’s getting the bus! No wonder the Stone Roses are reforming, so they can all afford Day Savers…
From Ed’s diner to Ronnie Scott’s jazz bar, this is a melting pot, embracing diversity from Chinatown to Oxford Street. There is still an air of notoriety and a sense that anything could happen. Eulogised by Marc Almond and mentioned in Brecht’s Mack the Knife, Soho retains some of the romance of the sixties when gangsters owned most of the property and Carnaby Street was buzzing just round the corner.
Peter Freeman’s ‘Toy Boy’ is a beacon sculpture which was commissioned for the Northern Quarter in 1998 to draw attention away from the corporate main drag of Market Street and attract people to the independent retail of Affleck’s Palace and beyond. The wonderfully-named neon tower is currently unloved by the City Council, who left it derelict for years. It still flashes it’s animated message to skateboarders and clubbers alike, and I used some of my artistic license to repair it for this post (it’s falling apart in reality.)
Frank Sidebottom's mural
From Oldham Street you can see the graffiti murals of Stevenson’s Square, but my favourite is this one of Frank Sidebottom, the Bontempi Entertainer of Timperley, who bought joy to millions with his unique brand of cabaret and papier-mâché head. Not to mention Little Frank. Sadly Frank Sidebottom and his creator Chris Sievey have passed away, but his TV show is still running on Channel M… after three, now: ‘it really is!’
Street sculpture in Manchester's Northern Quarter
This mural is...smoking. If you get my drift.
That’s all from Bohemia for now. No more tiles from Tib Street. I’ve shown you the nicer side of Manchester, hope you liked it! Check out the other posts below.
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© My artwork, photography and music are copyright Mark Wallis 2015
You may download and save my material but not redistribute without clear credit or a link back to The Vibes.
Music mixes containing copyright material owned by others are included here under Creative Commons License and no infringement is intended.
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