August 2018

27th August: Hmmmm so what has happened over the past couple of months? My show with Michael Meyersfeld came down. I entered Sasol again and received a real WTF moment. I shan't go into details other than to say that I was left completely perplexed by the decision, a state of mind that was shared by many people.

There is some good news though. After having to let my last website fall by the by, I have a new one. The address is www.stjohnfuller.com. I put it together on wordpress. And yes for someone who does not know how to code, it is a deep and terrifying hole. it is not as easy as all the advertising makes it out to be. It's ease of use to the uninitiated, I would liken it to trying to knit whilst wearing lead boxing gloves. But its up and that is what counts.

February 2018

21st February: Sheila Madikane was kind enough to give up a bit of her time for my current project, (the portrait show that is going up in Heramanus, at the Rossouw Modern Gallery). Although it only took me a couple of minutes to get the source images that I required, she happily chatted with me for an hour or so. While doing so she filled me in on some of the background to what she is fighting for. I think that this can be summed up simply with the following words, empathy, respect and as an equal.

For those of us who are lucky enough to live in comfort, there is a harsh truth that many of us would not like to admit. We have little understanding of how the other half live. Indeed while the laws of apartheid may have been abolished, a form of social segregation is taking its place. When once it was a question of colour, now it would seem to be a question of finance. Owing to the fact that the price of land is guiding social planning, those who can't afford the prices that are being demanded are being pushed further and further out of the city. The net result is a form of social cleansing. For those who are being forced out the result is a double blow. The greater the distance equals more time spent travelling. At the same time more money is needed to pay for the travel. And yet somehow we think that this perversion of logic is OK?

February 2017

27th: There comes a time in artists life when one wonders, what am I doing wrong? Why aren't a filthy stinking rich? Well there many answers, and I guess if your sole purpose of creating art is to be filthy stinking rich, I think that unless you are a superb sales person, or extremely fortunate you aint gonna to get what you want. My hope is that I will be able to earn enough to support my habit while being able to put a little away for a rainy day/year. So the aim for this year is to try and get myself more widely exhibited/known so that more sales will come my way. Lets see.

January 2017

17th: The madness of the Christmas holidays meant that I completely forgot to post update re book launch. It went ok. Sold a few books, loads of colouring took place, and now the big flag is already down! 

The pic above is a portrait of John Matisson, a political broadcaster and author based here in Cape Town. Amongst many other notable positions he was one of the founding councilors of South Africa's Independent Broadcasting Authority. 

November 2016

19th: Had a message pop on th phone yesterday. As I can only ever seem to be spammed I thought best just quickly delete it. Yurns out it was deposit from Art Lovers 1932! Apparently I had won a prize in their annual art competition. owing to a variety of reasons I was completely clueless. I had entered and then life just took over. It's the second time that this had happened. First time was in 2008 with the Sasol New Signatures.

15th: had a quick squiz of my entry for the 2nd. My evaluation? Rubbish, and so have edited.

2nd : Well whats been happening? Had a trip over to the UK. Mostly spent my time in a kitchen. Managed to escape for a weekend to London. Went and saw the Turner prize finalist's. What did I think? Ummmmmmm, what a load of Kak. I can only suggest that this reaction is because I am getting old, and plus I have spent too much time in the Sun , This of course means that my brain has been fried to the point of which I can no longer lie to myself by finding some deeper meaning in something that is patently not there.

Anyway being working on a portrait of Moira Forjaz. It has taken some months to organise but I have finally been able to get there. The above pic is just a little snap of the final images.

September 2016

2nd September: A pinch and a punch for a whole month missed. A whole month of intentions and plans but not much moving forward. At least with Spring in the air the itch to be pro active is starting to be intolerable. First things first, and a first for me. I have decided to self publish my colouring book. Unfortunately as it is not a real book, as in a novel or some such other, I don't qualify for an ISBN no. Bustards. I had high aspirations. But anyway, got myself the next best thing, a proper, registered, it is so legit that they give you a certificate to tell you that it is a legit, barcode. So yip I am now the proud owner of barcode.

July 2016

A page from the "Rainbow Nation"

20th July: Well there is just over a week to go till the final judging happens for this years Sasol New Signatures. I have to admit that while it is really cool to be selected for the final show, it would be nice to be given an award. But as a friend of mine said, 'your work is too subtle',

Great news from this years Turbine Art Fair. Heidi Erdmann from The Photographers Gallery ZA took some of my work along and got plenty of sales.

A couple of weeks ago I popped over to Hermanus to meet up with Lawrence Brennon. He is a photographer that has been developing the photopolymere technique. This all fits into my wider scheme of looking to use plates to print my photographs and not inkjet printers.

April 2016

So, I open up the blogger page today and I get some warning about some or other EU directive about warning EU residents about cookies and third parties and what not's. So in true Bernard Black style I am going to not enlighten myself, plead ignorance and say, there, that's my warning to you if you are a EU visitor. Got it? Splendid!

News? started an internship at Warren Editions. Not much to say other than I have just started this week. I am hoping that over the coming weeks I will be edging closer to being able to produce my own photogravures. First though I have to master the art of preparing a plate.

November 2015

Invite depicting Roger Ballen

2nd: Well October has been and gone. being working my arse off to put together a show together that is going to happen at the David Krut Bookstore. I have been running around taking pictures of artists and their work. I then printed the pictures, stuck them up on a board, and then rephotographed them using one of my cameras. The invite above is a blend of the process and the result. The top right is a pic of the source material stuck on a board. The bottom left is a pic of the resultant photograph. 

July 2015

An orange Post It means?

Guard Hut Camera with photo inside.

21st: Well it is good news. "The man from Delmonte says Yes!" Have been selected again to be a part of the annual Sasol New Signatures competition. That's 5 years on the bounce. I have to admit that the day before I had entered I had decided that I wasn't going to. I was just too unprepared for what I had wanted to do. I had needed to get together all sorts of things. Unfortunately events of the past week had meant that I had totally lost focus. But I woke the next morning with a slightly different mind set, a new plan and just got on with it. It was tight but I managed to get everything together. Although what I had ended up doing was not what I had set out to do, I still reckon it turned out ok.

Inside the Guard Hut Camera

20th: And so it is Sasol New Signatures time again. My entry is a guard hut which I turned into  a camera.I used the hut/camera to take photographs. The resultant photographs were then mounted within the hut. Simples really. I find out tomorrow 10 AM. If I am selected it will be five years on the trot which would be rather fabulous.

I think I worked out one of the reasons why one of my works did not get selected for last years comp. Weight! I forgot to read the little section regarding weight. Entries must be 100kg's or less. So I reckon that the judges took one look at my installation and went no effing way is this thing below 100kg's.

April 2015

There is nothing worse than looking like a complete amature in front of your peers. And so this was the case when I went to photograph Janus and Dennis from the alternative print workshop with Chantal. Usually I can get the exposure right within a couple of shots. But no, not this time. In no particular order the following all happened. Underexposure, paper ripping, Chantal been blown over and yet more underexposure's. I have to admit that I came close to saying, "stuff this, I am going down the pub". But finally the stars came into alignment and I finally had a picture that I was happy with.

Pics of Janus and Dennis to be shot with Chantal

Taking a pic with Chantal

Duds, misfires and an ok print

The last year or so has been a a year of exploring and discovering new things. With Janus and Dennis from the Alternative Print Workshop I have been exploring Cyano Types and Van Dyke Browns. A trip to the UK brought about an opportunity to get an introduction to to the photogravure process with Peter Moseley. There was a lot to take in but the two day workshop left me wondering, 'where have you been all my life'. The process gives beautiful results and I am hoping that it is not too much longer before I can start doing more prints.

March 2015

Plan Chest for Nando from Nando's

Yip February has been and gone. The last couple of months have been months of working to pay the bills. Orders for plan chests came flooding in. There are still more on the books, but I have given myself a couple of weeks to focus on my photography

The plan chest in the picture above was delivered to the offices of Chickenland, to a guy called Nando! I thought it was a wind up but I can assure you that it was not.

Dali Version 1

Dali Version 1 - Detail

Had some great news from the Candice Berman Gallery yesterday. They sold one of my Dali's. So "Milky Bars are on me"

January 2015

Here is a peek at what is being planned for later in the year. At the moment Janus (from the alternative print workshop) and I are still busy working out all the details. This is going to be something new for me. I am quite used to giving walkabouts which tend to last only an hour or so, but having to keep it going for a day while teaching a class, hmmmm, I am sure that it will be ok.

So you don't believe in Santa? The Tooth Fairy? The Easter Bunny? Well I got news for you I am here to tell you that they are all real. Very very real. Yes they drive around in an old Toyota and they do get a bit lost, but I have proof of their existence and it is sitting in my hallway. And what gifts did they bring? Paper, rolls and rolls of paper, and not any old paper but photographic paper. More paper than I know what to do with. So what now? Well I guess pack it away for the moment. Things are a wee bit busy on the work front. I am just going to have to do my best to ignore that it is all there. The cool thing now  is that I don't have to worry about how I am going to get hold of my next lot of paper. So thank you Derick and Janus from the alternative print workshop for a really most unexpected but wonderful gift. I am most especially looking forward to experimenting with the fibre based paper. Thank you.

September 2014

Three Forgotten Beauties

And so yes I have missed the whole of August. News that I have failed to pass on? Well I have kept up my good run of getting into Sasol New Signatures. Think that it is four years on the trot now. Was actually at the grand opening last night. Thankfully this year there was no 'you got be fffing kidding' moment with the winner. What we did learn though is that if you want to find out a bit more about the artist, asking them about their art on stage might be such a good idea. Of course this is just my bias, but when people start to waffle on about some new age mumbo jumbo, then I head for the hills. I liked Elizabeth's rational up to a point but then it was no no no please stop.

'Three Forgotten Beauties' - detail.

The pictures above are of my entry 'Three Forgotten Beauties'. 

July 2014

23rd July: drumdedum dum de dum dah dum with that rather laboured trumpting I am glad to announce that for this years Sasol New Signatures I managed to gain the thumbs up from the judges. Well ok one of my works did, the other not. Which is ok, I am cool with that. To be honest my second piece still needs a bit of work on it to sort it out so it was no disappointment that it didn't get through for the final show.

21st July: Wow so a couple of months have almost flown. Had a hectic time in the UK before rushing headlong into trying to organise for this years Sasol New Signatures. I am not so confident of getting in. Part of the problem was that I was still in the process of working out what to do. I had put up an installation which I wasn't to sure of how to get the best out of it. Stick ot twist or just completely loose the plot knowing that the deadline was coming, rushing at me faster than a well oiled eel sliding down a teflon coated ski ramp. Scccchhhhlaaaaap. So yes I am left with the old I should have, could have, didn't do that scenario and we wait. It's just two days to go now before I hear anything. 

April 2014

2nd April: Ok, I have resisted long enough. The masses of supporters thronging outside have finally convinced me that I have to post another blog. Over three months since my last post so I guess that it is time to put up another one. So what's the excuse? None. It was always tomorrow, and then of course later, next month and that become much much later.

So what's been happening? Shows and things amongst others. Also did my first screen print. Hadn't been near a print studio after being brutally told that I wouldn't make it as a printer. So all in all, after having being put off completely by the thought of going anywhere near a print studio, I think my first attempt turned out ok. Unfortunately I can't share at the moment as it's at a gallery right now and I am feeling too lazy to go and document it. So what I will do is post a pic of something else that I did. Nope it is not a screen print. It is a print of a edited scan of one of my pinhole portraits. Please see above pic

December 2013

19th December: The above pic is of Chantall and Diane. Iwas taking portraits of Diane as part a series that I am doing with Chantall

A little over a month ago I talked about PPC and the possibilities of winning a prize. Well I did win the Functional Prize, which was nice. Well actually getting my work selected for the competition was nice. Being shortlisted for a prize was very nice. Winning? well that was extremely nice. The funny thing was that despite having a healthy cheque in my hand, I had no cash to go and celebrate with. Nada. The bank account was empty empty empty. And with life being what it is, well the winnings have soon been swallowed up by needing to pay for it's necessities.

November 2013

Wow this is worse than having to wait for Christmas day when you were a kid! Last week a got a couple from the organizers of the PPC Young Sculptors show asking me to come along to the pre opening media dance as I have made it into the top seven. As ever when one gets a phone call from Nandi you are not sure what she is going to say. She has perfected the art the dead pan phone call. Only problem is that your immediate thought on hearing hear voice is 'Oh shit, is there a problem'.

OK, from what I can see the prizes are split up as follows:

Fine Art Catergory: A first prize, a runner up prize and the two runners up = 4
Functional Art Catergory: A first prize =1
Peoples favorite, for which the voting closed yesterday =1

So that's six which makes the seventh a mystery. So my amazing powers of deduction make me think well...... I have either won the Functional prize or maybe the mystery seventh prize. Hopefully the mystery prize is not going to follow the story line of Martin's Marvellous Mini when after entering a hill climb race and driving up the hill in reverse, Martin and his co driver won a first prize of a hundred pounds of ....... spuds. Ba boom

Going back to my process of deduction ....I can't have won anything else as a: I didn't enter the Fine Art catergory and b: the voting for the people's prize had not been finished before I was notified. 

August 2013

30th: This may sound like sour grapes coming from an extremely disenchanted loser but anyway - The entry that was selected to be this years winner of Sasol New Signatures was ..... I can't find anything online at the moment to show you but anyway it was a combination of a kak painting with a kak video of said kak painting. I guess that the judges must have thought that they had the Midas touch and that by selecting the work it's kakness would be turned into something of pure wonder. Sorry, no, this is the the real world, what is kak remains....KAK.

Before I get taken down for attacking the winning artist I would to make it clear that my issue is not with Dot. She I imagine, like all the other artist's that entered, entered firstly with the hope that what she was entering would get selected for the final show and then maybe get a prize of some sort. She did not select herself as the winner.

So what we have above here is a pic of my entry to this years PPC copetition. It is a camera. Well it is actually two. I have just got to decide which parts I am going to use

For a definition of kak please follow this link  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=kak

May 2013

24th So another month heads swiftly for the exit door. The show that we took down to Cape Town has found a new home for a couple of weeks, which is great as hopefully loads more bods will go and check it out. The space looks like it is a really fantastic space for showing. I haven't been there but the pics look fantastic.

The show at Intoto has come to an end. It got some great coverage in the press but not even a listing of my name as a participant. So yes, you have the whole build up of thinking cool lets read what they have to say. Then you read, and then read some more, reread, scan quickly, double check, and then oh....ok....nevermind, you finally console yourself with the thought that at least the show had some coverage, and that that means that people will have been exposed to your work because they may have gone to the show because of the article.Well yes yes yes positive thinkingand all that, yes yes yes I hear you, it has it's place and time, it will make you feel better, but in this case it did didly squat. Indifference is the hardest critique to receive. PS that's my quote so be sure to remember where you read it first. Thank you.