2019 Easter Giveaway The Arts Hole On Tour : Morocco: Art B&B

I don't know about you but I am totally fed up with this whole Brexit Fiasco

my whole country is run by liars thieves and fools with file and rank of hairdressers and estate agents to maintain their votes  … charlatans ,

so sod this !!

this year I will predominantly be based around the North Tip of Africa and of course Amsterdam Land for various engagements

but Europe will also be tainted with the echo stench of this Brexit Guff … so the less embroiled in all of that I can maintain the better x

so I am giving away 2 weekend getaways in Morocco This year :

The First in Marrakesh, and the Second in Tangiers … because , you know … why not ?  so for a chance to come and join me in some creative endeavour this Summer … or even better bring one of your own :)


I am not really a fan of all this '' Like and Share '' crap that you see … hhmm so how are we going to structure this one?? well for the sake of the sad and marginal ' demographic increase ' that it can afford lets maintain te share and like paradigm , but I want you to send me an interesting message, or rough proposal of what manner of project you might be inclined to engage in … so the combo of a like / share and comment ( or message ) should be sufficient … good luck and I look forward to seeing you soon x

ABV101%

FULL '' CATALOGUE '' #ABV101- 2019

Crazy Days going on add infinitum it seems …..

oh well , what can any sensible person do but attempt to maintain at least a rough semblance of sense and rationality !!

get up in the morning , have a little smoke and a coffee as you watch the sunrise and muse over the ramifications and implications of the day ahead … attempt to maintain enthusiasm enough to complete a rendering left unfinished from the day before ….

go for a little walk out in the sun ( if the sun actually shines ) in whatever city I find a wavering trade has brought me to this particular week …

eat, sleep , repeat ….

we do indeed live in crazy times though , and so often I have thought to ' give up ' the ' vocation ' and the lifestyle !! to attempt to re-integrate into a societal system that is utterly doomed ! for the sake of a steady wage and a guaranteed holiday a year !

in a world absolutely saturated with superfluous ' product ', indeed as Bob Dylan once put it '' you can buy toy guns that spark to flesh coloured Christ's that glow in the dark … its easy to see without looking to far , not much is really sacred '' the world has warehouses and production facilities dedicated to the production/ storage and distribution of beanie babies / patio furniture,mobile phones , their covers  and tea light candles … toy guns that spark and flesh coloured Christ's that glow in the dark … all scheduled to be marketed to a debt riddled consumer base ???

so everytime I sit down in front of a blank medium , I do have this consideration in mind !!

and yet , we live live in a world where people will allocate a proportion of their income , and or debt eligibility against the amassing and or accumulation of personal items , totems and various sentimental and asthetic attatchments, I am of course no different !, I have paintd paintings to hang specifically on te walls I have built in the buildings I have designed … simply because I had no other means of equivical manifestation

the majority of my ' skill ' has been built on a pverty backed will to vy for desirable things, and the attempts at emulating others accomplishments in specific mediums,


all of that over twenty years has rendered a kind of marketable neuroses, and such a diverse and eclectic portfolio, as to be worthy of the name ' catalogue '

so withot further ado or circuitous poorly punctuated digression  ( because fuck you Grammarly )



                                                            Art By Valerio Presents :

the Arts Hole 

International Pop up Initiative 

Est S.E.Cornwall U.K 2006 

'' Product Catalogue '' 2019 

Books : 

Tales From : Book 1                                                                           6.99

Tales From Book 2                                                                              6.99

Tales From Book 3                                                                              6.99

Coming Soon 

Tales From ; Book 4                                                                            Pre Order                                                                                       

Tales From ;book 5                                                                              Pre Order 

Tal From ; book 6                                                                                Pre Order 

Art by : Valerio Anthology 1                                                               Out of Print 

Design by : Valerio Anthology 1                                                         Out of Print 

101 Reasons to Choose a vocation in the creative industries              35.99

bootleg Autobiography                                                                       6.99 - 15.99

Paintings 

Colourful / technique tests ( small )                                                                 350.00

Colourful / technique tests ( medium )                                                              POA

Colourful / technique tests ( large )                                                                    POA


                                                              Signature Paintings 

A4 Sketchbook Pages                                                                                100 - 350.00

A3 Sketchbook Pages                                                                                          350.00

A2 Signature Work                                                                                              1300.00

A1 Signature Work                                                                                               2800.00

Bespoke :                                                                                                                POA

                                                                  Archive Paintings 

Another Of Life's Little Choices                                                                            POA

The Genes on the Buds Go Round and Round                                                       POA

The World Wide Weed Atlas                                                                                  POA
(MURAL COMMISSION AVAILABLE )                                                            POA

101 Reasons To Choose a Vocation …. ( Bourgeoise Billionaires Collectors Set ) 35,000.00

Tory- Saurus Blues                                                                                                 POA


                                                                       Sculpture  

Full Life Sized Dinosaur :
                                          Small                                                                           1000.00
                                          Medium                                                                       2500.00
                                          Large                                                                           5000.00
                                          X Large                                                                        10,000.00

Dinosaur Skull :
                                         Small                                                                             250.00
                                         Medium                                                                         1000.00
                                         Large                                                                              2500.00

Wall Mounted Bass Relief :
                                           Small                                                                             POA
                                           Medium                                                                         POA
                                           Large                                                                             POA

Movie Props and Replicas :
                                           Small                                                                              POA
                                           Medium                                                                          POA
                                           Large                                                                              POA


                                                                3-D Designs and Services 

Bespoke Furniture Design and Production                                                               POA

Furniture Upcycling Services                                                                                    POA

Architectural Salvage                                                                                                 POA

Interior Design                                                                                                            POA

Renovations and Restorations                                                                                    POA

Off Grid Options' Design and Build Service                                                              POA

Eco / Tiny Homes Design and Build Service                                                             POA

Green Star Modular Housing Design and Build Service                                            POA

Green Star House Design and Build                                                                            POA

Urban Planning Consultation                                                                                       POA

Landscape Design and Implementation                                                                       POA

Re Ruralisation Design Consultant                                                                              POA


                                                                  Out Sourced !!!

                        Postcards ( Sets ) 

Cornish Buddies                                                                                                                    N/A

Blue Views ( Z by V )                                                                                                           N/A

Room Runes                                                                                                                          N/A

''101 Reasons ….''                                                                                                                  N/A

                      Postcards ( individual designs ) 

Brexit Refugee                                                                                                                       N/A
   
The Arts Hole                                                                                                                         N/A

Artby Valerio ( orgy ball - Signature )                                                                                  N/A

No GMO in My THC                                                                                                            N/A

Vote Bronson                                                                                                                         N/A

The Owl and the Pussy Cat                                                                                                   N/A

             
                       T - Shirts / Motifs by Valerio

Brexit Refugee                                                                                                              LIMITED

The Arts Hole On Tour ( Cornwall / Devon )                                                              LIMITED
The Arts Hole On Tour ( Amsterdam )                                                                        LIMITED
The Arts Hole on Tour ( Venice )                                                                                LIMITED
The Arts Hole On Tour ( London )                                                                              LIMITED
The Arts Hole On Tour ( Tangiers )                                                                            LIMITED

The Arts Hole                                                                                                               LIMITED

Cornish Buddies                                                                                                                   N/A

Z by V ( Tie-Dye Hippy Designs )                                                                                      N/A

Vote Bronson                                                                                                                       N/A

Room Runes                                                                                                                        N/A

No GMO                                                                                                                      LIMITED

Why Knot ?                                                                                                                         N/A

Gonzo Fist ( Occupy )                                                                                                         N/A




                                                                Adventures :

Art B&B weekend  : Cornwall
Art B&B week : Cornwall

Art B&B weekend : Dartmoor
Art B&B week : Dartmoor

Art B&B weekend : Amsterdam
Art B&B week : Amsterdam

Art B&B weekend : Venice
Art B&B week : Venice

Art B&B weekend: Catalonia

Art B&B weekend : Tangiers

Art B&B weekend : art smuggling and sailing weekend ( Cornwall Devon Only at the moment , but Mediterranean options will be added later this year x )

of course and as always please do feel free to get in touch via our regular e -mail address  should you have any additional enquiries or specific bespoke requests

101 Reasons To Choose Vocation In the Creative Industries - Reprise 2019

Wow , 20 freakin years !! …….how the hell did that happen....??

I remember my first trip to Amsterdam as a ' tourist ' back in the year 1999 , the turn of the new century it was supposed to be a group trip .. but I ended up outside Amsterdam airport on my own .. with only a ' smoker guide to Amsterdam ' to help me figure the place out !

the resultant fruits of this European emulation of Hunter Thompsons visit to las Vegas … was a piece if writing entitled ' Fear and Loathing of the Mass Consensus '( a short story that later found its way into some anthologies ) while I was in the city I drew three self portrait cartoons as footnotes in the sketchbook I was carrying with me  , each a little homage to the illustration works of Ralph Steadman , so naturally when it came to writing up my little experience .. the illustrations made a suitable visual aide and accompaniment .

a few years later in 2006 I was showing some work in London under the title of ' my back pages ', a lot of work went on show original paintings , design concepts , architectural designs … even a few current sketchbooks as well as an example of the finished piece of illustrated writing.

Setting up the exhibition had , as is often the case , been a absolute adventure in itself and as a result within the current sketchbooks were a couple of additional illustrations that fitted beautifully into the series of previously started auto- biographical cartoons …. and they were all very popular , maybe one of the most popular aspects of the whole exhibition …. and upon review, these little diary entries of moments of utter unfathomable disarray and tumult … in hindsight do bring a little smile to my face ! and I think of the white knuckled anxious wreck that sketched out the original sketchbook note … and think ' well we survived that ! ' from a reflective position .. that is offering the public a humorous view on what was a very vulnerable situation , one way or another

It was around 2006 that I began producing the illustrations more regularly and displaying them under the pseudonym ' In Stead- man '.... always drawing a great deal of attention and discussion , they make a great accessory to every exhibition I do these days … and have indeed become a sought after and collectible element of my varied portfolio

The First regular publication  ever produced ( Tales From : A quant Cornish Art Gallery ) was a series of anecdotal short stories reflecting on the few years that I spent ' relaxing ' and painting by the seaside in Cornwall in the South West of the U.K, a time of Family Feuds, Credit Crunches', Recessions, Street Fights, Political Corruption and Corporate Takeovers  … and of course a few paintings and the birth of the ' Art by Valerio ' trading name and ' The Arts Hole - Art Gallery and Design Studio - Pop Up Initiative ' 

the ' Arts Hole - Tales From :' publications are now part of a collectors edition set including 

Tales From : A Quant Cornish Art Gallery 

Tales From : The Gulf - ( of Mexico ) 

Tales From : Amsterdam - Land 

COMING SOON : TALES FROM: THE TIP - ( of Africa )

TALES FROM :THE HIGH SEAS 

in the foreground of the above photo you can see a copy of the very first draft of the series of illustrations to be published, premiering the collective name as '' 101 Reasons to Choose a Vocation In the Creative Industries '' or '' 101 Reasons .. '' for short , the first edition was released prematurely due to time constarints and did not include a full consignment of the 101 illustrations , and so was only available for a very limited time 

'A BOOTLEG AUTOBIOGRAPHY ' 

during a few months of necessary personal reflection , I began accumulating some thoughts on a friends computer , some of it was broad ' unreferenced ' references to some of the previous writings, elements of it were just unrelated and unedited insertions … mainly excerpts from the blog and the few sketchbooks I had at my disposal at the time ! 

now I don't begrudge it at all , but this little mid life crisis in print ended up being published in its raw unedited and un illustrated format … its more a collection of notes that I believe is now out of circulation, but there are still copies of this weird little collectors edition out there … and I think that they make a great little additional to any of those out there that are actually following and / or collecting from this little series ! 

The Very Latest Instalment ! 

to Commemorate a momentous 20 years since the initial penning of those first three illustrations … and the enormously popular body of work that has subsequently ensued , the very latest limited edition release of the full compendium of '' 101 reasons to Choose a vocation in the creative industries '' fully illustrated and annotated and absolutely not to be missed ! 

'a very personal look into the creative processes of a very private Artist and Individual- absolutely incredible body of work , depicting the rendering of an altogether separate incredible body of work '' 

The Magnum Opus 

although no compendium will ever be totally complete the whole time that I continue to work on this ever ongoing series !! this complete box set of 100% original - hand drawn cartoons - ALL 101 from the original series in A3 Format rendered onto a Heavy GSM Cartridge paper 

and has been put out at a suggested RRP of a whopping £ 35,000 ( a higher rrp was originally quoted to no raised eyebrows at all !! and I thought to myself …. jeeez you guys have never tried buying or selling paintings in Cornwall that's for sure x ) 

so aptly a working title of ' The bourgeois Billionaires collectors Box Set ' was coined  :) 

'Pricing Structures'

The Three original cartoons that I produced in situ during that little trip to Amsterdam all those years ago have certainly evolved a great deal over the years ! 

The original Sketchbook was a standard A4 ( at this stage an original illustration would retail for around £40 each ) and I stuck with that format for the original release of the cartoons in 2006, but I was also becoming much more insistent about carrying a lager sketchpad with me during my travels so towards the end of 2007 I standardized the exhibition ready illustrations to A3 ( for a Christmas exhibition at that time I was selling the new A3 format Illustrations for £80 -£100 each 

By 2010 the natural evolution of the scale of work and the value of my time meant that I was forced to increase the standard catalogue price of an original illustration to around £275 per item with sale incentives during festive trading periods and ' collectors set ' multi purchase offers i.e The Festival set / The Amsterdam Land set / The Occupy Everything set / The Rebel set etc etc 

Now here we are in the early throes of 2019 … and everyone is still in a state of confusion about this whole looming Brexit nonsense ….after a decade of recession ! I always begrudge putting my prices up at the best of times … and despite outside insistences that I should throw myself into a state of complete artistic abandon and put my prices up to the point that I only appeal to ' the  prudently invested yet morally questionable  ' individuals of this world … I have managed to keep my retail originals at a fairly standard price ( affordable with just enough fiscal merit to be considered a commodity worthy of investment ) 

so when it was suggested that the base price for the collection of 101 original illustrations … backed up with the artistic providence of over two decades international, albeit slightly grassroots orientated proliferation in so many disciplines , a politically engaged artist / designer / writer that has literally self defined such a creative entity as ' the Arts Hole ' should be worthy of a price of £500 each ?? ( although I have seen for myself that some of my earlier illustrations are indeed reaching that in the second hand market ) that would inherently make an entire collection of 101 original illustrations worth over £50,000 - ...this just seems crazy to me ! I mean £35,000 seems crazy enough ( but at least its maintaining a commercial integrity with each cartoon levelling out at just £350 each )but when you break it down as 101 unique and separate , original artworks … when I look at what some of my contemporaries are trying to hawk .. I think about what manner of creative practices I might find time to engage in.... if only a full collection ever does sell ! :) 

Indaina Jones and the Belgian Telephone !

I have had a notion rattling around in my head for a little while now … and its largely inspired by morons funnily enough !

you see I have a feeling that if you sit any basic ape down in front of a computer and you give them great little apps like Grammarly and Fiver, wix and Instagram …. and you get , well pretty much what we have ! the age of Donald Trump ! the age of the charlatan ...of utter shameless phoney-ism …. well marketed ! well presented , well branded , prospectus ready propaganda for individuals with zero calibre , but (usually)an inherited means of suitably outsourcing their inadequacies to more proficient but less ' entitled ' individuals !


jeeez where am I going with this ??!!

o.k my original point I was trying to make was about a book and a series of original illustrations that are being prepared for launch !

which got me thinking about how as I travel around I have to interact with a great deal of assumptive functionality of administrations ! I am often flustered with missing luggage/ product on the way to or on the way back from some self destructive desire to exercise the full extent of my social anxieties … to some audience of complete strangers ! and there are more times than I can recount that I have found myself in a furious dispute with some halfwit that has sited themselves in some un firable position that often spout the familiar notion '' oh its quite simple ….''

oh dear god no you little app interned asshole … it clearly isn't … as I stand here with an unpredictable amount of credit on a dodgy rural line trying to hold a tarpaulins over £10,000 worth of stock to prevent the rain storm that is currently soaking me to the skin into a simultaneous waste of 6 months work and a difficult to explain insurance claim !

all I have to do is log on and amend the admin element you clearly fucked in the first place !!

and after a full days worth of ' travelling ' in this peculiar manner ….. when the hour is small and the morale at its absolute lowest ….. if there is the combination of just enough assumed time … enough laptop battery and / or wifi … and access to coffee and /or whiskey ...ideally both and all of the above ! I will sit on the brink of a shattered shell of myself in the weirdly comforting glow of the computer light ..sip a coffee , smoke a cigarette … and  just smash a few words into this digital substitute for a sketchbook !

its a weird thing , both that I feel compelled to write it … and also that it seems people are willing to read it … this mad word salad , hunter s Thompson work method inspired way of thinking in type during times of despair and or exhaustion !!…

and this is where we come back around to the title ….

I remember watching an episode of ' the young Indiana jones chronicles ' from ' the war years ' and the character is just trying to get a telephone installed in his new apartment in brussels

all manner of bureaucratic nonsense and subsequent hilarity ensue … its a bit tongue in cheek , but well worth a watch if you have ever found yourself on end of a phone line to an expert who is versed in everything but the relative nature of your circumstance ….

Brexit - Tereasa May and the whole damn administration block of this utter age of the charlatan !!  all armed with Grammarly and a sense of self importance …..

with this whole looming uncertain Brexit fiasco going on , since before Christmas I have been casually perusing my options for what ' alternative gainful employment ' this particular economy might offer …..

and its utterly deplorable !! I sent of an expression of interest to a local based position through some third party agency … the position was advertised as '' SPATIAL ALLOCATIONS ADMINISTRATOR '' …. basically a shop display designer … or at least that was the closest translation I could muster …..

I was contacted by a '' TALENT AQUISITIONS SPECIALIST '' …..asking for further elaboration on my cover letter …. I suggested she buy a copy of my book !!

jeeezus wept !!! who the fuck are these people …

these undefinable administrative positions , for huge ambiguous organizations be they government or corporate …. and why don't they speak English !

I had a similar problem while just trying to log in to peruse the available positions on Plymouth Universities Website …. effectively finding myself locked out of the admin procedure because they have no hard/ physical copy option for application

I wrote about a laugh I had before Christmas at royal mails '' H.R '' theme park

Now I cant imagine what kind of straight lace -white bread - bbc breakfast- gcse A grade kind of middle class kids it is you are filling the administrations of this country with  … but please fucking stop it !! we need revolutionaries , not high performers in a system that has been systematically fucked for 40 years ! the old and scary adage … '' what one generation tolerates , the next generation accepts as normal '' … well I think that we are now so ingrained into a kind of Thatcherist brain washed / property price / interned assholery that this might be fucked beyond all scope of salvage !

I was looking at a job vacancy at the local museum ( they just spent millions on it … huge housing crisis in the city but whatever ! ) '' Events Coordinator '' or something … and that's a job I could do exceptionally well … however the strategic element of this position was to ensure the long term financial viability of various ' projects and events ' through collaborative measures ….they have taken a job ideal for a creative .. and turned into something applicable to an estate agents c.v ??

the same with positions available at '' the Plymouth School for Creative Arts '' …. now am I misunderstanding this ! / but isn't the whole enterprise part of the utter failure of the tory run out of privatisation and academisation of the school structures  ??

you see I should really be in a position where I am considering these positions … even vying for these positions , but they have all been tinged with a hideousness , that makes even a respectable salary … un appealing !!

its a terrible thing when instead of continueing to constructively attempt to engage with the processes at hand , after over a decade of ineptitude , greed , and utter arrogance I would rather go and be a peasant avocado famer in some remote region of the world x …..

my little sketchbook thought for the ' Plymouth After Dark ' .GOV initiative x