The Black Hole has landed!

The Black Hole finally started today in radio Shetland. For the first show Amy and myself prepared a video review of Blowup, and interactive exhibition up at Bonhoga gallery for the next month.

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Blow Up review from Beto Jet-O on Vimeo.

The Black Hole prepares

The black Hole poster, a photo by silkeybeto on Flickr.

A week to go till the program goes on air and you should now come across this poster all over Shetland -maybe?- If not click on the image.
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Adventures in font

Autumn is back and it's time to find time for a night class. Luckily for me Jono has put together a follow up to last year's Graphic design class and I was lucky enough to secure a space in it. The approach this year is Handmade design and on week one we had a great exercise working with type and fonts. Here's some of the results.

Info about the class HERE












This winter I have been invited to take part in a comedy radio show. Since I like playing with fonts I put together some name based logos. The main one was chosen to represent the show and on the side you can see some of the alternatives. Number 2 was my personal favourite so is good I'm quite detached with my work - typed while tears wash the keyboard Sniff Sniff -
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give a little GET A LOT - Befriending poster

give a little GET A LOT - Befrinding poster Aug 2012, a photo by silkeybeto on Flickr.

Happy SEPTEMBER you all! just back from a great holiday around the Highlands. Noticeably little blogging activity recently. Inexcusable! So ... yet another addition to the voluntary work I have been doing since 2008 for one of Shetland's most successful charitable organisations.

Heart your head - Shetland Times review

Shetland Times - Fri 3rd June 2011, a photo by silkeybeto on Flickr.

Read about my "neurotic dreams" in this beautiful review published by the Shetland Times

New poster for Shetland Befriending Scheme

POSTER 3things, a photo by silkeybeto on Flickr.

Another seasonal addition to my voluntary work supporting a voluntary oraganisation. Nice to look back at the posters I've made for Shetland Befriending since 2008 (!)

Heart your head :: Co:Lab/MindYourHead join forces

My latest screenprints for a Co:Lab/MindYourHead fundraiser project.

Read all about it HERE
and support the charity aka buy the prints HERE

De seis maneras diferentes - Chapter 9 out now

De seis maneras diferentes - Chapter 9, a photo by silkeybeto on Flickr.

As Dj Malhumor starts closing his first novel - only one more chapter to go! - the main characters have to brave a "season of lucky deaths". Read all here and keep an eye on www.encerradosafuera.com

The drama of Democracy

Click to see larger size

Alfabeto - May 2005, a photo by silkeybeto on Flickr.

April's gone and never did I post once. Bad, bad, bad!
So since we are all getting a chance to have our say on May 5th, here is a comic strip from the Alfabeto series. First published in May 2005 in Shetland Life magazine. Written by master wordsmith Newt and drawn by lousy blogger Beto. Now go rock the nearest polling station, you know you want to.

Sketchbook finally opened

What happens in the sketchbook stays in the sketchbook.
Well, not anymore. After having a look at a few of my sketchbooks from the past couple of years I finally came to the conclusion that (at least) some of it is worth looking at it again and even share it.
So I open this new Flickr room with sketchbook lost gems and doodles.
Have a look

        

Travelling exhibition

Since October 2010 a couple of drawings I made are touring Shetland.  It all started with a very kind invitation by local artist Paul Bloomer to share an exhibition sponsored by Shetland Arts, purely developed using the iPod Touch and the application Brushes. Paul tends to create outdoors, braving the local weather every all year round. I used a short trip to Orkney to produce most of the pieces for this exhibition as I find travelling a great moment for sketching in general. To reflect the medium in which the drawings were created we decided to print them in the size of an iPod touch screen.

First stop for the touring exhibition was the Departures lounge at Sumburgh Airport, this meant that only people flying away from Shetland was able to see the prints.
Since February Brushes is at the Peerie Shop Cafe in Lerwicktown, and I promise to post whenever they move to a new location. Meantime I leave you with a few animations of some of the pieces and how hey came about, click the images on the left to view on full definition.

Doodle Week 2

Joined Co:Lab's second Doodle week of 2011 after missing the first one while being away.
Read all about it at the Co:Lab blog and see my entries on my Flickr. To check out the first Doodle week clik here

Back volunteering!

No time to settle after the holidays really and back in front of the screen trying to meet the first deadline of 2011.
Out this week Shetland Befriending Scheme is back recruiting volunteers for their project. Since 2008 I have been producing the images for their campaigns and I can proudly announce I have been doing it again. Designed, drawn and finalized during the space of a week, the new poster was conceived using the ideas provided by the SBS's staff. For the last 3 campaigns they have agreed to graciously take part in a brain storming session where I try to gather as much info as possible. Ground rules for the brainstorm are minimal and basically all ideas in any shape or form count: words, thoughts, stories, images, colours and anything else I can write, draw or collect to have with me in the following stage.
Have a look and see what you think triggered this new addition to my befriending work

Great start for twenty-eleven

Back blogging after a long break. Came back home after 5 weeks away and amongst the pile of mail found a copy of This is Central Station's book!
One of my screenprints - the Sea Song Set -was chosen between some 35,000+ images uploaded to the site in their first year and it features in page 102.
Feel free to check out the book online via the ISUU link below (page 53) or if you want to buy it online click here
Many thanks to the TICS team

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Lego snowflakes at North Rock Gallery!

Following my previous post on the yule exhibition at North Rock Gallery (NRG) here is a pretty bad foto of the print. Hopefully Santa will remember to leave a scanner in my stockings this year. Read more about the show here and if you are about Lerwick make sure you make it upstairs to see the Co:Lab contribution

Dj Malhumor finds it hard to leave Frankfurt

Just finished another illustration for an article in Encerrados Afuera by Dj Malhumor (Dj Grumpy). The article finds Malhumor having a hard time leaving Frankfurt thanks to the presence of a troubled soul, who unwillingly turns our writer's trip to the airport into a kafkian happening. A good chance to practice some of those Photoshop skills I never knew I had, and stop depending so much on Illustrator to turn my sketches into a final piece. Blog had a bit of a makeover while I prepare for the last Arts&Craft fair of the year -read about it here-

North Rock Gallery - Yule exhibition now open

And so posting resumes. The members of Co:Lab were recently invited by North Rock Gallery for their X-mas exhibition. As is now customary the 3 of us approached the subject in completly diffent ways and the result are hanging on the gallery walls since yesterday night.
Silke took a few fotos you can see clicking on the pics below
Many thanks to North rock Gallery for the invitation to take part, and the yumtastic mulled drinks and bakes :-)

Dj Malhumor visits the Jaguar House

New this month in Encerrados Afuera is another collaboration with Dj Malhumor (Dj Grumpy). The writer travels through an area where pumas are not a rare sight and this triggers some memories of Murakami and the film Tropical Malady. The illustration tries to capture the spirit of the piece, picturing the traveller and the encounter with a man/tiger. Click on the image for larger size

69 cuadros de amor/ 69 love pictures - Exhibition

Earlier I wrote about a collective exhibition in Buenos Aires inspired/celebrating the triple album 69 love songs by The Magnetic Fields - read the post here
Thanks to my friend BIO who was able to attend and kindly allow me to share them, and please check out her new gorgeous website launched only a few days ago (I should almost have a post for that)
I must say I love the idea of having albums/songs hanging from a wall. Music is always around visual artists while working and I have fond memories of a section in the once revolutionary Raygun magazine, back in the 90's with a song being turn into an image by a different artist on every issue.
Special thanks to the organizer

New befriending campaign

 



The teaser for the Shetland Befriending Scheme's new recruitment campaign is out!
This week the Adult Learning's booklet 2010/11 landed in every single household in Shetland and in page 95(right next to the Booking forms!) is the design I made for the voluntary organization.
The final version should hit the streets in two weeks time!

Meantime I'll be trying my luck with Starcraft II, because a spot of mindless videogaming can sometimes trigger a wave of creativity. I've been a fan of Blizzard games for nearly 15 years and I love their attention to detail and superb artwork.