Brendan Bunting

This month sees the charity Campaign For Drawing launch its annual drawing festival: The Big Draw, a focused month to encourage the nation to draw more, with events taking place up and down the country. With the rise of digital technology drawing has been on the decline for the last decade. In February 2012 we saw a six month surge in people drawing, sadly it was using a smart phone app called Draw Something which was a hybrid version of Pictionary. As the app lost its appeal, some moved on to more advanced design apps whilst others gave up the drawing…

Today is World Mental Health Day and this year's theme is'living with Schizophrenia.  The day is about highlighting awareness while creating understanding of mental health. There have often been strong links between creativity and mental illness.  In the world of art, the mention of mental health makes us think of the tragic tales of Vincent Van Gogh with his possible schizophrenia/bipolar outbursts, Salvador Dali's anxiety driven by doubt around sexual inadequates, or Edvard Munch with his 'Scream' which could be compared to his own breakdown and psychiatric therapy. In my years of study, I came across fellow art students who…

Some will say that the Illuminations are the greatest free light show in world. I would go one stage further to add that they are the most diverse illuminated sculptures on the planet. Often mocked just as much as they are loved, this six mile stretch of shimmering lights is just as iconic to Blackpool as our beloved Tower. And with a rich history embedded in design it has been nice in recent years for 'The Lights' to move into other realms of art. Love him or loath him there is no denying that having Laurence Llewelyn Bowen involved in…

This month has seen the start of a new term.  Pencils sharpened and new bags purchased in excitement and anticipation for the start of a new academic year. But this year there is a tinge of sadness in the air in Blackpool for some of the creative community, as Park Road campus of Blackpool and The Fylde College is no more a school of art. A once thriving creative hub of activity, it's a place where I had the pleasure of undertaking art courses twice in the last few decades, a place with a reputation for producing many talented creatives…

Even before my recent trips to some of Europe's most splendid cities, I have often thought about Tourist Art and whether it have a place in Blackpool. I view Tourist Art as any form of creativity, which is made in any medium, purely for a tourist market. You know when you go to London, for example, you will find a street seller offering you the chance to by his watercolours of Big Ben, or by that sunny beach you can sit for an artist so they can create an unflattering caricature portrait of your good self, or in the hustle…

Blackpool has long been a town full of rich wonderment that inspires others. I have often wondered what it would be like to be a visitor to the town for the first time; what would I make of the vibrant, often bizarre sights that I see before me? I've also wondered what it would be like to take an alternative look at our dear town. How far could our imagination run in the opposite direction, and what would the end result look like? Well, this summer I was fortunate to see two art shows that answered both of the thoughts…

Art Everywhere, which launched in the UK last summer, is a joint venture between a host of bodies including the Tate. This year’s event is promising to be bigger and better than ever. Art Everywhere is a project that sees billboards the length and breath of the land used to display large reproductions of some of Britain’s greatest artworks from the nation's vast collection.  The project is designed to create mass interest from the general public.  Art Everywhere uses a hashtag (doesn't everything these days? I find life is littered with hashtags) which is intended to generate and keep the…

If you turn on the news these days it's a depressing watch.  If it is not children being murdered in the Middle East, then it’s the country waiting to be fracked to death amongst other things. One thing that is startling with all the appalling issues going on is a lack of response from the arts. Once upon a time we would have seen new performances, contemporary art, and music highlighting the plight of the weak and vulnerable. But recently there has been a deathly silence from the art world, especially on a local level. Bar a couple of poets…