This blog now takes place at a different location.

Please head over to the new JazzCakes Blog for all the latest news.

Kings Road Artist Studios

Today we went to a Micro Beer Festival at the Kings Road Artist Studios in Pontcanna, Cardiff. The festival takes place every month so you don't have to wait too long for a chance to check it out for yourselves! Apparently we missed all the best festivities as they took place on the Saturday (they had a ukulele band and everything), but we still had a very splendid time and met some very wonderful people.

In fact, they were so wonderful that we're going to do a stand alone post for them! (I just decided that now.)

One thing we will say is that the beer, which is actually brewed on site in their own micro brewery, is first class and the free tea and cake was pretty good too!

JazzCakes100

Lots of things to talk about today, lots of things happening and lots of things coming up.

First of all we want to tell everybody about our new project: JazzCakes100. 'Not a very imaginative title,' we hear you say, but simplicity is key; less is more! JazzCakes100 is a new series, curated by the people at JazzCakesHQ, where we get 100 things designed, modified or improved by 100 people. 

To kick off the series we have JazzCakes100:T-shirts. It does exactly what it says on the tin. But - and this is where you come in - we still need a small amount of creative people to get our full quota of 100. So if you or anybody you know may be interested in this project, read on. Below is a link to Facebook where there is some more information on what it entails. 

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=153300880131&id=1187081773&ref=mf

If you don't think taking part is your cup of earl grey but you'd still like to see the final collection then we shall keep you posted on when the exhibition will be. There will definitely be a Cardiff exhibition and we are also working on a London exhibition thanks to our lovely friends at The Bridge Collective.

Quiet Summer

JazzCakes have been a little quiet over the summer months for one reason and another.

To tide you over 'til there's something exciting to tell you about here's a new exciting Cardiff based project from three fine young graduates.

Open/Close are hoping to make use of all those empty units that are littering the high streets at the moment, with the intention of making them look beautiful by putting on art exhibitions.

They also have an interesting blog which is being utilised as an open exhibition space. 

Robin Rhode

Now street art is something which really inspires JazzCakes and makes us tick. Being from near Bristol we've obviously seen the work of Banksy, and being regular visitors to East London we've come across the various styles of street art around Shoreditch such as The Great Cake Escape (see our 21st Feb post) and this little beauty... 

A tree planted in a turfed over skip, if you can't make it out. Just brilliant.

A number of months back we went to an exhibition at the Hoxton Square White Cube Gallery that really struck a chord with us.

At the White Cube was an exhibition of the work of Robin Rhode, a name I knew without being familiar with his work. Rhode is a South African artist now based in Berlin. Despite living in Germany, his playful drawings - often in public spaces - relate back to his experiences from South Africa. A lot of his work is monochromatic, often in chalk or charcoal, into which he then incorporates elements of performance.

The simplicity of Rhodes work is what we really like, and the playfulness which draws away from the sometimes negative themes in his work.

Still from Untitled Harvest, 2005

New Line

Here at JazzCakes we're always looking for new and innovative ways to display our new and (not so)innovative designs; we also like to give something back to the people. On that premise we thought it would be a nice idea to hit the charity shops of Cardiff. 

'And what came of it?' we hear you ask. Well, it's quite simple really. We only bloody well came up with our new line of T-shirts!

Although we have no images to prove this, we have already created the first in the line, a pre-commissioned piece for a friend of ours. The rest of the line will be made of unique tees where we take charity shop bought T-shirts and, depending on the tee, we either create a new JazzCake style design, or we playfully rework the existing design on the tee. It's a simple concept, but very effective.

We hope you will enjoy the results when they are unveiled. Your first chance to buy one is at the previously mentioned Jumble on 2nd May.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The Big Fuss Arts Directory

Apologies for the distance between this and the last post, it has been an exceedingly busy time for us.

Over the period of the last six weeks we have made new friends, new business partners, new designs, new decisions, new emotions... The list goes on. It has been a productive period of discovery.

One significant happening has been making the acquaintance of David Lee and Zaeger Jones of The Big Fuss Arts Directory.

The Big Fuss offers Artists of all genres and experiences a professional, down-to-earth service of personal one-to-one direction; their aim is to provide as many Artists with the help, guidance and exposure their Art deserves. 

We like their concept so much we decided to join forces with them and collaborate on an Opening Party for the launch of their new website.

The event will take place at Cardiff's Nos Da hostel and will play host to a number of artists already on the database. It's looking like it's going to be an important event on the Cardiff arts scene so we encourage everybody to attend.

Although it's looking unlikely we will be able to attend the opening, we will be providing a birthday cake to celebrate 2 years of The Big Fuss, so make sure you get a piece. We will also be attending the closing party, although this is yet to be confirmed.