My work with Michael Deane

The Daily Draw: featuring @MichaelDeane61 as promised. pic.twitter.com/MQ6EVIgTtF
— Brian John Spencer (@brianjohnspencr) March 2, 2013

[UPDATE - also read this post here]

It all began with a chance tweet and a simple cartoon as explained here in my 'The Artist's Journey' series, and in even more detail my journey is described here. That original cartoon, created on a wet March Saturday afternoon after rugby coaching and before going into town to sit in Waterstones all day, was then used in the Michael Deane signature wine, 'Chez Deano', which you can see below.

Deanes Meatlocker Malbec wine label

It all began with a simple Matisse-inspired cartoon and a chance tweet. The cartoon then led to the Michael Deane 'Horsemeat' collection and the first wine label. You can read all about the creative process and working relationship here. 

The artist's journey, Ctd Model Decano Man

Above and below you will see a sample of images of a clay model I made in the spur of the moment after a flash of inspiration. The model is of Michael Deane's Decano man which was originally produced for my exhibition, Belfast Faces and Famous Places and then used on Michael Deane's Chez Deaneo wine bottle (read about that process here). Click here to see the combinational, remix and networked creative process that helped to create the Decano Man in that started all this. That then lead onto the Horse Meat series of paintings here which placed the Decano figure into a series of culinary, gastronomical and animal settings. This was then followed by a commission to produce an image for Michael Deane's signature Prosecco (read about that process here). 

This also coincided with a commission to produce a 6 foot wall painting which further built on the look, feel and style of the Decano man series (see that process here). This then led onto a 4 foot wall painting which built again on all of the work made up until that point (see that process here). At that stage, the process slowed in terms of output but undoubtedly continued internally. Then came the inspiration to create the clay model. From this point I hope to create a fuller model by colour and detail.

Surveying the whole process it is interesting to see that, from that one drawing of Michael Deane has exploded a fountain of creativity which hasn't stopped flowing. And the clay model Decano man is just the latest in a serial and sequential creative process. Long may it continue.

• Belfast Faces and Famous Places here.

• Deaneos wine here.
• The combinatorial and remix creative process that created the original Decano Man here.

• Horse Meat exhibition here.

• Deane's Wall art here, here and here. 

• Deaneo's Prosecco here.

Overview the whole process from start to finish by viewing here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

The artist's journey and combinatorial creativity Ctd

 

The artist's journey, Ctd From Deaneos Wine to Horse Meat

Maria Popova writes about combinatorial creativity and networked learning in the 'about section' of Brain Pickings here:

"The core ethos behind Brain Pickings is that creativity is a combinatorial force: It’s our ability to tap into the mental pool of resources — ideas, insights, knowledge, inspiration — that we’ve accumulated over the years just by being present and alive and awake to the world, and to combine them in extraordinary new ways. In order for us to truly create and contribute to culture, we have to be able to connect countless dots, to cross-pollinate ideas from a wealth of disciplines, to combine and recombine these ideas and build new ideas — like LEGOs. The more of these building blocks we have, and the more diverse their shapes and colors, the more interesting our creations will be."

This is my experience of being an artist.

Deaneos Prosecco

I had the great pleasure and privilege to work and collaborate alongside Michael Deane, the eminent Belfast restaurateur and businessman, in his ambitious project to create his very own Deanes' brand of prosecco. I left the brewing and bottling process to the experts and kept to what I know best, art, and helped to produce the label you can see above. Being legally trained at university I'm not great with technology and left the graphic design detail to local designer Adam McConnell.

This project followed the earlier collaboration where I helped produce a label for Deanes' home brand wine. See below for images of the label I produced for the Deaneo Prosecco and of the Deanes' team enjoying a first taste of the bottle's contents.

The artist's journey Ctd, Deane's wall art from start to finish

The picture above shows myself with my latest drawing for Michael Deane's seafood restaurant. Below is a timeline of the making of the painting from start-to-finish. It was done with indian ink, and a mix of watercolours, acrylics and a selection of emulsions.