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The last few months have been an uphill struggle. Along the way I have met some amazing people and seen some wonderful things. Here's what's been going on in my world in London and a few other spots in the UK.

Finding time for nothing and everything at once. I have been building towers to keep my head above water. Blisters on my fingers and holes in my shoes, At least I still have my lucky deck of cards.

Kyle Ranson came to stay while the 'needles and pens' set up their sweet show at 96 Gillespie.

Kyle made the most of my lovely organ which doubles as a coffee table in my kitchen. I found this musical beast in a dark alley one night; it followed me home and has been there ever since.

Kyle and the Needles and Pens gang set up 'Hope Springs Eternal" at 96 Gillespie.

I helped hang some work and cut my finger on some glass from one of the frames. This cut stayed with me for some time. The wound has healed now and I kind of miss it.

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The popular musician KT Tunstel came by Nowhere North to film a documentary type thing for Myspace, and interviewed the very talented Robin Footitt. Robin made all the illustrations in her latest album. Check out his amazing work

See the film.

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Walking through Soho I bumped into David Choe. David had an amazing little show at Lazarides gallery. To promote the show he was making the most of the once white walls outside the gallery.

Amazing what this man can do with a spray can and a wall. His paintings are also outstanding:

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I took a little trip into the countryside to visit my good friend and artist James Hutchinson, James was celebrating his engagement and what better way to celebrate that drinking a lot of this:

After drinking a lot of that and painting masks we ended up looking much like this:

Some serious drinking went down and it was so good to get out of the big city smoke for a few days.

I also ate one of the best full English breakfasts I ever did eat. And to add to it, we ate this awesome breakfast on a cafe that was an old boat.

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This last month also saw the launch of KnuckleHead Fashion. Knuckle Head is an organic fashion label, using only fare trade cotton and each garment is limited, numbered and hand packaged by the artists who design them. I am one of the artists who design them. The other artist is Ben Levy, and here is Ben painting up the walls at Nowhere North gallery for the launch exhibition.

It was a shame we had to paint over Sam Bassetts floor installation. But all good things must end. The floor needed a new lick of paint.

The launch party was phat, with a free cocktail bar, Music from the CardBoard Boss DJCollective and a charity Auction of original artworks and limited hoodies.

You can check out KnuckleHead and buy a t-shirt or hoodie online here ***

Here's a sweet view looking into London on my way into town. The joys of cycling about town. I love being able to stop and take photos or pick something up. Riding Bikes is Best.

I have been riding my bike a lot recently, and to put myself to the test my legal attorney and I joined an overnight ride from London to Brighton. Cycling at night is seriously good fun. Riding open roads and cycling fast while everyone else is fast asleep. It was very dark, so all my photos looked like this.

We arrived at Brighton peer at 6.30AM, sleepless and high on coffee, this is a sunrise I wont forget in a while.

This sign was on the bench we were resting on. Man I was so tired; my bones were falling asleep inside my skin. But in a strange way I felt very awake indeed.

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More Nowhere North activities: The 'Themlot' Collective came to stay and we made a wall installation in preparation for a show in Bristol later that week at the Here Gallery and bookshop. The Here gallery is a very cool place; visit them here. Check out Them Lot... Those boys and girls love to boogie.

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Saw an amazing photography show at the photographer gallery.

A group show including works by John Davies, Jacob Holdt, Esko Mannikko and Fazal Sheikh. Here are a few of my favourites.

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I also had the great pleasure of meeting Phil Frost at his book launch at Elms and Lester

Some amazing paintings and objects to see, and if you want a copy of his book they still have copies for sale. The book is a massive catalogue of work and photos from his studios and exhibitions. There are also some great essays as an introduction by Pushead and Carlo McCormick.

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This is the view from my studio a few weeks back when we had a pretty heavy snow fall. Just when we think its getting warmer, it gets colder than an Eskimos nose. There were kids making snowmen in the streets.

Last of all is this snap I took by accident of my local train station. If you ever find yourself in London, come visit Nowhere North gallery and see what's going off.

David Shillinglaw lives and works as an artist in London. www.Davidshillinglaw.co.uk
David also runs Nowhere North Gallery www.nowherenorth.co.uk

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