UK & EU!

It's been a few weeks since I've gotten back to Los Angeles, and I just wanted to give a big thank you to everyone in the EU.. had such an amazing trip! I was really thrilled and honored to have my show at Analogue Books, and it was amazing.. so many people came out and I got to hang out with friends and met some rad & talented people I'd been talking to for a while via the internet box. I've got images of the show on my updated site here (under the label Analogue Books).The first image above is of Russell & Julie of Analogue & myself at the opening night of my show, and I can't thank them enough for the hospitality and for just being so amazingly magically awesome. I got to spend a week in Edinburgh setting up the show and just hanging out with friends : Verity Keniger, David Galletly, Jen Collins, Lizzy Stewart & Jez Burrows. Thanks for coming out, helping, showing me around, baking me cakes & for hanging out with me in my new favorite place ever, Mr. Wood's Fossil Shop!I'd also like to thank David Galletly, the uber talented artiste, for making this rad video of my show.All of Europe was in bloom, and it was unbelievable.. I've never seen so much lilac as in Sweden! & those are some images of quite possibly the most amazing wall I've ever seen in Oslo, Norway.Saw so many amazing little cottages in Sweden & the amazing Buddy Electric Car all over Norway!For those that want to see the full adventure, you can see even more photos of my show here, photos of the UK GOD SAVE THE QUEEN and of Sweden & Norway RETURN TO THE MOTHERLAND. & lastly a video of Russell & Julie's adorable son, Rudy (age 5), singing a song from a play he was going to be in.. and then promptly taking our money and running away :)

Analogue Books solo show!

I'm heading back over to the UK for my next solo show entitled "All I Heard Was The Echo In The Light" which opens on June 4th at Analogue Books in Edinburgh, Scotland. There is a bunch of stuff in the works for this one... all new collages, prints, wooden people & lots & lots of flags. Analogue is also producing a 2 color T shirt, seen below, and there will also be a a new limited zine/catalog with screen printed pages and other goodies.

Here's a little bit about the show:

All I Heard Was The Echo In The Light is sunshine, desert & succulents. It’s going outside at night, watching the dying suns and witnessing the new ones being born. Everything to and from dust. Geodesic domes, the 1960’s, the sky & being alone. It’s about all the people I have never met. It’s about all of us living and about all of us dying. It’s about all the love I have for everything. There may be a crystal or two involved, sorry, I tried to keep it scientific. It’s sewn. It’s printed. It’s painted. It’s 100% handmade. Everything is infinite. It will last forever & it will also end on July 10, 2010.


I'm also going on a super abridged tour of Scandinavia with stops in Gothenburg & Oslo.. so come out and say "hello!"

The United Kingdom

I just got back from an amazing trip to the UK..I went to London for a bit and met up with the amazing design firm Winkreative, the amazing print / artwork producers P.O.W. & with friend / author / art director extraordinaire Tristan Manco. Great to finally meet everyone in person and for getting the grand tours of the facilities!Then I headed west to Bristol for my 2 person show, entitled Land & Sky, with the lovely and talented Lizzy Stewart at Here Gallery. I had the best times and bought way too many books and ate way too many delicious pie & mash combos @ Pieminister. A giant THANK YOU must go out to Ben & Gavin from Here Gallery for inviting us to show at their gallery and for letting us crash on their floor.. & also to Lizzy & Jez for just being rad. Also a HUGE thank you is in order for Molly @ The Neon Hive & Carla @ Scooter And Jinx for driving 9 hours & all their help & support amongst many other things. (with a nod to David @ Vannen Watches for putting us in touch in the first place.)Then it was off to Liverpool where I was interviewed by Mike over at Thunder Chunky and got to spend some time with him as well as Glenn @ Sparkle Media. Finally finishing the trip with an amazing visit to Edinburgh and old friends Russell & Julie @ Analogue Books, who, along with their son Rudy & cat Piglet, were the most amazing & gracious hosts. I also had a bit of work to do while in Edinburgh, Julie was kind enough to ask me to be a part of Early Griffin Press, so I had some new 3 color prints to sign.. to be released in the upcoming months!THANKS to everyone mentioned above and to all the other rad people I met along the way and those that came out to the exhibit in Bristol & especially to the taxi drivers who talked football with me since apparently no artists in the UK follow the greatest game ever invented. (well except for Mike... and what another classic Merseyside derby it was...)& here is a full on photo slide show for those that can't get enough of the UK.. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.

UK

I'm going to be doing a mini tour of the UK this January because I've got an exhibition with the brilliantly talented Lizzy Stewart @ Here Gallery in Bristol. The exhibit, entitled Land & Sky, opens on Thursday January 21 from 7-9 pm @ Here Gallery which is located at : 108 Stokes Croft, Bristol, BS1 3RU, UK. We'll both be there, and I'll actually be in Bristol all week leading up to the opening.. I'm also going to be making the rounds in London, Liverpool and Edinburgh.. where one may be able to find me hanging around Analogue Books w/ Russell, Julie & little Rudy.. Hope to see you out and about and maybe we can watch the Gunners make that push for the championship!

Land & Sky - Lizzy Stewart & Christopher Bettig
opening reception : Thursday 21 January, 2010

Here Gallery
108 Stokes Croft
Bristol, BS1 3RU



Here's the travel plans.. so excited!!!

The Joyful Bewilderment // Edinburgh exhibit

I'm very excited that The Joyful Bewilderment exhibition that I was involved in last October in London is now traveling to Edinburgh, Scotland to my favorite bookstore / gallery Analogue Books! The exhibit features the works of some of my favorite artists: Craig Atkinson, Holly Stevenson, James Jarvis, Josh Petherick, Marcus Oakley, Nigel Peake, Ryan Jacob Smith, Simon Peplow, Steven Harrington, Supermundane and so many other amazing thing makers. The Exhibit will be on view from the 28th of March until the 28 of April and the opening reception is on Saturday the 28th of March from 7-9pm at:

Analogue Books
102 West Bow
Edinburgh
EH1 2HH
UK

A little about the exhibit from the curators:
"The Joyful Bewilderment" showcases the work of a group of like minded image-makers. This exhibition can be seen as an expression of these artists compulsion to create. Fundamentally, the artists in the show all share an essential motivation - to explore the possibilities of enhancing everyday life by making magic from the mundane. The works in the show utilize modest and direct means - including works in pencil, paint and ink along with photographic works which record and celebrate everyday happenstances."

Thanks to the amazing Simon Peplow for his orchestration of all this!

The Joyful Bewilderment

Analogue Books - Running Amok # 20

I'm really excited to announce that I've just finished my zine for Scotland's Analogue Books for their ongoing series "Running Amok." It is issue number 20, and is available for purchase here. I've entitled it "Everything and Everyone" and it's filled with a bunch of drawings of bearded men, shy girls and quotes from The Kinks.

Here's the description of the project from the Running Amok site:

1 x issue
1 x artist
Free Rein
Running Amok is a series of zines produced purely to showcase the work of artists, illustrators and designers who's work excites us. Deliberately lo-fi and inexpensive, each issue is printed in a numbered edition of 100. Issue 20 by Christopher Bettig has just been released.

Pick one up, it's really rad and Analogue Booksare good peeps!