Yelling at concrete - March 2025

Morning. It is minus seven degrees Celsius and I have just returned from my jaunt in Feb back to the UK. Wasn’t I just there? Well yes I was. I was there to see a wedding in Nov and then I had to go back again for visa renewal to keep me out here!

So lets dive in and discuss the state of the world and the state of concrete in this day and age.

Table of Contents

• Catch up - USA is on fire.

• Podcast

• Creating in public spaces

• Pankcake day

• Anti-health

• Socials and upcoming things.

  • Bluesky

  • Patreon

  • Future work

  • Coke-Oven/NP

Catch up - USA is on fire.

I feel like I should address the elephant in the room with my location. As lets face it 2025 has been a year which makes Brexit looks like a cake walk when you look at it through the lens. In the USA right now the president is systemically dismantling the government which elected him and using non elected officials to circumvent laws and institute a regime which will cause untold damage to the country and it’s people.

So why am I here?

Good question. A question I have asked myself when I was looking out the window in the embassy and there was a protest for GAZA in view calling the United States complicit in Genocide. Even now I know putting out work and standing up for the things I believe in will draw scrutiny to me from the black box watchers online. This Newsletter might even get me a knock on the door and all I do is make things!

But I came to a resolution of realization. The vulnerable in the US need more people who agree with them than don’t. They need some support and if me being here represents a thorn in the boot of unjust and unhinged behavior then maybe i can be of assistance. So for now I’m in my second tour of duty and not abandoning the ship.

Podcast

Which brings us to the first guest of the year! Bruce aka Allonevoice kicked of the year with me. Bruce was recommend by a previous guest and happens to live near so we sat down in person to talk creation and multi discipline activities. It was a really good chat from my point of view not least as being a word wizard which he is Bruce is a great interviewee. I really recommend checking out his work especially his recently released EP and seeing what he’s all about.

Something I don’t do often is pop culture clickbait. But this one I had too. I’d been thinking for a while about media engagement and how is exists within our spaces and the legacy they leave. When a artist dies we often look at their body of work rather than one moment and so I thought i’d take aim at The Simpsons and really dive in on if it can really be considered in such a way?

Creating in public spaces

Recently I’ve been considering my own public presence. And what that means. No doubt something I’ll be discussing in future months on an episode. But what that has manifested in right now is finding spaces to create in public. One such space i have found is via a Drink and Draw group in Jersey City. @drinkanddrawjc It’s a community event where you can go and drink or not but mainly helps you meet folk and discuss ideas. Creating in public isn’t something I do often. (Streams don’t count) I don’t think I do it often as it often invites questions which interrupts what I’m trying to do and I’m aware the work I make might be uncomfortable when taken out of context.

However that said public working is something I’m considering more and more for reasons stated in a different section so potentially watch this space!

Pankcake day

It was Pankcake day this month! Which meant a day of confusing people and getting comments such as “You’re wrong it’s on a Tuesday!” It’s almost like they ask for me to ruin their day at this point? either way I did a new Pankcake illustration and also learned that “pank” is slang for broke till payday in Swedish. Which considering the day is about chilling out and enjoying the simpler things in life that’s a novelty i’m holding onto!

Anti-health

We have begun! If you were a comrade on Patreon you’d already have seen one of these but if not no worries you can see them now! I had the idea for the second illustration a long time ago. However I wanted to do more of a series of illustrations than just a one off.

Essentially I wanted to take aim at the health industries. Now don’t misunderstand. I think people should be healthy and do what they can do look after themselves. For some that takes a lot for others that takes a little being mindful of body health much like mental health looks different for everyone. But with the rise of things like Ozempic and January being a time of body dysmorphic interpretations of what is “healthy” I wanted to express a thought. I disklike exercising. But I do it. I do it as I want to maintain a level of stamina in my self that requires it.

Do i look like I’m dying on a run? Often. Does it eat my time in a way I dislike? Yes. Do gyms and overly aggressive instagrams telling me I’m not going to make gains if I eat cake and enjoy a drink make me want to hurl? Also yes. So why are brands like Lululemon, Adidas, Nike and hundreds others advertising it like you’re discovering the best drug ever. Also why are there designs so chuffing boring!

Suffice to say I have alot to say on the topic so I made some tees.

Socials and upcoming things.

Couple bits of house keeping:

Bluesky

I did join BlueSky. It seems to be a good space. Mostly I'm just reposting what i do on threads/insta but if you’re on there you can follow me there.

Patreon

Also a reminder I’ll be posting behind the scenes things on patreon as always and trying to do a bit more there. it’s Just £1 or $1 a month and my goal is to get to 38 patrons so the podcast is fully audience funded! We got four folk currently so maybe we can increase that. I also just put there a piece of work I might not even release!

Future work

I got that fine art itch recently which there is no cream for so potentially I’ll be digging more back into that tool kit and making something nicely wax and abstract once more. So watch this space as I might even give you a look. Or do as I usually do and just drop it out of no where like a brick from a high tower.

Coke-Oven/NP

If you made it this far thanks for sticking around I just have a couple extra pieces. Coke-Oven. The Zine database i made is currently under maintenance. This is as I’m getting some help to redesign areas of the site and streamline the hell out of it.

Both it and Null Point the community zine will be hopefully making a come back in March as I think having been in the US during this period we’re in ever more need of outlets and I think these provide that little space from within the asylum.

Sorry this was a long one. Thanks for your time! See you next month.