Many Hands Artist Stone & Spear will be a part of ‘Pain at the Dentist’, an upcoming exhibition taking place in a disused Hackney dental surgery. The group show will explore our relationship with pain and what can be gained from endurance. 

Organised by the Alvarado Gallery, Stone & Spear will be exhibiting alongside other exciting illustration talents such Rob Ryan, Le Gun’s Steph von Reiswitz and Neal Fox, Many Hands’ friend Jamie Brown and many more.

The private view takes place Thursday 19 April, with the exhibition opening to the public from 20 April - 2 May. 

Never has a visit to the dentist been so fun!

Last but not least is Stone & Spear on how a childhood collision with a grandfather clock has influenced his favourite print… 

‘Tee Hee’ - Stone & Spear / Giclee Print

Tee Hee print. This print makes me laugh because it’s just a bit ridiculous. It has a mythical aspect, and also feels like it’s moving because of the cogs. It’s loosely based on the face of a grandfather clock. When I was small I jumped out of my pram in a shop and smashed my head on a grandfather clock. It cracked my head open and I’ve got a massive scar now, so it was pretty bad!

‘Amazing Friend’ - Lizzy Stewart / Litho Print 

Lizzy Stewart’s Amazing Friend card (Currently Avaliable at Red Cap Cards) . It’s really cute and original – most cards just say Happy Birthday or something, no other card says that. I also really like her style, especially on the Greek Pot print as well. 

‘Suram Fortress’ - Esther Williams / Screen Print

Esther Williams (part of Print Club). I hadn’t seen Esther’s work before but I really like it, all the little elements to it and how it is built up. The characters are good, and you get the notion, like with my work, of a scene or a story being told. I like how the guards are protecting the pomegranate, and the other guy is worshipping it. I also really like pomegranates…

Next up is Many Hands co-founder Ciara Phelan on revisiting her sewing heritage, and her appreciation for all things collage…

Preserve the Trees’ - Ciara Phelan / Digital Print on Fabric, Hand Sewn

Preserve the Trees cushion. This is my first experience in textiles, designing my own surface patterns and sewing, so it combines lots things I like to do. It’s exciting and new. My mum did textile design and my nan is a seamstress, and she taught me to sew when I was five. I used to draw my own patterns and make t-shirts for my dolls! So it’s nice to be doing it again.

‘Blazin” - Stone & Spear / Silk Crepe De Chine

I really like Stone & Spear’s handkerchiefs. They’re bold and interesting, which is exactly what his work is about. It’s a statement piece, which is exciting to see.

‘Hjartar Tree’ - Kristjana S Williams / Digital Print

Hjartar Tree by Kristjana S Williams (part of Pick Me Up Selects). This piece is really beautiful. I like the way her collage takes an old process but uses a new and fresh approach and uses a vibrant colour palette. It’s also not just a collage, it creates a scene and a message as a whole, which is hard to do. Well done to her!

Next up is Many Hands co-founder Adam Ellison on such spherical subjects as space and snake eyes…

‘Snake Eye’ - Adam Ellison / Screen Print

Snake Eye. I enjoy it when I come up with an idea that I feel works instantly as an image and has an element of wit about it. I also really like drawing snakes, the fluid shapes and the way the pattern plays with the image of the eye. When I was creating the Seeing Things series I was trying to think of ways to play with the symbol of the eye, and I think this piece is the cleverest way I’ve achieved that.

‘Stargazing’ - Owen Gildersleeve / Giclee Print

Stargazing by Owen Gildersleeve. I am a big fan of space imagery, and I like how Owen has used depth and graded shadow to create an optical illusion. It could be a sphere coming out of the page, or it could be looking into a pocket of space, like a Petri dish of space, space specimens.

‘Flagstones’ - Jon McNaught / Lithographic Print

My favourite piece here is Flagstones by Jon McNaught (part of Pick Me Up Selects). It’s all segmented and it’s a really close crop, but you can still believe and understand it as a real space. That’s really difficult to do, everything has to be executed perfectly otherwise the image might fall apart, confusing people, so he’s done a great job.

Next up is Ryan Todd on his love of Matisse, primary colours and a fresh new challenge… 

‘The Room’ - Ryan Todd / Silk Screen Print

The Room. For me it was a really different way of working. I like doing projects that push me to work in new ways and different materials and processes. It pushed me out of my comfort zone. I like the piece more because I remember the process I went through to produce it, whereas if I were to choose something purely on visuals I might choose something else!

‘Fat Quarters’ - Sister Arrow / Digital Print onto Fabric

Fat Quarters by Sister Arrow. I’ve always loved the Sumo Babies, so it’s exciting to see them as fabrics. I think they lend themselves well to this medium, I can imagine them wrapping around things nicely. They feel more animated. Plus the colours are super cool.

‘Bear’ - Jordy Van Den Nieuwendijk / Riso Print

I’ve just met Jordy Van Den Nieuwendijk today and I really like his use of primary colours. I always seem to gravitate to them in my work so I’m drawn to it in other people’s as well. I love this print just because you don’t quite know what it is, with the weird flowers and the tiger mug, it’s great. It also reminds me of Matisse, who I’m an uber big fan of. 

Next up is Lizzy Stewart on her latest book and the unusual colour palette of Michael Kirkham…

‘Cardigan Heart’ - Lizzy Stewart / Litho Printed Zine 

My favourite piece of my own work is my Cardigan Heart book. It’s my most recent, but it’s also a bit of an experiment in telling stories with pictures. It’s narrative driven rather than single page images, which I normally do, so that’s been fun.

‘Around The Houses’ - Ryan Todd / Silk Screen Print

Ryan Todd’s Around the Houses is my favourite in the Many Hands space, because I’m naturally drawn to clusters of buildings. It’s bold but really simple and very witty. Ryan’s just a bit clever.

‘Terrarium’ (2012) - Michael Kirkham / Screenprint

Terrarium by Michael Kirkham (part of Pick Me Up Selects). I know Michael and it’s really him, because it’s unassuming and deceptively complicated. I just love the details, like the pencil, and the strange choice of colours. They’re quite horrible, but also quite nice.

Next up is Owen Gildersleeve on the joys of creative freedom and Chrissy Macdonald’s latest 3D ventures…

‘Let’s Do Brunch’ - Owen Gildersleeve / Giclee Print

Let’s Do Brunch is the first chance I’ve had to do personal work for ages, so it was nice being able to do something for myself rather than a client for a change. I also had fun exploring all the types of type!

‘Zoo Flask’ - Sister Arrow / Riso Print

I really like Sister Arrow’s Zoo Flask. Her colour palette is really nice and exciting, and I really like her line work and her print work in general. It’s really playful, with a nice overlay of colours and good compositions.

‘Collage Costume Studies’  - Chrissie Macdonald / Wood, Paper, Acrylic, Copper

Chrissie Macdonald’s wooden collage series (part of Peepshow collective). I’ve always been a big fan of Chrissie’s work, and I like how it’s moving in a new direction. Her earlier work was more paper cut, and now she’s using different materials and more abstract imagery. It’s more playful and experimental, with an interesting exploration of characters.