Art Appropriation and creative output; start DIY summer! July 4, 2011 We’re in summer and thus some of you might find you have more time on your hands. Best to keep those hands and brains busy! Here’s the first of our warm weather selections for satisfying your creative cravings.

Tomorrow at Bloc Projects in Sheffield, it’s Collage Party! Collage Party is the initiative of artist Elizabeth Rowe. There’ll be paper, print and pictures aplenty to cut-and-stick with, encouraging a making process like her own – reinterpreting visual matter and building up/crossing over meanings. Collage + Music + Conversation + Drinks = a cracking way to spend Tuesday evening. ‘Turn Up, Tune In, Cut Out’. It’s free, you don’t need to take anything, except for a can of pop.

For inspiration, Nottingham has ‘Looking for Trouble’, a pulling together of painted and drawn work by upcoming contemporary illustrators. Now open in the Malt Cross building as part of NotLost festival, a new citywide creative fest which will continue to expand as numerous shows and events launch throughout July. Paired up with Zine Fayre’s, the shows curator Amy Blackwell, who is an illustrator herself, is tipping her hat to the eccentric and loveable work of fellow illustrators in the North. It’s quite difficult to see this kind of work and not feel compelled to dig out your old tin of watercolours – illustrative work is not necessarily about drawing perfectly!

NotLost opened June 30th and the closing events aren’t until July 23rd so there’s plenty of time to catch something. Keep an eye on the Article website for further picks from this summers calendar to keep you busy and happy!

Jane Faram