james thomas (j52o.) Statement: James attended Stroud college for 3 years and specialised in Illustration & Graphic design until his final year, 2006. He has since continued creating his artworks for himself at home. ... Method: He works with wooden boards, tin cans, card, pottery, shoes, t-shirts, and often spraypaints his own stencil designs and collages elements he has illustrated. Images that frequently appear are monsters, robots, unique cartoons and text. My philosophy: I am inspired by music, gig posters, art/punk rock imagery, fashion, outsider art, pop art, abstract expressionism, horror vacui art, street art/graffiti stencil making, stickers, print. and sweets. Sometimes inspiration comes from mistakes or happy accidents. The images often make themselves apparent when I start painting as if they'd always meant to be that way. I believe in trying everything as I believe something great is sure to come of it. My work is presented on a material which is already available from the throw-away world we live in. If you like its a poor man's art. Anyone can use cardboard or scrap mdf boards and make their own artistic impression without costing a fortune. Cardboard is versatile in that you can present it on any surface, it is lightweight and when stuck with blue-tack there is no need for nails. As cardboard is a waste material I feel no pressure to what I can create, or how far I can go with it. I feel that I can get the same results from using cardboard as with using a canvas or paper. However, it can always turn out dissapointing but can also turn out better than you hoped for. I've since been creating work of my own at home, i've volunteered with a art charity that has lead me to designing some t-shirts being a featured artist in a annual report and being part of group exhibitions. I've also taken part in assisting with other artists in leading group classes and activities with Art shape. im now mostly working on wooden mdf boards 12x20 inches