Hi! My name is Dan Bottomley, and since last year have been making under the name Dan B Art! I’m an actor, voiceover artist, writer, composer and offie award nominated sound designer. As of March last year I was performing in a dream role as Billy in the first UK tour of Once The Musical and living in London and then...everything went sideways. Having escaped the capital back to the north, I picked the paints and ink up in June. My first idea was the ‘Theatre Is Dead’ project, inspired by the sheer number of folk in the industry struggling in various ways, and the lack of support being offered to so many by the government. I started with a series of 3 images, inspired by major musicals with profits going to Acting For Others. Off the back of that I started making nerdy greetings cards, launched an Etsy store and more recently badges! Taking art back up in lockdown gave me a real sense of purpose and did wonders for my mental health after the rug was pulled out from under the industry. Along with my partner and two cats, I have moved to the north indefinitely, and this month started selling out of a real live shop in Halifax’s historic Piece Hall!
facebook.com/danbart-105821627859387/ or just search dan.b.art
The Handmade Gift Shop - thepiecehall.co.uk/shop/company/the-handmade-gift-shop
Image Descriptions:
Left: In front of a box full of vinyl record sleeves, a white-card birthday card balances. On the front is a character inspired by ‘Baby yoda’ from The Mandalorian series, eyes closed and concentrating, levitating a super-strat style white electric guitar. The greeting ‘Happy Birthday’ is written above and below the figure in a bold yellow font, inspired by the famous Star Wars scrolling opening titles.
Middle: The image depicts a mottled black bowl full of 2.5 cm badges, some bear the head of Freddie Mercury on a Pride flag backdrop, some feature a pair of legs doing the ‘death drop’ made famous on Ru Pauls Drag Race with ‘DEATH DROP’ written in large type behind on a white background, some bear the type ‘I’m Dill Danding’ from the viral Elton John live video from 2020 and a representation of a pair of sunglasses Elton John might have worn; one on a purple backdrop with yellow sunglasses, one on yellow background with white sunglasses. My pet burmese cat looks on, cheekily.
Right: This is a mid-close slightly off-kilter photograph of an A4 print, taken from the original gouache painting. The painting presented is inspired by the character of Enjolras from Les Miserables. The background is a moody, textured blue. He stands in front of a blood red flag, frayed and blowing in the wind. He stands proudly with his right arm raised holding an old fashioned gun. The figure is not that of a man though, but of a skeleton. They wear a red and gold waistcoat.
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