Aube Creative Design Ltd

Welcome back to The Well

Paul — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:56:22 +0000

The Well Live Music Venue opens under New Management in time for Live at Leeds 2012

On 5th May 2012, The Well Live Music Venue in Leeds opened its doors under new management, for the massive live music phenomenon that is Live at Leeds.

Featuring China Rats and Royal Republic (currently supporting Blink 182 and The Subways as part of their international tour) The Well’s opening day proved it was well and truly back in the game as one of Leeds’ best loved live music venues. Although under new management The Colgan Machine will be extending The Well’s music genre offerings to blues, rock, indie, soul, DJ nights, comedy and cabaret, it has confirmed it will also be staying loyal to fans of the venue’s more recent specialism of metal and punk.

About The Colgan Machine

On 16th March 2012, Simon and Sharon Colgan of the Colgan Machine took over management of The Well, formerly Josephs Well, perfectly positioned to restore the much loved venue to its former glory, the Colgan Machine has extensive experience in promoting live music at its two other highly successful pubs The Duck n Drake in Leeds, and Blues Bar in Harrogate.

Simon Colgan explains, “Up until now we have provided free live music in our pubs, so taking on a ticketed venue is a brand new venture for us. We’d been watching The Well for a while and we’d been impressed at the quality of music, the allegiance and camaraderie of the clientele and the general atmosphere of the place. We were astounded when we learned of its closure, and decided it was an ideal opportunity for us to step in and try to make it great again. It plays an important part in Leeds’ musical history and deserves to be back at the hub of the scene.”

The combined force of Simon’s and Sharon’s experience and enthusiasm, and their passion for mixing live music, fun and beer with insightful business acumen is obvious. Sharon is a talented and well-established singer in her own right, so she is well aware of the makings of putting on a good show. Simon has been booking high quality live music for years, is well respected in the industry, and as such, has an eye for a good band and an impressive book of contacts.

“The Well has such a revered history of live music in Leeds. It was one of the first, and one of the best,” says Sharon. “We have invested a lot of effort, time and money in equipment and furnishings since we took it on. It already looks a lot cleaner and more welcoming. Although we have much more work in store, we are confident that the people of Leeds, promoters and performance artists will support us and enjoy building the pub and the music venue back up to where it belongs. Live at Leeds was a fantastic opener and we can’t thank the bands, organisers and customers enough.“

Live at Leeds 2012 : Opening Day

The Well’s hardcore fan base was not denied for the Live at Leeds opening day. China Rats kicked off an impressive line up at 1pm. Unions, Bearfoot Beware, Bears Killing Bears, Wot Gorilla, Post War Glamour Girls, Hawk Eyes, Royal Republic (featured video), Turbowolf and Blacklisters followed with 30 minute sets each, climaxing with a solid performance from hardcore Leeds band Eagulls.

After a comparatively gentle but enthusiastic start, the arrival of Turbowolf hailed the start of the stage diving, crowd surfing and mosh pits for which The Well is famed. The fun and mayhem continued with hearty vigour right up to ‘total carnage’ on the stage at the end of the Blacklisterset, with more than one crowd member being supported in his first ‘surf’.

It was no doubt reassuring to the new managers that by and large, the audience of metal and hardcore punk is often of the most friendly, welcoming, considerate and entertaining around.

Even with cheap drinks on offer throughout the event, and a venue full to capacity, there was not so much as an angry word in earshot. Instead, the gig room was alive with showmanship. And there’s nothing better than a good inclusive show to enhance the feel-good factor.

With high aspirations and a positive attitude, The Colgan Machine is determined to bring The Well back up to its rightful place as one of Leeds’ best-loved music venues. Watch this space everyone. The Well is back.

Whitby Goth Weekend 2012

Paul — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:34:52 +0000

Escaping from (yet another) cold wet April Saturday in Harrogate, we roared up the A1 and veered east, pointing our machine towards the coastal town of Whitby in North Yorkshire, where the glorious sunshine caught us completely by surprise. Many more surprises waited for us within the town.

We expected to find the place over run with spiky haired young people dressed entirely in black listening to Bauhaus, Alien Sex Fiend, Siouxsie and the Sisters of Mercy on their all-black iPods. But that’s not what Whitby Goth Weekend is all about!

What is Whitby Goth Weekend all about?

(from the Whitby Goth Weekend website)

“Founded by Joe Hampshire in 1994, The Whitby Goth Weekend has grown into one of the world’s premier goth events, bringing thousands of people to the town year after year. And not just Goths attend either. Punks, steampunks, Emos, Bikers, Metallers and people from all genres of the alternative lifestyle turn up year on year…”

So who ARE the Goths?

From s Wikipedia article on The Goth Sub Culture

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify.

The goth subculture has associated tastes in music, aesthetics, and fashion. The music of the Goth subculture encompasses a number of different styles including Gothic rock, Deathrock, post-punk, darkwave, Ethereal, and Neoclassical. Styles of dress within the subculture range from deathrock, punk and Victorian style attire, or combinations of the above, most often with dark attire, makeup and hair.

Gothic fashion is stereotyped as a dark, sometimes morbid, eroticized fashion and style of dress. Typical gothic fashion includes dyed black hair, dark eyeliner, black fingernails, black period-styled clothing; goths may or may not have piercings. Styles are often borrowed from the Elizabethan, Victorian or medieval period and often express pagan, occult or other religious imagery such as pentacles or ankhs. Present-day Fashion designers, such as John Paul Gaultier, Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, have also been described as practicing “Haute Goth”.

OK, if that’s what GOTHS are, then who are these guys…

All about Steampunks…

Taken from a Wikipedia article on Steampunks

Steampunk is a genre which came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and speculative fiction. It involves a setting where steam power is widely used—whether in an alternate history such as Victorian era Britain or “Wild West”-era United States, or in a post-apocalyptic time —that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy.

Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. This technology includes such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or the contemporary authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld and China Mieville.

Other examples of steampunk contain alternative history-style presentations of such technology as lighter-than-air airships, analog computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace’s Analytical Engine.

Steampunk also refers to art, fashion, and design that are informed by the aesthetics of Steampunk literature. Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical “steampunk” style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.

The first use of the word in a title was in Paul Di Filippo’s 1995 Steampunk Trilogy, consisting of three short novels: “Victoria,” “Hottentots,” and “Walt and Emily,” which, respectively, imagine the replacement of Queen Victoria by a human/newt clone, an invasion of Massachusetts by Lovecraftian monsters, and a love affair between Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.

Steampunk is most directly influenced by, and often adopts the style of, the 19th century scientific romances of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Mary Shelley.

Several works of art and fiction significant to the development of the genre were produced before the genre had a name. Titus Alone (1959), by Mervyn Peake, anticipated many of the tropes of steampunk. Remedios Varo’s paintings combine elements of Victorian dress, fantasy, and technofantasy imagery. One of the earliest mainstream manifestations of the steampunk ethos was the original CBS television series The Wild Wild West (1965–69), which inspired the film Wild Wild West (1999). The film Brazil (1985) was an important early cinematic influence to the genre.

The photos above are just a handful of snaps taken to give you an idea of what the Whitby Goth Weekend is all about.

If you want more photos taken from this and past events go here >>> WHITBY GOTH WEEKEND

Or better still – go to the next Whitby Goth event at Halloween. See you there?

NEW Web Marketing Kit

Paul — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:54:12 +0000

Could your business use one?

Do you have an old static website you’re not happy with any more? Do you crave a fresh new professional look with more functionality, more social network interaction and a lot more web marketing welly?

Aube Creative Design has a real talent for understanding your business requirements. To whit, we’ve put together this fantastic new package to help your business become more independent, more pro-active, more confident and more successful on the Web.

THE NEW WEB MARKETING KIT

A CUSTOM DESIGNED SEARCH ENGINE FRIENDLY CMS WEBSITE
AN INTEGRATED EMAIL MARKETING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (no more pay per recipient fees)
A MOBILE THEME SWITCHER FOR YOUR MOBILE BROWSERS
EASY TO EDIT ON PAGE SEO CONTROLS
A GOOGLE ANALYTICS ACCOUNT TO TRACK YOUR VISITORS
A BUSINESS BLOG (like this one)
SEAMLESS FACEBOOK / TWITTER / LINKED IN / PINTEREST INTEGRATION
TRAINING IN ALL AREAS + PC/MAC SETUP
ONGOING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
A FREE UK DOMAIN NAME
FREE HOSTING FOR 12 MONTHS

Special introductory offer

For a limited time only prices start at just £1975.00 (excl. VAT)

Want more functionality?

The Web Pro’s Toolbox is modular by nature, meaning that if you want to add more advanced functionality, like e-commerce, or practically anything else you’d like to add later on, you can. And very cost effectively too. We’ve designed it to evolve with the Web.

For more details go straight to THE NEW WEB MARKETING KIT page

Or call Harrogate 01423 864 169 to arrange your FREE CONSULTATION today.

The Civil Wars LIVE in Leeds 18/03/2012

Paul — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:52:12 +0000

New US singer-songwriters THE CIVIL WARS delighted an absolutely jam-packed full house at Leeds University Students Union in West Yorkshire last night.

Tickets for the original Leeds venue (the Wardrobe) sold out as soon as they were released, forcing the duo to secure a much larger venue – which they still managed to fill to capacity last night! Supported by excellent UK guest artists Mathew And The Atlas, this was the Civil Wars’ very first visit to Leeds. We were very proud to be there in the crowd!

The Civil Wars consists of John Paul White, hailing from Florence, AL and Joy Williams, originally from Santa Cruz, CA, but now residing in East Nashville. The duo’s chance meeting fueled an immediate songwriting chemistry and creative synergy. Their second show ever, performed at a sold out Eddie’s Attic, was recorded and released as a free digital album (more about this later)

Barton Hollow, the full-length debut from The Civil Wars, was released February 1, 2011 (Sensibility Music). According to the Barton Hollow Songfacts, it debuted at #1 on iTunes’ album sales chart and at #12 on the Billboard 200. The album came on the heels of a breakout year for the duo, whose remarkably successful free/live album has been downloaded over 100,000 times. Additionally, their 2009 four song EP, Poison & Wine, debuted at #4 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Top Albums chart. The EP’s title track and first single was played in full on “Grey’s Anatomy” (episode 609, “New History”) and its accompanying music video has been viewed over 1,411,229 times on YouTube.

[taken from an interview first published on the SHURE website] …

In some ways, music doesn’t get much more modest or minimalist than it is in the hands of The Civil Wars, a duo comprised of California-to-Nashville transplant Joy Williams and her Alabaman partner, John Paul White.

They travel without a backup band, and on their first full-length album, Barton Hollow, the bare-bones live arrangements that fans hear on the road are fleshed out with just the barest of acoustic accoutrements.

New Neil Simone website launched

Paul — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 07:52:26 +0000

Neil Simone is an artist whose painting has a concept and style as distinctive as it is unique.

He has exhibited both original oil paintings and prints in many leading galleries around the world and recently celebrated 40 years as a professional artist.

With a compelling quality that will keep you looking, Neil’s work fuses fact with visionary fantasy to create a world that is wonderfully ambiguous and always open to interpretation.

Visit neilsimone.com

Neil Simone signed prints

Neil Simone original art

With all new print and original galleries, the stunning, easy to use neilsimone.com now comes with large, high-resolution images, a slide-show and improved online shopping.

The complete range of Signed Limited Edition prints can now be seen and bought alongside new original oil paintings. Admirers of Neil’s work can also preview and buy his book, ‘Memoirs Of An Artist’ – an anthology of his life and career packed full of interesting anecdotes and over 120 colour pictures of his work.

If you visit the website you can also see regular updates of new paintings, exhibition news and information about The Neil Simone Gallery, Whixley – a permanent home exhibition where Neil and his wife Heather showcase their work.

Forthcoming Exhibitions

Heather Simone Originals

Neil Simone website email marketing campaign

Paul — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 07:43:50 +0000

Email marketing campaign created to promote the official launch of Harrogate / Whixley based internationally acclaimed fine artist Neil Simone. Email campaign sent directly from the website’s CMS dashboard to approximately 1000 recipients.

Neil Simone is an artist whose painting has a concept and style as distinctive as it is unique. He has exhibited both original oil paintings and prints in many leading galleries around the world and recently celebrated 40 years as a professional artist. With a compelling quality that will keep you looking, Neil’s work fuses fact with visionary fantasy to create a world that is wonderfully ambiguous and always open to interpretation. With all new print and original galleries, the stunning, easy to use neilsimone.com now comes with large, high-resolution images, a slide-show and improved online shopping. Read more about Neil’s new website on our blog.

Knaresborough chainsaw carvings update

Paul — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:41:26 +0000

Mystery solved!

There’s been quite a lot activity on the Web about this over the last few days. The good news is now we know who the artist is!

See below, posted on THE YORK PRESS website by editor Kate Liprot

THESE impressive tree carvings had people in Knaresborough scratching their heads. Bemused residents have been trying to work out the identity of the elusive artist behind the intricate work. The eye-catching works, which include a kingfisher and a dragon, have been carved into trees in Abbey Road, close to St Robert’s Cave and the Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag. Knaresborough Civic Society revealed the identity of their creator as chainsaw sculptor Tommy Craggs, who is based in the North East.

Althea Farmer, chairman of the society, said: “Lots of people have been asking who the artist was. Everyone has said they are very impressive.” The carvings are believed to have appeared about 2 months ago.

Mr Craggs has written on his website: “I started carving, using my skills with the chainsaw, and my interest in art from my school years. “All my carvings are made from trees which have either fallen naturally or need to be felled for woodland management purposes.”

Sculpture by Chainsaw Artist Tommy Craggs. Photography by Aube Creative Design.

Fantastic! So now we know!

Knaresborough chainsaw art

Paul — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:36:04 +0000

Does anyone know anything about these mysterious carvings?

We spotted these in Knaresborough whilst out walking in the glorious February sunshine this Sunday afternoon. They’re in the woods just off Knaresborough’s Abbey Road (see map below) in North Yorkshire.

3 beautiful examples of chainsaw carving. Real works of art. Only problems is we couldn’t find any info about them anywhere. No plaques no nothing. An hour of post-hike Googling brought no wisdom either – we found a couple of Flickr entries; one obscure mention of chainsaw art in the Harrogate Advertiser circa 2010. And that’s about it.

Where did they come from? Who is this talented chainsaw artist?

Photography by Aube Creative Design

We strongly recommend taking a look at these carvings the next time you’re in Knaresborough.

DIRECTIONS

View Larger Map

Maybe the artist has other work in the Knaresborough / Harrogate area? Any ideas?

Read update >>> MYSTERY SOLVED!

New website for counsellors in Harrogate and Knaresborough

Paul — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:52:13 +0000

A brand new CMS website for experienced counsellors Shirley Allen and Laraine Dawson. Shirley and Laraine are launching a brand new counselling service in Knaresborough and Harrogate. They wanted their new website to reflect their own refreshingly open, welcoming approach to counselling. Most importantly it had to appeal to visitors who might be put off by a website with too many technical bells and whistles.

This website is very easy to navigate through. It features professional portrait photography by SiRAstudio of Harrogate and a striking “Four Seasons” slideshow on the home page.

Other features:

Easy to use admin section
Uplifting company branding
Easy to update news section
Interactive Google map
Search engine friendly with SEO controls on every page
Hosting and technical support provided

Client based in Harrogate and Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.

“We would like to thank Paul Conboy of Aube Creative Design for joining in with our enthusiasm and taking the time to understand the services we are providing. We love our new innovative and modern website. Paul has used his expertise to help convey the information and message we were seeking for our new service.”
Shirley and Laraine from Harrogate Counselling Services.

Visit Harrogate Counselling Services

Client gets £10,000 Twitter boost

Paul — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:51:17 +0000

Great start to 2012 for Harrogate Motorhomes!

From an original article by Julie Hayes, Business Editor of York Press.

A FAST-growing North Yorkshire motorhome company has been given a New Year sales boost by Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis.

Harrogate Motorhomes secured £10,000 of new business after being mentioned on Twitter by Mr Paphitis. Annette reports the mention resulted in Harrogate Motorhomes securing £10,000 worth of business in two days, 200 followers on Twitter within hours, as well as a significant increase in website activity and even a number of business propositions.

“The response was astounding,” said Annette, “I was delighted to have been chosen as just one of six businesses in the UK to get a mention from more than 1,000 who put themselves forward.

I didn’t really expect such an overwhelming response. It’s helped to ensure 2012 is off to a fantastic start and I’m extremely grateful for Theo’s support.”

The motorhome hire business has grown to £50,000 turnover since 2010 and is about to add a sixth motorhome to its fleet. During 2011, it moved into new larger premises at The Grove, Harrogate.

“I’m hoping to create new jobs this year as we’re now able to offer motorhome storage as well. I’m delighted to have enjoyed such a positive start to 2012, but we won’t be resting on any laurels. “I can’t help feeling there’s been an element of ‘zeitgeist’ so far, but you can’t rely on that in business.

Success is normally the result of hard work and I’ll be doing more of that to make sure we keep finding new customers and keeping the ones who have found us already.”

Click HERE to read more on Annette’s blog