Pete's music-themed Autumn/Winter collection will be available Friday the 30th of September at 10am both online and at the McKee Gallery in Sheffield. The artist has always had a passion for music and has created work around this subject ever since he first started painting.
"Seasons come and go, the weather changes by the hour and unpredictable moments can occur over the course of a year, but one unshakable constant in our lives is our love of music." - Pete McKee
Also available this Friday are three brand-new prints, the McKee charity Christmas cards and a gorgeous limited edition tea set that can be viewed below.
2023 McKee Calendar - £15
Themed around music, all of the images were selected by Pete and are accompanied by a story. The calendar's front cover was initially designed for ska singer and musician, Rhoda Dakar's single cover of 'The Man Who Sold The World'.
Slipmat - £16
Pete's slipmat celebrates the glorious 2TONE era by highlighting some of its superb releases. The image, first created for Rhoda Dakar's single cover of 'The Man Who Sold The World', has been amended to feature records of classic and iconic ska records. The slipmat's 2TONE design was hand screen printed.
Old Skool Rules tote bag - £8
The nostalgic Old Skool Rules design was hand screen printed on a vibrant spearmint green 100% cotton tote, with "Old Skool Rules" written on the reverse. Pete drew this image as he was inspired by the memory of "the glory days of playing music on the move which was tainted by the constant fear that your beloved tape might get eaten alive by your untrustworthy tape machine."
End of a Beautiful Friendship limited edition print - from £95
End of a Beautiful Friendship is hand screen printed and is limited to just 50 copies. Signed and numbered by Pete McKee. "Love is a great mix tape. Sadly not all love affairs are meant to last. But there’s always the chance things can be repaired and a great union can continue forever."
End of a Beautiful Friendship t-shirt - £20
Our End of a Beautiful Friendship t-shirt was hand screen printed and features the same design as our latest limited edition print.
Bowie Badge - £5
Pete has painted Ziggy Stardust repeatedly over the years. Every time he creates a new design he describes it as "my little homage to the greatest icon in popular music history."
Charity Christmas Cards - £4.95
"Nothing says love like a home bake. Mince pies, jam tarts and lemon curd. The holy trinity of bakes made more special by little helping hands."
This year's pack of eight charity Christmas cards have been packaged with a lovely dark green festive ribbon. All the proceeds from each pack sold go to Artfelt, which uses art to provide child-friendly settings at Sheffield Children’s Hospital and help young patients feel more comfortable.
Limited edition tea set - £65
Impress your guests with this stunning tea set, limited to 200 copies, with gold detailing and fabulous new designs by Pete McKee. Each set comes with a signed and numbered card by the artist.
Circling the edge of the cups, saucers and teapot is an intricate teal and gold rose motif based on tattoo designs. Another nod to tattoo art is the "Tea Life" banner on one side of the cups. Both the teapot and cups feature different images related to tea drinking on either side, imbued with the artist's trademark humour and wit.
"I thought it'd be really funny to juxtapose the tradition and elegance of serving tea with these grumpy characters. 'Joy' who is on the cups was inspired by a painting I created back in 2005. I came up with a narrative based on the rare occasions I've found myself in a posh cafe with fancy tea sets and white linen, modelling itself on the Victorian tea rooms of yore.
Sometimes there would be a certain type of staff member, often someone young dressed in the full silver service clobber. They'd always look like they'd prefer to be in the town centre, listening to goth or emo music, than be at their Saturday job. It makes me smile how the rebellion of youth cannot be concealed behind pressed whites, frills and starch. The other character definitely has a few stories to tell. One thing for sure, you'll regret it if she catches you using a sugar spoon to stir your tea..."
Northern Goddess
"I wanted to celebrate the spirit of Northern women, beautiful, hard-working, strong and with hearts even bigger than their smiles."
Practice Swing
"I painted this work when taking inspiration from my new-found love of golf. I recently took it up in an attempt to keep fit as it's a good way of disguising a 5-mile walk with a game. My poor efforts to play are channelled in this work. It's a familiar scenario when I attempt a full-blooded swing, hoping to launch the ball 300 yards down the fairway, only to discover that it's still nestling snuggly on the tee. You sheepishly declare 'that was a practice swing'."
Knebworth 96
This image pays homage to a famous band that played at Knebworth in 1996. The artist has used key colours associated with this group. "If you know, then you know."
