inspired by art, driven by passion.
We practice our art, so you can delight in yours.
Original Ink offers you a diverse range of contemporary limited edition prints from our unique and eclectic collection.
All of our artworks are tailor made to the highest standards available using the very best quality materials, techniques and processes.
From pop art, to street, to minimal, to abstract - our unique and offbeat limited edition art prints add an unexpected cool chiqueness or talking point to any contemporary space.
Original Ink is always busy working to improve our fine art collection by constantly creating new and exciting images for art lovers and collectors everywhere. So if you like what you see, check back anytime to see our new editions.
original ink
by Christopher Radcliffe
christopher radcliffe
artist statement
Growing up in the UK during the 70s and 80s was like living in a supermarket filled with pop art, pop music and candy coated atom bombs. Colour TV and pop culture was the perfect way to escape from all the grey politics and post war economics. As children from nuclear families, we needed a fantasy world to distract us from our harsh reality and the creative industry never failed to deliver.
From street fashion to comic books and movies, there was never a dull moment in the UK, as fads came and went like buses, we had a wonderful pop culture that was constantly changing as often as the weather.
In a 10 year period, I went from being a long haired 7 year old in flares to a punk in doctor marten boots, then a rude boy with a skinhead, a mod in a two tone suit and finally a football casual in Fila tops and Lacoste polo shirts.
There was also a competitive frenzy taking place between the various creators of pop reinvention, that fuelled my imagination for many years and still does to some extent. Many artists and pop stars quite literally, changed their identity time and time again, fought for freedom of expression, and brought illumination to the depths of our often murky lives.
This chameleonic approach to creativity was obviously driven by a need to maintain audience attention, keep the record company’s cash flowing and stay ahead of the competition, as it was a case of adapt quickly or die and become a forgotten penniless has-been.
However, as a child with a vivid imagination, the music scene was like a waterfall in a desert. Every new style of music or new fashion craze seemed to take hold of the youth culture and spread like a wild fire. At times, it was as if a social experiment was taking place.
At 16, I left my childhood world of cartoon characters and comic book heroes behind me and set off to find my true calling at art school, and in the process I discovered both a new identity of my own and started out on the path to accomplishing my most important work as a creative and an image maker. While I was at art school, I had explored a wide variety of processes and techniques, as well as developing a body of work with a personal vibe of its own. But, being a street savvy working class kid meant that I had to ignore my tutor’s advice to master a particular style or genre, because I knew that once I walked out the door, I would need to quickly adapt to market trends in order to survive.
Since leaving University in 1989, I’ve spent 3 decades in the creative industry, working in everything from architecture and interior design through to advertising and TV campaigns, and I’ve become an archetypal example of the reinvention mythology, as I’ve had to continuously adapt my style and creative process in order to earn a living and guarantee I can keep doing what I do best.
I am constantly weaving together my accumulated knowledge with creativity, while learning new techniques and balancing continuity with changes in style, as well as crafting new ideas that are almost always deeply rooted in earlier chapters of my life experiences and previous activities in my work. There’s no denying the appeal of reinvention through narratives in my artwork, especially after 35 years of making beautiful images and turning average businessmen into cool people, through slick branding and conceptual advertising.
By confronting uncharted territory in my imagination and the imperative to forge ahead into new chapters or styles of working, I feel I have gained a sense of freedom through the process of doing what I do and I’ve finally reached a point where I can say whatever I need to say in my work and express my messages in whatever style the communication requires.
our journey
Roads are made for journeys, not destinations. We chose the one less travelled and found that we no longer need to sit in traffic.
Husband and wife duo Chris and Terri met in New York in September of 2002. Chris was working as an interior designer and project manager for the owners of an upmarket gentleman’s club in Manhattan and Terri was busy launching a South African jewellery brand for Anglo Gold at New York Fashion Week.
"We were a couple of thirty something designers in New York, who would meet up at the Hudson hotel, just to hang out and have fun. As a result, we ended up smitten not only with each other, but also with each other’s good taste in art, fashion and design"
After a few months of long distance phone calls, the two creatives agreed to quit their jobs and set up a design agency of their own. Chris made the bold move to fly from London to Johannesburg and the following day, Terri handed in her resignation as Design Director of TBWA South Africa.
"You can never have too many dream projects!" says Chris. "But it was nothing more than a nice idea until we both returned home from New York feeling inspired, and Terri said ‘Let’s just do it, together, as a joint venture.’ We had no capital or a business plan, just the passion and drive to make it happen."
Since 2003, Chris and Terri have developed a reputation for doing business globally. Chris is originally a functional sculptor and a conceptual artist, making one off pieces of furniture. When they met, he had been designing wacky interiors for about 10 years. But Terri saw the potential of turning Chris into a brand developer and a creative director.
The first thing the design duo did was find a good intellectual property lawyer. Then they began to craft a series of hybrid style brands of their own that gained them swift recognition, influenced by pop art and the various 90’s graffiti art expressed in Europe and New York. Since then, they have branched out, creating and producing a range of their own brands that they promise to launch in the near future.
"We have worked together for almost two decades on a multitude of commercial projects and self-initiated product lines and are now super happy to bring everything together into one world. Welcome to our universe," explains Terri.
Chris and Terri, aka Brand Republica, have designed everything from an Alessi style corkscrew for Portuguese tourism to an app that helps you find your keys. Now living together in a warehouse/art studio near Lisbon, they told us why Portugal is one of their favourite places in the world.
"We met in New York a year after 9/11. There were policemen running around everywhere and gun shots after dark. Then we lived together in Johannesburg, which made New York look like a kinder garden. Eventually we decided to up sticks and move to Portugal, which is like the complete opposite to anywhere we have ever lived. We can walk our dogs along the beach, go to sleep at night without putting the alarms on… and even help our neighbours rescue the odd goat!" they explain.
Today this husband-and-wife duo work collaboratively to create highly imaginative paintings and drawings for both illustration and the fine art market. They are obsessed with art and making thoughtful images. The fine art thinking feeds into the design process and helps to keep their brand work looking fresh and original. They are always available to chat and currently offer a variety of creative services, including graphic and web design, art direction, creative consultancy, branding, packaging, product development, animation production and illustration.
"Being from England, I love to discuss the weather - but Terri likes to put a happy spin on my dreary British rain clouds and adds the sunshine into our thinking. We are always up for a chat about creative communication, so call us anytime!"
