That’s not a description of what I did last night (I wish) but the title of a new exhibition at our local hostelry ‘Common‘. Every few months or so the good people at the aforementioned boozer invite artists to come in and repaint their walls on a theme of their own choosing. Well this time round its the turn of our very own Paul Hemmingfield, who, being a good Sheffield lad, has decided to graphically illustrate, line by line, that great hometown anthem ‘Common People’ by Pulp.

The launch party for the show is this evening but I popped by yesterday afternoon to see how he was getting on. Looking surprisingly calm, I found Paul huddled in a corner meticulously cutting out stencils of 70s inspired wallpaper designs, and surrounded by numerous multicoloured tins of emulsion paint. Apparently he’s been doing this since 7am every morning for the last week (he’s taken a ‘holiday’ to do this!) and that doesn’t include god knows how many late nights and weekends spent planning and designing the space. The result is typical Paul – hard-edged graphics with a left-field wit, detailed but not self-indulgent.

Sadly I’m on kid duty tonight so can’t make the opening but if you find yourself in Manchester’s Northern Quarter anytime over the next four months pop in to Common and check out Paul’s work.