Grindstone Art is a one-person design studio in the darkest recesses of Sheffield’s industrial district, amongst factories, workshops & machines. This city is a perfect breeding ground for the alienation, darkness & noise which drive us to scream in the night, the fuel for Metal drips from every leaking pipe & overflowing storm drain. Chain-link, barbed wire & spiked fence fortresses are the whole world in this Metal prison. It is little wonder the mind seeks solace in violent sounds. In this solace, we find Grindstone Art.

About Keira James:

Keira James is an artist, illustrator, designer and craftsperson based in Sheffield, England. She has been into Metal music for half her life, and drawing and painting for all of it. Her darker work is influenced by the Baroque period, and owes a good deal to Francis Bacon, William Blake, Heironymous Bosch and Gustave Doré. She has a keen interest in the history and development of album cover art, with particular favourites such as Michael Whelan’s Sepultura covers and Dan Seagrave’s grandiose landscapes. She loves the macabre and surreal, at home with Hellish landscapes and tormented figures, mutated bodies and corrupted minds.

Keira has a degree in Fine Art & Illustration from the University of Lincoln, and studies extensively in her spare time. She takes a multi-dimensional approach to composition, considering each element in terms of depth and movement, constructing figures with careful attention to how forms change with action and motion.

Her published portfolio consists mainly of album covers for Wakefield Metal band Hamerex, in addition to several poster and flyer designs for local gigs. Having been a band member herself, she uinderstands the importance of professional promotion and publicity material.

Keira constantly seeks to expand her range of media, working with sculpture, collage and unconventional materials, as well as the more usual drawing, painting and digital imaging methods. She sees all aspects of Metal as an art form which should be taken as seriously as any other, recognising the huge range of human emotion, passion and intelligence which goes into creating great Metal music.