The London red Routemaster buses are infamous; the driver sat in the front half-cab totally separated from the passenger cabin and the conductor stood at the rear, open platformed entrance, selling tickets and dinging the bell. As a little kid, I used to go to school on a bus like this; I recall that leap of faith onto the open platform, often after it had left the stop! Modern Routemasters replaced the originals, but I spotted this original on route 15, near Tower Bridge. I also have a family connection to these big red buses; after the war, my grandad used to drive one and my great uncle used to maintain them, saving small and large spare steel ball bearings for us to play marbles with as kids (and also teaching me about atoms and molecules with them too)! If you look closely, you’ll see that this piece is made from old newspapers; I tried doing paper marquetry with newspapers (I’m not in a rush to repeat the experience again; newspaper doesn’t cut cleanly, it’s a nightmare to work with). Each part of the bus is made of pieces of carefully cut (and often re-cut!) painted newspaper, which has been shaped, inlaid and slotted together to fit like a tightly fitting mosaic or tiled floor. The whole bus is inlaid into an acrylic ink diffused background, emulating the greys of the splashed puddles on the city streets of London and skies above.
Red Routemaster Bus Magnet
Product Code: 0846-A7MG
Artify your fridge, metal filing cabinets or magnetic notice boards with this slimline, flexible art magnet, reproduced from a miniaturisation of one of my original recycled and textured inlaid paper marquetry pieces featuring an old red bus on the streets of London. These magnets are super slim and very lightweight so whilst they won’t hold up tatty shopping lists and take away menus, they do make great miniature pieces of artwork for your fridge and, since they have an extremely low profile, they're not easily knocked off if someone brushes past the fridge/filing cabinet.
Ideal for: Anyone who loves British icons, London, buses, UK, travel, collects fridge magnets, art.
Each flexible art magnet is printed in the UK by an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified printing company on board with a rubber-free magnetic MagneCote coating, which is biodegradable. Each magnet is directly digitally printed, thereby avoiding the more traditional use of printing plates or photo chemicals. Flexible magnets ordered on this website will be supplied ‘naked’ without each magnet being enclosed in an individual protective sleeve, but any magnets in an order will be packed in a recyclable (PP5) polypropylene protective outer as a ‘pack’ to avoid them getting marked or wet in transit in the typical British weather that we enjoy or marking any other products in your order. This packaging will be kept to a minimum. Flexible magnets are shipped in a board backed envelope or postal box as appropriate and are not gift packaged.
A7: 74x105mm (approximately 2.91x4.13”) & about 1mm (0.04”) thick
Buy 3 Slimline Art Magnets for £5
For every 3 Slimline Art Magnets you purchase, you receive a £1 discount. You can mix and match as many different magnets and styles as you like. Your discount will be applied on the Checkout page.