Notes on a good start (I think) to the studio year:

Having agonised for about six months, I have resigned from the committee of Ryedale ArtWorks.  I have worked voluntarily for RAW since its inception and feel it is time for me to dedicate more time to my own studio work and that it is time for other members of RAW to step up and take some responsibility for their organisation.  I have happily worked alongside other committee members and aritsts to enable RAW to achieve some pretty good things. I've born the brunt of one quite outrageously rude and unwarranted public attack from a member and some pretty constant and thoughtless remarks along the lines of: it's alright for me because I don't have to earn a living from my work, which have made me feel very dejected for much of these six months, so I feel I've done my bit!  I shall continue my membership of course, because I believe in what RAW has achieved and can continue to achieve for all its members.

I made five versions so I could select the best three.

I've been in the studio for two days this week, making my postcards for The International Postcard Show 2015 and formalising my ideas for the ballot box piece.  I have never made it down to Nottingham's Surface Gallery to see the show, but I really like the idea of an international exchange of work, even if they are only postcard sized. Last year I did not exchange my pieces because I liked them too much to give them away.  They did not sell, and I gave one away to a special person and the others went to Clare Smith, who included them in her zine.  More of that later.  

This year's postcards are in colour!  Exclamation mark indeed, because I love black and white, but decided that maybe folks would prefer something more jolly in January.  I continue with my use of tally marks, layering up the paint and used the heart motif, which along with star motifs have featured in my most recent work along with asemic text.  I have called them Song #1, #2 and #3.  They are now in the post and should arrive in time for the Saturday deadline.

From top: Song #1, Song #2, Song #3

My notes about the ballot box piece are on my a-n blog:

https://www.a-n.co.uk/blogs/a-portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-very-late-starter

I have already hit a technical problem, which is how to cut my Chinese paper roll into a 12.5 cm wide strip. To unroll and cut it would prove problematic; I don't want to crease the paper too much by handling it during the cutting process.  I am wondering if a really good guillotine, such as the ones that printing companies use would be able so cut through the entire paper roll so that I end up with  a roll about the right width.  I shall visit a company I know of next week and ask them!

Meanwhile I am gathering some other information in preparation.  Once I have the paper cut and some screens made, (I will order some from Thermofax Screens http://www.thermofaxscreens.co.uk/ ), I shall be able to start and it is quite exciting!  I intend to use a mixture of printmaking techinques as well as drawing.

Back to the zine; 

Just before Christmas I received my copy of a zine that Clare Smith http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/  produced as part of a really interesting project,

Stitched Time.  http://www.studio308ltd.co.uk/projects/stitched-time/

Front cover

Clare conceived, instigated and worked collaboratively with other women for several months on this project last year, despite falling ill and directing the hang for the final show from her hospital bed!   I feel privileged to be a small part of it by contributing to the zine and hope to get down to visit the wonderful space that she has been using in Dover some time.

From the foreword, by Clare Smith

The three pictures above show my contribution

Two pictures above show inside back cover

Back cover

Thank you, Clare Smith for this opportunity and good luck with all your other projects this year.

It is interesting to note that the artists I showed with in Wobudong all contributed, which strengthens my belief that blogging and sharing is worthwhile because it is through my blog on a-n, (see link earlier in this post)  that I became involved in that project and as a consequence, broadened my exhibiting experience and artist contacts. 

Link to Wobudong post:   https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7124941679212812075#editor/target=post;postID=3327270501718329137;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=27;src=postname 

ICAD 14

Just over a couple of weeks ago, I received an email from ICAD, saying that they had seen my work on line, The Departed Series, and inviting me to submit to show in this year's exhibition.  I was incredibly flattered and excited by this, as well as a little apprehensive!

I figured that this is too good an opportunity to pass up so, after receiving helpful answers to some of my questions, I duly submitted and am delighted to say, I have been accepted.  As the above flyer shows, I am exhibiting in Part 2.  Please feel included in the invitation to visit the exhibition and me - it will be great to see you there!

I think it is interesting that they found me via Ryedale Artworks' web site - it shows that it is working for the artists on there and is a further reason for us to improve the site, which is what we aim to work on this year.

I am really looking forward to this show!  

Excited!

RAW at Danby

Members of Ryedale ArtWorks are holding an exhibition of work at the North York Moors National Park visitors centre, Danby.

I've spent a good part of today labelling, stringing and wrapping work to go to Danby.  It has been really hot today, so I was glad of an excuse to be indoors; our house is surprisingly cool, which is great.

My dining room now looks like a gallery store.  Not all the work is mine; there is work belonging to three other artists there too.  They dropped their work off to me as they are unable to deliver for various reasons and I'm happy to help.  Liz Bailey, one of RAW's members has so very kindly offered to pick up my big painting in her van, which is lovely of her and saves me having to hire one.  I'll put the smaller pieces in my car and head off to help with the selection process, once my large painting has been safely strapped into Liz's van.

The exhibition opens on 25th and runs until 17th August and there is a meet the artists on Saturday 26th July from 12 noon until 3 pm.

I'll post some pics of the selection and placing of works when I've taken some, tomorrow.

Ryedale ArtWorks directory launch

Andy Dalton, Vice Chair and Treasurer and me, once again Secretary and Membership officer, posing for a pic with the new directory, that's going to be featured by the local press, I'm told.

Eighteen members turned up for our AGM and launch of the new RAW directory.  It was a good meeting and it was great to see some of our new members there, being made welcome by others.  Lovely to have a catch up with people and hand out the directories at the end too!

Members enjoying a chat after the AGM report had been delivered.

Many thanks to Ryedale Folk Museum for their hospitality.

Ryedale ArtWorks and North Yorkshire Open Studios 14

It's the new directory launch at our AGM this evening, at Ryedale Folk Musuem, 7pm.  I have, along with our Vice Chair Andy Dalton, spent the best part of two days preparing for this.  Last week we were writing the Report to Members and today I have been printing paperwork and generally gathering things together for tonight.

I have always kept copies of old directories and other printed material relating to RAW for our archive and today I gathered some together because it occurred to me that new members would be particularly interested in seeing how we are developing.  I found a plastic box to put them in but I think a properly labelled box file is called for in future.

Four years, four directories!  I think perhaps we should have cake next year. . .

Because we have over 11 boxes of the old directories left from last year; they were not collected for distribution, we made the decision to reduce the numbers available to individual members and have the rest delivered by Northern Print Distribution.  A huge weight off our minds, particularly as we will receive detailed data on uptake.  The use of NPD has been possible because, for the second year running RAW have been successful with our bid to Ryedale District Council's Creative Commissioning Board.  

The Commissioning Board has finished its work at the council and the work and activity is now being managed by the Policy and Resources Committee, chaired by Cllr Mrs Linda Cowling, also leader of the Council.  We are looking forward to hosting a visit by Janet Waggott, Chief Executive of Ryedale District Council at my studio on 28th May.

A visit to my studio on that date is probably a good thing; North Yorkshire Open Studios 14 begins in June. This means I will have to be tidy and ready!  I have sort of been in denial about the whole event up to now; nothing done at all.  I am riding the wave of panic at the moment; family things and needing to be at home for builders and all tasks related has prevented me from getting out to the studio.  I STILL have not made any prints!  But I will. . .   

Fortunately, I do have quite a lot of work that nobody has seen, so I can display that and have some printmaking on the go during the opening times if I don't achieve any new work by then.  It's my first attempt and, given the lack of time I've had to prepare, I am beginning to wonder if I should have left applying until next year but as the old saying goes: "nothing ventured, nothing gained"!  

Here's a map of the area my studio is in; there are lots of artists participating and it really does make for a lovely weekend of visiting:

My studio is just outside the village of Stonegrave, to the left of the map, between Helmsley and Hovingham.  It will be well signposted so you won't miss me!

As I prepare, I will post photos and info for any of you reading this who are interested.

NYOS 14 is part of Yorkshire Festival 2014 and you'll find info and links within their rather lovely brochure too.

Link to my page in NYOS catalogue with info on how to find me :  http://www.nyos.org.uk/Artist.aspx?id=374


NYOS 14 Home Page: http://www.nyos.org.uk/Default.aspx

Brief catch up:

I am very busy as usual but somehow do not seem to be achieving very much of my own work at the moment. However, even when I was at college, I used to have months of inertia where I just seemed to freeze followed by weeks of manic production.  I wish I could keep everything on an even keel, but it just seems to be how I am.

At the end of last month I went down to London and saw the following exhibitions:

• Painting Now, at Tate Britain - http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/painting-now-five-contemporary-artists
• Klee at Tate Modern - http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ey-exhibition-paul-klee-making-visible
• Jameel Prize at Victoria and Albert - http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/exhibition-jameel-prize/jameel-prize-3/
• Hannah Hoch at Whitechapel - http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/hannah-hch

Apart from Painting Now, all these shows were truly excellent.  Klee, with 17 rooms of exhibits, was superb but exhausting.  My usual approach with exhibitions is to go through the whole show and to go back through it once I've reached the end, to revisit particularly interesting works but not for this show!  Use the links to find out more, because, frankly; I am just too lazy to write about these exhibitions.  

I will say though, that I found Painting Now to be one of the most sterile shows on painting I have ever seen.  I have since read most of the very positive reviews and the writers are all either suffering from the Emperor's New Clothes syndrome or I am completely and utterly ignorant about painting and what is going on today, which is entirely possible.  This thought frightens me somewhat and makes me feel VERY inadequate. . .

What, for heaven's sake, is the point in making paintings that aim to deny the many qualities that paint has to offer?  Even the painterly and slightly skewed urban landscapes by Simon Ling just reminded me of Ladybird book illustrations from the 50's and did not seem to be saying anything in particular; all towns and cities have their run down, derelict areas after all. Much is made of the fact that he paints them directly in front of the subject, even if they are finished in the studio, big deal!   My  opinion is that these artists would be better off writing about their subject rather than painting because the paintings did not invite me in to look for longer than a second or two and I actually found the whole experience frustrating.   I want paintings to try and engage with the quality of paint itself and what it can do, to have a bit of gesture, certainly to contain colours; the flat monotone of some of these works and the dirty colour of others, thinly applied with hardly any evidence of the hand of their maker just left me cold.  

This article popped up on my facebook feed while I was writing this blog:

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/arts/visual-arts/tiffany-jenkins-art-education-fails-to-paint-a-pretty-picture-1-3001935

It makes some very pertinent points with which I agree.  If art schools were teaching people the skills they are asking to be taught like painting, the new independent schools that are beginning to spring up such as the one led by Turps Banana Magazine would not be necessary.

Sheila Ceccarelli of Access Art emailed me on 10th February to tell me that she and Paula Briggs had attended a conference at Tate Britain the previous week where they made a presentation about collaboration in the digital age.  As part of this presentation, they used a slide of a piece of my work alongside work made in response to it by teenagers in a workshop. (Workshop not run by me).  

Does this mean I can say I have shown at Tate Britain?  HAH HAH!  

I bought a piece of thin mdf this weekend to use as a printing bed for my wooden mangle.  The mdf needs cutting down to the correct width and then I will be starting work on some prints and artists books very shortly. . .   I seem to have been saying this for a while, sigh.  But I will be doing it soon!

My studio has become slightly congested at the moment because I am storing easels and Directories for Ryedale ArtWorks and other sundry items , alongside some timber I have been saving to use on shelving projects among other things.  This is making the construction of my large stretchers for the two remaining paintings I want to make impossible and so I need to sort out somewhere for all RAW stuff to be stored for the future and quick.

We have started work on the latest Ryedale ArtWorks directory; the usual flurry of admin to keep track of who has applied, paid, reciepts sent etc has ensued.  Andy Dalton and I have managed to produce a passable document for the next Creative Commissioning bid to Ryedale District Council, so now we have our fingers crossed, while we continue delivering the projects funded from the last successful bid.

The transportation of my large painting for w0budong in Manchester on 12th March is now sorted, which is a relief.  I will be taking some trestles a table top and some chairs in the van along with the painting itself.  Oh, and 4 breeze blocks painted white, to put the painting on! I am now pondering how I will be able to anchor them to stop them moving about in the van and damaging the painting.  I might have to put them in the foot well of the passenger seat!

http://w0budong.wordpress.com/

So as you read this, you can see I am busy.  I just need to produce some work now!

January- Sketch 2013 tour and Tillyer at MIMA

I have been so engrossed in RAW business that I have not had much time for other writing, so here is a brief catch up of January activities:

Catherine Hill, Frome

My trip down to Frome for the opening of the first touring venue of Rabley Drawing Centre's exhibition Sketch on 10th January was good.  The show looked great and was really well attended.  I forgot to take my camera, so no pics, which is a shame.  My book was on a lower shelf in this venue and therefor more people were inclined to pick it up and take a look.

I couldn't be bothered to go back the next day to take some photos as there was too much else to see on Catherine Hill which is a steeply cobbled street lined with fab vintage shops and cafes. Happy days!  I bought a rather nice old suitcase to add to my collection of useful storage at home.


I have managed a new entry in my blog on a-n's Artists Talking site:

http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/previewPost/4223795




Other things I've been busy with:

Pete, pondering Skydancer, 2008, acrylic on stainless steel mesh.

The RAW trip to MIMA (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art) on 16th January, where William Tillyer  showed us round his retrospective exhibition, Against Nature was a big success.  There were ten of us on the mini bus and another seven met us in MIMA, having made their own way there.  I actually went back for another, reflective look on the following Sunday.

William very generously walked us round the show, giving us an insight into the development of his practice both in terms of how ideas and motifs have appeared and how the use of materials and supports for the work have been explored.  

I was quite envious of his prolonged stays in Australia and Spain because I often think that in order to be able to make work that has real integrity based on a place then a stay of at least a month is necessary in order to get a real feel and understanding of the place.  And this would only entail gathering information in the form of history/folk law, sketches, colour studies, ephemera and photographs before any major pieces might be made.  (That's true in my case, anyway, although I have managed to make work based on specific places and ideas, from a stay of three weeks!)

This piece, Palmer Triple, (The Tapestry Paintings), 2013 is painted with acrylic on a fabric mesh, from the back, entailing a lot of walking round to the front of the work to assess progress.

William Tillyer is indeed a "quiet man"; he is softly spoken and modest about his work when he talks about it, and yet he is sure of his relationship with his ideas and art works; that came through very clearly.  By that I mean that he is completely absorbed with what he is trying to do; he is of course, aware of what is happening in the art world around him and has been throughout his career, but this has not swayed him from the path he chose.  He explores concepts of landscape; land, sky, clouds, space and, in the instance of the work made in Australia; the colour, shape and patterns of buildings within their surroundings.

I think this is one of the attributes of all the good and great artists - they develop their selected language and ideas across their entire career.  And it is the ideas that lead the work, not the "look" of it;  these artists are open to new approaches, techniques, supports and generally trying stuff out to see if it can help express their ideas, they are good at letting things happen too and they don't care if their work fits with current art world fashion or not.

I was fascinated to see how William continued to use the grid from the very early days right up to the present; how it developed from a painted or printed one to an actual one in terms of the supports he uses such as stainless steel or fabric mesh, both construction materials in their own right now appropriated by him to support /become part of his painting.  Married together with the use of colour and brushwork to express his experience of landscape, the ideas of the natural form and more rigid, man made constructs, it makes for interesting work with sometimes quite interesting divisions and struggles going on within it.  

I loved the humour of an early piece, Twelve Stacked Clouds, 1966; as well as the restrained observation it contains. It is a metal plate rack painted a beautiful shade of sky blue with cardboard cloud shapes  painted white slotted into the spaces where plates would have been placed.  This sense of fun was also evident in the large piece, The Age of Anxiety / Figure in a Landscape, 2002; constructed of birch ply it forms a sort of screen either side of which is a table top protruding from it with a stool that corresponds to the height of each "table".  Each side of the screen is painted with great confident strokes of colour; the usual blues and greens with yellow ochre and indian red, referring to landscape.  Wryly, William spoke of the missing figure while, with the words, "I am the only person allowed to do this", he calmly pulled out one of the stools, sat on it and proceeded to become the "figure in a landscape" of the title.  

As for the water-colours; truly awesome!  It is interesting to me that many of our members seemed to prefer the one that was on the wall outside the upstairs gallery; it depicted stormy light across a landscape but I had winced inwardly at a small tree depicted in a dark hue somewhere in the middle ground.  I didn't think it was necessary to put a tree in there when the use of colour and brushwork spoke of land and trees and sky anyway.  I was quite pleased that William didn't seem to like this work very much either and I suspect for the same reasons as I have just described.  His water-colours are very large and the skill with which he manipulates the paint and colour is quite extraordinary, using huge brushes and sweeps of paint to express that sense of being in the landscape with it all around and the weather touching you.  I admire them very much and am grateful that he is continuing the illustrious line of water-colourists from this country who were also able to manipulate the medium with such skill as well as having a profoundly beautiful eye for colour.  (Turner, Cotman, Palmer and many more)

Despite having spent some time in MIMA already that day, signing catalogues, William very kindly stayed for a few more minutes to sign some for RAW members.  It was a real pleasure to meet him and listen to him talk about his work and I shall remember much of what he spoke about for a long time.

Still Life in the Chinese Room (from the Metal Mesh Works), 1978.  Acrylic on steel mesh, wood and cardboard.  One of two or three pieces I wanted to take home!

This last week of January I have been on a visit to London and overseeing boiler installation work yet again,  plus a visit to my studio for a brief day's work.  More of this in the next post!

Lists for sanity

Happy new year!

Phew!  The last of our beloved family have departed after a wonderful gathering; there were nine of us by new year's eve.






Now it really is time to settle down to work.  To stem the rising panic that always threatens to engulf me when I know there are various deadlines looming that I do not want to miss I make lists.  I call them my "Lists for sanity", because they really do help me to stay calm and keep everything in perspective.

With everything so chaotic just before Christmas due to builders still being on site, I did not have time to do any work and as a consequence, I now have some work to make quite quickly for exhibitions.  So this month's list looks like this:

• PV for first leg of tour, Sketch 13 is this coming Friday in Frome, Somerset.  I have already contacted my sister who lives nearby to arrange a visit.
• International Postcard Show, Surface Gallery, Nottingham.  Deadline for arrival of submissions: 6pm, Friday 10th January 2014.  I have at least started these but there's not much time to finish them!
• Sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project must be in the post by 15th January at the latest to qualify for the tour.  www.sketchbookproject.com   I have not even started this yet, so it's going to be a bit of a challenge to complete in time although I do have ideas that have been swimming around in my head for months.
• Submission to Ferens Open takes place between 13 and 28 January.  I am still considering this, trying to decide what to submit if I decide to enter again this year.
• w0budong: 10th – 16th March 2014 Three Piccadilly Place, Manchester M1.  I need to plan the delivery of my large painting for this exhibition.  http://w0budong.wordpress.com/

All this, in between a visit to Frome on Friday and to London to see the Klee exhibition among others at the end of the month, will keep me pretty well occupied.  I think that making some work quite quickly might be a good experience though; I can tend to take too long on pieces some times and it will be interesting to see how the postcards and the sketchbook work out.  I will post some photos as soon as I have something to show.

You may be interested to know that the w0budung web site (link above), has a discussion page, which I have not contributed to yet but I plan to.  There is also a Pinterest page with relating imagery that we have begun to compile:
http://www.pinterest.com/bodpod43/w0budong-texts-without-meaning/

There is also work to do for Ryedale ArtWorks. . . . .

Happy January, at least we are not snowed in like last year!

Getting my brain back in gear

Groan!  I have a surfeit of food in the house and am planning the new year's eve family gathering.  I am going to have to vastly increase my exercise in the new year to work the over consumption off!  We are all having a very nice family Christmas up here in North Yorkshire; we managed to clean all the builders dust away just in time.  It has been a relaxing gathering, with more family arriving tomorrow and on New Year's eve itself.

I hope that everyone reading this blog of mine is having a very happy Christmas and I wish you all a successful and fulfilling 2014.

I am now beginning to think about  my work again; I already have two deadlines looming for mid January.  One for the Sketchbook Project, www.thesketchbookproject.com , which I have not even begun and needs to be registered and posted by 14th January, and another for the International Postcard show at the Surface Gallery in Nottingham; again, not started yet.  For both though, I have some ideas, so I am looking forward to doing the work.
http://www.surfacegallery.org/

The cheque to North Yorkshire Open Studios must be posted in January, so I must not forget. NYOS also want some photos of me working in my studio; I hate having photos taken of me, I am much better if they are taken with me unaware as I get very self concious.  On January 16th we have our trip to MIMA with Ryedale ArtWorks, where William Tillyer is going to show us round his retrospective exhibition.  http://www.nyos.org.uk/

I need to decide if I will submit to the Ferens Open in Hull as well.

Meanwhile I have to plan how I am going to get my large painting across to Manchester for the W0budong exhbition. http://w0budong.wordpress.com/

I see asemic text everywhere:

The bright white light reflections in this textured glass really look like magical text that somehow expresses something that is intangible.

I am determined to be in the studio as much as possible next year in order to make lots of new works, both large and small as well as some research into suitable galleries for my work.  There is a huge amount of work to be done alongside my responsibilities as Chair of Ryedale ArtWorks.  

Oh, and I don't think I have mentioned this before because my daughter-in-law has been understandably cautious:  I am going to be a grandmother in the summer!  (Fortunately due after the NYOS in June!)

North Yorkshire Open Studios 2014

After a particularly awful day as far as our refurbishment project at home is concerned, I was feeling very low this evening.

When I finally opened my emails I was delighted to read that my first ever application to participate in NYOS 14 in June next year has been successful.

HUZZAH!

The selectors were:

Gary Power, Head of MA Fine Art: University of Sunderland

Denise Fahmy, Visual Arts Relationship Manager, Arts Council England

Yvonne Hardman, Gallery Officer, Touchstones Rochdalehttp://www.nyos.org.uk/

http://www.nyos.org.uk/

This is just the incentive I need to get back in the studio after Christmas and concentrate on my work.  I will finally get those prints and artists books made.  I want to complete the quartet of large paintings begun last year too, so that will be two more big canvases to paint.  Oh, and I have some small boards that I scavenged from the left over timber that I will make small paintings on too.

 I am really looking forward to getting back to work after having such a long absence because of all the building work going on at our house.  

I know that there are quite a few artists from Ryedale ArtWorks who regularly participate in NYOS and that I will be able to rely on their extensive experience for some good advice and tips on how to make this first time as good as I can.

                                                               

Opening of RAW's first exhibition in York

Our first exhibition beyond Ryedale's boundary opened last night.  Sue Slack and David Stephenson were selected from the Ryedale ArtWorks Directory by the gallery owner Issy and her colleagues.  It is interesting that they selected Sue and David, not knowing they are partners!  Their art really does work well together.

Congratulations to Sue and David for pulling all the work together at what was really short notice, two weeks, if my memory serves me correctly.  It all looks good in what is a small and perfectly formed space. The hanging system is simple and effective and the lighting is excellent; not something you can say about many venues.

Priestleys really understand the importance of presentation too; the banners designed in collaboration between Rob Oldfield for Priestleys and Andy Dalton for RAW, work very well, signposting visitors from the outside of the shop right through to the downstairs space.  They look very good:

I think that this collaboration between RAW and The White Gallery @ Priestleys No. 36 is going to be a happy one.  And I bought the mirror; I know Pete will love its Art Nouveau influenced styling.

Sue and David finishing off the labelling, the mirror 's Art Nouveau styling (left) is enhanced by copper rivets, which I think really enhances the piece.

www.ryedaleartworks.com

https://www.facebook.com/thewhiteroom36

http://www.priestleys-york.co.uk/

Ryedale ArtWorks goes beyond the Ryedale boundary

I am excited to be able to announce that Ryedale ArtWorks, in collaboration with The White Room Gallery,@ Priestleys No. 36, in York, is going to stage a series of exhibitions starting this week for the Christmas period and bi monthly during 2014.

I happened to hand one of our Directories to Rob Oldfield, who is associated with Priestleys and with whom I worked alongside Andrew Dalton,  supporting a re-hang of paintings in The Green Howards Museum's temporary space in Richmond.  It turned out that Priestleys were looking for artists suitable for their tiny but perfectly formed space.  The Directory is a powerful marketing tool for Ryedale ArtWorks artists.

Thanks to the dedication of Andrew Dalton, who has been working on the funded exhibitions project, Priestleys have selected artists Sue Slack and David Stephenson for the inauguration of our collaborative relationship and I am sure it will be the beginning of exciting things.  We are really looking forward to working with Priestleys and hope that this will lead to other events for Ryedale ArtWorks artists and makers beyond the Ryedale boundary.





Meanwhile, leading on from the training day led by Anamaria Wills of Cidaco a few weeks ago, during which Ryedale Artworks members had training on the subject of mentoring, I am busily devising training workshops and sessions for our members.  This is another strand of the work we are doing that is funded through Ryedale District Council's Creative Commissioning process.

The third strand of our funded provision is improved professional development meetings for members and I am now also working on recruiting speakers for future meetings.

It is a very busy time; the quality of what RAW is able to deliver to members is improving all the time through this work. 

Art Connections web site, an old pine cupboard and a new opportunity

My page on the Art Connections web site has finally gone live.

http://www.art-connections.org.uk/sue-gough/ 

I think they are still working on the site though as Andy Black's work is being used as the thumbnails for the drawing and illustration categories, but his page is not there.   It is beginning to look very good though and I am pleased to have been accepted and placed amongst the other artists represented there.

Art Connections is part of Chrysalis Arts, an organisation that supports artists in Yorkshire, although they rarely seem to reach to the Eastern region of Yorkshire, which is something I think they are working on at the moment.  Their work at the moment seems mainly focused on the western areas of the county.   http://www.chrysalisarts.org.uk/

At the last meeting of Ryedale ArtWorks, a member asked me what I was working on at the moment.  I said "a cupboard", which startled them, to say the least and made us both giggle.  While all the building work is going on at home, it is proving extremely difficult to make work, so at least I am making good use of my time.  I am indeed working on a huge old pine cupboard, which I bought earlier in the year.  It is heavily and badly shellacked, and I had been dreading painting it until I discovered chalk paint by Annie Sloan.  I know, I am sounding like one of those crafting moms on YouTube now!  This paint is making the transformation of my cupboard so easy that I cannot begin to tell anyone who reads this how thoroughly excited and absorbed I am.  I am painting it with two colours, which then have to be sealed with clear wax to protect and seal the paint over which I am altering the colour with dark wax.  I am a painter, so the blending of colours has come quite naturally to me and I am really enjoying the process of bringing the cupboard back to life.  And, if I decide I am not happy with the colours after all, I can just repaint it!  Here are a couple of photos showing the stages of painting and waxing I am undertaking:

This is what the whole of the cupboard is like, with its heavy dark brown varnish.  I removed the knobs on 2 sets of drawers as they were ugly, mismatched ones.  I need to source some replacements now.

Showing the three stages of paint and wax application.  The inside of the cupboard and drawers in Scandinavian Pink, I mixed Old White and Duck Egg Blue to make a blue grey which goes over the pink and when the surface is distressed a little, the pink shows through, and yes, I did also paint the drawer sides on the outside!  The drawer on the top shows how the colour is altered with the dark wax.

The reason I have digressed with this happy tale is because I am trying to set the scene of me, working away on the cupboard in my kitchen singing along to Minster radio with the builders, who are just through the new opening, working away, or upstairs sorting out plumbing, with brief stops for tea and lunch.  After a long day of painting and waxing, (the waxing part is really hard work, but it has kept me warm), I sat down on Tuesday evening to check my emails.  One, from Jayne Lloyd caught my eye as it had "exhibition" and "participate" in the title, although I could not at that moment place Jayne.

Imagine my delight when, on reading it, I realised it was the Jayne Lloyd with whom I had conversed via our a-n Artists Talking web site, and she was offering me the opportunity to participate in an exhibition that she is curating as part of her Chinese project, to be held in Manchester!  I felt a bit sick, but in a good way!  The exhibition is taking place in an emtpy office building, close to the railway station and is in effect, a "pop up".  I am looking forward to meeting the other artists involved.  Jane has requested one of my large paintings, so I shall have to make sure I sort out the transport.  The exhibition takes place in Feb/March.  It is such a good feeling to have another show on the way.  We have been discussing how we can present the work because we are not allowed to drill holes in the walls.  At the moment, the plan is to paint breeze blocks white and rest the painting on those, leaning it against the wall, which will look fine and I happen to have a supply of said blocks in my garden at the moment.

The theme of the exhibition is artists who have visited and or been influenced by Chinese script.  I cannot wait!  It proves that social networking is a valuable tool in the development of an artists' career; if I had not started my a-n blog, read Jayne's own blog and contacted her, which led to her looking at my paintings on my facebook page, this opportunity would never have arisen.  I like the Artists Talking site; it is a fantastic community to belong to, with access to the insights of hundreds of artists.  http://www.a-n.co.uk/artists_talking/projects/myProjects

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