Tag: Art

Good friend

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I’m here at the Open studios and I keep getting tongue tied. I need to explain about my art, but for some reason I become shy, it’s like trying to display my mind to the world. Cut off the top of my head and scoop out all the swirling thoughts time…. But… My good friend came along today, she greeted people cheerfully, asked them into my studio, said how I was a good artist, (by this time my head was in my hands with embarrassment) and encouraged them to think about commissioning me to do some art for them.

I was really pleased and mortified at the same time. I think it’s that British thing if too much modesty. It’s a learned habit that makes you feel like the “I’m not worthy” characters you see on TV or in books. Do you know what I mean? I felt it was far easier to just say “hi” as people walked past.

Thank you my good friend!

Artists statement

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Usually I don’t include artists statements because I think my art should be self explanatory. However as I was exhibiting a painting about what Spode means to me, I said that it was about how Spode is now, that I have only been there for a few years. I also said that I wanted to include  the history of the buildings and what was going on outside the building and how exciting I had found the experience of painting it.

I think it made sense, it’s difficult to know how long to make it and how much information it required.

What Spode means to you?

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One of the things we did at the Spode open days was encourage people to get involved and either draw pictures of spode, draw a design, or write what Spode meant to them on a card. We got a few responses. I think now they are there they may be more on Sunday. The idea was that people could respond to the art exhibition we are holding in the foyer from artists who either work in the building or who have been involved in other projects there or who previously worked in the factory.

Extra work….

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Sometimes a painting can need work. After a couple of months, and after already exhibiting “my green man” I decided to do more work on it. The canvas was a bit rough, so when you put paint on it, it didn’t spread evenly and it caught on the surface, leaving tiny little dots where the paint hadn’t stuck. That meant that it looked thin in places and the colour wasn’t strong enough so I have tried to improve the pattern of the leaves and the shading on the face. I’ve used some iridescent turquoise to give it the gleam of dampness. If I do another one I might try and paint frost and ice on it.

 

Youdraw

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Memories of Youdraw, a website I drew at years ago. Each block was tiny and you only had two black pens and two erasers. Together you could use them to draw black and white pictures. The intention was to collect 500,000 drawings. But they had to be acceptable. Sometimes there were rude pictures, scribbles and racist remarks. I was asked to volunteer as a moderator and used to spend hours deleting the bad stuff. It’s an interesting thought to remember all the work I put into it.

These pictures are some of my drawings that I copied from the site then coloured in photoshop. I have others and still own posters that I was sent by Youdraw.com with hundreds of images. They were going to publish a book but I haven’t heard if that will actually happen.

Good memories. X

Solo exhibition

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My latest exhibition is coming up next week. The opening is on 13.9.19 at 6.30pm. There will be wine and snacks (thats what you do at openings).

The Waiting room gallery is at Longport in Stoke-on-Trent. It’s a new gallery and art centre who are also working on Longport railway station and who are trying to restore the historic buildings there. You couldn’t meet a nicer group of people.

I’m very pleased to invite anyone who can come along to see the exhibition.

If you can’t make it I’ve also got paintings exhibited at the Brampton museum in Newcastle-under-Lyme from this weekend to the 10th of November and a painting at Acava Open Studios at Spode Site this weekend. The opening of the Spode show is on Saturday evening. So it’s busy busy busy!

X

Almost a Sacred Duty.

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We went to see a production of Almost a Sacred Duty tonight. A play and presentation at the New Vic theatre. The start was a brief history of what had happened in 1918 by a local historian. This was followed by a play with people from the present and three characters from one hundred years ago. It was about the Minnie pit disaster in 1918, the 18 months it took to find the 156 bodies of men and boys working in the mine who died in the disaster and about 80 miners who survived.

The inquest was held in 1919 after the last body was found. After the hearing, which took weeks, the conclusion was that dust in the mine had contributed to the explosion although nobody was found accountable.

The people acting were playing present day residents who were commemorating the disaster and also played people from 1919 who were at the inquest. The whole thing was only about 45 minutes long but it was really good.

Jim Worgan is a mining historian who gave a short presentation.

Sue Moffat wrote the play and it was directed by Anna Poole. There were three professional actors plus a community cast and the play was supported by the Minnie pit centenary commemoration group, the heritage fund, and New Vic borderlines.

The play used information from William Cooke, a local historian and writer who had given permission to use his book ‘The Minnie pit : Disaster and Controversy”.

Rocks and sand

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This is a painting on my sisters wall which I did a few years ago. I’ve put it up because I want to go back. But I don’t think I will this year as the summer is rapidly running out. Maybe I can sneak off for a few days but I’ve got lots of things coming up. Is October too late for a summer holiday? We will have to wait and see what the weather is like. I don’t want to be freezing in a caravan in a storm!

The place? Bovisand Bay, in Devon. Acrylic on canvas.

Ivans talk about Iceland

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We just went to a talk about Iceland by our friend Ivan. He had spent several days on the Island following trails around an area about the size of North Wales and near the capital Reykjavik. I’m sorry but I didn’t take the names of the places he visited but it was bleak and beautiful. Ice was melting in the summer sun and there were several places which were called snow bridges which would collapse under a person’s weight. These were over deep holes and hollows where the packed snow had melted underneath.

Ivan also played video of the landscape including geysers where boiling water was thrown up fifty feet into the air. Steam rose from fumerols and there were plants where power was generated from geothermal energy. Throughout his trip he made friends, camped out, and took beautiful photos. We were lucky to win one of them in a raffle he held. The Penkhull Mystery plays are to be the recipient of any money he collected. A great evening out.