afternoon gossip

A painting I finished yesterday heading over to Serena Hall gallery on Monday with a whole load more. It's called 'afternoon gossip' as the seagulls look like they are having a right old chin wag!

I am really happy with this one, or as happy as I can be, but I think I prefer the close ups to the whole painting. I think because of this I might work on some really small ones tomorrow. Thinking about this the bottom picture is actually pretty big so proportionally it does work just not so well on here.

My sentence structure is pretty bad! Writing this blog is the first real writing I have really had to do since school which is about 14 years ago. So please excuse my bad use of grammar and punctuation. I am hoping to get better at this through having to relearn how to express myself through a new medium. I like to think that my paintings express some of what I am, simple, happy, fun, colourful perhaps.

Hmmmm?!? I am off now to spend the evening thinking about what mine and other peoples art might say about them. Would anyone like to share? x

Favourite number one

This was linked by Camilla whilst talking about kayaking tonight. It prompted me to show you the work of my very favourite artist, Charlotte Evans. I realise that I say that about a lot of people but in terms of landscape painters she really is my favourite. I exhibited with Charlotte earlier on in the year at the Affordable Art fair where we were both represented by Wills Art warehouse. She is a young painter just 3 years out of Art school but has the most incredible sense of colour I think I have ever seen. A true gift. It was so hard to choose but here are some of my favourites.

This is what she says, wonderful! "How can a painter not be fascinated by colour, it is the stuff of sight.Painting is not a means to produce an image, but a process that should enrich the painter as much as it should an audience.I have little desire to produce a picture of a place but rather to make a place in the picture. To take people somewhere they have never been before, but which strikes up desires and recollections of their own."

......and before I go I have been fascinated by Shari's interviews over at The glass doorknob. A fabulous insight into other artists and craftmakers daily lives. Go read and be inspired!!!

Tomorrow I shall show you a few new pieces I am working on for a gallery in Cornwall, if the light is good that is. I am having the same problems with lighting as Abigail.

Just perfect!

Well it was a lovely weekend, good trip, good food , good wine, good company but unfortunately not good weather. It rained from the moment we left the house. Five hours later we arrived in Dartmouth, Devon. The first contact we had was with the ferry. Excuse my innocence but I got so excited when I realised we had to get a ferry over the water to Dartmouth. In my sight was a wonderful row of colourful houses. Perfect! The hotel was warm and welcoming. Oak beams, uneven floors, comfy beds, white linen and a Continental breakfast of cereal, freshly baked breads, and warm Danish pastries mmmmmmmmmm, perfect!

So, in the rain we headed to the gallery. Sarah, the owner was over the moon with the paintings, prints and cards I had done for her. She even managed to get two of them in the window before closing. Perfect!

So in the rain, we wandered around Dartmouth, there are some great little independant shops, galleries and restaurants. We decided to really push the boat out for dinner and went to the Michelin starred Restaurant of the year 2005/2006 The New Angel. It is owned by celebrity chef John Burton Race and guess what? he was actually in the kitchen serving up my dinner. It was an open kitchen so I spent a lot of the time watching him. I must admit the dishes he was serving up really were art on a plate. The food was delicious. The best course by far was dessert! I opted for the 'Chocolate plate' I only wish I had brought my camera because I thought I had died and gone to heaven. There were 5, yes 5 I tell you mini chocolate desserts. This was the perfect dessert for me as I am a "can I try a bit of yours" kind of girl, and only decide on what I am eating when I have found out what everyone else I am dining with is ordering. I find it scandalous for two people to order the same thing. Why is that I wonder??? SO with a very full belly and lovely fuzzy head from the wonderful bottle of red we wandered back to the hotel.

Saturday rained again and after doing some quick sketching (in the rain) and taking photos we set off for home. I came home to a whole host of goodies. Something from Camilla and a parcel from Karin. Unfortunately I cannot share the contents with you as they are Christmas gifts for two people who I know read my blog. But believe me I am reluctant to let them go as they make me very happy indeedy!

I also came home to really good news. I donated a piece of Artwork recently for the Art and Soul Contemporary Art auction at Bonhams. The proceeds from the auction went to the Demelza Hospice Care for Children. My work was being auctioned alongside some very famous artists including Antony Gormley and Mary Fedden so I felt very honoured.

I am really pleased to tell you that I donated £330 towards the overall total of £24,000 that was raised on the night. I feel very proud.

Perfect little weekend really.

So with a smile on my face I will say goodnight. :)

p.s Sorry about the words to pictures ratio today, it's just not good enough is it :) xox

just a quickie!

Five artists I love.... All their work can be found on the Velocity website. Velocity is an Art and design store in Seattle, US. However for all of us on this side of the pond as far as I can see Shipping is free with orders over $100. Go see wonderful affordable art!

Matte Stephens thrilled to see this talented guy has a blog. Added to my favourites immediately.

Fumi Watanabe wonderful website!








Lorena Siminovich I love her collages soooo much!

Amy Ruppel need I say more? I love Amy's work.









The kooky work of Ashley Goldberg. Hers is a blog I read daily. I love her attitude and of course her work too! In fact I already own two of her pieces.





I shall be back tomorrow with some photos from my weekend and some news I am soooooo proud of! x

beside the sea

Well tomorrow I am off on my jollies again, this time to Devon. I have a collection of paintings for Baxters gallery in Dartmouth. I have never been to Dartmouth before and only have fuzzy memories of Devon from my childhood so I am really looking forward to the trip. This is one of my paintings coming with me.

Baxters is the new name for Hartworks, the gallery originally set up by Simon and Theresa Hart. It has a very coastal theme.
The new owner Sarah Duggan took over in July 2006 after a career in retail and running a design-led gift business. After too many years of saying “one day, I’ll own a gallery”, Sarah decided that Dartmouth and Baxters would be where she would enjoy life and her passion for the arts.

I thought as I seem to be having a gallery showcasing theme going on this week I would do the same today.

Here are some lovely artists who currently exhibit there.

Annie Rouse

Emma Dunbar

Carole Green

I will be back on Monday with tales of sea and sand but for now Happy happy Thanksgiving to you all. xxx

Deck the walls

The other show I delivered eight paintings for last week was Deck the Walls at Will's art warehouse. Deck the walls is their Christmas exhibition featuring nine painters and printmakers. The work is full of enchantment, charm and style. Everything in the show is under £500 so is a good opportunity to find something original from this eclectic collection.

Again here is some work by some of the other artists I am exhibiting with. These pieces aren't all in the show, some are but they are my favourites by them.

First up is Anna Hymas

Anna often paints one painting on top of another. What comes out in the end is a product of what was discarded before. The remains of the discarded painting give an extra dimension to her work, which is at the same time abstract and figurative.

Next, I like the quirkiness of Jennifer Taylors work.

“I am particularly interested in the texture and surface properties of fabric combined with paint. Uniting the themes of decorated textural backgrounds, the sharp outlines of pointed shoes and additional details of buttons and gold leaf seems to utilise the strands of my previous skills of making.”

And lastly Helen Fay. It is quite funny that myself and Helen are both showing at both these shows, the one at Sarah Wiseman and here at Wills.

"The composition, scale, skill and beauty of her work pushes them beyond any classification of etchings or natural history subjects. Monochromatic, moody, sometimes densely worked, they capture the magnificence of the natural world in a timeless yet contemporary way." I just love penguins!

The show runs until January 7th so if in the Putney area of London be sure to check it out!

Back to the easel I go for I am off to Devon on Friday with a selection of work for a new gallery I shall tell you all about tomorrow, goodnight all x

Christmas shows

I delivered six large paintings to Sarah Wiseman gallery in Oxford last Thursday. The show is called 'Art of giving' . I had a chance to have a little look at a few other artists work that would be in the show. The show started on Saturday and is running until the end of December. Here are just a few.

My favourite were these ceramics by Zeita Scott. Her skilfully and unusually tactile platters and cups invite you to celebrate food and the everyday use of handmade objects. Inspired by the Japanese modular tableware, Zeita is encouraging people to use her pieces 'shuffled' in with others. They all work so well together. Mixing black clay with lush colours Zeita is creating something truly unique!

This is the work of Laura. She is a graduate from the Royal College of Art and winner of "Best Newcomer" award in Bombay Sapphire Competiton, which is the world's biggest international glass award. Her beautiful, organic glass pieces fuse the highest levels of creative imagination and need to be seen!

I have been a bit of a fan of the work of Trevor Price for some time. This is an etching of his that just makes me smirk! I have read that his subject matter is in some way a reflection of his life. Some of the pieces are about the intimacy between a couple, and others show the normal obsessions of any man.

I love the work of this Jewellery designer Lucy Sylvester. On her website are some really amazing pieces. This is what she writes

"I am motivated by using insects; if a ladybird landed on a woman’s knee she would probably accept it. However if a cockroach walked up her leg it would not be welcome. I find the thought of creating jewellery that will be worn close to the skin, from the insects she would loathe to be near, fascinating. The twisted pleasure of a woman adorned by the insects she would swot in everyday life"

If any of you are around Oxford this Christmas be sure to drop by this really is an interesting collection of work and of course there are some of my paintings there too!

wallpapers

I have been swooning over a few wallpapers recently. Here are a few.This is a new one for Sandberg whose fabrics I have loved for so long. They are a Swedish company (but of course they are). This one is also by them which is a bit safer and although the colour is very subtle it still has a real charm, of course I love the little houses and the fabric is great too. This one is for Graham and Brown. I have worked closely with them for a few years now and they have reproduced some of my designs for sale internationally as wall art rather than wallpaper but here are two of their wallpapers that I love.

'Pink donkey' is designed by Kate Larsen, this interactive paper rekindles the joy of the old parlour game, pin the tail on the donkey. You decide what the tail will be then attempt to pin it on the pink donkeys.

And finally my absolute favourite is 'frames'. I have some rolls of this myself which they gave to me one day when I was up in their warehouse proofing my own designs. I have never got round to putting it up though. I am saving it for when we do eventually buy our own house. It is far too good for rented accomodation. Designed by artists Taylor and Wood again is interactive. You can add photographs or draw straight onto it, I will have hours of fun with this though one day.

......and breathe

deep breaths and.....breathe. It's over....until tomorrow at least , but tonight I am putting my feet up!

Phew, what a few days. After 10 hours of driving to London and Oxford today the 14 paintings got there safely. Here are just a few as promised.

Please excuse the camera. Either I have the shakes really badly or I have my camera on the wrong setting. Does anyone else ever have this problem? After taking about 60 photos only about 6 are salvageable, gutted.

My sofa is calling so must go but to Julie, yes I made it to Ikea(2 nights in a row, aarrggghhh) but thats another story, not great enough to share sadly but my new TV is rather swanky on its new unit. Goodnight all! For once I hope I don't dream of beach huts!!!! xxx

kerput!

Our TV just blew up which means Sean gets his way finally and we get one of those fancy flat things, hmmpphhh!!! Does anyone else just not get boys fascination with technology. I would happily go and get an old secondhand thing. I really dislike spending money on this kind of thing. Anyway, this leads onto the fact that we will need to reorganise the lounge so Crazy I know as it is 9.20pm but we are off to IKEA to look for TV storage. Once upon a time I would be so excited at this prospect but I feel I am outgrowing IKEA now. There are so many great things about it, the meatballs,lighting, fabric, and dime bar cake, but the queues and general amount of people is really tiresome. I think I could talk for hours on this subject having worked in the homewares sector of retail for many years in the past but alas, the dark rainy night is calling.

Bye for now, hopefully we will be out of there by midnight!!!

Tomorrow I shall share some new paintings that are off for exhibitions on Thursday. x

wedding decor

For my lovely friend Amy here is the link to the website www.re-foundobjects.com I was just talking about. Beautiful shop RE that I discovered recently.

As I have mentioned I am getting married next year and am already busy planning 'the look' of it. Of course this is the most exciting bit when you are a creative type, but thinking creatively and cheaply has become the order of the day. We are getting married in a tiny church in our village and then having a marquee in the local pub garden about 50 metres down from the church. The pub garden backs on to our back garden so you can imagine how intimate and close this all is. I have never fully understood why weddings cost so much before but boy am I finding out now. We have chosen the most basic 'no frills' marquee mainly because of cost but I really don't like the whole frills and bows look anyway.

So have found some lovely paper decorations which I think in mass could create real impact. For starters these balls in large white and smaller light blue hung in groups could look really light, fresh and pretty. The whole colour scheme is white and Pale blue. Very scandinavian!

My boyfriend, whoops Fiance seems to break into a cold sweat when I mention the word bunting and has made his feelings clear that there is an absolute ban on any at all at our wedding. The B word is like a swear word and the small amount i did manage to sneak in last Summer got abolished to the bottom of the garden where it can be seen by absolutely noone. But I think I may have fooled him. These Mexican Paper picados are as I keep telling him Mexican Paper Picados and not at all like bunting. Ha! Well they are not are they?!? I love them and the top one is wedding themed.

And I thought these paper skeletons would fit in nicely too. What do you think? No....? the doves and hearts might work instead then.

So have a look at their website because there are some really lovely things for the home including those French milk bottles that also seemed to jump into my shopping basket while I wasn't looking. Cheeky little things!!??!!

Au revoir friends and happy shopping!!!!

tweet

This amazing piece of work flew from over the pond to live with me last week. I have been in awe of the work of Amy Ruppel for some time and thought it would be rude not to have a small piece for myself. Every time she has held an online sale because of the time difference I have missed out, but she kindly made this one for me personally. They are so much more amazing in the flesh. They are so delicately tactile, I am intrigued about her process. I just have to find somewhere to show it off now. And if you are quick I think she is having another sale today!

Oh, and how I would love to visit her show at Office in Portland, USA at the moment to see this huge one!

And talking of birds, I discovered the work of Cathy Miles recently when visiting a gallery. Her work just has to be seen. She makes these wire bird sculptures but my favourites are the wall mounted pieces with hilarious text and titles. They are fun but perfectly executed. Do go and look at her website.

And finally, before I go for the weekend to paint furiously, here are two that I have finished for Wills Art warehouse. They are two of eight I am delivering to them next Thursday as part of their Deck The Walls exhibition. If you are in London then pop along for the show where all the work is under £500 and you can partake in a mince pie and some mulled wine!

Happy weekend all! x