'Canvas & Clay' at the Art Barn, Preston Bagot

Our exhibition is now up and on show until Sunday 28th October.  We had a great Preview last Friday. The barn offers a delightfully creative space to display work in, it is not difficult to make an exhibition look inviting.  Ceramics and paintings compliment each other extraordinarily well. There were lots of visitors who enjoyed lingering over the exhibits whilst guitarist Cameron Dunbar played and sang, contributing even more of an atmosphere. 

If you haven't managed to get along, we are open from 10 until 6 every day.  Look forward to seeing you.

Preparing for the Art Barn, Preston Bagot . . . . .

My ambition this summer has been to paint.  So once my classes finished at the beginning of July I started to focus on the Art Barn exhibition in October.  These things always seem a long way off!  I must say it's exciting to have the opportunity to build up a new collection of work and let ideas 'grow'. 

Needless to say there have been moments of creativity and many moments of family life and events, but I actually think that times when I can't paint fire me up for when I can!  Interruptions can be good because, metaphorically or otherwise, they force you to stand back and see what is really going on. 

At the same time, Martin is feeling the pressure in the framing department!  He now has a paint sprayer which is much less time consuming than painting by hand.  And the framing comes from Rose and Hollis in London - they have supplied us for the last couple of years and are very efficient. 

Ceramicist Hilary LaForce who exhibited with me in a group show last year and Rupert B Parkinson will also be exhibiting their work.  The exhibition runs from October 20th to October 28th.

Artifex Gallery, Sutton Coldfield

The Birmingham Art Circle has an exhibition of their work at the Artifex Gallery in Sutton Coldfield throughout June.  If you haven't been over that way before their address is Mitchell Centre, Weeford Road, Sutton Coldfield, B75 6NA.  It's open seven days a week from 10am - 5pm and their website address is www.artifex.co.uk

'Sustaining the person within', our Arts Council funded project is reaching a bit of a milestone!

Kathryn Pettitt has almost completed her sessions in 3 residential care homes working with some of the residents on exciting creative projects.  The final home has been Jobs Close in Knowle where she is currently organising a morning to exhibit their artwork and enjoy a get together with a cup of coffee on the 25th June.

My 3 residential homes have concluded with Lady Katherine Leveson in Temple Balsall.  Our 6 sessions have flown by, concluding with an exhibition of all their artwork on Wednesday 30th May. With much assitance from Damien, the maintenance man and Mary, one of the residents, it came together really well! Lots of people came along to see the exhibition which created a lovely atmosphere and the work was much admired. 
We have since been asked to display the exhibition during the Temple Balsall Heritage Weekend in September - how exciting! 

Kathryn and I have really valued the amazing support that we have had from Bridget, Nat and Ruth during the last 6 weeks . . . and Richard, our official photographer!

At last an update!  I think if Blogging relied on me it would have gone out of fashion by now.

A couple of weeks ago I took some pictures along to The Gallery Upstairs in Henley in Arden for their Summer Exhibition.  It's a lovely gallery - The Torquil Gallery is in front of it, famous for its wonderful pottery, and there is a pretty garden behind with sculpture and ceramics. The Diamond Jubilee will be celebrated on the 4th June with a jazz band etc .... and on the 16th June a stained glass artist, Tamsin Abbott will talk about and demonstrate her work at 11.00 am. The exhibition runs from the 29th May to the 23rd June so do hope you can get along some time.

RBSA Demonstration

A couple of Saturdays ago it was my turn to do a painting demonstration at the RBSA.  I decided to take my acrylics - Brian Fletcher had asked me to paint the subject of boats so I chose an image which was quite a grainy photo of 3 boats against a lovely blue sky, discovered recently and a distant memory of a wonderful holiday in Northumberland.  Demonstrations are always a bit unpredictable - I'm never sure whether anyone will come or how they will react if they do come, and then there is always the uncertainty of how the picture will develop!

Well, one of my models, Mel and her friends from Nuneaton arrived which was lovely and, along with several other people, the day turned out to be really enjoyable.  It's a nice opportunity to share some ideas and in a way it's strangely helpful to discuss what I am doing, or think I should be doing! as a painting develops.

Thanks to Mel we have some photos of the progress.  I should also say thank you to Dveirel, a steward on duty at the RBSA that day, who was very enthusiastic and supportive.

I worked on a canvas board which I had prepared with a roughly painted wash of acrylic and I used a large brush to draw in the shapes.  The majority of the picture was developed with brush and then someone asked about palette knives - a perfect prompt to sort out some of the angles that were getting a bit woolly.  I suppose I spent an hour and a half working on the painting and then I began another subject during the afternoon - an absence of photographers around then, so no record of that one. 
Curiously I have begun to work on the boats again today, very tempted to use some oil but I find the dribbly washes I can achieve with acrylic less easy with oil. 
Maybe there will be a follow up on its progress in time.

Back to Snowdon

We had a lovely trip to Snowdon last weekend to deliver the Snowdon Horseshoe prints.  It's hard to believe how a cottage at the foot of Snowdon, 'Pen-Ceunant Isaf', can be such a hive of activity on a damp and misty March day.  The tea rooms and gallery are open every day of the year. Steffan the owner couldn't be more welcoming and his tea and barabrith help too! along with the black lab and the roaring log fire. 

Shortly after he had taken the prints from us, a lady arrived with a beautiful picture made from stained glass - she used to live in the village so knew them well. A lot of Welsh was spoken. It turned out that her picture was to be the prize for the winner of the Snowdon race in July. Anyone who is able to run up Snowdon deserves to win her picture, it really was lovely.  She sat with us and we chatted over a drink - about all sorts of things including village life and how she missed being in Llanberis.  She was married in the church and laughed when she remembered how everyone came to the wedding, the whole village, and how it was important to save seats for the guests!  That's how it always was she told us.  Her name was Nora.  We hugged each other as we said goodbye.

I'm not sure that my prints are going to rush out the door but somehow I feel it's quite a privilege to share a little bit of the gallery.  Steffan doesn't want any commission so instead we will make a donation to the Llanberis Mountain Rescue.
www.snowdoncafe.com

The Corner Shop, Hampton-in-Arden

A little while ago I visited The Corner Shop in Hampton-in Arden with a collection of my Limited Edition Prints.  It's a bit of a long story but someone in the village suggested that I might be able to have a display in The Corner Shop window.  The new owner, Julie was very enthusiastic about the idea so her amazingly attractive pasta which had been adorning the pretty bow window was replace by some of my prints. 

The shop is an absolute delight, its traditional charm and personal service offered by Julie is everything a village corner shop should be - and then there is the extensive of range of quality products which you certainly would not find in your local supermarket.  In addition, pieces of beautifully restored furniture are on sale, we couldn't resist a little chair . . . . . it's well worth a visit.

Six weeks at The Grove is drawing to an end

This Friday is our last session at The Grove Residential Home in Solihull.  I am quite amazed at how quickly the weeks have gone by.  Once again Nat has assisted throughout and Amy has joined us a couple of times.  The Activity Leader, Ros has been a star, very supportive and enthusiastic.  Activities have included drawing and painting, then we moved into clay, some very impressive paper roses - well it was around Valentine's Day! and then some lovely birds which involved tissue, glue and feathers.  Martin arrived on his old motor bike and had three very interested residents chat and look at it.  They had all been involved with bikes in the past so it bought back many happy memories, two ladies and one gentleman - impressive! 
During the last couple of months Nick and Victoria have also led art sessions at two day centres and Kathryn has been visiting Rayner House, so it's been a busy time.  Richard our photographer has taken lots of photos in each of the centres and they will be posted on the website very soon.

Here is one of them to wet your appetite!
www.sustainingthepersonwithin.org.uk

Going abstract

I've always enjoyed exploring abstract elements in a painting. Recently I have had two requests for an abstract painting, 2 ft by 5 ft - two completely different people, how extraordinary!  I decided God must be telling me something, so we set about preparing a canvas and I began my painting, just in case I was asked again!  The experience was very exciting but may I say it is not as easy as it looks.  I began with red, not that surprising to anyone who knows me, moved into black and then magenta and gold. . .   Quite often I put paint on directly from the tube. Tonking and rollering it proved interesting and there were lots of happy accidents that were hard to reproduce, if not impossible.  All the usual feelings surfaced, such as when parts became a bit too precious - a hopeless situation that has to be ignored. Curiously it has given me lots of ideas for other paintings, but I think I'll find a home for this one first!

Limited Edition Giclee Prints advertised in Art Business Today

An additional piece of information . . . the current edition of Art Business Today, January 2012 Issue1, is advertising my Limited Edition Giclee Prints.  Time doesn't allow me to take them to many outlets so I thought this may be one way of reaching further afield, we will see. 

The magazine is an interesting one, providing information to all kinds of people connected with the art world and offers sound business advice - curiously there is a good article about 'Why blogging matters' in this edition!

You can see my Giclee Prints on www.jangay.co.uk

Jan

The beginning of a New Year, 2012

First of all, a very Happy and Healthy New Year to you. 
It has taken a little time to gather myself after Christmas followed rapidly by Grace's birthday but life seems to be back to 'normal' now.  Classes have been running for 2 weeks and Nat and I have begun our sessions at The Grove Residential Care Home in Solihull.  We had a really enjoyable morning with Ros, the Activity Organiser and the residents last Friday.  We will have some photos and information on the website www.sustainingthepersonwithin.org.uk very soon.  Kathryn Pettitt and Marilyn are taking sessions at Rayner House, Nick Logan and Amy are at Shepherdson House Day Centre and Victoria Littlehales and Sarah are at Blanning Day Centre, so there is a lot going on this term.

On a personal note, a couple of alterations to my last blog - the picture I sold at Ernst &Young was 'The Picnic' not 'Boats lined up' and the window easel at the RBSA was in fact double booked so my painting of 'Shirley Brass Band' is going up the first weekend of February!  All very confusing but never mind.  I have had an encouraging chat with the owner of the Torquil Gallery in Henley in Arden and will be showing a few pictures in the Spring, and I hope to re-kindle my connections with the Purple Gallery in Bournville, another lovely venue.  I am trying to introduce my Limited Edition Giclee Prints to different outlets - the lastest little plan is to show a new print of a recent painting of Snowdon at Pen-y-Ceunant, a tea house at the base of  the Snowdon Path, Llanberis - and possibly elsewhere . . .

 It's probably quite mad, but the owner was happy - Bless him he didn't want any commission but asked if I would make a donation to the Mountain Rescue Team.  We got to know of this place on our return from climbing half way up the mountain, sounds feeble but we did start after lunch, and it was a bit windy!  We were more than glad to reach the tea house and after we devoured his delicious Barabrith and a cup of tea, we discovered his gallery!  So if you are around that way later in the year . . . . . it's well worth a visit.  (There is a rather steep climb to get to the tea house, which made us feel that we had no chance of reaching Snowdon's summit but don't be put off!)