North and South

It's been a busy few weeks between playing gigs and exhibitions etc.Christmas is coming and I've been lucky enough to get some pieces into galleries, near and far, making the hope of a sale or two in the run up to Christmas more realistic!  Last week we opened the Christmas show at the gallery where my studio is based and it was a really lovely event, with plenty of people coming through the door to sample some mulled wine and mince pies, meet the artists who had all opened up their studios and they also got subjected to a regaling from my band members and I who make up Brigit's Mantle - our Irish traditional ballad group.

I also recently had the pleasure of playing music at the very friendly Crookes Folk club in Sheffield, which I would highly recommend a visit to, some lovely people and superb young musicians, and I also played support to Dana and Susan Robinson at the prestigious Rothbury Roots series of concerts in Northumberland.  While I was in town I dropped into the Congregational Gallery for a coffee and a delicious home made scone, and after a lovely chat and a catch up with co-ordinators Linda and Ali, walked out with a date for an exhibition in May, with a music night penned in also!  The Congregational is one of my favourite galleries, a truly beautiful space with an inviting and cosy atmosphere.

I covered an awful lot of miles last month in the name of art, with two trips down south.  The first was to hang a set of paintings in a small gallery space in the back of a shop called Raft Clothing in Newent, Gloucestershire.  This is a nice, upmarket venue with lots of interesting and desirable objects you can peruse, including my drawings and prints!  They've been selling my prints like hot cakes down there, so we thought it was time to go and hang some of my originals in their gallery space to see how they get on.

The other work you can see is by the esteemed painter Joe Cole.  Click here to see Raft's website
http://www.raftclothing.co.uk/types/art-gallery/

 My second trip down south was a very entertaining visit to Eton College of all places, to attend the opening of my friend and colleague Peter Hicks.  Peter's a superb painter and has been very supportive since I've known him, and it was a pleasure to see his excellent work on show in such an auspicious venue.

I also managed to get some work into the Palace Hub in Redcar again in time for the run up to Christmas.  I was delighted to make a sale from this venue the last time I exhibited there and Nel and Mark have been very supportive, not just of my work, but of the many dozens of other great artists in this area, and it's a pleasure for me to work with them.

Lastly worth a mention, tonight is the night I join my small group of students who meet every Thursday night at the gallery I mentioned earlier, where my studio is based, for a Christmas celebration drink!  We've booked a room at the local Italian restaurant where we will eat pizza, drink wine, and maybe even sing a few songs!  They are a lovely group, and I'm looking forward to getting going again in the new year with a sculpture project I'm writing for them currently.  I am beginning a new group of beginners on a separate night, as I've had loads of interest from people wanting to study with me, so if you would like to get involved with this group, based in Saltburn, please get in touch :)

Meanwhile I am working away on this little fella.....

Ok, that's it for my Christmas blog instalment...
HAVE A GOOD ONE!

The Stillness of Growth

Well, it seems I've been something of a Luddite over the past.... oh dear - 3 years since I began this blog and only made one post!  This is the beginning of me being much more conscientious about my blogging, I promise!  You may be wondering what became of all these hares and crows, if you've been reading the previous post, so I'll fill you in by all means....

Eventually I felt the need to explore other areas and subjects and elements within the theme of wildlife, and expanded out into drawing some other creatures....

I continued with these, and with the simple nettle studies that I mentioned in the last post, and all of this culminated in an exhibition at Saltburn Gallery, which I titled "The Stillness of Growth".  I was very pleased with this show, and it was well received by all who came along.  I decided to show the nettle studies in a very simple way in terms of their presentation, simply attaching them to a smaller piece of foam board on the back and sticking them to the wall, so that only the drawing on paper was present, slightly raised from the wall, and placed in rows along two of the gallery walls.

This poem by Teesside poet Bob Beagrie served to compliment the work on show:

And this one sold on the opening night! 

These lovely photos of the night were all taken by Sheffield based photographer John O' Malley.

http://www.jomalley.co.uk

After this show I began working with Natural Partners card and fine art print company, who now supply my images to stockists all over the country, and I went on to have exhibitions in the Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton, the Congregational Gallery in Rothbury, Northumberland, The Turnstone Gallery in Sandsend, and Zillah Bell in Thirsk, as well as a few pieces in Coast Gallery, Scarborough, Chris Geall Gallery in Grosmont and the Palace Hub gallery in Redcar.  Phew!

My next big show will be at the Danby moors centre in August 2014, where I'll be showing with two fantastic wildlife sculptors, Emma Stothard and Stef Ottevanger.  More details of that to follow nearer the time, in the meantime, I'm busy cracking on making work for it!