Recent Art Adventures

It kind of makes sense that as an Art teacher I enjoy Artmaking. This is true, although I don't often spend as much time creating as I would like. It takes a while to get all my materials out and set up, so I have to plan to spend a whole day making if I'm doing this at home and I take up A. Lot. Of. Space. when I'm working. My sewing, on the other hand, is usually confined to a much smaller area, unless I'm cutting out and therefore is easier to pick up and do a bit at a time. so I always take opportunities to attend workshops when I can.

Last week I have been fortunate to attend some CPD at The Northern School of Art at Hartlepool (formerly known as Cleveland College of Art & Design). It was a bit of a trek from school, but well worth it and it was inspiring to see the degree shows at the same time.

The CPD was focussed on printmaking with found objects. The instructor was Helen from Northern Print and she went over a range of different printing processes and how we could achieve effective results in the classroom, with or without a press.

As often happens I found myself drawn to the monotype processes. I don't know if it more to do with the painterly aspects of this type of printing or the immediacy and unpredictability of the technique that I like. I played with the layering of textures and shapes, using both hand printing and the press to achieve different results.

What was new to me was using a printing medium for using with acrylic paint. I was pleasantly surprised how long the paint stayed open with the medium added. I think I will buy some to use with my Gelli plate at home as I have found the fast acrylic drying time limiting when working with the Gelli plate. When I make monoprints at home I usually use oil-based ink, which I have grown to love but it can take a long time for the inks to dry and then there is the cleaning up!

I am constantly drawn to printmaking and would love to pursue this further, especially textile printing methods.

On Saturday we also had our monthly crafternoon and I decided to start a painting. So I took along some paints and some design ideas I've been working on and began to create the underpainting. I go from excited to bored very quickly and I'm starting to realise that I like my paintings to have textural qualities and at the moment this work is far too flat and the colours and layout are not quite right. Over the coming weeks, I will be adding to this to start to bring it to life. I really do like to work with mixed media and would love to bring some stitch into this work at some point. Watch this space!

It's always amazing to see how my preferences and ways of working change and develop over time. I wonder where this will go next?

Solo Exhibition - A review and an opportunity

I've finally got a chance to blog about my art exhibition. It took place in October/ November and ended up being extended for a week in the end.

The work I exhibited is part of my ongoing project "Scar Tissue'. I began thinking about this work about 3 years ago and seriously started making work on this theme in the autumn of 2017. I have found that my initial pieces seem to form around monoprints which I work into, adding paint, stitch, fabric and other items. I was really interested in the story of healing and how we view the scars we have, do we see them as positive things or are they a reminder of something unbearably painful. I set up a survey and asked people to contribute their stories of scars and healing. You can read more about how it started here.

Contributions came in from friends and those I've never met. some of the stories were inspiring and hopeful, others were incredibly sad. some were written from wholeness and yet others were still very raw and early in their healing journey. Contributors gave me permission to use their responses alongside and incorporated into my artwork. this finally came together in October when I exhibited over 60 pieces in this project.

The exhibition at Newbiggin Maritime Centre was a snapshot of this work at a moment in time. Just like healing, this project isn't done yet and I feel it has more to say. I think it might go in another direction, but I'm giving it some space before I explore its development. I have to do this as part of my art practice. I really need times of reflection in order for my ideas to have time to coalesce, form and develop.

I really would love to hear from arts practitioners, organisations, galleries and individuals if you would like to collaborate as this develops further, or if you would like to exhibit some of this work as it is at the moment.

How to make garments a little more interesting

It's close to the end of April, which means Me May May is just around the corner. Are you taking part?

I am and this year along with pledging to wear me-made clothes every day I decided to embrace my creativity and wear what the heck I like - expressing my inner artist.

So how do you do that?

Well for me it goes back to my days as an art student in the 1990's when I would take items I found at the local Flea Market and adapt them. I remember having rainbow dyed dungarees (which were at least 3 sizes too beg, but I didn't care), purple jeans, Dunlop Greenflash trainers, DM's, I pinched a floral shirt from my hubby (then boyfriend) and also wore his leather jacket loads - I loved the smell of Patchouli. I also wore long skirts, baggy crepe de chine trousers, short skirts or shorts with black tights and a range of different t shirt and tops, some of these things I made (badly), some were second hand. One of the items I bought from the flea market was a green army jacket which I embroidered with flowers and wore with everything.

 25 years later and I'm back to embroidering jackets. A couple of years ago I chose this jacket at a clothes swap. I quite liked the style, with its 3/4 sleeve and felt it would be perfect for spring/ summer wear - but it was just too Brown and Boring. So a few weeks ago I began to embroider it with patterns and textures - making it up as I went along.

I haven't done any embroidery for years, so it's not the neatest or most exact work I've ever done and although I know how to do many stitches I'm not actually very good at them, especially the filling stitches - something to work on.

Even though it's not perfect, I'm now looking forward to wearing this and embracing my art student style again.

So it's back to the Long skirts, patterns that don't match, Layers and lots of colour and as much as I can get away with at work - hey I'm an art teacher - I can get away with lots of things. the only thing I'll be shying away from are my high heels. After my recent hip op I cant spend a whole day in heels - a couple of hours is fine, but it's flats all the way for work.
So are you doing Me Made May?

Crafternoon

A few years ago, I ran a few workshops from home, all sorts of creative stuff. I was wanting to do a few more, but workshops at home are tricky due to space.

So instead I talked to a few friends at my church and came up with the idea of a Crafternoon. We're running our first one later this month in Morpeth. I know this is not a new idea, but it will give those who like to create opportunity to meet and chat and of course there will be cake.

We hoping that this will be the first of many. Each month we hope to be able to offer a demonstration/ talk or workshop on a creative technique - covering all types of crafts, but it is primarily a group where people can bring what they are working on, chat and get to know others who enjoy doing some similar stuff.

In our first event we will be haing a get to know your sewing machine session; this will be run by myself and my friend, Kirsty, who used to be a pattern drafter and sample maker. We will also be on hand to offer advice about fitting and following a sewing pattern.

If you are in NE England and would like to join us, please come along.

What type of creative techniques would you like to try?

Art Sale - Pay what you decide.

The Church on the point 120 by 120 cm acrylic on canvas

I'm hoarding art works!
They are no good to anyone stuck in the spare room.

The church on the point - detail

I need to clear some space and raise some funds for my next art project (which I cant wait to share with you!!!!).

The House on the Hill, 50 by 100 cm. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas

So I'm selling.
I have a range of work - on canvas and paper, from large to small. All I ask is that you pay what you think it's worth, plus the postage and packing. I'll be sharing works for sale over the next couple of weeks. These are the first three.

The house on the Hill  -  detail

Depending where you live will affect the cost (within the UK most postage will be under £20). I'm willing to post world wide, but please be aware my work sometimes contains, grass, sand and other natural materials which can be restricted for import.

Night Sky. 50 by 100 cm, Acrylic on Canvas

Message me if you are interested or find my event on facebook.