Dose of inspiration

The usual problem with taking part in an Art Trail is that you don't get the chance to visit the other venues - but, as I was sharing with both Anne and Mum we could split the stewarding duties and I actually managed to visit most of the other venues on the trail.

Starting at number 1 on the trail, the Festival exhibition at Gallery North featuring work by Dino Mazzoli - texture and colour grab me so a lot of these are right up my street, particularly the landscapes. There's a John Bratby quality in there, some of the portraits quite harsh. Some beautiful photography upstairs, local landscape shots by David Higgs.

Longleys Studio Barn -  envious of this light studio space!

2-Longleys Studio Barns with a wide selection of work including some stunning animal pictures by Christine Jenkinson who had me quite jealous at her use of light, and some highly atmospheric pieces by Anna Wilson Patterson.

3-Southview Art groups at South View (next to the library) - I do love seeing exhibitions by art groups as you get some unusual subjects and a great variety of techniques. Here, Eileen's groups displayed some fabulous pieces including red.white and blue themed works and some skilfully created drawings in watercolour pencil on dark paper.

4- Geoff Pittman's Garden Pottery Studio - a big surprise as I had no idea this was here, almost directly opposite my office window. Geoff is enthusiastic and told us all about the science of pottery, firing and glazes and I came away feeling a lot more knowledgeable about a complicated subject that I'd thought was a simple process of make it and bake it! Nice pots too - subtle colours.

The fabulous Clive and Val

5- Open House at 100&7 with the gorgeous Clive and Val. I enjoyed a cuppa here and Clive showed me his paper wreaths, a new venture for him and a surprise for me as I had no idea he was creative! Combining precise folding with innovative use of books, maps or sheet music - the mathematical element appeals to me. I admired once again Anne and Val's unique silver jewellery (one day..) and the  needlcraft skills of Monica before heading off to Venue 6:
12 Ingrams Way to see pots, patchwork, plants and more including yet more lovely silver jewellery by Liz Cottingham displayed with  textures of netting, shells and pebbles, echoed in some of her photography. Ian Goldsmith had some work here that I hadn't see before - he has a very gentle touch portraying faces and skin with an almost luminous quality, his Ophelia is a particular favourite.

7- Art at the Library  featured work by the Arlington Art group and I was very proud of the displays which were changed weekly. To pick out just a couple, Helen Gander has done some lovely, detailed pictures on scraperboard, a blast from my past, and Hazel Hooker is producing a lot of fabulous work in vibrant colours including local scenes, some of which she is also selling at Liquorice by the George Inn.

8 - us! 9 and 10 - sadly I didn't make it to our 2 nearest venues but I have seen a lot of Michael Gower's work at our art group lately and he is going from strength to strength, particularly in his pastel work, which has a velvet quality to it - he is using contrasts, shadow and light to really good effect.

11  - it just wasn't possible to make the time to visit although I did get lost on my way to 12 and saw the signs outside so I'll know where to go in future!

Chris at The Chantry - looking pleased with himself 

12 - Art at the Chantry. At last I've made it to this hidden gem of a little venue, a restored chapel just north of Rushlake Green. The artists managed to squeeze a surprising amount of work in - Chris Liddiard's deceptively simple paintings have a clarity and total calm about them. I was very taken by Min Cooper's work, illustrative but bold. There were a couple of small metal garden sculptures which interested me as I'm considering trying to do something similar myself but am hampered by a lack of welding equipment, knowledge or skill, and even sculptural skill which could be problematic...

Well, that was everything on the main trail, then there was plenty of work to see in the High Street shops including Ruth Bodkin's botanical work, Clare Fitzgerald's photography and Zan Stevenson's stunning work - again, colour and contrasts make me stop and look.

So, my major dose of inspiration should lead to a whole new body of work - and the subject was decided at the final event of the festival, the Cajun Zydeco party at Chapter 12. I will sketch and photograph as many gigs as I can and aim, in a year;s time, to have an exhibition of at least 12 pictures  inspired by the music and dancing. There. I've said it, it's got to happen.



While I sat and, in uncharacteristically self conscious mode, sketched the moving musicians (why can't they just stay facing the same way for 2 seconds!!?) a customer asked, jokingly,  several times if I would sketch him. Eventually, I did, all of a 30 second sketch with which he and his companions were delighted! hey, maybe I should take it up for a living.

Maybe not...

Call this working?!

well, possibly not, but I've been a full time artist for a week and am exhausted! But it's not over yet..

It really started last week when I began the hard slog of clearing the space for the Hailsham Arts Festival 'Open Studio' - more than just the studio, it was the whole of the double garage space, hallway and conservatory. The first couple of days seemed to consist of moving piles of general stuff from one place to another but I gradually got into the swing of putting things 'away', which sometimes involved a bin bag, and shunting furniture and space miraculously began to appear. But not for long because, with the help of sons and their unsuspecting friends, a plethora of screens and tables soon filled the area and I could start the process of hanging. 

I had persuaded Mum to let me show some of her work including her embroideries and we displayed some of Dad's pottery.  Anne came on Friday and hung her work, laid out sketchbooks and put out cards and prints to sell but after 2 days of hanging I’d only managed to squeeze in about half of my work and I still needed to add most of that to my catalogue. Saturday morning came and I dashed around like a headless chicken with number labels until, at11am, we were finally ready for our first visitors.

 

I wasn't under any illusions - we live off the beaten track, a long way out of Hailsham, and the Art Trail hadn't had nearly as much exposure as it should have had - so I wasn't surprised at the lack of crowds on the doorstep. But as I write on Friday evening, we have had a very satisfactory 45 visitors over 7 days, have made 2 painting sales, lots of card sales, a photo sale and made a good sized collection for Chestnut Tree House. 

This afternoon I found time to visit another venue on the Art Trail, in the centre of Hailsham, that had considerably less visitors than us despite being open longer hours each day which got me thinking about why. Our signage here definitely helps - we have balloons at the end of the lane, posters with the Hailsham Arts Festival and Art Trail logos and the opening days and times clearly shown and bunting on the gates. If a visitor is uncertain whether they are in the right place or at the right time, they may well turn away and go home. I also have mercilessly bombarded facebook friends and contacts with reminders, have emailed my large mailing list and have 'tweeted' frequently. I also had one of my paintings in an empty shop window in Hailsham High Street (part of the Art in Empty Shops project) with my name clearly shown and a copy of the Art Trail map in the window. 

I also think that offering free painting demonstrations and refreshments has drawn visitors who may otherwise not have bothered. So, they came for something free and the refreshments made money for the charity box, not me, but I got to talk to all of these visitors and they now know me, my name and what I do. Next time I have an art event, they will probably return and bring friends, they will spread the word and tell people about my work. Some of them are going to come to my future classes or art groups, some are interested in booking me to demonstrate to their art group, many have taken my Pet Portrait leaflets - it is all good networking and publicity.

In addition to the Open Studio, in the last 10 days I have given three 2 hour demonstrations to art groups (in Shoreham, Lancing and Pevensey), seven free demonstrations at home and one 3 hour workshop at Gallery North plus I have found time to do two initial sketches for a commission and start two new paintings, attend an evening Art and Business networking event in Eastbourne, hang some pictures at Hailsham Library and go to the weekly Arlington Art Group. All this and I've been able to sit and chat with visitors, chill at quiet times, read my book and walk the dog.

Just 2 more open days left to go then......oh blimey, I've got to put it all away again!!

If my poor long suffering family can cope with my unbearably awful mood in the run up to the event, my unreasonable demands on their time and muscles, and the disruption to the usual motorbike, tools and band equipment storage areas, I'll do this again!! Next time, I think I'll offer workshops most days, will only open the studio from 1pm and will try to get someone to display sculpture in the garden to make the most of the space - unless of course I have done my welding course by then and have my own collection of scrap metal sculptures to display....

 (Thanks to Tim Church for the photos!)

Ready, steady…….

NEARLY ready for the Open Studio tomorrow. We have packed a massive number of pictures into the available space – I’ve now got to label all of mine which should take a couple of hours!! Anne Howard is showing landscape paintings and some photos, I am showing a variety of work including some of my new and unfinished collections (sneaky previews), Mum is showing some of her embroidery and paintings and some of the pots that Dad made. It’s all looking rather lovely really.

Just the balloons, bunting and road signs to go up in the morning, the kitchen to clean ready for the refreshments, the garden to tidy so visitors can sit out there with their tea and cake, and my demonstration to prepare for.