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Here are some of the seventy five paintings which made up my exhibition at Artsmill  'High Heather' 2018 Acrylic 760 x 760mm What has been your artistic journey? My training was not as a painter but as a ceramicist. I spent a few short years working in clay and developing my ideas; then our young family came along. When I eventually returned to art it was in the role of art technician and then art tutor within further and adult education. From there I slowly started making my own work... this time paintings. After several studio moves in and around Hebden Bridge, having my own small retail and workspace by the canal was an unexpected and happy turn of events.  'Into the Light' 2018 Acrylic 440 x 440mm Where did you train? I went to college in Staffordshire. My course was Multidisciplinary Design and, for two out of the three years of my time there, I was absorbed by hand-built and raku fired clay forms. After finishing my degree, I made and sold my vessels in local shops and galleries in Chelmsford and Hemel Hempstead. Alongside this I worked as a ceramics tutor with a group of young disadvantaged people.  'Staithes II' 2018 Acrylic 500 x 500mm Describe your creative process My work is often a construct from memories and observations gathered from my sketchbooks or photographs rather than a literal depiction of a 'real' landscape. Fear plays a part in my process; the uneasy start to a painting when addressing the white of the canvas and then, once started, the following fear of messing up. I like to add collage elements in the form of printed matter and fabric scraps.  'Swell' 2018 Acrylic 700 x 800mm SOLD What inspires you? I am inspired by the land, the weather that surrounds me and by objects that carry associations and personal meaning.  'Bronze Forest' 2018 Acrylic 560 x 500mm What is your exhibition about? My recent work has focused on landscape, hence the title, 'OF Place'. I have lived in different places around the country but generally have found myself in rural or semi-rural locations. Living on 'the tops' above Hebden Bridge, I can't fail to be mesmerized by the changes imposed on the land by the changing light and weather conditions. Aside from the landscapes, I have included some earlier works such as 'Cloth Shoes' and 'Left Alone'; these speak of the loss of familiar and loved people.  'The Bay Below' 2018 Acrylic 210 x 150mm SOLD Where to find more of my work 'Of Place' at Artsmill in Hebden Bridge. This is a solo exhibition that runs until Sunday 16 December. Open Wednesday to Sunday 11 - 4pm. For more details, go to www.artsmill.org 'Small Rare Things' at Water Street Gallery in Todmorden. A group exhibition that runs until 27 January. Closed on Tuesdays. I have six flower paintings in the show. Paintings may be bought 'off the wall'. For more details, go to www.waterstreetgallery.co.uk For the very short foreseeable future I have my own canal-side studio/gallery at Hebble End Works on the Rochdale Canal towpath in Hebden ...however, I will be leaving this work-space at the end of December 2018 and my new chart will be plotted! .......Opening times vary; please contact me before travelling. Questions put by Fiona Pattison of www.happy4pr.tumblr.com/ 'It's been a while' is quite an understatement but I freely admit, I'm just plain bad at the business side of my business! In my defence, Instagram has become an easy way of publicising my work. It’s not that I don’t like writing, more that Instagram is snappy…hahaha and requires a lesser application of time, unless I am sucked into Alice’s rabbit hole of wondrous things in which case minutes and hours pass with ease. Now My first solo exhibition of paintings is on the walls at Artsmill in Hebden Bridge. Please do visit www.artsmill.org for more info. At the time of writing, there are just five more days in which my work may be viewed there.  How this came about
In the last week of July, I had a phone call to say that my application to the Artsmill gallery had been successful and the opening of my very own solo show would be in just eighteen week’s time. Yikes! I know the space well and knew that this afforded an opportunity to work on a much larger scale. My work up to this point was proportionally unambitious. But as the prospect became more real, I knew that this was a leap I wanted to take and became hungry to size-up. The work Many canvases were bought over the next month or two and slowly the body of work started to stack up, and backwards, and almost out of the door of my smallish studio/gallery. The gallery area became choked with works in progress. Fortunately at one point, I was able to borrow a larger studio; my canvases gained some breathing space and I no longer had to clear away equipment on a daily basis. The plan Initially, I had thought that I would fill the gallery with new work but then I had so many existing smaller works that it started to make sense to include the smaller pieces; small works in the Upper Gallery and on the Mezzanine level and the larger works downstairs. This worked really well once I put one or two of the larger in amongst the smaller. The watershed In just three and a half months, my exhibition had materialised and I had arrived at a watershed. With seventy five paintings hanging at Artsmill and my studio full of works in progress, I knew that it would be difficult to fit back into my studio. That, together with the fact that my landlord plans to develop the old mill building where I have my studio, means that I have decided to leave Hebble End Works at the end of this month (December 2018). I need a plan but I have no plan. One thing for sure, a new story is about to begin! Earlier this month I delivered two paintings to Spirals Fairtrade Eco Store in Hebden Bridge. I was very happy to see that they have grouped these two new ones together with my prints and cards in a small area beside The Artroom desk in plain view as you enter the room upstairs. Here's a snap:  The new ones are "One Day When" which is at top left and "Custard Sky" immediately below on the white shelf unit. At the bottom is my painting "Coal Hills". And the prints are "Intense", "Many-coloured Birches" and "History", seen from the top down.
It has been a quiet morning so I thought I'd show some love for the artworks and take a few snaps of parts of paintings. If you like the little parts you'll just have to down to see the 'wholes'! I hope you're tempted! Here are two 3D pieces to finish my mini gallery. And now it's just about time for me to leave Artsmill and go and put the lights on in my little space at Hebble End : ) I'm sitting in Artsmill, invigilating the Winter Exhibition , listening to Ludovico Einaudi and it's very pleasant! I'm surrounded by some wonderful work both 2D and 3D : ) Happy to have my two paintings next to Richard Wincer's lovely pieces. Other personal favourites are Louis Benoit and Moira Benoit and Joseph O'Reilly. These three artists offer very different styles of work: Louis' energetic, sensitive line, Moira's earthy palette and strong composition and then the timeless quality in Joseph's fine paintings. The exhibition closes on Friday of this week so, if you're gonna come over YOU'D BETTER GET YOUR SKATES ON!!!  A favourite corner! Richard Wincer, and ceramic pieces by Kay Kennedy and Jen Altman. Paintings by David Kennedy, Dorothy Ann Simister and two by me! Sculpture by Sarah McDade, painting on left is by Moira Benoit Cats jumping off the page by Louis Benoit!It's that time of year when I'm wondering if any my paintings will take on a life in someone's home. I'm happy to say that one of them, 'Many-coloured Birches' is doing just that. The piece had been showing in the Art Room at Spirals shop on Market Street in Hebden Bridge. Here's a snapshot of it:  Many-coloured Birches. Mixed media 23015 (I think) That sale came hot on the heels of a sale from my print cradle at my Hebble End studio. This was an original, I'll post an image later if I can find one!
I'm happy to have had four paintings accepted for the ‘Small Works’ + ‘Micro Art’ exhibition which runs from 10 November through to 31 January 2017 in the fantastic Water Street Gallery in Todmorden. Here's a photo' of the paintings ready to wrap and go later this morning. To the left of the table is a box with Ali Dawson's lovely book art creations which are also on their way to WSG.   Provisional title: 'Through the Heather' or perhaps 'Thin Cloud'?  And this one: 'The Damp Air' perhaps?
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