Being Overtaken...

I've been rather overtaken by events recently. Mainly I've been on holiday with 'Les Girls' - we went to Oxfordshire - a first for me.

The weather got better and better but the planned trip to Oxford was a bit spoilt by the flooding - poor people - we were just a couple of hours in a traffic jam but we saw streets flooded and homes being pumped out. Had lovely walk round the White Horse and lots of nice coffees out but the best was the laughing - the way only old friends can. Like naughty children we got hands on in a local museum, played cards and stupid party games and laughed till our make up ran and we hurt our diaphragms. Peter Kay has a lot to answer for as '20 going in Jean!' was soon enough to dissolve us into tena moments of hysterics - endorphin rushes left us higher than teenagers on speed!

Sculpture - I have been a bit slack recently what with the holiday and domestic/family duties but I have a list of things I want to make. Getting a good run at it is the problem - dog walking and pony sorting break up the day and I like to more or less make the whole piece in a session to keep it's freshness. I saw the Edward Lear exhibition in the Ashmolean and will use his scarlet macaw to help me make a new piece in paper clay tomorrow.

I've got a black hare and a raven to finish at home and I am quite happy with my fish eagles so here are a couple of pictures:

I am attempting owls too but am finding it very hard to make them look 'real' as opposed to styalised and cartoon-like as it seems to me anything with big eyes can look cute, even a ferocious taloned predator that eats its prey alive! Too much information - I have been listening to Songs of Fire and Ice and that's where the ravens came from so perhaps I should change my audio tape to something about owls but I can only think of Harry Potter!

If there's anyone out there reading my blog - Merry Christmas'!

Swings and Roundabouts

Well this month's down side is I didn't make the Society of Wildlife Artists this year (note the positive attitude) nor did I sell at the Rufford Gallery. However, gentle reader, I have aquired the Old Parsonage in Didsbury for a one person show in May 2013 - I believe it will be the Bank Holiday weekend. I am delighted and thanks to Heather who put a word in for me. It is a large room in a beautiful old house in beautiful gardens. There is pay and display parking at the pub next door and plenty of eateries in the immediate area for visitors making a bit of an outing of it. When I came to Manchester as a student in !970 the Parsonage was an art gallery housing amongst other stuff - Turner sketches. It smelt of polish and there was passion flower growing all round the front door. As a student wandering round, it never occured to me I might have an exhibition of my work here. I have lots of ideas for the exhibition but really have to get my finger out and make some new, exciting pieces as I can not slip up on my own patch! Here's a link to the Parsonage -

                                        www.didsburyparsonagetrust.org.uk

Sue and I took Joy to Todmorden today - mainly to take some more sculpture to the Water Street Gallery where, unlike the Rufford Gallery, the hares are flying off the shelves! Afterwards we had lunch in the 'Worker's Playtime Cafe' (my name for it) a lovely place still stuck in the 50s and then had our usual sqabble over the turning for Uppermill on the way back. Sue declined an ice cream - first time in living memory (well not quite) because it was cold!

The black clay Joe gave me is fabulous and I am making ravens and crows and labradors from the supplies I bought on my last trip to Stoke. Yes, Ruth and I have been back again and bought more clay! We also met with Potclays Technical Manager, John Beeston, who was very helpful in helping us price the cost of firing a kiln. I also now know if anything goes wrong with our firing facilities I can have pieces fired there in an emergency. Below is one of my birds set into a piece of drift wood from Ruth's friend Barabara. I have been on a NPA arranged one day photography course and hopefully will be able to take some better pictures of my work. Definitely need a tripod.    

   

I struggled to get my panicking antelope together and flushed with success left the finished piece on the mantel piece (below). But the weight, tension and araldite gave way and front legs gave out. Not irrepairable but I will have to give in and get a piece of perspex to support the third antelope. One day when I can afford a bronze .........................

 

Logging on

Well, it's taken me half an hour to remember how to log on to my blog page!

I've been busy and I've missed August. Sharon bought the last rolling pony as it was based on her 'Jim', I have got two sculptures and a pastel drawing preselected for the Society of Wildlife Artists and I won the Peoples' Choice prize at the Water Street Gallery. The prize was a voucher for Valentines Clay and Joy and I had a thoroughly enjoyable trip to Stoke to spend it. I bought Scarva paper clay with flax and it's fabulous - wicked expensive but fabulous. Joy splashed out on fancy porcelains and I'm anticipating stunning results, her work is delicate and jewel-like - she has the patience of a saint.

Ruth and I went to Stoke again a few weeks later and managed to go over, under and round Stoke in a merry-go-round of merriment trying to find three different suppliers and still make the pub while they were doing food! We also collected some clay for Joe who is now looking after the ceramic studio at START. He is a charming chap, a recent graduate and award winning ceramicist/designer - and an expert on the wheel. The Pottery Ladies are making the most of him while he is still using the studios and enjoying his enthusiasm and encouragement. He's going to be a great success we're sure, but as recorded for posterity in this blog - 'we knew him before he was famous!' 

Here's a link - www.josephjameshartley.wordpress.com. I turned down his offer of petrol money in favour of one of his bowls. Ruth said I will certainly get the better of the deal - I agree but I reckon it's the only chance I'm going to get of owning an original Joe Hartley!

The above mentioned young man has also cleared the back log of firing, badly timed to coincide with a creative block of my own making. I've nothing on the shelve for firing except a small rolling dog. My time has been taken up with finishing bits and pieces and getting stuff ready to take to The Rufford Craft Centre tomorrow. Sue is coming to ride shotgun, argue with the sat nav and generally reconoiter for coffee/tea shops in between here and Mansfield. Our last little trip was back to Todmorden to take some hares to the Water Street Gallery so fingers crossed they sell and offset the cost of sending the two big pieces to London for the SWLA.

Finally, here is a picture of Poppy. Poppy was my friend Yvonne's much loved pet and she asked me to do a sculpture of her from photos. I was not at all keen as pet portraiture is a minefield, but - yes it looks like her and I was pleased with it as was - more importantly, my friend Yvonne.

Rioja influenced burst of false confidence

Appologies to anyone who looks at my blog - I have been sadly amiss and have not published last month. No real excuse 'cept my daughter's final show, London Graduate fashion week and a holiday with the girls. My girl got a first - I am so proud.

After Joe Cornish I got a couple of pieces in the Stockport Contemporary Open Art Exhibition but no prize or sale this time. I also had six pieces in a NPA exhibition in Todmorden and sold a hare. The gallery owner is very nice and I was very sad she got a flooded cellar when the rains hit Todmorden. Rosemary said she would take some hares if I made some more so I have got started - it is a charming gallery and I will get Anna to put a link on the web site. (An aside here - there is a wonderful fish and chip shop as you go into Tod - they cook in dripping!)

A doctor who saw my work last year at the RDA got in touch and bought 'Double Take'. Bless them - they were boxed up and sent south. I was delighted Alison remembered me and it certainly shows that this site works!

I have entered three pieces online for the Society of Wildlife Artists. Bit cheeky this I think as the member artists of this society are world class and most of the gallery has outstanding work by established and well known artists I would not even consider comparing myself to. Still if you don't try ....... and once the send button is clicked on a rioja influenced burst of false confidence there is not much you can do about it anyway. I had to justify there being twenty-four zebra in James' (son) room and there is a picture below of one of the entries.

Finally, this morning an email arrived from Becca with some fabulous paintings. I would love one of these and Joy, who was round for coffee, loved them too. A quick phone call and Becca has allowed me to publish a couple here. They are based on the sculpture she bought from me - Hare on the Moon.

Betty's - TWICE!

Bit late with this one I afraid.Well, what a lot to report. 

The Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton is fabulous! What a lovely space. Sue drove me there with the sculptures and we had four season's weather in a day. Once delivered we had a wander into town and found Betty's! Say no more. Janie and I went back on the train to attend the opening and once again - Betty's! When we walked into the galleries there were already a lot of people there and when I introduced myself to one of the staff  she beamed and said' 'I sold one of yours before I had a chance to hang it on the wall!' What a treat, I think that was the only sale to date but I am delighted to be showing in such a super gallery. Another treat was that as we came down the stairs I saw a big grinning beard smiling up at me - John and Joy had come along with their friends to the opening. They made me feel very special. The day was rounded off with a young couple on the train in wedding clothes, going on their honeymoon to the delight of all the other passengers. The brides trainers set her dress off a treat and the atmosphere was wonderful.

I've got into another group show at Todmorden in June - 'All Creatures Great and Small' its called and I'm sending a piece to the Mall Galleries to enter the Society of Women Artists again.
But what I am really pleased about are my new zebras. I have made some heads and some figures that stand together to make a two or three piece sculpture.I will enter these for the Stockport Open I think I will put some photos on this blog soon as I take some. The blog will still be here although Anna is working on the site.

Finally I have made contact with a lady who saw one of my pieces at the EAC last year. She came to Manchester and we had a great day and found we had quite a lot in common. She is a painter and building up her confidence to begin exhibiting. Good luck Becca - you can do it!

Milanese hot chocolate

The Waterside took one sculpture - Happy Dog. It looks OK in its glass case right next door to Steve's Sunday Afternoon painting which I think is the best in the exhibition. The opening evening was so crowded Sue and I only stayed 20 minutes and Sharon and I went back last Friday. We agreed that it was a very eclectic mix and were happy to have our work on show there - Sharon had a photograph of Sally and Jim (horses) accepted. Afterwards we descended on Cafe Nero and I introduced her to the indulgent delight of luxury Milanese hot chocolate!!! Truely wicked and gorgeous and eclipsing the enthusiasm for fine art any day!
Going to Stoke tomorrow to get the Pottery Ladies' orders. It seemed unfair that I was the one who wanted all the clay and we were going to share the carriage. Anyway, the nice young man at National Tyres has topped up my air and assured me 100kg shouldn't make much difference - it's only two people after all!
I have asked Anna to redesign the web site as I think it is a bit fussy and folksy. To that end I have done some 'arty' photos of details to be included and written a bit about the ideas behind the pieces. Here they are -

 

Working on zebras and dogs still and trying different methods of making stripes - watch this space for the results.

White Charger not obligatory!

Happy New Year to anyone who's reading this!

I'm shattered, yesterday (Sunday) I worked in my workshop downstairs from 9.30am to 10.30pm with a couple of meal breaks and little dog walks. Today I went to the studio and worked hard again for another 5 hours. It is all Ruth's fault! She talked me into joining the Northern Potters Association and then encouraged me to have a go at a couple of applications to join group shows. Well, to be fair I didn't need much encouragement being a competative soul. I sent in photos. The surprise was both the Joe Cornish Gallery in Northallerton and the Rufford Gallery in Nottinghamshire both wanted 6 pieces! They wanted wall pieces in the spirit of the 'Every morning in Africa...' theme so that set me off making elephants and zebras both wall reliefs and ordinary sculptures.

Zebras are strange beasties - when I actually started looking they arn't the horse shape I expected, they are stocky and rounded and they have much shorter thin legs and tiny hooves, not helpful in clay but I want to try using painted wax resist and oxide to give an idea of the patterns. It is beautiful the way the stripes wrap themselves around the bodies.

I also took three pieces to the selection weekend for the Waterside Open in Trafford. It was two years ago when I badgered Sharon into entering with me and got my first two pieces accepted in an exhibition. That started it all off, I would never have predicted how far I would have come in two years. The lady who booked my pieces remembered me and my work and I found myself childishly delighted. Sue drove me down there so I didn't have to carry the crate further than necessary. My friends have been marvellous to me and helped and encouraged me every inch of the way. I love my chums!

Will's drying/kiln room at Start looks like a menagerie at the moment and I have left him a note explaining why. I look forward very much to getting my own kiln and to that end I did a very 'bad thing' this weekend - I viewed a house with a double garage with permission for change of use( to a studio?!) I loved it and the 'bad thing' bit was I am not suposed to view any houses till we have a buyer for ours as it will only lead to disappointment. Too late.

If there is anyone out there who would like a lovely old four storey Victorian house in Didsbury please come and buy mine - our lives are on hold until someone with sufficiant funds comes along - white charger not obligatory!