There and Then

The exhibition came out of a lunch at Kate's house in late July - we were bemoaning the lack of opportunities and our wish to exhibit strong artists together. Before we knew it we had decided and agreed to a group show three weeks later. I was away the following week so frantic activity to decide a title, design an invite/flier, email friends and post on social media.

                                 

                                    

We curated the show together, there were things I had not considered before like flat mounting some pieces and hanging the same themed pieces together.

                                    

We decided that we would would have a mix of all three artists on the ground floor and landings with our own rooms on the middle floor and Kate's work in her beautiful top studio. We explored scale and contrast of styles putting large scale canvas's and small paintings together.

We corralled in helpers to hang the work including my daughter Lucie who was extremely efficient and helpful in my room.  Throughout the two days we discussed how it was working and stayed late in the evening to make adjustments to the placement of work, furniture and lighting.

By Friday it was a case of making sure the price lists were complete and printed out, that the new izettle card machine worked and all pieces were clearly numbered. By 6.30 we were ready  and wondering if anyone would come. We had several helpers willing to make tea, pour wine, take money and make people feel comfortable. A mixture of snacks and homemade food provided a good starting point  in the kitchen and created a relaxed atmosphere.
Much to our amazement Friday night was packed,  Saturday and Sunday had a steady trickle of visitors and sales were made by all three artists.

"Painterly"Developments

The Faber and Faber artist pamphlets pages  often provide the backdrop to my work. Originally the pages were a background and it took awhile to realise that I could digitally print onto the pages.  I had a folder full of paintings that I had detached from the pages which I have used in printmaking, but only recently recognised that I could use them for digital prints as well. The surfaces of the paintings are semi glossy, which changes the colour and appearance of the subject matter of each piece. 

This week I decided to try using the paintings in the work in other ways, partly to bring a more painterly feel  back into my work.

Lobster Pots - cutting up sections from several paintings to recreate a recurring theme

The Dustcart ( painting back onto digital print/ found painting).

Landscape -combining sections from different paintings together  to create a  background to the piece.