Peter Swanson Pottery

Today, I had the great pleasure of being introduced to Peter Swanson's pottery.  I dropped off some work at the Thoresby Gallery, and the work was being set up for an exhibition that starts tomorrow and runs until the 16th of October.  The work looked so elegant in the well lit space, the glazes are magnificent.  The Cornish potter uses ash glazes, influenced by Japanese techniques.  His pots included teapots and tea bowls for a Japanese tea ceremony.  Peter has definitely made his peace with the Kiln God.  The pieces were magnificent.

A bit different

Flowers in Grandma's vase.  Ink, collage and stitch.

From the garden. Ink, collage and stitch.

I was invited to submit work for an exhibition called 'Flowers' at the Thoresby gallery.  Here's what I came up with.

The sun shone!

Polly Dunbar illustration

I hope it was a good weekend.  I really needed the sun to shine and it did.  It was wonderful to be in the garden, getting ready for Spring, the boys playing, chickens having a grub-up and the cats looking non-plussed with it all.  Not the best day to escape to the cinema, but a promise is a promise, and Tangled delivered in all the right, Walt Disney ways.  I know it wasn't me who needed the parental guidance, but that witch really was scary!  I also found a grown up moment to sit with a coffee and read the new Selvedge magazine.  Bliss.

I really enjoyed this interview with Tad Carpenter, especially the images showing design development from drawing to digital artwork.  I'm endlessly fascinated by creative process, from inspiration to realisation.

Sold!

On the Breeze HH2010

I've just found out that I've sold this piece at Opus Gallery, Ashbourne.  Just wishing it a fond farewell.  I'm busy working towards my exhibition there in April.  Hopefully more sales to come!

ps.  Great news!  I've sold a small piece at Thoresby Gallery!

Hibernate HH2010

Seasons Change

Seasons Change 43cm x 17cm

Arc of Light 43cm x 17cm

Here are two pieces I completed last week in response to the changing season. The colours are getting more subdued, but also richer.  The light is more diffused across the landscape.  It's my favourite time of year.  I love the duality of Autumn.  The suprise of days, the not knowing if it'll be cool all day or burn through into a majestic day spiced with colour.  The vicarious weather patterns play havoc with the barometer in my head, swinging from being calm and introverted to full of energy and drive.  The cooler days fill me with a sense of dread at the long winter ahead and the near constant darkness but for now I am in my element, harvesting light and colour to get me through the darker days to come.

There's currently an exhibition on images of trees in art at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.  The exhibition looks at our dependence on trees as a building material and their symbolic presence in British Art, particularly the oak tree as symbol of British identity.

Blue to Red

Nottinghamshire has a rich history as the Dukeries and is packed with stately homes that have been renovated and remodelled as galleries and art workshops.  Among my favourites are Rufford, Thoresby, and Staunton Harold Ferrer's Centre (ok, that's Leicestershire).  One that I've been meaning to discover is the Harley Gallery near Worksop.

Tipped off by Maebh Warburton's blog about the current exhibition, "Follow a Thread", we combined our visit to Thoresby with a stop at the Harley Gallery.

                                     

Where Thoresby is stone, highlighted with blue paintwork, the Harley is highlighted with red.  It's a stunning gallery space.

The exhibition featured the work of six artist-makers from Edinburgh, each specialising in contemporary tapestry.  My favourites were Jo Barker and Linda Green.  Having started to weave tapestries (okay.....tapestry.....still on going)  the technical control and ability of Jo Barker is outstanding.  Her ability to paint with thread and keep the surface alive is beautiful.  Like a true textiles groupy I couldn't help sneaking a look at the back of the tapestry and loved the hanging threads and rich pallette.

Jo Barker tapestry

Jo Barker tapestry (detail)

Linda Green's work was inspiring in a different way.  I loved the way she's challenged notions of cloth and weave and created a mini-museum of samples that push the boundaries of fibre art.  These tiny pieces (10cm to 30cm tall) reminded me of anthropological finds from Africa or the Far East that could be musical instruments or jewellery. These pieces led  me to challenge my own assumptions about what a tapestry should be and what it should be constructed from.

Linda Green tapestry studies

I'm looking forward to returning to the Harley Gallery for the Slow Craft exhibition at Easter.

Out and About

Luckily we've seen some first inklings of Spring sunshine and I've lifted out of my gloom.  The sun didn't follow us up to Thoresby when we had a day out to drop off my work.  As we went north, the weather closed in, thick fog swirling across from the forest, driving through layers of grey.  Occasionally a splash of heightened colour, a pistachio coloured field or richly painted house, would awake the senses and shock the monochrome landscape.

I dropped off two pieces for the Snowdrop exhibition which starts on the 27th of February.  This one is called "The Robin and the Snowdrops", to complement "One leaf left".

Workshops and Gallery at Thoresby Hall.

Did it!

 Sunrise 30cm x 30cm Mixed Media SOLD

 Echo 30 cm x 30cm Mixed Media

 

 Evening 30cm x 30cm Mixed Media SOLD

 Moon 30cm x 30cm Mixed Media

I'm really pleased to be able to post the completed work for the Thoresby Gallery. I like the balance between the four pieces and really felt that the mixed media style started working for me. I'm inspired to carry on working in this way and want to do some work that's a little more illustrative. I like the landscape but would like to introduce a human or animal element and might use some poetry as a starting point. I've been reading Ted Hughes but finding it a bit bleak, though very much anchored in the landscape and natural world. I've been looking too at Aesop's Fables, a favourite from childhood, with their anthropomorphic animal characters and morally sound conclusions.

Aswell as wanting to keep up the pace with the framed pieces, I've a renewed energy with the tapestry work. I like the process of editing a mixed media piece and simplifying it into shapes for tapestry. I'm excited too to try and interpret "Moon" above for tapestry. I love the pallette and some of the random marks and touches of heightened colour. I'd like to do a series on trees and tree of life motifs as they have such a strong cultural significance in textiles from around the world. I have an idea to try tapestry weaving on an inkle loom so I can weave images but on long bands and break out of the restricted format on the frame loom.

As usual, there aren't enough hours in the day!!

Through the Storm

It's been a good week creatively. I've had a piece accepted for the Thoresby Gallery open exhibition. It's called 'Through the Storm'. It's a collage, ink and stitch piece that I worked from memory after travelling through a summer storm. I was struck by the darkness of the sky against the light summer fields.

I'm really excited because the gallery have asked me to do some work to sell in their gallery shop. I'll post up how the work develops.