No one sees, how shaky my knees...

On Sunday G drove me to Birmingham to pick up my large drawing from Gas Hall. The guy who handed my picture over said that about 20 or so pictures had sold altogether, so I was very lucky in selling mine. He said 'we all liked this one,' re: my large pen and ink drawing. Which was very nice of him. But then again, he probably says that to all the artists.

The next West Midlands Open will be held in 2 years time at Wolverhampton art gallery, and will be back in Birmingham, all being well, in 4 years time. I was told 'there are lots of opens to enter'. Which is true, but my problem at the moment is that now I'm working full-time I can't make many of the handing in dates because I'm working, or if I can hand in, I can't collect, and the galleries seem to be inflexible regarding pick ups and deliveries. G's doing me a huge favour tommorow in picking up my drawing from The Waterside Open, which is finished now, and the gallery wouldn't hold onto my drawing for another week so I could fetch it next week. All in all it's very difficult for artists to enter opens if A. They don't drive (like me) and B they work for an employer (like me also).

Some more progress of my 2 colour pieces. The small blossom picture is finished...


But the larger one is still a work in progress. A frustrating one too. I started off liking parts of it, but then made the fatal error of asking my Mum what she thought. After a moment's silence she said, 'I don't like it, it's blobby.'


So I'm now trying to unblobby it. I knew there were problems but I've got so little time at the moment, and I've invested quite a bit in this one. I'm loathe to discard it yet.


On our way home from Birmingham on Sunday G drove us to Tanworth-in-Arden where Nick Drake has a memorial stone. I think he was cremated and his ashes scattered, I'm not sure where. I've been listening to lots of Nick Drake lately, I find his music both mesmerising, comforting and discomforting. A glorious combination.

A NICE SURPRISE

G drove me back up the M6 yesterday to see the Waterside Open. It's a varied exhibition which includes photography, surprising to me as this is often excluded from Opens. The emphasis was on kitsch pop arty type work, of which there were several very nice examples. I particularly liked an endearingly garish kitsch piece by Lisa Ashcroft. Other pieces in the pop art vein included paintings by Nichola Brockelmann andGemma Parker . There was a strong emphasis on crafts with some striking ceramic and 3d pieces and plenty of mixed media work. My favourite piece was Emma Louise Lloyd's open book with its intricately carved surface that reminded me of a relief map of a mountain range. I like work in which one thing is transformed into another, altering books is a whole genre in itself. This artist's work is an excellent example, no surprise that it won the Best In Trafford Award.


Third prize at the exhibition went to Steven Proudfoot who has 2 paintings on show, both very nicely executed slices of life that reminded me of stills from a 1960's kitchen sink drama. First prize went to Deborah Newbold's sculpture, this artist's playful/thought provoking title (from memory it's something like 'Death is not an end but the begining of a journey') made me think of Damien Hirst's shark.


I was slightly disappointed that my drawing wasn't hung in the main Lauriston Gallery but in the less obviously glamorous Gallery Bar, the gallery to the right as you enter the main doors of the Waterside Arts Centre, opposite reception. Huge windows take up the entire wall of one side of this long room facing the wall where the majority of the exhibits hang. Placing glazed work opposite a window obviously causes problems. When I visited it was sunny and many of the glazed pieces were difficult to see because of reflections. In the Gallery Bar however there are many excellent pieces, including some colourful embroidery by Doreen Caldwell with beautiful and intricate textures, and two lovely colourful floral watercolours by Gillian French which were hidden away in the corner behind another exhibit.

I was very pleasantly surprised to see that my picture had been Highly Commended, and as only a handful of other pieces at the exhibition were Highly Commended I'm extremely pleased that the judges felt that my picture should share this honour.

All in all a very enjoyable visit to a lively and accessible art centre.


The wintry photographs on this page were taken at the National Trust owned Dunham Massey, just a few miles from Sale.

TO SALE AND BACK VIA HOBBYCRAFT WORLD

It was back up the motorway again today to collect my unselected work from the Waterside Arts Centre. While I was there I took time to visit the last day of an exhibition of paintings by Walter Kershaw, one of the selectors on the panel of the Waterside Open.

I really enjoyed this exhibition, which was my first visit to the spacious and well lit Lauriston Gallery. Walter Kershaw created the largest industrial mural in Europe for Trafford, and there are studies and photographs recording this on display here, as well as many large and small scale landscapes plus several paintings from his extensive travels. I was intrigued by one painting of a group of young women signed by a female name which appeared to be an anagram of Walter Kershaw. I could have asked the artist himself, as he stood nearby chatting with a small group of people. This added to the pleasant, laid back atmosphere in the gallery, which was very busy with interested folk of all ages.

My particular favourites were a tall painting of high rise apartments which was full of colour and skewed perspective, and a painting on hardboard of cooling towers, which had some really interesting shapes, almost abstract whilst being firmly rooted in the figurative. There were also some lovely snowscapes, which reminded me of how gorgeous everything looked this time last week when G and I drove up through the winter wonderland to deliver my drawings.
Nearly all of the snow was gone today. Just a few greying lumps lingered here and there, the remains of melted snowmen I assumed.

The canal outside the Waterside Art Centre was still frozen, but this time rather than being pristine and pure, the ice had just the opposite effect emphasising the grimmier aspects of everyday living; cigarette butts and drinks cans sat on the greyish crust, along with an array of yellow golf balls!



Last night I made another drawing of my Christmas Poinsettia. I'm quite pleased with this one, which inspired me to buy some more pens from Hobbycraft at Bridgmere, where G kindly took me on the way home. I'm suddenly filled with inspiration and new ideas for the spring. Won't jinx it though by typing it out loud as I seem to have done with so many ideas before, or like golf balls on the ice they might just sink slowly into oblivion!

WATERSIDE OPEN 2010

I was very pleased to receive an acceptance of a drawing for the 2010 Waterside Open, to be held at the Lauriston Gallery in Sale. For one thing, I'm relieved that I didn't beg G the favour of driving me up to Manchester last Saturday for nothing (we'll be paying a return visit this Saturday, as I had one drawing not accepted - think 'glass half full' Kay, I keep telling myself). I'm really pleased though, especially as this week hasn't been wonderful for me. I've been in some pain with a problem with my right hand, which yesterday erupted into a huge lumpy bruise (swollen knuckes, painful joints and skin that looks like orange peel with a rash). I'm doing my best to work through the pain though. If I can't do my artwork, or hold a pen to write, I don't know what I'll do.

I've been enjoying the snow his week, even though it makes commuting difficult. This is one of the few times I'm glad I can't drive. I don't envy all those stressed, snowbound drivers digging themselves out of parking spaces, turning over frozen engines.

The beauty of snow touches me every time. I thought today that with all those contrasts of black on white, it's the closest I get to walking into one of my drawings. Last Saturday was actually a gorgeous day, and after G and I dropped off my drawings we called at Tatton Park for lunch, and to glory in the magic.

I've made a little more progress on my re-working of 'Wood From The Trees'.