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.

MULTI TASKING...

On Sunday I went to collect my 2 unsold pictures from the RBSA Prize Exhibition. I was so pleased that I'd sold one picture, but I was a touch puzzled as last week Mum took a call from the RBSA to say that I'd sold a different picture to the one we'd seen the red sticker on when we went to see the show a few weeks ago. Anyway, the lady at the RBSA took me downstairs to collect my unsold picture. We found the one unsold picture okay, but the other was not to be found. Upstairs, the young girl on reception checked the records, 'you've sold two pictures'.

I couldn't believe it! I garbled my thanks, my pleasure and my sheer amazement and left swinging my lone unsold picture in my portfolio like a child coming home from a happy daytrip!

To celebrate I treated myself to an Iced Mint Latte at Costa. The attendant was new I think, and messed up my order, but I was so happy I sat on the train for 20 minutes in New Street Station gurgling with pleasure and chilled minty coffee disbelieving how lucky I've been these past few weeks, selling two pictures and winning the Derwent prize. I'd have to go back more than 20 years to the summer of 1984 to think of another such lucky time. Maybe I'll blog about that time later. That was the summer I left school, won a couple of prizes, travelled to London with my father, shook hands with Paul McCartney and started Birmingham Poly' on an Art and Design Foundation Course. It was a bit of a roller coaster.

I've begun a few new pictures experimenting with different approaches. Here are the first stages.

I begun this pen and ink drawing of Mullion Cove about 10 years ago, from a photo' I took on a very happy holiday in August 1998. I abandoned it then and found it again while clearing out some old papers the other day. I stretched it (Rowney Kandahar Ink is extremely waterproof!) and have begun working on it again.