Tuesday, 26 October 2010

Teesdale Open Studios

Open studio events are a convenient way to have a day out visiting artists, enjoying their art and exploring the local area. So last weekend, foregoing our Sunday lie-in, we headed off to Barnard Castle where members of Teesdale Artists' Network are throwing their studios open to art lovers.

Our first call was on John and Pam Pickering. Pam was showing some of her delightful felt pictures based on mythical themes and the natural world. She explained how she embroidered the felt panels both by hand and using a special sewing machine. When producing commissioned work, she likes to include images and symbols that have some connection and meaning to the client.

John showed us a wide range of his paintings, many depicting scenery and landmarks in and around Barnard Castle. His style is strongly influenced by his background in graphic design and screen printing. We particularly admired his paintings of Venice. John likes to visit Venice to find scenes to paint and has found these pictures are very popular with art viewers and buyers.

Next we headed for the Spice Island Restaurant. Not for lunch but to see pictures by Rennie Hamilton (see picture above). Her abstract landscapes and rock formations are influenced by climate change. Rennie told us that she is more an artist than an environmentalist but painting these pictures is her way of helping to raise awareness of ecological issues. We liked the bold style and colours of her paintings.

Our final visit was to Suzanne Tweddle's studio where she produces exquisite glass beads using lampworking techniques. Suzanne actually made a bead while we were there. It was fascinating to watch the demonstration as she melted a rod of coloured glass onto a stainless steel mandrel. She then added dots of different coloured glass. As the whole thing finally melted together and the glowing blob of glass began to cool down, a gorgeous colourful, patterned bead emerged. Suzanne uses the beads to create unique items of jewellery, hand made from start to finish.

We are fast becoming fans of open studios. The events are informal, there is no pressure to buy anything when you visit and the artists are pleased to discuss their work and answer questions. In some cases the artists or makers are happy to demonstrate their techniques to visitors. Although the wide choice of studios to visit can make it tricky to decide who to go and see, with a little bit of advanced planning you can have a great day out.

The Teesdale open studios continue all this week in and around Barnard Castle, ending on Sunday 31st October 2010. There are more details on the web site at www.teesdaleopenstudios.co.uk


Love Your Art,
Vicky and Vince

Tuesday, 19 October 2010

Credit Crunch Art

Times are tough. The future's uncertain. Everyone's short of money and along comes the perfect picture you've been waiting for. Or in our case, three of them.

We don't want to miss this opportunity but buying so much art may not be the best use of funds during the credit crunch. On the other hand, we don't want to wait or we may miss out.

So should our personal cutbacks affect our art collecting or can we justify buying art in a recession? Here are eight good reasons that we use.

1. It's cheaper than a holiday. Of course it depends where you go: giving up a wet weekend in Bognor may not pay for the Mona Lisa but postponing that two weeks at a 5-star hotel in the Seychelles could buy you some very nice artworks.

2. You can cut back on other things. Try living on baked beans for a week, or three...

3. It's an investment - you'll be able to sell it in thirty years to fund your pension, probably.

4. It cheers you up every time you look at it. (Vicky uses that excuse every time she gets a new pair of shoes.)

5. Your friends will think you're really wealthy and not about to lose your job.

6. You can sell the yacht. (Are you listening Vince?)

7. You can buy your next picture from a charity shop. You might even find that lost Van Gogh hidden by the Nazis. Even if you don't it still provides entertainment seeing all the rubbish, sorry, treasures that people have thrown out.

8. Retail therapy works.


So this weekend we'll resurrect the credit cards and go on a spending spree.

Now we're off to have dinner. Guess it will be beans on toast again tonight.


Love your Art
Vicky and Vince,

Thursday, 14 October 2010

Going Back In Time

I must be dreaming. I am. I'm dreaming. I can't believe it. I've travelled back in time to when I was six years old and I'm surrounded by dozens of pictures of Thomas, Percy, Henry and the Fat Controller. Back then I was a huge fan of Thomas the Tank Engine. Those little oblong books, full of wonderful stories and brilliant pictures, were what childhood was all about.

But hang on, it's 2010 now, I'm not six years old any more (sadly). How can this be possible? Well, I'm at an exhibition of original illustrations from the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends comics. There are over a hundred pictures here; many black and white drawings, some in colour, depicting all the popular characters from the stories, old and new.

To add to the excitement, the exhibition is in a converted railway station, in Richmond, North Yorkshire. And what's more, all the pictures are all for sale!

These original pen and ink drawings were created by the late Timothy Marwood for the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends comics. They include cover illustrations as well as the stories inside the comics.

With so many magical pictures here it is almost impossible to pick a favourite. The quality and detail is fantastic. I must have looked at each picture 3 or 4 times at least. Eventually I recognised the images from a story I remembered reading all those years ago. It told the worrying tale of how Thomas was low on water but found the water tank out of order. The fireman saved the day when he refilled Thomas's tanks from a nearby stream using only a bucket full of holes!

Vicky's favourite was set in the countryside and showed a charming scene with two children receiving an Easter egg from the Fat Controller with Thomas and James in the background. No doubt they were being rewarded for preventing a major disaster on the railway. Sadly, Vicky, quite an avid reader, has never read the Thomas books. Perhaps this visit will inspire her to do so.

I suppose the question on your mind now is whether we bought one of the illustrations. Well, I think you probably know the answer to that already. A charming drawing of Thomas with Annie and Clarabel is now waiting at the signals until we find a space for them on our walls.

The show continues until 31st October 2010.

Read more about the Thomas show.

Visit the official Thomas web site.


Vince (aged 6+),
Love Your Art

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Two Different Worlds

Several events over recent weeks have prompted us to think about how the art world goes about showing and selling art. It seems there are two main styles - formal and informal.

In previous posts we have written about Gallerina and their friendly, relaxed approach, the open-plan exhibitions at Richmond Station where you can browse at leisure all day long if you want and the Matombo sculpture displays with their "have a go yourself" feature.

These ways of seeing and buying art are easy, enjoyable and fun.

On the other hand, some of the commercial galleries we have visited have made us feel quite uncomfortable, even nervous, as though we don't belong to their exclusive art-set.

We went into such a gallery a few weeks ago. The walls were plain, cold white. The pictures and ceramics were displayed in neat, rigid rows, with official looking descriptions, equally neatly aligned next to them.

The owner was just as rigid and predictable. He hovered in the background looking almost like one of his works of art (perhaps a self-installation?). We were "allowed" to wander round the displays. But when we stopped at a picture, he pounced and gave us a lengthy lecture about the artist's life and the concepts behind this amazing work of art. Oh, and he owned a collection of works by that artist too.

We rapidly worked our way back to the door and left the gallery dazed by the intense experience. Time for a coffee and large slice of cake to wind down!

Like most people, we are interested in art for the pleasure it gives us. We can admire the skills of the artists and collect the works we find attractive. We want to enjoy the experience. Gallery owners and curators can help us to learn about the art we are interested in, help us to choose which pieces of art to buy and put us at ease. If we are comfortable and relaxed, we might even spend more money than we ought to.


Love Your Art,
Vicky and Vince

Tuesday, 5 October 2010

That's The Way To Do It

If we asked you to guess who won the recent customer services survey in Darlington, you might suggest it was one of the big supermarkets, a popular department store or a designer clothes shop.

But this year, the award for the best customer service in own was won by Gallerina, a commercial art gallery on Duke Street.

The survey was organised by Darlington Borough Council and Darlington Town Centre Traders' Association who sent out mystery shoppers over the summer to find out which businesses gave the best service to their customers.

Brother and sister team Richard and Helen Hindle, who run Gallerina, are both delighted to win the award and put it down to their friendly, relaxed approach, creating an atmosphere where you can browse at leisure and not feel intimidated.

Our experience of the gallery confirms that this philosophy works. Whenever we've popped into Gallerina, we've invariably found Richard enthusiastically discussing an interesting artist with a customer or helping someone to choose the best type of frame for a particular painting.

In fact, when I (Vince) called in to discuss writing this blog, Richard was sat on the sofa chatting with customers over a cuppa. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to join them.

Gallerina's approach has helped them to grow over twelve years to become one of the leading sellers of contemporary art in the area. The gallery currently has displays by Tom McGuiness and Peter Blake as well as a varied mixture of works by many talented artists.

Check out the Gallerina web site.

Love Your Art,
Vicky and Vince