A Trip To Hove

The sun shone brightly, the sea air was fresh and breezy. The colourful beach huts almost glowed in the sunshine. A row of squawking seagulls sat on the rusty iron railings. A scruffy little dog ran past. "Good Afternoon!", cried a man with a long orange coat, a stripey scarf and a wide brimmed hat. As we walked along the promenade at Brighton it felt just like the scenes in our collection of Sam Toft's Mr Mustard pictures.

One of the first pictures we bought together was a limited edition print called "No Sheep On The Beach" by Sam. (By the way did we mention we collect sheep art?) We came across the picture in Gallerina in Darlington, Sam's official northern agent, and simply couldn't resist it. This began our mini collection of Mr Mustard pictures and ever since then we've wanted to go to one of Sam's open studio events. Finally, last weekend, we managed it.

As we entered Sam's Brown Dog Studio, there was a Christmassy atmosphere with seasonal music in the background, mince pies, mulled wine and popcorn! Sadly, we'd just had lunch so had to pass on the mince pies.

The place was packed with people. In fact, this was the busiest open studio either of us can remember visiting. Everyone seemed to be buying something: framed prints, signed artist's proofs, books, greeting cards and more. There were also some new pictures that we hadn't seen before. We snapped up a 2012 calendar and a couple from previous years. Unfortunately, this was all we could carry home on the train.

While we were there, Sam asked us if we would like to send a message of hope to Jabbar Savalan, a young man imprisoned in Azerbaijan after calling for protests against the Azerbaijan government. From 3rd to 17th December 2011, people from over seventy countries will take part in Amnesty International's annual Letter Writing Marathon, writing letters, signing petitions, sending SMS messages and taking action online to demand that Jabbar's rights are respected. Sam was preparing a letter to the Azerbaijan President and we were pleased to write a brief message of hope to Jabbar on a card. More from Amnesty International.

Sam is a keen to support various charities with her work and proceeds from some of the sales at the studio will also go to Sightsavers.

We enjoyed our visit to Sam's studio and were pleased to have met one of our favourite artists. We'll certainly go back again soon, to catch up with Sam and see how the Mustard story has moved on.

Check out more about Sam and the Mustards at Sam Toft's web site.

Vicky And Vince,

Love Your Art.

John Jones Linoprints

One of the highlights of our day visiting Scarborough recently was calling in to John Jones' studio a few miles to the north of the town. We wanted to visit John as Vicky likes linocut prints.

John uses the reduction block method to create his prints. This involves building up a picture with layers of different coloured ink, working from lighter to darker shades. For each layer areas of the lino surface are carved or etched to form the printing area needed for the layer. When the final layer is complete, the block can't be used to make any more prints as the patterns for all the previous layers have been reduced to the final one. The end result is not only visually attractive but is also a high quality piece of art.

We were given a demonstration of the actual printing process using a linocut of a goose that John had previously used to make Christmas cards. He used a roller to apply ink to the lino then positioned the block in the press, a hand-operated Albion platen press from around 1830. In a matter of seconds, he had a perfect print of a goose!

John normally uses photographs or drawings to guide his work, either copying them closely or simply using them to inspire his own interpretation of the subject. Although he doesn't favour any particular themes in his work, we did notice that there are quite a few windows - stylish Georgian fanlights, Gothic style windows framing the scenes beyond them and, our favourite, images representing the seasons viewed through the window of a railway carriage.

As we were about to leave, John gave us the goose print he had made - a lovely reminder of our visit.

Vicky and Vince,
Love Your Art

Is It A Bird?

At one of the open studios we visited in Scarborough last week, we came across some unusual pictures of birds. They were painted in mainly blue and green hues with the bird placed centrally with the surrounding area being a gentle blend of similar colours around the subject. But looking more closely our curiosity was aroused when we realised that the pictures had been painted on pieces of textured surface wallpaper.

Susan Slann, the artist who produces these intriguing pieces of art, takes sections of textured wallpaper and finds images hidden in the swirling, floral patterns in the paper. She then paints the image that emerges and colours the surrounding area. These works and other, more abstract ones, are part of Susan's exploration of how the mind works, especially how memories are uncovered.

Susan told us that she allows the images in the wallpaper to reveal themselves to her, she doesn't try to force a picture on the paper. At the studio we saw several pictures in this style with pigeons, blue tits, a swift, a hare and a brain.

The brain is, in fact, one of Susan's favourite pictures. It isn't depicted as anatomical text books would show it but more in the way that a person might feel about their brain. The result is a bold, striking picture in strong red hues that certainly stops you in your tracks.

We'll look out for Susan's works again, they represent a fascinating concept - how to understand memory - and we won't forget them in a hurry.

Why not visit Susan Slann's web site?

Vicky and Vince,

Love Your Art.

Time For A Break

Saturday found us driving across the normally beautiful North Yorkshire Moors through mist and pouring rain to visit some of the Open Studios in Scarborough. By the time we arrived we were ready for a cup of tea and fortunately found one at our first port of call: Woodend Art and Craft Gallery.

"Designed To A Tea" was a small exhibition of works inspired by tea drinking. We liked the delicate, if impractical, wire cups by Helaina Sharpley. Vicky also loved the teabag necklace and sugar cube earrings by Angela Knipe.

In the adjoining room was an exhibition featuring a huge variety of teacups, made or decorated by members of the community. Artist Jane Poulton had been commissioned to work with local groups to create these decorative and often amusing cups. Some had been made from cardboard or paper, some were decorated with paint or with pictures stuck on them. One was even covered in used postage stamps! This was a delightful show with so many different styles, shapes and colours to see.

After a refreshing cuppa, we had a look round some of the other studios that were open in the Woodend building. In Sally Jubb's studio we especially liked the colourful pastel land/seascapes. Lindsey Tyson's textile art along with her delicate, flowing wraps appealed more to Vicky than Vince! And Vince instantly recognised Sally Gatie's paintings of people lying on pretty, decorative bedding, having seen her work last year at the Great North Art Show.

We also found time to call in to a couple of other studios in the area and hope to report on these in our next posts. Sadly we didn't see much of Scarborough itself, only catching a glimpse of the sea through the arches of the Spa Bridge. Perhaps next year we'll have to make it a full weekend.

Although the Open Studios event is over for this year, you can keep a look out for information about next year's event at the NYOS web site.

You can read more about Woodend Creative Workspace.

Vicky And Vince,

Love Your Art.

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

If Toucan You Can Too

We've been back to Croft village hall where Fran Connelly and Petra Lloyd were exhibiting their artwork as part of the North Yorkshire Open Studios event. For a couple of weekends, artists across North Yorkshire are throwing open the doors of their studios or holding exhibitions and demonstrations of their work. These open studio events are a great way to meet up with your favourite artists or get to know about some new ones. We were able to chat with Fran and Petra about their work and see a broader range of the things they do.

We mentioned Petra's toucans in a previous blog and were delighted to see an even wider selection to choose from than last time. Petra was half way through making one of her ceramic toucans. She explained to us about the clay, how she shaped and carved it and how it was fired using a process called Raku. The Raku firing is a technique, developed in the Far East, that extracts oxygen from the glaze, allowing the metals within it to form unique and distinctive colours such as blues, greens, copper and bronze. As we listened to her explanations, Petra thrust the half finished toucan into Vicky's hands, encouraging her to work at some of the carved detail around the eyes. This kind of interaction with the artists makes these events really interesting and fun. We were so impressed with the way the toucans were made and the wonderful end results that we just had to buy one. We look forward to it landing on on top of our display shelves next week.

The way that Petra's toucans and other ceramics were displayed alongside Fran's gorgeous, dramatically-coloured pastel skyscapes (yes, we bought one of those too) created an attractive display. The mix of different styles worked very well together.

Unfortunately we were not able to visit any of the other open studios last weekend but if we are free next weekend, look out for us.

Find out more at http://www.nyos.org.uk.

Vicky and Vince,
Love Your Art