Do The Locomotion

One of the last places you might expect to see an art exhibition is in a railway museum. But Durham County Council have been using Locomotion, the National Railway Museum at Shildon, to display the entries in a local art competition.

The pictures were framed between towering steam engines and crumbling carriages. We expected to see lots of pictures of trains. In fact, there were only a couple but with paintings and sculptures from over 100 artists, we had plenty to look at.

The first prize of £1000 had already been awarded to Dr M Quinn with a charming painting of "Sessy", an older lady sitting in a chair, sewing. It had lots of fine detail and the artist had caught the light from an adjacent window very well.


The fun thing about an art competition is that you can pick your own, unofficial, winner. We agreed with the judges that the painting of "Sessy" was excellent but set about looking for the ones we preferred. We particularly liked the pictures of local places; countryside as well as town views. Also the intimate portraits of people who were probably friends or neighbours of the artists. "Solitude" by A Jackson evoked a mystical feeling in both of us and we marvelled at the detail in two miniature paintings by R Earnshaw.

And so to our winners. Vince chose the wooden carving "Resting Miner" by A Brookes. The detail was fantastic and the organic shape very realistic. You could almost hear the miner snoring away in a corner.

Vicky plumped for the portrait of "Seamus The Cat" by Lydia le Brun. "He's got such a cute expression!" Vicky exclaimed. She also liked the kaleidescope of bright colours chosen by the artist.

Running an art competition is a great way to show the work of local artists. Displaying their works in the middle of a popular railway museum also connects with people who may not have visited conventional galleries.

Vicky and Vince,

Love Your Art

In The Frame

This post has been updated. Visit our web site to read more about picture frames.

Vince,
Love Your Art

Croft Art Exhibition

The other week we went to a local art exhibition in Croft, a small village near Darlington. From the outside Croft Village Hall didn't look promising, a scruffy portacabin that had seen better days. Never being ones to judge a book by its cover, we decided it was worth taking a look. Other people thought so too as a good number were arriving to view and buy.

The work of Croft village art group was on display alongside the works of local artists including Petra Lloyd, Fran Connelly and Lone Helliwell. Most of the pieces on display were for sale though I was disappointed to discover that two of the pictures I really liked were marked "Not For Sale". Others were priced reasonably and they were being sold quickly judging by the number of little red stickers (indicating they were sold) that were appearing like a rash.

There was a variety of work on display to cater to all tastes: conventional landscapes, traditional still lifes (should that be still lives?), textile pictures, pastels and some wonderful toucans. We caused much amusement when we said that we collect things with a sheep theme (by the way, did I mention that we collect sheep art?). We were pointed in the direction of Lone Helliwell's textile pictures which included a gorgeous collage depicting sheep in a moorland landscape. Sadly, we decided not to buy the picture, it was just too big.

We both enjoyed visiting this small exhibition. It was interesting and popular, proving that local events are definitely worth a visit.


Love Your Art,
Vicky

In The Beginning

We've both been interested in art for as long as we can remember: visiting exhibitions, meeting artists and buying a few nice pieces. Wherever we went people we talked to asked where else we'd been, what we saw, what we thought and which artists we liked. So now we've decided to keep a record of our art related activities.

We're always looking for opportunities to discover and acquire interesting art but there's a bewildering array to choose from. Home stores like Ikea, TK Maxx, Wilkinsons and B&Q are a start point for mass produced art. However, we prefer something a bit more individual rather than just following the latest trends. Art shops and galleries are a better, albeit, more expensive option. But for the best bargains and the occasional surprise, you can't beat charity shops. We've already found a few unusual items for only a few pounds each.

We don't claim to be conventional art lovers and we're brave enough to choose less obvious pieces of art and experiment with ways of displaying them. Our walls and shelves are already looking more attractive and make an interesting talking point with visitors. In fact, our home is slowly turning into an art gallery.

Vicky and Vince,
Love Your Art