On Saturday we all returned for the second day of the Julie Arkell workshop to make clothes for the paper mache creatures we had created three weeks earlier. It was such an amazing treat to have a day sitting, sewing, knitting, chatting and giggling with a constant supply of tea (thank you Laila), biscuits and homemade cakes (thank you Mary). We've decided we all want many more days doing exactly that!
The inspiration came of course from Julie who provided patterns, ideas, wools, fabric and a calm head when cries of 'help!' rang around.
Above is the beautiful Beatrice Brocade made by Julie in 1997. Below is Sally made at the workshop.
Look our for Julie's workshops as they really are wonderful. She has some coming up at Marlborough College in the summer and possibly some with Loop in the autumn.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Julie Arkell Part II
Private View at Castor and Pollux this Friday
Castor and Pollux open two shows this weekend. Consider yourselves invited!
This Friday!
The launch party for our new exhibition
by the very talented Mr Joe McLaren
6-9pm on the beachfront (the weather forecast is fine).
A dozen small but perfect stencil paintings, plus limited edition prints, inspired by the polish picture books
from deep in your childhood.
Also starting on Friday for one week only...
If you can't see the pictures in this email click here
to view it on the web
Castor & Pollux is on the beach, halfway between the piers
Opposite the bottom of Middle St
165 King's Road Arches, Lower Prom, Brighton
Tel: 01273 773776
See the website for directions www.castorandpollux.co.uk
and for Art is Proof press information, www.artisproof.com
Monday, 2 June 2008
See the Curwen Studio at the Cambridgeshire Art Fair 6th-8th June 2008
If, like me, you love prints and printmaking, then there is an opportunity to see the Curwen Studio and an Art Fair, all in one place. From the 6th - 8th June 2008 the Cambridgeshire Art Fair will be taking place at Chilford Hall, Linton near Cambridge. Chilford Hall is also home to the famous Curwen Studio. The Curwen Studio will be exhibiting at the Fair, alongside 46 other exhibitors.
You can even create you own original print...............On Saturday and Sunday the Curwen Studio will be offering people the opportunity to create their own original mono-prints for just £15 (approx time 20 minutes).
and make a visit the Curwen Studio................The Curwen Studio itself will be open to visitors on Saturday and Sunday, to find out more about how original prints are made. The team of printmakers will be on-hand to show you round and explain the lithographic processes. They will also be showing their own work alongside more prints from the collection.
Chilford Hall is providing refreshments and the shop will also be open selling the wine made on site (tasting available). The surrounding grounds are open, with plenty of space for children to run around. If you have not visited the Curwen Studio then this is an excellent weekend to do so, and enjoy the Art Fair at the same time.
Details at: www.artcambs.com and at www.thecurwenstudio.co.uk
Thursday, 29 May 2008
Wonderful Worthing!
Think Worthing; think Brighton's downtrodden, sleepy neighbour; the place where people see out their twilight years; a shoddy seafront with not much to offer; no culture unless tribute bands and dance teas are your bag and no trendy cafes or restaurants in sight!
Live Worthing and know that things are on the up! We moved here from uber trendy Brighton nearly three years ago to sniggers of amazement from friends; " What will you do there?" they asked incredulously. "Live", was our reply. The fact was that Worthing offered beautiful, spacious homes at 'normal' prices, 'outstanding' Ofsted schools with the West Sussex education system that we thought really appealing, wonderful libraries, a Museum and Gallery offering imaginative and ever changing exhibitions and a feeling of 'real life'. Gone was the middle class, judgemental snootyness of Brighton and in were 'ordinary' people and an amazingly friendly community!
When we arrived we delighted in Worthing's quiet ways; endless walks on the sandy beach with the tide way out and no other bodies around, the odd cafe serving coffee without a latte in sight, the best two penny slot arcade we've ever seen and the surrounding countryside with Cissbury and Chanctonbury Hills to run wild on. We were in heaven.
And then slowly things began to change; really decent cafes opened up - Pestle and Mortar, Coast, Parklife; the renovated Dome cinema re-opened with it's own film club to rival Brighton's Duke of Yorks; a wonderful independent music shop and even a Monsoon! The highly bonkers and entertaining Birdman has been moved from Bognor Regis to Worthing and the beautiful open gardens of Ambrose Place have hit the broadsheets. Worthing is waking up!
Art wise Worthing offers RAG - The Revolutionary Arts Group a central site for local artists and makers which organises festivals and open houses throughout the year. Walter Jack Studio’s has been selected to develop a £70,000 piece of public artwork at Splash Point along the seafront. The artwork, called 'Suncloud' is made up of 44 steel masts approximately four metres tall, topped with a solar panel and LED light. Independent galleries are cropping up in town and in the smaller surrounding villages and in 2007 the town staged a huge campaign to save Dame Elisabeth Frink's 'Desert Quartet - four bronze heads which sit atop the exterior of the town's main shopping centre.
Every other person we meet has moved from Brighton or London, the beach is full of families enjoying the safety of its waters and the cafes are bustling. Part of us doesn't want too much change - we loved the nostalgic feel this place had when we moved here - but then again I have to admit I am partial to a latte!
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
ARTIST OF THE WEEK - Charlotte Hardy
Charlotte Hardy
I work in mixed media, using acrylic paints, inks and collage on watercolour paper and canvas. Eclectic elements are playfully arranged to form a narrative. Interesting vintage objects from museums, shops, markets, cafes and domestic environments inspire me. I am driven by my imagaination and passion for colour and pattern.
I have recently developed a range of screen-prints, about faded grandeur and elegant architectural features, for example chandeliers and old wallpaper. These sketched-style black line prints are individually hand-coloured with dyes, inks and paint.
This year I have created a bespoke wall illustration in a new teashop in Highgate in London called High Tea.
Favourite living artist
One of my favourite artists is Twombly. I love the energetic colourful scribbles and the hugh scale of the paintings. They are very playful and child-like, but also beautiful and sophisticated in the use of space and composition.
Favourite living craft maker
I'm really inspired by Maxine Sutton's embroderied textile pictures. I love the imagery she uses and her tea cosies are so imaginative. They remind me of the the beautiful tea cosies my great-grandmother used to make.
Favourite historical artist
Bonnard. I really love the colours he used and how he created a magical domestic world in his pictures.
When and where did you first want to do what you do?
I've always wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember. When I was studying printed textiles at university, I realised I didn't want to be a commercial textile designer and wanted to create one-off pictures for galleries.
Do you work best on your own or in collaboration
I always work better on my own in my studio, when I have time to fully concentrate and immerse myself in what I'm doing.
What was the last art/craft/design thing you purchased?
I have recently bought a fantastic teatowel from Habitat! Its got a chandelier on it and some birthday candles.
At age 15 who influenced your style? Was there any individual who very much helped you on your way?
I had an art teacher who just gave us complete freedom, which I relished and ended up painting on chairs and mirror frames.
How much do you bend your 'vision' to suit the marketplace?
I do always consider if my work is sellable and who would want to buy it, so I think I naturally bend it to the marketplace a little bit from habit and necessity.
How do you set about starting a new project?
I love research and always start off new projects gathering inspiring images. Its always brilliant if I have time to go and do do some drawing somewhere and take photographs.
Where and what is your studio?
I work at Clockwork Studios, which is in South London. It used to be Charlie Chaplin's rehersal studio and then became a clock factory. It has been artists studios for about 20 years.
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Anita Klein - Summer Exhibitions
| 7 April - 27 June 2008 Anita Klein - drypoints and woodcuts Chelsea & Westminster Hospital Gallery London SW10 |
| 30 May - 01 June 2008 Anita Klein - paintings, drawings and prints: The Fine Art Partnership at: The Jointure Studios 11 South Street Ditchling, E. Sussex BN6 8UQ www.thefineartpartnership.co.uk (contact for tickets to artist's talk: Saturday May 31) |
| Anita Klein, New Prints: 7 June - 2 July 2008 Bircham Gallery 14 Market Place Holt, Norfolk NR25 6BW 01263 713312 birchamgal@aol.com www.birchamgallery.co.uk |
| Anita Klein: Thursday 3rd July 2008 from 6pm Exhibition of pictures done as visiting artist at Lewisham College 2007-2008 Brockley Restaurant Lewisham College Lewisham Way London SE4 contact: Frances Butler for invitation frances.butler@lewisham.ac.uk  |
Through The Keyhole - Paula Fahy
Paula's favourite places in the house are the kitchen and her shed. They knocked the dining room and the kitchen together to make more light and space and fitting folding sliding doors at the end means that it feels like the garden and kitchen are one. Paula loves gazing out at the garden when eating, working, cooking etc. With regards her workspace Paula says; "The shed has a lovely smell and I am always really happy in it. It is snuggled in amongst loads of foliage and feels truly private". Artwork in Paula's home is mainly her own as she hangs it to see what it looks like. The picture above the fireplace in the living room is by Gail Eastwood. Gail's work inspires Paula because of her use of colour and how she layers images. Paula has only been painting for a couple of years. She has a degree in fine art but due to teaching being so full on she has only recently been committed to doing her own work; "I only did this as I wanted to teach my sixth form students how to use oil paints so thought I’d better try them myself first. Because I found them really hard my ‘practices’ just continued". Paula loves the light of the South Coast but she mostly gets inspiration from her garden and from Great Dixter gardens near Rye. This was Christopher Lloyds garden and although he is now dead it retains his brave use of colour and life. 
The artist Paula Fahy has lived in Hove for about nine years and got her shed for her studio a couple of years ago.
Having been living in a period flat in Brunswick Road all the other houses they looked at seemed poky and a bit claustrophobic. This one had the potential of being so light and airy plus it had a garden which Paula had missed living in a flat. "I wasn’t sure about the location at first as all my friends gave me stick about moving to deepest Hove. However I love it. Boundary Road and Portland Road are so interesting and the Portslade station is only one minute away so it is so easy to get into central Brighton when I want to".
Paula describers her decorating style as minimal. Lots of white because she loves the light with blocks of colour from furniture etc. She is not keen on pattern! The contents of the house are quite eclectic. Some hand me downs from family. Paula's favourite piece of furniture is the table that was made by Rustic Earth to her spec. to fit the long thin kitchen. It is made from recycled floor boards. The house provides inspiration because of the light and the colour combinations; "It continues to surprise me which colours look good together. I have a large poster by Rothko (not pictured) –I love his moody depth of colour. Also because the house is Edwardian it has high ceilings but very few of the original features – some people would think this vandalism – though I did not remove them- but I suppose it is the proportions of the rooms I love and not the era".
