Artist of the Week - Sam Lock

Sam Lock lives and works in Brighton. His paintings contain surfaces built up over time and through approaches and material choices, where layers, scratches, colours, stains, marks, floods, remnants and hints co-exist. His processes of painting are built around remembering, losing, forgetting and rediscovering the creative choices he has made.

What place in the world has inspired you?

I studied for an MA in Fine Art with specialisms in Painting and History of Art at Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 1997. Living in Edinburgh gives you an all-pervading sense of history and an awareness that you are merely the latest layer; it is a city of hidden stories that seem to whisper to you and dark corners full of lost information. It has an identity that is both dark and beautiful, playful and sober, wild and solid; the duplicity of the city makes it hard to define, forcing you to live in the margins, the spaces in-between. Since leaving Edinburgh, my practice has been a pursuit of a visual language that explores this dichotomy; I have tried to find a tone of voice for my paintings that tells yet conceals, imagery that is both inviting and elusive, physical yet spacial, open and closed, warm yet melancholic. My paintings aim to present part of a story for the gaps to be filled in by the viewer, to allude to places that have been seen before but are only part-remembered, reduced to colours, marks, traces, remnants.

My paintings are accumulations of materials and decisions; artefacts of thinking and doing, an attempt to locate poetry in the relationships, combinations and interactions between materials and physical elements.

One favourite living artist? Why?

Glen Onwin – his work is intelligent, ambitious, alchemic, substantial – attributes I want my paintings to contain.

One favourite historical artist? Why?

Antoni Tapies – his paintings are physically engaging and his painterly decision-making is free, empowering and full of adventure.

If you could exhibit in any gallery which would it be?

The Natural History Museum

Where and what is your studio?

My studio is part of the top 2 floors of an old townhouse on Queens Road, central Brighton, shared with 5 other painters. My studio room is ideal, rundown, crumbling, cracked, a completely unprecious space, encouraging a physical and experimental material approach.

What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?

Absorbed.

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A Carrot in the Toaster

I was told about Marion Sharville's poems by her daughter, hat maker Jane Sharville who visited me at the Worthing Open Houses last weekend.

Marion has written poems all her life and finally saw her dream come true at the age of 87 when her poems were finally published. The poems are wonderfully humourous and beautifully written.

The title 'A Carrot in the Toaster' comes from Marion realising that she was beginning to forget things - like we all do - so she would put a carrot in the toaster to remind her of things she might have forgotten to do!

Marion wrote a poem about the huge amounts of wood that washed ashore Worthing Beach in January 2008. Watch her reciting it here.

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Frances Doherty - Life Cycle Sculpture Trail

Ventnor Botanic Gardens, IOW.

Two years ago at the Brighton Art Fair, Brighton artist Frances Doherty met a gallery owner from Ventnor in the Isle of Wight who thought her seedpod sculptures would be just right to show in the Botanic Gardens on the Island. Frances had always wanted to show her work in situ so jumped at the opportunity and spent the next six to eight months visiting the gardens, photographing and sketching the plants in order to come up with around twelve installations that could be placed in suitable spots among the planting.


As the gardens are on a channel island, they have favourable weather which means they almost never suffer from frost or snow, and so can grow all sorts of plants. They have Australian, South African, Japanese terraces with many of the plants that you would associate with these countries. That gave Frances plenty of scope for designing. Usually Frances concentrates on the seedpods of plants as she is fascinated by their forms, but as she was visiting the gardens throughout the seasons she decided to cover the whole life cycle of the plants from bud to seedpod, and this is where she got the title for the Trail.


Frances started building the sculptures at the end of summer 2008, and finished the last one just a week before set up at the gardens in June 2009! Frances can only build ceramics to a certain size because of kiln and physical limitations, so several of the installations are multiples to give impact, one of these installations “A Host of Fallen Angles” is actually twelve separate sculptures. Frances says 'There were the usual disasters along the way, glaze runs, pieces blowing up in the kiln (a whole weeks work gone) but most potters become philosophical about these problems and try to build them into the time frame. The biggest ‘problem’ came when I showed one of the larger pieces destined for the Island at my Open House in the festival and promptly sold it. I hadn’t expected such an expensive piece to sell so quickly in the current economic climate so was rather caught out. I managed to replace it, but only just!'


Frances' main concern over all the time she was building the sculpture trail was that the sculptures would ‘disappear’ once they were placed in the Gardens. Something that fills the kiln and looks enormous on the studio table, can somehow shrink once placed outdoors. However once they were placed in their allocated sites they looked better than Frances had imagined, and the sun made the glazes glow. The Trail opened on midsummer's eve with a bit of a fanfare and lots of people from Brighton who had seen advertisements for the Trail during the festival also made it along to the opening. So far the reaction to the Trail has been amazing, and Frances is getting daily emails from people who have been to see it and are taking the trouble to write and tell her how much they have enjoyed it. As someone who works in isolation much of the time as many artists do, Frances finds this incredibly gratifying.

The sculpture trail will be running until September 13, 2009 and the Gardens are free to enter with access 24 hours, 7 days a week.

The trail is being run by The Old Studio Gallery in Ventnor and by the Friends of Ventnor Botanic Gardens, with funding support from the Finnis Scott Foundation.

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Shop on the Shore - 6th - 17th August

'FiFi' by Fiona Howard and 'Cardigan' by Kate Jenkins will be celebrating Summer on the seafront in their first "Pop up Shop" at The Fishing Quarter Gallery on Brighton Seafront (next to the Fishing Museum).



Both Fiona Howard and Kate Jenkins are textile designers with decades of experience in their fields : Fiona in Home Furnishings Printed Textiles and Kate in Designer Fashion Knitwear. This is their first exhibition together and will combine their passion for colour, texture and summer living. Come along and experience the vibrant mix of stylish, exotic knitwear and yarn accessories with printed linens, bone china mugs and contemporary homewares.




6th to 17th August
Open from 11am to 5pm

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Worthing Open Houses

(Sarah Young's Studio, with Christian Funnell sculpture)

Worthing saw an unusual sight last weekend - Brightonians making the trip 12 miles west to look at the art of Worthing displayed in 20 Open Houses and Gardens. Worthing's is a small trail compared to Brighton's 220 house one in May but it is rather more manageable and has been very much enjoyed by the visitors during the squally first weekend where many houses were full for much of the day.

(Alison Milner and Steve Speller's house - Painting by Kevin Johns)

Many of the houses follow a trail near and along the seafront either side of the pier. There are new galleries on the front and as well as Open Houses serving tea and homemade cake there are cafe's along the seafront - I'd recommend Coast Cafe (they also have an exhibition on in their upper room)

(Fleur Grenier, Christiane Kersten and Alison Milner)

Some of the artists from moving stichers group have opened a temporary shop in the local shopping centre where they are promoting the Open Houses, holding workshops and demonstrating their skills/ Their Open House is at 15 St Botolphs Road.

(Jon Sweeting, Annie Hewitt, Joy Fox)

Sarah Young is holding a studio sale - cleaning out her plan chests and selling all her prints, paintings dolls and illustration at at least 20% discount (the sale extends to all items on her website). Also Sarah's opening her new garden studio to the public for the first time.

(Sarah Young, Jo Sweeting, Annie Hewitt)

Worthing Open Houses are open next weekend only from 10.00 - 6.00. The whole trail can be easily cycled in a day.

(Christian Funnell)

(Sarah Young's new studio with illustrations)

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Printmakers at Hornseys - Ripon

It's great to see that more and more galleries are exhibiting original prints as a discipline that can stand alone and not just as an adjunct to paintings or as a means of reproduction.


Hornseys in Ripon - who also have 'The Shop' at Newby Hall in Yorkshire - are one of the galleries pioneering this revival. Honsey's Ripon have a group show of printmakers Kittie Jones, Sarah Young, Al Heighton & Jonny Hannah which started last weekend and runs till 15 August when Laurie Hastings & David Troupes exhibition takes over.

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Maker of the Week - Fiona Howard

Fiona Howard has been designing textiles for over 20 years creating collections for the Home Furnishings market in the UK and worldwide for names including John Lewis, G.P.& J. Baker, Sandersons, Pierre Frey, Habitat and many more. While continuing to design for her clients, she has now created 'FiFi', the first collection under her own name. FiFi designs are inspired by and evocative of happy outdoor memories with a fresh contemporary feel to lift your spirits and make your home a beautiful, happy place.


One favourite living craft maker (and why?)
Edmund De Vaal, because his ceramics are beautiful, considered, quiet and serene.

What was the last art/craft/design thing you purchased? or What one product/item do you really covet? (and why?)
The last thing I bought was a beautiful bowl by Jonna Behrens, but I really covet one of Christo's beautiful drawings for his immense and inspiring projects such as 'The Wrapped Reichstag' or 'The Gates' in Central Park.

At age 15 who influenced your style? Was there any individual who very much helped you on your way?
Aged 15 I was totally into Salvador Dali, though I don't think he had any hand in what I'm doing now. I was very lucky to have a fantastic tutor at school, Colin Temblett-Wood who persuaded me to follow my dream and go to Art College when my family weren't so keen.



Last best read (book)?
The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho......changed my life !

Where and what is your studio? Do you work alone? In silence, radio?
I used to share a studio, but for over 18 years I've worked on my own. I work best with no distractions, not even the radio, ( though Chris Moyles on Radio 1 in the morning is my secret pleasure !) At the moment my studio overlooks the sea in Brunswick Square, this is my favourite time of year when I can work with the windows open and listen to to seagulls and the sounds of summer.

What is your favourite (art) website (and why)?
printpattern.blogspot.com for lots of lovely inspiring work



Surprising activity/hobby ?
Surfing ( badly ) with my two teenage boys in Cornwall every summer


Do you have a good work/life balance? Are you able to switch off from art work?
No, I'm terrible at switching off...there's always something else I could be doing at my desk, and ideas, cut outs pieces of paper sketches and notes seem to creep all over my flat !




What one word would describe your feeling of doing your work?
All consuming ( sorry that's two words !)

Do you think art and craft has any real importance?
Yes, absolutely it would be a very dull world without it.

What do think are crimes against good taste & decency in art/craft/design?
'Crocs', which may be practical but are so ugly, as is the Fiat Multipla !




le="font-weight: bold;">Do you think art and craft has any real importance?

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