A week ago, I started on a training programme of advanced oils and cold wax medium, with a Norfolk based artist called Sally Hirst. My aim was to learn more about my own work and see if there were any commonalities in my compositions. As I generally work in an intuitive way, without any visual reference point initially, my ideas and creative inspirations can become limited, especially now that Covid 19, has robbed us of the freedom to explore new places. 

As students of this training programme we were asked to set ourselves a project to work on during the course of the month long training. I am calling mine - ‘Opening Up and Paring Back’.

I wanted to look more closely at four of my own works and use vignettes from the works to dissect and recreate. I am not sure what the outcome will be, or even if it will be useful, but it will be a learning experience.

Above are 8 images that will form the basis of the project. They were in colour initially, but with the help of a Notanizer, I have made them into black and white images - light and dark.

Notan is a Japanese term which literally means “light dark harmony”. Artists use ”notan studies” to explore different arrangements of light and dark elements in a painting, without having the distraction of other elements like colour, texture and finer details. (This section taken from the Paint and Drawing Academy).

Hi Folks, just a bit of information, I heard today that I have been accepted for the annual Society of Women’s Artists Exhibition 2020. This is usually held in London, but, due to the Covid 19 situation, is online this year. The exhibition opens on 22nd September and closes on 30th December.  I entered four other pieces as well, see above, but only Arboreal Mists I was finally selected. 

Also not forgetting that the Torquay exhibition - English Riviera Summer Open - is still continuing until 28th September 2020. This exhibition in Fleet Walk Torquay, is also on the list of Devon Open Studios and operated under the banner of Artizan Gallery, Torquay. More information on the various websites.

As promised in my last post, I wanted to let you know the details of the English Riviera Summer Open Exhibition that is currently previewing in Torquay. It officially opens today, and will run until the 27th September at Unit 5 Fleet Walk, Fleet Street, Torquay, TQ2 5EB. Opening hours are Saturday and Weekdays 11am - 5pm;  Sundays 11am - 4pm. To view this exhibition on line go to, https://www.art-hub.co.uk/ex/erso20 We have been informed by the organisers that this event will be part of Devon Open Studios and details of that can be found in the Devon Open Studios brochure, page 50. The brochure is online and can be found on  https://www.devonartistnetwork.co.uk