Participating Artists: Great North Art Show

All the participating artists are now listed:
http://www.greatnorthartshow.co.uk/artists.html

www.facebook.com/SueGoughArtist

Update

Ian Mitchell's talk on Friday evening 15th June at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum was excellent and really well attended.  It continued on from his talk at Duckett and Jeffreys Gallery and developed the theme of his latest work.  A lively discussion ensued when Ian had finished ; some local people who turned up late and looked rather angry about the idea of a motorway from Thirsk to Whitby visibly relaxed as the discussion developed, as they realised that it was an artistic exploration of the idea and not a real proposal!



Sadly, my work at The Gallery has, for now, drawn to a close.

Unfinished Spring and Summer with finished Autumn and Winter

During the past two weeks I have been working hard to get things ready and framed for submissions to various open exhibitions.  I have finally completed the two paintings that have been causing me problems, Spring and Summer, of the Seasons quartet, plus some new drawing

Finished Spring and Summer

And some new drawings:

Some new canvases, same yellow pigment on different grounds

Last night I attended the inauguration of Jony Easterby's wonderful land art sculpture, Enclosure Rites, just off the Wolds Way between York and Scarborough.  Unfortunately, my camera battery ran out before I was able to take some good pics of the actual piece, but these photographs give a good idea of the atmosphere.  We processed up the hill to the site of the sculpture behind fiddlers fiddling, and adults and children in green men type masks.  The clouds parted, the sun came out and the light up there reflected off the dew pond, part of the work, was truly magical.  I am going to go back up there with camera (fully charged), sketch book and a picnic.

 

For really great pics of the whole installation, plus some info on the development of the piece, visit Jony;s web site:  www.jonyeasterby.co.uk   the piece is called:  Enclosure Rites 

Photographs of Ian Mitchell's talk: thanks to Pete Gough

All other images copyright Sue Gough

The Great North Art Show

Not Dark Yet

I am absolutely delighted: just heard that my work has been accepted for The Great North Art Show, which will take place in Ripon Cathedral at the end of summer.

It has given me renewed confidence to keep going.  I am looking forward to seeing the whole exhibition.

www.greatnorthartshow.co.uk

www.facebook.com/SueGoughArtist

Shapes Textures and Colours

I have been meaning for days to walk down the lane and catch the hedgerow's stripe of red flanked by the white of the cow parsley.  Every year I am struck by this stripe of colour caused by the new shoots of the hawthorn and, until today,  I have always left it too late to capture it.  The grey weather means that the red is less defined but there is enough information in the shots and couple of rough sketches that I made for me to work from if I decide to.

I am always struck by the colours, shapes and textures within the landscape; if I get stuck at home because of builders or other domestic issues that have to be seen to, I make collages based on my observations that may be useful later.

Through Rain and Flood to Hear Ian Mitchell's Talk

The catalogue produced by Ian to accompany his exhibition, A1(M) Eastern Gateway, at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum

I set off to Duckett and Jeffreys Gallery, Malton at around 2.30pm this afternoon just after a  torrential rainstorm.  It continued to rain quite heavily as I drove through huge puddles that met in the middle of the lane, causing a spectacular flume effect!  In Old Malton the road was flooded, causing traffic to back up and the top of the hill outside Malton, near the council offices was also badly flooded.  I kept going through it all, hoping the car wouldn't stop.

Ian Mitchell's talk at Duckett and Jeffreys gallery was due to start at about 3pm and I made it just in time, dodging the waves of water threatening to wash over my boots as I walked along the pavement.

It was well worth bothering to turn out for; Ian's talk was interesting and informative.  He gave an outline of his influences and working methods, clearly showing how his work has developed from a graphic designer's outlook to a much more fine art concern, where he is exploring concepts and experimenting with surfaces for the work.  His relaxed and natural attitude allowed for questions from the assembled audience and there was some good discussion that developed from this.  The slides that accompanied his talk were also really interesting. 

I am really looking forward to his talk at The Gallery, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton le Hole on Friday 15th June, 7pm.

Ian is going to continue to develop the ideas started this afternoon to give us additional insight into his work and show how the latest exhibition has evolved through his working practice.


www.ianmitchellart.com

http://ianmitchellart.blogspot.co.uk

www.duckettandjeffreys.com

www.thegallery@ryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com

Work in Progress

The coming and going of a piece of work as it develops can be both exciting and frustrating.  When is a piece of work finished?  Does the work express what I intended?  Has another interesting area of research/exploration been opened up that may not have been my original concern?

It is this "push and pull" of the process that I find fascinating, although it can sometimes become a bit destructive: I end up partially parylised with indecision and doubt.  When I was at art college I remember a period of months where I became unable to work; it was a bit like what I understand writers to mean when they talk about writer's block.  I came through it eventually, and I understand myself a bit better than I did then; I think I have these periods where I don't make as much work as at other times, I have come to realise that I spend this time thinking and agonising about the work, reflecting, reading about other artists and their thoughts/methods.  This enables me to take a deep breath and carry on.  It is a bit like a crisis of confidence but I have learnt to trust myself and my working ethic, to go with it and use it as part of my working process.

Small paintings and drawings: some are complete, others are developing . . . .

All images copyright Sue Gough