Getting my brain back in gear

Groan!  I have a surfeit of food in the house and am planning the new year's eve family gathering.  I am going to have to vastly increase my exercise in the new year to work the over consumption off!  We are all having a very nice family Christmas up here in North Yorkshire; we managed to clean all the builders dust away just in time.  It has been a relaxing gathering, with more family arriving tomorrow and on New Year's eve itself.

I hope that everyone reading this blog of mine is having a very happy Christmas and I wish you all a successful and fulfilling 2014.

I am now beginning to think about  my work again; I already have two deadlines looming for mid January.  One for the Sketchbook Project, www.thesketchbookproject.com , which I have not even begun and needs to be registered and posted by 14th January, and another for the International Postcard show at the Surface Gallery in Nottingham; again, not started yet.  For both though, I have some ideas, so I am looking forward to doing the work.
http://www.surfacegallery.org/

The cheque to North Yorkshire Open Studios must be posted in January, so I must not forget. NYOS also want some photos of me working in my studio; I hate having photos taken of me, I am much better if they are taken with me unaware as I get very self concious.  On January 16th we have our trip to MIMA with Ryedale ArtWorks, where William Tillyer is going to show us round his retrospective exhibition.  http://www.nyos.org.uk/

I need to decide if I will submit to the Ferens Open in Hull as well.

Meanwhile I have to plan how I am going to get my large painting across to Manchester for the W0budong exhbition. http://w0budong.wordpress.com/

I see asemic text everywhere:

The bright white light reflections in this textured glass really look like magical text that somehow expresses something that is intangible.

I am determined to be in the studio as much as possible next year in order to make lots of new works, both large and small as well as some research into suitable galleries for my work.  There is a huge amount of work to be done alongside my responsibilities as Chair of Ryedale ArtWorks.  

Oh, and I don't think I have mentioned this before because my daughter-in-law has been understandably cautious:  I am going to be a grandmother in the summer!  (Fortunately due after the NYOS in June!)

North Yorkshire Open Studios 2014

After a particularly awful day as far as our refurbishment project at home is concerned, I was feeling very low this evening.

When I finally opened my emails I was delighted to read that my first ever application to participate in NYOS 14 in June next year has been successful.

HUZZAH!

The selectors were:

Gary Power, Head of MA Fine Art: University of Sunderland

Denise Fahmy, Visual Arts Relationship Manager, Arts Council England

Yvonne Hardman, Gallery Officer, Touchstones Rochdalehttp://www.nyos.org.uk/

http://www.nyos.org.uk/

This is just the incentive I need to get back in the studio after Christmas and concentrate on my work.  I will finally get those prints and artists books made.  I want to complete the quartet of large paintings begun last year too, so that will be two more big canvases to paint.  Oh, and I have some small boards that I scavenged from the left over timber that I will make small paintings on too.

 I am really looking forward to getting back to work after having such a long absence because of all the building work going on at our house.  

I know that there are quite a few artists from Ryedale ArtWorks who regularly participate in NYOS and that I will be able to rely on their extensive experience for some good advice and tips on how to make this first time as good as I can.

                                                               

Opening of RAW's first exhibition in York

Our first exhibition beyond Ryedale's boundary opened last night.  Sue Slack and David Stephenson were selected from the Ryedale ArtWorks Directory by the gallery owner Issy and her colleagues.  It is interesting that they selected Sue and David, not knowing they are partners!  Their art really does work well together.

Congratulations to Sue and David for pulling all the work together at what was really short notice, two weeks, if my memory serves me correctly.  It all looks good in what is a small and perfectly formed space. The hanging system is simple and effective and the lighting is excellent; not something you can say about many venues.

Priestleys really understand the importance of presentation too; the banners designed in collaboration between Rob Oldfield for Priestleys and Andy Dalton for RAW, work very well, signposting visitors from the outside of the shop right through to the downstairs space.  They look very good:

I think that this collaboration between RAW and The White Gallery @ Priestleys No. 36 is going to be a happy one.  And I bought the mirror; I know Pete will love its Art Nouveau influenced styling.

Sue and David finishing off the labelling, the mirror 's Art Nouveau styling (left) is enhanced by copper rivets, which I think really enhances the piece.

www.ryedaleartworks.com

https://www.facebook.com/thewhiteroom36

http://www.priestleys-york.co.uk/

Ryedale ArtWorks goes beyond the Ryedale boundary

I am excited to be able to announce that Ryedale ArtWorks, in collaboration with The White Room Gallery,@ Priestleys No. 36, in York, is going to stage a series of exhibitions starting this week for the Christmas period and bi monthly during 2014.

I happened to hand one of our Directories to Rob Oldfield, who is associated with Priestleys and with whom I worked alongside Andrew Dalton,  supporting a re-hang of paintings in The Green Howards Museum's temporary space in Richmond.  It turned out that Priestleys were looking for artists suitable for their tiny but perfectly formed space.  The Directory is a powerful marketing tool for Ryedale ArtWorks artists.

Thanks to the dedication of Andrew Dalton, who has been working on the funded exhibitions project, Priestleys have selected artists Sue Slack and David Stephenson for the inauguration of our collaborative relationship and I am sure it will be the beginning of exciting things.  We are really looking forward to working with Priestleys and hope that this will lead to other events for Ryedale ArtWorks artists and makers beyond the Ryedale boundary.





Meanwhile, leading on from the training day led by Anamaria Wills of Cidaco a few weeks ago, during which Ryedale Artworks members had training on the subject of mentoring, I am busily devising training workshops and sessions for our members.  This is another strand of the work we are doing that is funded through Ryedale District Council's Creative Commissioning process.

The third strand of our funded provision is improved professional development meetings for members and I am now also working on recruiting speakers for future meetings.

It is a very busy time; the quality of what RAW is able to deliver to members is improving all the time through this work.