Sunday 19 June 2011

Exhibition update - the Westonbirt print

The first week of the exhibition has gone reasonably well. The weather gods have been against us (and most of the rest of the country) and there are a couple of roads in the area which are shut. Both things have undoubtedly had an impact. Nailsworth has been quieter than normal, but people have commented about how much easier it is to park than normal, good news for any of you intending to visit. The visitor’s book is filling up nicely and there have been a couple of sales, can’t wish for than that.

This smaller print has gained a lot of interest.

'Westonbirt morning'

It shows a clearing in a local visitor attraction, Westonbirt Arboretum. I did the sketch on a lovely sunny Sunday morning; we had taken a flask of coffe with us and sat on our favourite bench. The shadows were very strong across the shorter grass and the sketch has cried out to become an etching.
Many people in the area have annual membership to this beautiful place full of champion trees and national collections and use it as a place to walk and meet friends. We are members ourselves and our dog loves chasing the scents of squirrels through the trees.
The etching is made from a zinc plate etched with copper sulphate crystals. The trees were drawn in with sugar lift and then I left the plate to open bite, stopped out the trees and shadows to some extent and did a second open bite. My original wax ground was applied over slightly sticky sugar lift which provided an unsecure ground and lots of lovely foul bite – a perfect woodland floor. The background detail was created with a soft ground and textures, - several stopping out stages created a back drop which was not too uniform.
Westonbirt is a magical place, and I can see it featuring in future work.

Monday 13 June 2011

Exhibition - doors open!

Having seen the weather forecast for our opening on Sunday we delivered all the work to the gallery on Saturday. Thank goodness we did!
Our opening day became one of the worst days imaginable for June, gusting winds and driving rain all morning made us doubt our sanity, but we went for it all the same.

After an intensive morning the gallery looked like a welcoming space and at 3pm we 'opened'. A quarter of an hour later we had our first visitor and then a steady flow of friends and colleagues, until 6pm when we gratefully closed and headed off for a quick half across the road. I was very pleased to see a couple of my ex-A level students - how lovely to have the tables turned and for them to be able to comment on 'Misses' work!
I would like to say a very big thank you to my intrepid friends who ventured out on such a truly horrible day, your company and support was very much appreciated.
The day did not look quite so bad from inside the gallery, and Mum's cups of tea kept everyone's spirits up. Thank you Mum.

Here are some pictures to whet your appetite, hope to see some of you over the next fortnight.







The exhibition continues until 25th June at Cotswold Craftsmen Gallery, Market Street, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire GL6 0BX, 10am -5pm (closed Sundays and Mondays)

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Exhibition opens on Sunday!

After some hectic weeks of preparation artwork is now framed and ready to go. Labels will be written, and scones sliced for our 'cream tea private view' starting at 3pm on Sunday June 12th.


The poster above has all the information.
What a busy and nerve racking time it is preparing for a solo show... but exciting too.
Hope to see some of you over the next two weeks.