The Carnelian Exhibition - March 2013

Well - the exhibition was very well received and successful. Scary putting it on, but well worth it.

This photo shows the barn that we exhibited in - a really excellent space that showed the works of art to great advantage.

Some of my work can be seen here on the central panel, together with the right-hand brower - nice and full - I'd been working very hard!

The rest of my work was on the wall opposite the stand - where I exhibited all my acrylic ink/pastel works together. I was so pleased when they were framed - they looked very dramatic.

In the entrance we had a selection of our work together on a wall and a stand. I put in my two screenprints I had done at the St Barnabas Press in Cambridge. Must go back again for another course - have done screenprints with them and also etching (with aquatint and collograph) and really enjoyed it. Now I have stopped my degree course (as I found it wasn't taking me where I wanted to go) I have more time to put into exciting projects.

Anyway - have sold the blue one on the right (which was my favourite) - and these are the only two I ever had.

This was the wall with the acrylic ink/pastel works - great to be able to put them all together like this, as they would dominate any of my other work, which was much more delicate.

I sold the lily on the right on the preview night. I must admit that this one worked really well and I loved the way the colours merged together when wet.

I was really pleased with the sunflower - it was difficult to get the yellow to stand out against the white paper, so adding the green and carefully spraying the ink carefully in the right direction gave me a great background for it.

 My favourite teasel - shown here - was also sold on the preview night. It ended up being much more striking than the others - lots of dark blue and sepia inks combined. I'm obviously getting braver with colours!

I also had a lot of interest in the close-up of the lily - so I think I should experiment with close-ups of objects more and, like this one, fill the whole page, as it looked very good - especially because of its size, which is half-imperial without frame and mount.

Luckily I had two smaller pictures that fitted in between the window and the wooden beam - completing the acrylics wall.

On the stand I displayed my more delicate works.

On the left is an etching, aquatint and collograph done at St Barnabas Press.

On the right is one of my favourite pieces - a pastel I did in the style of Georgia O'Keeffe. Really trying to find a place to put it in the house!

Underneath was a detailed line drawing of a sunflower bud. Next to that was my selection of cards I had made up, showing my paintings. That was really successful and I sold 70, which was absolutely amazing. I also had business cards made up of the same designs, which is a great way of showing my work and also giving information on this site and contact details.

Not the best of photographs, as there was a reflection from the window I hadn't noticed. However, behind that reflection is a very successful pastel picture of laurel berries. I lost count of the number of people who liked it, so I really must look into doing this style again. Taking an unusual and close-up view of nature and then doing it in the soft effect of pastel is really effective, although extremely time consuming. However, I now have the time to do it, so guess what I'm going to be doing in the near future - watch this space.....

The other two pictures are of my dogs, so obviously these weren't for sale. The top one is Shadow - my first flat-coated retriever, who sadly isn't with us any more. I had used this drawing as my avatar on Flickr and in other places. Took ages, but I think I caught her - especially the eyes. Haven't got around to doing a painting of my present flat-coat - he never stays still long enough!

The second picture is of Amber. She is a beautiful cross - half golden retriever/half red setter and rescued from Ireland by a wonderful rescue group called the Black Retriever X Rescue - website here: http://www.blackretrieverx.co.uk/Black_Retriever_X_Rescue/Home.html
I know - she isn't black, but they saw her in the pound, threatened with being put to sleep (at 10 months) and decided to bring her back to England. I got her at eleven months and had her for a few years now. This is a simple drawing done in ink and pastel, but has caught her well - complete with the mad eyebrows!

I won't upload the photos of the other ladies work, as it isn't mine to show. However, both the other two did some fabulous work - mostly print making - which was really admired and they made quite a few sales. The whole show looked really professional and that was mainly due to Nina and Sherry, who, having attended the famous Curwen Press, learnt a lot about displaying to best advantage. We had lots of comments on how the whole exhibition flowed well and I want to give my thanks to them for that.

Added to that was Amanda's amazing sound installations - which she performed at the preview night and also at various times during the public show. I feel that this really made this a different event from the usual exhibitions. Needless to say, Amanda is a professional musician and this really showed in her performance. Wonderful work.

There have been requests that we do another Carnelian exhibition again. Not sure when, as Nina and Sherry are also members of the Purple Printmakers and they are exhibiting in different places over the next year. Anyway - I would love to do this again and I plan to experiment much more and see where it all leads me in terms of style. I will upload the interesting ones on to this site. Obviously I'll need new work, if I am to exhibit. There were a couple of comments that I should be involved with the Cambridge Open Studios - not that is a really scary thought!

Anyway - whatever happens, this has been a great experience and I have learnt a lot. What was best was the wonderful feedback from everyone. One does all this work in a room at home and it isn't until you put yourself out there that you get to hear what people think. Obviously I have been on the right lines, because I have sold three framed and two unframed at the exhibition and there is a potential for another large one. I now need to develop my style even more - probably mixing media more, as I really love the different effects it gives, although I'll give printing another try, as I really enjoyed the courses I did.

I am also getting involved with other things now that the degree course is behind me. I have rejoined the art club I helped set up and ran for 10 years, I have also been asked by them to do a tutor session and decided to sign up for a short course at West Dean College which looks really exciting and right up my street. On the look-out for other courses that would inspire me. Having done a few years' of remote learning, I have found out a lot about myself. I need the feedback from tutor and other students if I am doing a course - actually going to a location for the class, rather than sending piles of work off to the tutor at the end of an assignment. What I did do with the OCA was really useful, but I am glad I took the tough decision to stop, as I feel I will progress more under my own steam.

Setting up for exhibition

Life has been very busy - been setting up for the exhibition with the other members of the Carnelian Group. Looking really - great to see the work framed and up on the walls.

I wanted to do some more of the acrylic ink/pastel works, which seem to be popular. Great to get back into this type of painting, as you never know how it is going to turn out.

One of my favourites is this close-up of a lily. I never cease to be amazed at how many different colours I end up using on these pictures - and the wonderful way the colours merge together to create different effects.

Decided to try a sunflower, which is more difficult as the yellow doesn't show up as well against the while paper. Think it worked with a judicious application of darker colours as the background.

Back to a favourite subject matter - the teasel. Gone much darker with this one and really like the effect - very dramatic.

A friend lent me some beautiful shells - this is one I have done - a spider conch. Had to rake out different colours for this one, as it is much more subtle.







Anyway -  exhibition preview is tomorrow night and then the main event. Fingers crossed it is well received. The print making done by the other two artists is amazing - will photograph the exhibition area tomorrow when it is completely ready to show the quality of their work.