100sqft launch party.....

It was the launch party for the 100sqft's third exhibition last night at the Cholmeley Boys Club in Dalston. It was a great atmosphere and despite the showers there was a big turn out. All the work looked brilliant, I especially loved the photography of the tattooed man and the hand emerging. Here are some pics from the night - it runs all week so if you get the chance try and pop in to have a look for yourself. There's so much to take in that you can stand in front of it and stare for hours and still feel that you haven't taken it all in!

Kirsten

This was my piece on proud display.....


And projected onto the wall with all of the other pieces.....

It's such a great venue with lots of kooky furniture, artwork and hideaways......

100sqft exhibition.....

If you're free make sure to pop along to the 100sqft exhibition on Sunday 16th May at the Cholmeley Boys Club in Dalston.



Also at the Launch - will be 4 large 40"x40" canvases divided into 100 squares and a load of black marker pens for you to leave your mark! Just pick a square write your name and email down so that 100sqft can get in touch with you later, and get drawing. The 4 pieces will then be exhibited at the boys club over the three days, and will be joint altogether to make a huge 10x10 grid. One of the contributing artists will be selected at random to name a charity, and then the piece will be auctioned on ebay & all proceeds donated to the charity. So get their early to bag yourself a square.


So, after a few mishaps along the way of my screen going missing in the post my piece is finally finished. I worked on two at the same time, not knowing which one would work the best and finally decided on the daffodil one. After a few attempts of working on it and getting nowhere I am really pleased with the final outcome which looks great on my wall. I think the tones might be a bit too muted for the night so if I were to do it again for the exhibition I would make it a lot bolder, probably just in black and white so fingers crossed it stands out. There's lots of layers on both, starting with my sketches and lines from my favourite song at the moment, layering over with paint and gesso (quite a few layers as I wasn't happy with the first attempts!!) and finished off with a silk screen print of one of my favourite sketches. It's also going to be online at the 100sqft website - though I have to admit that I carried on working on it from the picture shown on the website!!

Hope to see you there on the night.

Kirsten

2 years in the making....

and finally it's finished!

So it was about 2 years ago since I promised friends that i'd paint them a picture. I had the ideas all lined up but never actually got round to starting it. Then they announced that they were leaving for Ireland so I had to get my rear into gear and get it moving. I didn't quite make their deadline but i've finished it and just need to send it over.

It's not like anything i've ever done before and there were a few scary moments where I had Dean from Barleylands talk me into just going for it with splattering paint, I think I managed to get more on his floor than on the canvas!!

As it's a picture for a couple it features Josh, a keen rugby player from New Zealand and Axelle, a keen dancer from France. You can't quite see in the photo but there are textured shapes and reference images of their countries making up the background. Then I added both of their flags and home towns and merged it altogether with their favourite colours. I love the way the figures merge into one another considering the contrast between the professions.

I just need to box it up and hope it doesnt get damaged in transit... oh and that they like it!!

Where has all the time gone.....???

Well it was just over a year ago that we started this blog. Kirsten and I was just talking about how much we have enjoyed the website and blog, looking back over what we have done, but we have only had two comments! This made us laugh thinking whether anyone was actually looking at it so we checked out our statics and were amazed that in one month we had over two thousand hits, well thank you for looking at us but please leave a comment as we would love to here from you.

It has gone from strength to strength and looking back its surprising how busy and productive we’ve been even after my long and blissful holiday.

I spent the summer in France again this year; we drove down to the west of France and spent five glorious weeks by the sea. This year we bought bikes and cycled around discovering new places, having fresh sea food in little sea side restaurants, watching the sun go down over the sea it seems like a lifetime ago......

Just as well, as its back to work with a vengeance.

I have some good classes this year with lovely students. Our mixed media class is full with a waiting list, I am sorry if you didn’t get on it! I have been asked to put on another class but I cant mange it this time I’m afraid so I will post when the next classes come around. The City and Guilds weekends have been popular too and we just had the first one which was fun but hard work.

I am still working on the William Morris theme in my own work and have decided to keep working on and developing it for a year. I still get inspired by the whole movement and am still excited about the work.

There is a new exhibition on at the house. I haven’t been to it as I missed the private view on Friday but am hoping to pop along soon so I will tell you more later. I have been cutting stencils and using car spray paint with them.

Experiments In Colour: Thomas Wardle, William Morris and the Textiles of India’

10 October - 24 January

This exhibition explores the remarkable collaboration between William Morris and the Victorian textile entrepreneur, Thomas Wardle (1831-1909). Together they experimented with natural dyes and printing techniques and their interest in colour led them to a joint fascination with the textiles of India. This exhibition explores the fruits of this partnership, a unique moment in British textile history. ‘Experiments in Colour’ is curated by Dr Brenda King and forms part of a series of exhibitions celebrating Wardle’s centenary.

Trying something new....

This is my latest project of trying to do something a little bit different from what I usually produce. After my life drawing session I'm trying to step out of the box a bit more. I used it as my friends birthday card recently and she loved it - so maybe I'll do another!

Life drawing at the Tate...

As a mothers day treat my sister and I took my mum to the Tate Gallery to do a life drawing session. Not knowing what to expect we turned up and were led to the entrance of the Rodchenko & Popova 'Defining Constructivism' exhibition. To be honest I was a bit worried at first, being a traditional artist who doesnt get out of their comfort zone very much, but the other two took it on board to become star pupils.

I would thoroughly recommend it as a great night out if you're on your own or in a group, like us. The tutors were brilliant, offering lots of advice and inspiration. I have also been to their sessions at the Candid Arts Centre so go check them out if you can (http://www.annesite.co.uk).

Here's the results from our short sessions. Obviously you can tell which one of us got asked to move to Russia to sell their work, not me!