Making an exhibition of myself

I made the acquaintance of a new friend the other week, and liked her very much. Since then we've chatted on the phone, and texted, a little, as you do when you get on. I knew a little bit about her, and her background, I'd met her man, knew what he did, and bit by bit, you build up a picture of the person, as they build up a picture of you. But, whilst you're doing all of that, you're doing other stuff too. The stuff that makes up your life, as they do the stuff that makes up theirs.

And I've had a really busy week, this week, as I've got a lovely commission to do for the woman who came to pose for me at the begining of the week, I've got to put some ideas together for a guy in San Francisco who has sent me some erotic photos and is waiting for my response of how they can be made into a painting of him, I've made a lot of new friends via Twitter, including a friend from a few years ago, who I met through blogging, and as well as that I'm updating my new website, with a large batch of emails back and forth between my webmaster and me, regarding his ideas, my ideas, the website layout, the best way of displaying the images, and a whole list of other questions between us too!

But, I would like to think that I've also got time for my friends.

Especially the new ones. When you're still finding out about each other.

So, it was great to hear from my new friend when she texted me earlier, and made reference to the fact she'd looked at my website, and suggested I look at her website. Which I did, later on this morning, expecting for some reason, to find that she was selling tee shirts from it (a slight mis-understanding with her surname in the web address gave me that impression!).

So... I looked...... with an open mind.......

And what I found.... astounded me..............

And that doesn't happen often!!!! :)

I sat there, reading her website, with my mouth hanging open,  and HAD to ring her straight away!

And on answering it - I told her I was flabbergasted!

She asked "Oh.....Why....?"

And I responded

"I didn't know you were an ARTIST too!!!!"

And she laughed, and agreed she was, which meant that we spent the next hour both of us all fired up, talking about creativity, art, erotic art, models, posing, art workshops, and art motivations, art experiences and all things connected.

And it was only during that conversation, when I relayed to her about me being hugely impressed with the places and countries she has exhibited in, that I realised that I hadn't created my own page on my new website for my OWN exhibitions!

Duh!

So, when Ieventually came off the phone, all bouyed up with talking about to a fellow female artist, I sat down and made MY list of places and dates of where I've exhibited..... and was surprised...... at how many places there were on that list!

For women everywhere

Well, the day of the exhibition set-up arrived full of golden September sunshine and promise!

The drive to London was going to take three hours, there was no doubt whatsoever about that one, but at least I had good company with my man, and we arrived at Hoxton reasonably easily. Its not an area of London I've been to before, so was intrigued as to what it would be like, and found it to be one of those gems within London particularly the area around pretty Hoxton Square, which is where Sh! Womens's Erotic Emporium is situated. I went to locate the shop and found Renee the manager there - it's good to put faces to names, to email messages, and we chatted easily - but then both of us are easy in our vocations of earning money in the eroticism for women business. I must admit Renee came out with the best comment I've heard in a very long time. She mentioned one of the women who works in the shop and said that she wasn't there that day as "She's gone to a bukkake party. Have you heard of it? It's where men stand around you and ejaculate on you. It's Japanese. I've told her 'Take your goggles!' ".

There's not a lot you can say to that one, but certainly you can't help your mind flooding with images!

Renee welcomed me into the shop, offered tea and coffee, and after a few questions, and a bit of chat between us, she went about her business, and I started setting up the exhibition. We had agreed "a few more than 12-14 medium to large pieces" which isn't exactly an exact figure, obviously, so just to be sure I had taken 22 pieces, large, medium, and small, in the hope that the majority of them would hang there. And was delighted to find one of those delightful pieces of serendipity when it all fitted, in the right places, and looked good too. So, I didn't need to take any home, they all stayed as part of the shop. Large, medium, and small, acrylics, watercolours, pencil drawings, originals and prints. Prices starting at £40 going up to far higher prices, to suit every pocket.

What I hadn't accounted for was the fact the paintings needed to be on long strings, so I had to spend an hour adding string to the back of the paintings so that they could hang on the S hooks there. But I had ample help from my man, as always with practical assistance and upbeat manner, and the pictures looked great when we'd finished. We had a quick look around the innovative shop, at all the lovely goodies on sale, before saying our farewells, and I came away feeling that it was the ideal erotic shop for women!

I had hoped for a couple of hours looking around the area, but the rush hour traffic was threatening, so after a brief but most delicious late lunch from one of the cafes on Hoxton Square we headed back north in the glorious sunshine.

But the thing that I am most pleased about, and proud to be part of, is the fact that I am a woman artist, specialising in erotic art, and my artwork is being exhibited in an erotic shop run by women, for women. What a wonderful partnership of the right venue, and the right artwork on show!

 

So, I hope you're able to go along, and see for yourself, the artwork, and the venue! Its fab!

Fond fairwells

Full of hope, as is the way of my world, that some of my most beloved and cherished items are leaving me. To move on to pastures new, well, walls really, old and new.
That the paintings I have chosen for the exhibition are delighted over,
get emotionally entwined with,
and purchased by,
those who fall in love with them.
So much so that they want to buy them, to own them themselves for ever more.

I think I've picked wisely.

There is certainly an eclectic mix, something for everyone.

So, I shall pack them up later on, lovingly.
And hand them over to the exhibition people setting up the show.
Who will hang them tonight.
For the exhibition tomorrow.
For the people to view.
(And hopefully buy)!
My paintings.
Which will then become....
Their paintings.

The exhibition is at Ticknall Village Hall, South Derbyshire. Over the bank holiday weekend, open to the public on Sunday 8am to 6pm, Monday 8am to 5pm. Its a great day out, there are many great paintings to view there and they sell the most fabulous tea and homemade cakes too!

Why I turned her down

A friend asked me yesterday if I was free one night next week. The answer was a regretful "No, sorry, can't". it's not as if I didn't want to see her, I do, but we've arranged to meet in a couple of weeks anyway. And it's difficult to say more than "I've got a lot on at the moment" and no doubt people think, oh, ok then, she's a bit busy.

But, it doesn't explain it, not at all.

For instance, this week, I am sorting out which paintings or drawings to take to the Sh! exhibition next week.
I don't know exactly which are the best ones to take with me, as I've never exhibited there before. I don't know how big the wall space is, how good the lighting is, what sort of paintings are likely to sell there. Its a new venue for me. So, I've got to take a good selection of my artwork.
And some of whichever I choose to take, may need to be re framed. So I need to sort that out.
And they will need wrapping up in bubble wrap to transport them.
And I will need to make sure that I have the painting title cards ready to take with me for them.
And I will need to make sure that I have the right equipment with me for hanging, for when I get there I don't want any conversations about "Oh, I thought YOU were bringing the hammer and nails with you".

And because I'm exhibiting at Sh! its prompted a couple of interesting conversations - one by text, one by email, regarding the possibility of other work that may come my way in commissions. I never know with commissions if people are really serious, or just like asking a few questions of a woman artist, or whether they like the idea, and may, just maybe, at sometime in the future, get back to me, if they don't go off the idea in the meantime. It happens, and I know its part of the way of an artists life. But, I treat all conversations equally as "Well, it might be a good commission for me" and "Well, I may not get it, so don't get too excited at the prospect". I try to be fair with everyone I deal with, and will explain the artistic process for them, once they have decided what sort of painting they want, subject matter, size, medium, and price range they are considering.

And, just to add to the mix, I'm still in the process of updating my new website, and that's taking far longer than I had hoped.

And I've joined Twitter this last week, and am slowly building that up.

As well as the comments I've had on Facebook for the exhibition.

AND, as if that isn't enough, I've got a big exhibition on at Ticknall Village Hall  in South Derbyshire,this weekend, that is something I enjoy being part of, as there will be about 1,000 paintings hanging there from all sorts of artists, both amateur and professional. The money raised there is for the village school fund raising, and makes a vast difference to the people involved there.

So, that's why I'm a "bit busy" this week and next, I can't see her next week, not at all.

Looking back

Looking back, at the time of the exhibition I didn't particularly think of it as a good one. I hadn't sold any pictures, and that is usually my marker for a successful show. But I know that that is sometimes the way of these things, and at least I had had really good responses to the work I had taken. And overall the whole group hadn't sold a lot, but that sometimes happens too.....

At least I had taken some cards and they had sold, as they always do, so I had a bit of income back to set against the hanging fees, the effort, the time, and energy I had put into the work I had exhibited.

So, I might have driven away from the exhibition a little despondent, a little more muted than I had cheerily arrived there at the start of it.

And arrived home to put my artwork away, sort out the unsold cards and got on with the mutae of life as one does......

But, what I hadn't realised was the seeds I'd set.

The ones that start with a business card..........

During the week I had two phone calls. One from Stuart Haywood the South Derbyshire historian, who wants to be drawn by me again as he loves the other artwork I have done for him, and seeing my art and me in person had prompted him to commission me again to draw him. And there was another idea he had for a painting too, but he needs to sort out some old photos before I can do that for him, so that will happen in due course.

The other phone call was from a middle aged chap who had picked up my business card and contacted me with a view to me doing a watercolour of him in the nude. He came in the week for me to take more details and to discuss poses with him. As he was about to disrobe he hesitated and said ...."Er, I've...... got ....pierced nipples..." to which I replied,  with a grin "That's fine, I've seen worse..... " to which he ruefully replied "Well, I've had that pierced as well, but I took the ring out....." And I replied with a bigger grin "Well you could have left it in if you'd preferred...." But, no, he was happy with the way he was. So, that is the next painting in the pipeline, sooo to speak..............

And just to add to the joy of a busy week, I received the same email that the secretary of Ashby Guild of Artists sent out to all members. And in it I read that the slips that had been given to all the visitors to the exhibition asking them to name their favourite painting at the exhibition, which made them look at them a lot closely and interact with the show more,  had been totted up and the results were..


"You will see that Jackie's "Looking Back" was clearly the public's favourite picture with 19 votes, her overall votes being 25. It is interesting to see that nearly everyone was represented which shows that the general standard of the exhibition was high (and some actually said that on their slip). In perhaps half a dozen cases out of the 228 slips received, people selected more than one picture and prioritised their vote, so in true British tradition a 'first past the post' decision was made in those cases."



So, that certainly made my day, and made my week!!!!!! YAY!!!!!

So, I will show the drawing here. It is a pencil drawing on cartridge paper, and about as far away as you can get from erotic art! It shows old age, and a life lived shown in the lines and marks of the graphite pencil. It is a picture I am delighted to have drawn, and I took many hours to do it. But I will also mention that I am very aware of copyright issues, and the drawing I did (some time ago) was done from an image I didn't take. I have no idea of the photographers name, or how old the photo is, so I can't credit them with it.

The picture is here, and is very aptly named. It sums up my week, as well as being totally apt for the drawing, and the subject matter....... It's called     "Looking back" !!

Getting the buzz

I always love the start of an exhibition. There's always a buzz aboout it, that sets me buzzing too.

The mellee of people waiting to see where to store their paintings, ready for hanging. Questions from first time exhibitors, the quiet assurance of the ones who've done it before, many times (that's me!). The smile to other artists, as we acknowledge that we are part of a creative group participating in the same activity. The interest to see who else is hanging their work this year. A hug and kiss to the various organisers who are familiar as old friends.

And the wide eyed acknowledgement when one of them told me that two members of the RA are coming tomorrow night to the preview night. I agreed with her, that that was indeed an accolade! She confided "I wonder if they can pass on some tips to us regarding the exhibition?" And I agreed, that it would be a good opportunity to ask. Then she said "Mind you, it takes them four weeks to hang a thousand paintings, and it takes us a night and half a day to hang one thousand, one hundred paintings!" I looked at her, and smiled and retorted "It looks like its YOU who can teach THEM how it should be done!" and she laughed in agreement!!!!!

So, it'll be set up this weekend, and if you're in the area, and would like to attend, its the Dame Catherine Harpur art show at Ticknall Village Hall in South Derbyshire, and is open to the public on Sunday and Monday. And if you think its just a local village exhibition, you're mistaken - there are some excellent paintings there, by talented artists from all over the East Midlands, as much as there are some cheaper paintings by amateurs. Infact, there will be something for everyone, even if you're only looking. Of course, if you're buying...........then this is the place to go.... and the school will benefit from it as it is their best fund raiser!

But Where will you be?

I know they say moving house is stressful.

I'm aware of it.
And I've tried to deal with the daily problems in a sensible and realistic way, keeping communications open.

But, I'm doubly aware of the stress, no quadrupably, aware of it THIS week!

Without going into the boring legal stuff of describing the minute details of solictors phone calls, helpful solicitors secretaries, panicky estate agents, laid back vendors, confident purchasers, over officious mortgage lenders, cock-ups with Land Registry, late night searches for old deeds going back to the 1800s, boundary queries regarding red lines, and removal van logistical problems..............!

So, when I know I have to fill out  a couple of forms this week for exhibitions in the near future, and they ask difficult questions like "address" and  "phone number" - I'm not sure what to put! Hopefully, I won't be at my current address. But, if the sale is delayed, I might not be at my new address. I can hardly put "Care of whoever will put me up that night" can I !!!!!?!

As well as that I've had to decide which pictures will be in the exhibitions a month before I need to take them to be hung. And they want to know "size" of each one. Bearing in mind that I've had to clambour over packing boxes to find them in various places around the house, measure them, and fill out the details. It's a big enough job without the extra aggro of house upheaval! Aand I've also got to bear in mind that at the other end, they need to be found easily rather than labelled under a generic "art" tag! Perhaps I need to make a label that says "Don't put this in a far corner, keep it near to the door, as you're going to need it soon after you move in" label.

Life's not boring, at the moment.

(Understatement of the week!!!)

Opening doors and slamming others

On deciding one warm and sunny night this week that a fresh pizza and glass of chilled wine at the local pub was a good idea, I was surprised as I placed my order when the pizza chef greeted me with a smile and enquired "How's your exhibition going?" I was taken aback, since I've not seen him for a few weeks. "How do you know about THAT?" I asked, intrigued.... "You emailed my wife and she told me!" he said with a grin, and I smiled back in rememberance. Of course I did! Along with everyone else I could think of in the area who might be interested....

So I wasn't so surprised later on that evening, still in the pub, when I saw another guy I'd not seen for a year, and he asked me the same thing! It's nice to know that the message is getting across and people remember.

And even nicer when my cousin from North Yorkshire rang me yesterday to ask the same question. This exhibition is giving people the opportunity to get in touch with me, which is lovely! It makse me feel all warm and smiley!

Infact, now I come to think about it, two women friends have mentioned it too when I bumped into each of them on different days this week. One of them was just coming back from a late lunch in town, and had a male colleague with her. She and I hugged in greeting and she introduced me to him, we shook hands and she mentioned to him that I'd got an exhibition on at the library and that she'd been but I'd not been on duty at that point (its sods law that I can hang around the library for three hours and not see anyone I know, but when I'm not there, they go!!!!). He looked at me with interest and said "So you've got your own crayons have you?" I smiled and said "I've got my own paint brushes as well". He said "But you could use your hands to smear the paint on" and I agreed and said "And I'd probably earn more money that way instead of painting properly with a brush!". He asked me a couple more probing questions about my work and when I said that I'd sold artwork to America, he commented "Well, its easy to sell oil paintings to the Americans!" followed by an aggressive "Gettttttttt a JOB!!!!!!!!!" I replied that I HAD one!!!! My friend decided it was time to get back to work and I said goodbye to her and to him and walked on. She's a really good friend of mine, but I wasn't sure about her colleague - whether he was being deadly serious and sarcastically critical and rude, or whether he thought he was being funny! I'm still not sure. But I'll ask her next time I see her. I found him to be aggresively rude for no apparant reason. Perhaps he speaks to everyone in that way!

Not all QUIET in the library

Before the exhibition was EVEN set up, it was a success!

A success because of a phone call I received a couple of days beforehand......

My contact at the library had rung with a piece of good news for me - she was setting up the programme of events for next year and when she got to the "International day for Women in Arts" she thought of me and said I was top of her list! And asked if I'd be interested in talking to a group at the library about my erotic art and taking along some pieces to show them. I said I'd be delighted to! She said that there would be a woman photographer, sculptor and textile worker there as part of the session, so it all sounds very upbeat and positive and I shall be delighted to be part of it!

And that was before I'd even set the exhibition up!

I set it up on Monday, on my own. I've set up exhibitions before, but they've been part of a group so I've not had to do all of it on my own before. When I've exhibited at Olympia for Erotica I've had a smaller stand and some help, so this time was  more involved. But, other than the carrying in of the artwork (heavy even without the benefit of a hot summers day!), it was ok. And the caretaker was a great help in letting me stay after the library was shut for the night, which gave me the extra time to put up my title cards, and the bio about me and my work. I was weary though, when I got back home, mentally and physically.

I'm delighted with the way it looks, it's my first proper solo exhibition and its one I'm proud of. It's a lovely light exhibition space and right by the front door so people can see it when they go on.

The decision about putting erotic art in was always going to be a moot point. I'd got the exhibition in the first place because of the brightly coloured vibrant abstracts I'd done. But, it's still a public place that children can go to and its not appropriate for them to see erotic art. But the library knew that and left it to me to decide what I felt I was happy with. To that end, I decided that it would be better for me to show all that I do, and not just the erotic stuff, whilst making the most of my brightly coloured abstracts as I know they are popular, regardless of the subject matter. So I took landscapes, animals, still life and dancers as well as the more acceptable erotic stuff.

Whilst I was setting up on Monday afternoon, a little girl of nine and her father passed by me. The child darted past each picture saying "I like that one, I like that one, I like that one" as she pointed to each in turn. All good, if she finds the art appealing. She said "Who painted all of these?" and I said "I did!" her father hadn't heard me say that, and he replied to her "Lots of people, darling" and I turned to him and said "No, I did them ALL". He looked taken aback and replied "In that case, you're very talented" and I smiled at him in his understanding. 

And later on, whilst I was putting up the brightly coloured erotic abstracts an older woman came in search of her husband who was looking at the art, and said to him "I like THAT!" and I turned and said a heartfelt "Thankyou!" as we made eye contact and smiled at each other. The art has valedation.

Yesterday when I popped in to see how things were progressing there were two youngish women there smiling at the "naughty picture" the "Tree of Life" picture that I'd taken as a framed print. It seems to be the most popular thing there, and they were smiling in understanding of what it was and what it depicted. The chief librarian was there, a man in his forties, and they pointed it out to him, and I smiled and asked him "Are you ok with hanging that picture in the library? Innocent eyes only see innocence in it, but adults see it for what it really is" He looked blankly at the picture and said "What? I don't know what you mean" I smiled, and the two other women smiled and pointed at it. He still looked blankly at it and it was obvious that he couldn't see it - one of the women pointed it out to explain it, and I smiled to myself. Children are obviously not the only ones with "innocent eyes"!!!!!!!

All fired up

The Burton library exhibition isn't abandoned totally.  Infact I think I'll be able to put quite a few pictures in. It's just that I won't be able to do as much for it as I had hoped for, originally. But that's ok. And I'll also be able to hang some of the more acceptable erotic ones there. Infact it was the brightly coloured abstracts like this one that got me the exhibition in the first place!

I appreciate that some of my work though, is totally inappropriate for a public library, so to that end, I'll also be putting in some small framed prints of tigers, other animals, and landscapes. Far more acceptable for some, I'm sure!!! LOL

I'm looking forward to it and know that some friends will be attending at some point over the fortnight to see what I'm exhibiting there and I'll appreciate their feedback. Stuart and his wife are going he tells me, and I know he'll let me know what he thinks of it. He's recently tried to get an article printed in the Guardian newspaper about his amusing experience of being drawn by me the first daunting time, but the paper say that they've only recently printed a similar article so have turned it away. Undeterred, as he's aware of the fickle natures of newspapers, he's trying another publication he thinks may be interested and rings me regularly with any news (yes, pun intended!!).

Last night I attended a meeting for one of the art groups I'm a member of to discuss feedback regarding recent exhibitions and the possibility of other venues in the area for new ones. The usual stuff. Afterwards in the bar a few of them stayed on for drinks and a social chat and the boyfriend of one of them joined his artist girlfriend and was happy to join the group. He's a nice easy going fella and I've known him many years. He sat back and listened as the chat went back and forth across the table. Talks of places to paint, and dates arranged for painting days, where you just set up your easel and paint a particular scene, but with the knowledge that others will be around if you don't want to be a lone woman out painting on your own. And then someone excitedly talked about using acrylics and how much she liked them after years of being a pastel painter, and then someone else excitedly talked of the new acrylic paints that don't dry instantly, but allow you to have a couple of days to still move the paint around if you need to, and at that I really perked up and eagerly asked to know more about them.  Only for the flat phrase to fall on the converstion from the boyfriend overhearing it all "ART GEEKS!" he said. And we stopped and looked at him inquisitively. "You're all ART GEEKS!" he said again, and I grinned. I suppose we are. But it's because we're excited about it, and love to hear of new techniques or paints or where to buy the cheapest watercolour paper or best types of pastels. We're art geeks!  I agree!!!!!

Somethings got to give

Well somethings gotta give and unfortunately its got to be the art.
Short term, anyway.
I rang the librarian I've been dealing with at Burton Library to say that I was REALLY looking forward to this exhibition next week and was doing the best I could for getting ready for it. BUT, and it is a BIG but........ I am without a car at the moment until I get a courtesy car sorted out after my car accident last week. That's not a huge problem, just a minor annoyance and I can work around that.

But on top of that, I am sorting out my life and that is as ok as it can be, in the circumstances.

And just to add to the problems, I've found a house I really like, and have made an offer on it. Which has been accepted. So that means that what should have been quality time for sorting out the things I need for the exhibition have been taken up with endless phone calls and questions.

She kindly listened to all I said and helpfully suggested "Why don't you cancel it, and leave it until next year when you're more settled?"

"No" I replied, "I don't want to do that, although I may well exhibit there again next year when things have quietened down and I've got my life on track again. But I don't want to cancel, I want to do it, even though it won't be as good as I was hoping, it will be the best I can do, in the time I have".

Because, this is for the art.

All of it.

As if there wasn't enough happening

I've got my first solo exhibition coming up in ten days time. So there's a lot to do to prepare and get things ready. It's only at the library at Burton on Trent in Staffordshire but it's an excellent venue, the exhibition space is great, the light is great,the staff are enthusiastic and they have a lot of people through the door there. So all in all, its a good thing and I want to do my best for the show. I think I can hang a good amount of artwork, and I can hang prints as well so there will be something for everybody, and if I want to do some demonstrations I can, and just get involved with the patrons of the fair brewing town of Burton on Trent.

Except, this is the week that I'm house hunting.

And this is the week that I've viewed not one but two houses that I REALLY REALLY like. Fortunately they happen to be three doors away from each other so it's easy to view them together. The problem is, and its a nice problem in a way, is that there are aspects of BOTH houses that I really like. If I could take the kitchen, bathroom and the room that I would use to paint in, and mix them into the other house I'd have a perfect mix. But I can't. So I have to make a decision. Which one do I want MOST????

Mmm...... I'm been thinking long and hard about THAT question. And I THINK I've come up with the answer. But it DOES mean another viewing of both of them to fully answer that question. So I've arranged to do that in the next few days.

And JUST to add to the lovely mix of the week, the week when I've got enough on my plate as it is. This  week is the VERY week that my car was involved in a car accident. AGAIN. And I've only had my car back ONLY three weeks from the last dent put into it whilst I was down in Essex and an old man reversed his car out of a parking space in a pub car park, to richocet into a Mercedes parked next to  mine, and shunt it at force sideways into my parked car and embed the cars into each other. Thank goodness no one was in either car so no one was hurt and the old man admitted liability so I was able to have my car repaired quickly and it came back looking pristine and new again all of THREE weeks ago. So, you can imagine how delighted I was to be driven into by a tow truck  yesterday and find that he had dented it in more or less the same place as the last dent! When I spoke to the repair garage, who had only sent it back all done three weeks ago, the receptionist said she THOUGHT the name and car reg was familiar! I said the lads in the body shop will say they only fixed this car last month, and its back again. Like deja vu!!!!!

So whilst I'm dealing with all of that, and sorting out the hire car, its not getting things done for the exhibition at the library. At this rate, I'll have to book in again next year for a repeat performance, and hope that I haven't got so much on my plate THEN!!! :)

I wasn't telling the whole truth about the tits and arses

I bumped into an aquaintance the other night. He was playing pool, and the minute he saw me walk past him, he came over to say hi. I got a friendly smile and a kiss on the mouth and the opening line of "How are the tits and arses?" As questions go, you'd think that that was a little, well, presumptuous of him.... but then, I knew he wasn't referring to MY tits and arses, well .........not exactly mine, but very much mine, in a way!  He meant my erotic artwork. And he knew I knew that's what he meant. As opening lines go, it was a good one, and one I respond to with a delighted wicked grin! "Fine, thanks" I said. And we chatted about my recent paintings, and his latest artistic endeavours. He never rates his work enough to want to exhibit it, which is a shame, but there's no point in exhibiting it if you're not happy to show the world.

I told him that I'd got an exhibition on at Ticknall Village Hall in Derbyshire this weekend, along with a group of thrity artists. And I joked "But, I won't be showing the tits and arses, I'll be putting some landscapes in". He grinned, and said that was a pity and I agreed. We swopped a few more pleasantries and I left him to get on with his game of pool.

But, I was wrong, although I didn't know it at the time.

Because I have hung some tits and arses.

And as I hung them, I had some very appreciative comments from my fellow artists about them.

So, now it'll be interesting to see what the viewing public think of them..................

Especially as two of them will be some of the arses I've drawn recently!!! LOL

Mysterious fish and a fabulous moment in time

One of the things I love about being an artist is the people I meet through it.

Like this weekend, for instance.

On Saturday I attended an art workshop run by a fascinating Japanese woman. She was born at the end of the second world war but she's lived in England for thirty years or more and is an excellent watercolourist through an intriguing mix of East and West, with equal measures of Japanese and English in her approach to art and the techniques she uses and teaches. I found her very interesting, partly because of her art and partly because of where she comes from. I loved Japan when I visited there a couple of years ago and could really relate to her explaining about using a paintbrush like chop-sticks, being dexterious with it for picking out the details with confidence and aplomb.
I can't say I was particularly happy with the picture I did during the workshop though! But I know that that's the way it goes sometimes. I was trying to paint goldfish in a pool, with the reflections of sunlight on the surface, and the depth of colour below, the fish appearing out of the depths, and an acer tree leaning over, the red leaves in sharp contrast to the water, with a strong depth of aquamarine in the top right hand corner, and pure white light in the bottom left. I started off well, but lost the flow somewhere along the way. I know that that was mostly to do with the watercolour paper I was using. I went with what the tutor advised instead of sticking with the Bockingford paper I know and love. If I'd used that instead of the blotting-paper-like Saunders Waterford I did use, the picture would have worked fine. So, that's a learning curve and one I'll bear in mind in future (stick with what you know, and ignore what a tutor advises if you KNOW you can make it work with the materials you're used to!). Still, even so, I got a lot of postive feedback from the others attending the workshop, so that was nice, and the tutor said she really liked my "Mysterious fish fantasy picture" as she called it! Aw, sweet!!

There were a couple of new faces at the workshop, both friendly, as most artists seem to be. But I knew I knew one of them, and presumed it was from a local art club. When we had a chance to chat, I said hello and she said hello, smiling, and said that she knew she knew me but wasn't sure where from. I agreed, grinning, and mentioned the local art club. No, she said, that wasn't it. She mentioned another art group and I shook my head, I wasn't in that one. We paused, and looked at each other, and both were adamant that we knew each other somehow. HHmmmm.....................did she work in the local town? Nope. Did she have anything to with any other art group? Nope. Did she go to my school? Nope. HhhMMMmmmmmm. How curious. And then I mentioned art workshops. And the penny dropped! It was one we'd both attended four and a half years ago! We both smiled in recognition, and rememberence! Ah, yes, that was it! And she said "You had your Euruka moment!" and I laughed along with her. Yes I DID!! It was the day I found something amazing. Something that stopped me dead in my tracks. A strange thing! But simple. And that was that my LEFT hand was actually far better at art than my right that I used all the time! PURE Eureka! And she had remembered it!!! I must have left a big impression ('scuse the joke! Ha!).

Sunday was a day off, a non painting day, if there is such a thing for an artist. But every day is an art day, even if its not painting. Such a lovely day, weatherwise and worth going out to see the local Well Dressing at a nearby village. A pleasant amble, an ice-cream in the sunshine, cups of tea and the quintessential Englishness of Morris dancers (no, I'm NOT a fan!). And it was whilst wondering around the little art exhibition there that I saw a couple of faces I knew - and went over to say a hello to one of them. Another woman artist, and someone I've not seen for a while, not since her husband died last year. She was busy doing lovely pen and ink landscapes and selling them like hot cakes. She said that art was her saviour since her husband had died. They'd been together more than fifty years, and she was eighty this year. And still painting. But that's the thing about art, it's something you start when you're old enough to hold a crayon, and something you do until you're in old age, and it brings you so much pleasure inbetween. And is good therapy, when you think your world has collapsed.

It brings hope, for the future.