Well well it’s already 2012. I didn’t make any new years resolutions this year but I’m starting to think I should have. It’s still the first month of the year so I’ll go for it. My mission for this month was to start my new web design. I flew to Australia at Christmas time with a plan to stay for the summer months and what can I say…up til now there’s been distractions…. ..

I’ve been visiting this…
…swimming in this…

Walking over this……

watching a LOT of this…
in particular for this amazing player..

riding on a few of these…

celebrating Australia Day by eating this…

and enjoying the local wildlife

but I thought if I posted my mission onto my blog then I’ll make it happen so safe to say Watch This Space!!!

Well well that time of year has come again, time for the population of Edinburgh to have the opportunity to check out the Edinburgh Printmakers workshop, and have a go! I always try to do my bit so I helped our fabulous master screenprinter with some little simple stencil demonstrations, mainly for the kids but the adults who participate have loads of fun with it.

The results from the kids were really amazing, they drew and cut out some very cool designs, we had a dinosaur (which was going to be called (Tyranoscreenprinterex),a dainty cat and even a native New Zealand birdie to name a few. Creativity seems to come naturally to kids..I think as adults our education replaces creativity in many ways, like our ideas are becoming too mainstream and jaded as we get older. I think that’s why art school is so important, it encourages a ‘mainstream idea’ clear out in the creative side of the brain to make room for the new creative ventures ahead.

So as well as demonstrations I also gave an artist talk which to be honest became a pro screenprinting monolgue instead. I think the people watching my talk learn’t more than masses of information about the nitty gritty cool workings of  the screenprint process, and probably wondered whether I even took a breath….you can see the passion radiating from my expressive arm action in the photo below, check it out! You’d think I was talking about something politically racey but no, it was about the UV exposure unit! Great stuff!

Well as promised I have attached a few pics of my trip to the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea Park. It’s a fantastic set up, especially for printmakers! Artichoke print Studio organised a demonstration area where anyone can participate and draw onto a piece of perspex which is then inked up and printed.
So of course I made a print, along side mostly children and a wee Indian guy who just wrote some random indian words on his perspex square which of course when it was printed then became backward indian text. I decided that since Paris was the flavour of the month that I would draw a little frenchie themed squiggle, below.
That was fun, but of course the main reason I was there was to see my lovely gallery representative Anna and her equally lovely brother Toby. The exhibition space looked fantastic although I couldn’t get a clear photo for all the people, but you get the idea.

Great news! For the first time, I will be represented at the Affordable Art Fair at Battersea Park in London, this weekend.
It will run from the 20th to the 23rd October. I will be represented by the fantastic Anna Smithson, who is a Bristol based gallery. She is exhibiting a very exciting selection of artists, and the reason I know that is because I received a beautiful double page leaflet highlighting all the artists and their work. It’s definately worth a visit. I will be going to London this weekend, I wouldn’t miss it. I’ll make sure I take a photo of the exhibition space for the blog
The details of opening hours and tickets prices are on the website, click here

http://www.affordableartfair.com/battersea/visit/157/Times-&-Admission

I decided to make an opportunity out of  an exhibition invite for a Sydney gallery who are featuring their up and coming summer show with a French theme.

So i booked a flight to Paris. I spent 3 days getting myself reaquainted with the city which was fabulous. I took a 30 page sketch book with me, with a mission to filling every page with drawings…but Paris is one of those cities where you can’t walk around anonymously…well I can’t anyway. …if it’s not the people, it’s the bird population..

One afternoon I stood drawing the Seine from the south bank when two guys came up to enquire how much it would cost for me to draw the both of them with a Parisien backdrop… I’m not sure whether they really wanted a drawing or to practise their English…perhaps they were just very friendly Frenchies. Either way I opted to take photographs after that.. lots and lots of them! 

I found myself returning to Montmartre, my favourite part of town, every day I was there. There was a lot of quite cool street art in Paris too…

a wee bit of stencilling, nice little touch

but my most inspiring ‘sight’ was the Georges Pompidou centre…I love that inside-out building more and more with every visit…I just think it’s super super cool yet extremely stylish.

Georges Pompidou Centre

Cutting edge, a bit raw yet classy all at the same time. Very inspiring. There’s a retrospective of Edvard Munch on at the moment so I went and checked that out while I was there and it worked out to be a bonus that it was on the top floor so I was able to get a glimpse of the view out over Paris, it turned out to be a nice little detour!

I think this photo would be one of my favourites..it’s a wall pertaining to a school which has an eclectic mix of phrases/words in different languages. The kidies were chasing eachother in front of it, I just think the wall makes them look so tiny.

I have proofed the Parisien artworks already and am very happy with the results. I’ll post some images once I’ve completed the final pieces. Watch this space !

I think it’s very important to get down time after an extended period of up time, so I took myself to Málaga for sun, food and wine, and then to Berlin for some art. Málaga has become an annual destination for me, it ticks every box and never fails to do so.  I can’t not mention the new Carmen Thyssen Gallery which opened in Malaga this summer. Apparently Carmen used to holiday in Málaga so she wanted to give something to the people of Málaga. It’s a purpose built gallery with a central courtyard Andalucian style. All tall white walls dotted with some absolutley stunning pieces. there were two artworks in there which I stood in front of for at least 30 minutes each, taking in all the beauty. While I was in AndalucíaI checked out the Mezquita in Córdoba too, wow what a joy!

La mezquita

Me in the Mezquita

After I plugged my batteries in to be recharged I then took up an opportunity to visit Berlin. Berlin has been on my list of places to visit for at least 4 years now, but something, or somewhere has always seemed to take precedence. Well it must be said that the cityscape of Berlin is the most ugliest i’ve ever seen in Europe, even though it has perfectly good reason. Saying that though I compared Berlin to a rose garden….it looks ugly and messy from a distance but as you get closer you begin to smell the roses and then one deep wiff of a rose gives off such a lovely fresh aroma that it feeds the soul. You need to participate in a city like Berlin, it’s very interactive, there’s a lot of very exciting creative and social ventures going on like an invisible network of brightly coloured cables running all over the city, crossing over eachother and interlinking on the way. I met some very inspiring people and saw some very inspiring street art.

some streets are highly decorated

This beautiful mural is at the start of a very groovy street

I love a bit of street humour art

I checked out the Berlin modern Art Gallery which had a superb, varied selection of Germany history artworks including a section on the Dada movement as well as very contemporary installation pieces. A nice mix. I liked the range of books they have downstairs in the bookshop. Apparently photographing in the gallery is subject to a €2 fee at reception… also quite a modern concept I thought.

Berlin has quite a lot of quirk!

Well well I know it’s been donkeys years since I last wrote. What can I say, things have been so hectic this summer. It’s probably the busiest summer for me, on record!..and the worse weather on record (so it seemed). After the art residency in Wales i knuckled down and submitted all new work to 6 summer exhibitions, 1 solo and 5 group shows. I also produced a new series of mini prints for the festival of which i clocked up 89 hours of printing in 10 days to get it done. Phowaarrr!!! I worked like a crazy woman, or a machine, whichever works harder!
The summer was not so bright and cheerful weather wise this year. I feel for all the international tourists visiting Edinburgh who had travelled far and wide to be rained upon, day in, day out. They still seemed to be enjoying themselves, as did the grass in the meadows. It was looking particularly green this summer!. I managed to catch a glimpse of the meadows in sunshine, how beautiful….oh look, a shadow!
All in all I had a very successful and hard working summer…so I took myself away for a wee break

When I heard of an opportunity to participate in an art residency program/ exchange between Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop and Swansea Print Workshop in south Wales I thought it sounded like a great idea. I applied and was accepted alongside another 3 artists from Edinburgh printmakers and 4 artists from Wales. As the exchange, the 4 Edinburgh artists spent 10 days in Swansea and vice versa. It was a fabulous experience, particularly working so closely with the 3 other artists. We worked extremely hard to adapt to the sometimes frustrating limitations of the equipment and processes in the Swansea workshop. Saying that Swansea is an artist run studio and a very well run studio at that however it took a little time to adapt after coming from edinburgh printmakers where we carry on with our work in a familiar environment. The trials and tribulations of working in another studio had it’s ups and downs but the greatest part of it was that we all embarked on a new art form or technique that challenged us which we all overcame with success. On a social note we wanted to attempt a little ‘Come dine with me’ experience where we have in-turns to cook and be hosts in our temporary homes, which were all located within a short walk from eachother. Unfortunately it was a unanimous decision to opt out and cook in pairs instead as it’s less stressful. i must say I was looking forward to be scored for my cooking skills, I even made an italian ice cream before the trip in preparation but I’ll save it for another competitive occasion

As a result all 8 artists have produced a small body of prints based on the theme of IMport/ EXport and will be exhibited in both Swansea and Edinburgh. The work will be exhibited at Edinburgh Printmakers in September, the opening night being the 8th Sept. A catalogue has also been made, complete with a Welsh translation. I wanted to include the word ‘day’ in my artist statement so as to see the welsh translation which is spelt Dydd…. Welsh is the most ridiculous looking language I have ever seen written in my life. It’s as if the vowels were highly taxed and therefore only used when it’s utmost necessary to do so. I learn’t a little pronunciation which I must say even though it still sounds very foreign, it’s not at all ridiculous like the spelling. One of the highlights for me in Swansea was the friendliness of the people, they reminded me of country folk in Aus, just really chilled out and open to chat to anyone. It was like a breath of fresh air. It was an amazing experience, here’s a few more pics of the two artists books I made from my sketchbook.

I drew all my sketches on the one side of the page in my sketchbook and on the reverse I

screenprinted little bits from

the edition pieces so in the end I ended up with a collection of sketches and collaged screenprinted

layers which introduced colour and texture to the pages. I then stitched all the pages together so as to

create a concertina where you can open up the entire book and have it sitting on a table. One side of the

concertina will be predominently  black and white sketches and the other layers of colour. these images

show the books as they look when opened out.

As I write this I have a lovely Edinburgh based friend visiting her home town of Rome just now, seeking galleries on my behalf. We have a mutual vision of an exhibition to be all drawings of Rome, in Rome.  I have visited Rome many times and I’ve been overwhelmed by it’s incredible architecture, and food it has to be said.

I’ve compiled a selection of screenprints and lithography pieces from my Parisien, London and Edinburgh series. I’ve screenprinted a design directly onto bookcloth and hand bound it all into a unique A3 portfolio.  I’m really happy with the portfolio so fingers crossed it will capture the imagination of a cheery, perhaps mildly eccentric, highly motivated and enthusiastic Italian gallery owner (I imagine it to be a woman with big hair). I would love the opportunity to draw snipets of Roman architecture and streets with a view to presenting them to the Roman people. .

a little sneak preview inside….Fingers and toes are crossed!!*#**! I’ll keep you posted!

It’s priceless, non descript and an absolute joy! Inspiration is one of those things that comes hand in hand with creative professions. Some of us have it on a daily basis and others go out in search of it. It comes in lots of different forms and when you get it it’s overwhelming and a bit magical, I think anyway. I was inspired by nature yesterday on a trek across the Braid hills and Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. I found inspiration in the luminous lime green of the trees (above), and the squawking cockatoo face in the tree trunk (below)

I find it interesting how people see different things. What sparkes inspiration for one person may be completely different to the next person. I never used to get so much inspiration from nature. Inspiration is like taste buds, always changing. I find natural forms completely overwhelming at times, like the fist fulls of palms below…. so creative yet indearing

although it must be said, I still don’t like olives!