Creativity & Transition Belper

I was sat on my sofa, reading the transition network website guidelines for the stages of transition and involving families, when I realised the most obvious thing I hadn't done... Tell people about my growing involvement with the transition network. (Duh!)

For the last few months I've been working on a project for Transition Belper and what started out as a fun project that I could use my artistic skills with local children is turning out to be a bit of a life changer. I've always tried (and regularly failed) to live ethically and environmentally friendly so joining in with the transition network is an obvious step. 

Transition movements look at ways to address the two subjects of climate change and peak oil and how we can continue to live with a dwindling resource and how we contribute to climate change. 

The project is to create artwork for the railings at the Belper Train Station and to create a mosaic that will be built at Belper Goes Green Festival. I'm still hoping we have the funds for the mosaic and we are winging it a bit, but I still have a belief that it will happen. 

This has had an effect on my lifestyle recently as I've given up my car (my biggest oil user as I rarely do things like fly) and an awakening to using local and alternative sources. I'm currently enjoying the bus ride to my part time job which means I get to walk through my local park most days, whether I'll still like it in winter remains to be seen! 

I also recently agreed/volunteered to be the Creativity & Wellbing coordinator and our first meeting is on the 3rd May. My aspirations for this group are that we ultimately make artwork that reflect the issues around transition, have some skill sharing sessions and hopefully some up skilling. I know that I would love to learn how to crochet, something very simple but is a total mystery to me! 

As well as this I also start training as a forest school leader in May which I'm really excited about. Outdoors, kids, playing & learning, creating, mud. What's not to love! 

One of the drawings from Herbert Strutt Primary School for Transition Belper. 

Outdoor Easter Crafts hanging in the living willow dome. 

Red Handed in a Field

I was planning on doing some mosaicing this weekend... but when I tidied my studio yesterday, I found some raw silk hankies and my dyes. Needless to say, my hands are now a deep reddish colour...

I started my morning with a walk down to the Farmers Market to buy mushrooms for breakfast, I was there so early, they were still setting up.  But sunny early mornings are my favourite time and too soon it will be dark and dingy. I love the feeling of being the only person awake, so Maybe and I headed back home to cook our mushrooms and check on the mordanting fibres.

Threads and Raw Silk in the Mordant Bath

The Acid Dyes are applied...

Then Steamed...

And put on the drying rack...

TAH DAH! - Beautiful Colours to play with.

I now have a whole stack of beautfully dyed silks, threads and wool to play with in some textile/collage/mixed media way. Jung often went out and played to access his sub conscious and recognised the value in being creative, so as I work through my Mindfulness & Coaching course, I need to remember that playing is an essential part of my own needs. That and getting pretty colours.


After lunch of vegetarian scotch eggs bought from the Farmers Market I headed out with fellow artist and friend, helping him to chose locations to film in.  He's making another K-Film and needed countryside for the shots.

So a very creative day today, which after 6 weeks of having children home from school, was much needed!

A lovely walk today

I enjoyed a really nice walk today in the sunshine, taking lots of photos of things to inspire...

all for illustration research. No more words just pictures.

The Power of Social Media

I've recently been included in a press release and we are to have a group interview and photo taken for the Derby Evening Telegraph next week.  It's very exciting and I have been boingy and buzzing since yesterday afternoon, I returned from taking Maybe for a walk to see my inbox flooded with emails arranging it all.   So today my mission is to go and get my haircut!


Four Belper Artists Brought Together by Social Media Have A Chance Of Selection to Exhibit in London Gallery

Back in summer 2011 Belper artist Ruth Gray read her twitter feed and the words ‘We are looking for Desperate Artwives!’ Jumped out at her. The call on the website read:

‘We are a group of women and artists who have been putting our "artistic needs" on hold to attend to our family and work duties, but who have also never forgotten who we really are at heart. We are now ready to reclaim our artist status and are looking for others who feel they belong to this category to join our group. Desperate Artwives aims to be a starting point and a common platform to gather artists and artwork that will make our project unique. We are looking for work that is entirely created at home, in between chores, family and paying bills. All artwork will be showcased on our website, while a smaller selection will join the Desperate Artwives group in our upcoming exhibition in London. Artworks in all media are welcomed, Inc. visual, film, sculpture, performance, textile art, poetry and writers. Submissions from international artists are also very welcomed!’

Ruth immediately submitted four pieces of work that she had been painting in the evening when her children were in bed and was accepted with her work show cased on the Desperate Artwives website. Since then the project has grown from strength to strength with over forty women artists from all over the world contributing. Amy Digham the project founder has announced that Desperate Artwives is now officially supported by the Women's Art Library, Goldsmiths University of London and the Desperate Artwives Exhibition will take place from the 19/05 to the 29/05 (PV friday 18th) at the Vibe Gallery, London. SE16 4DG. Student Jerwood Prize winner 2011 Nicki Rolls, will be taking part as special guest.

What Ruth didn’t bargain for was the project bringing together Jenny Oldknow, Christine Gray and Mandy –Jayne Ahlfors all Belper artists who all share similar stories of raising families and working yet still finding time to create artwork in between, this has been an added bonus and now the artists have had opportunities through social networks such as twitter and facebook to meet up and collaborate on other projects such as the Belper Art Trail and #twitterartexhibit (taking place in Moss Norway.) All have seen their profile raised since Desperate Artwives began and are now very positive that the time spent painting in between chores is paying off!


　

The Belper Artists

Ruth Gray

Ruth Gray is a fine artist who is both a British and Australian citizen specialising in semi abstract artworks that explore the emotion of natural environments through the use of colour and form.

Working predominantly in acrylics, using collage to add texture. With a long background in representational art Ruth also has a love of traditional watercolours and pencil work. Because fine art was not considered to be a stable career choice, she studied Textiles Technology at University and became a clothes designer for twelve years. But continuing her art education at night school and sketching at home. After immigrating to Australia in 2003 with her husband, she found herself living hours away from any major town or city and unable to continue her fashion career, so she reinvented herself as a fine artist. Successfully selling artwork in regional and national exhibitions, solo, joint and group shows. Media attention from newspapers, local radio and regional TV followed. Eventually writing ‘how to’ articles for national arts magazines. All the while discovering new skills in fine art at the local college.

Returning to the UK in 2009 and settling in Belper on the edge of The Peak District Ruth completed a degree in International Business and has continued with her art practice. Currently represented by local galleries in Derbyshire.

Bondi Rip by Ruth Gray

Mandy –Jayne Ahlfors
Before embarking on opening a working artist studio and gallery Mandy began exhibiting her art in the year 2007 it was a big step and was encouraged by her family to take the leap into the otherside of the art world. So her first exhibition was at a lovely little gallerynestled in Lea nr Holloway, followed by an exhibition at View from The Top gallery in Nottingham. The following year Mandy was made redundant from her job as drawing office administrator this meant looking for work,after six months of looking Mandy was approached by a friend who suggested sharing studio space. This was the beginning of something new and challenging. Mandy moved her studio and gallery to her home town and opened in July 2011 in Heage Derbyshire.

Mandy Jane Ahlfors in her Studio

Jenny Oldknow
‘I paint expressive and vibrant watercolour’s of ALL kinds of lovely animals - pets, wildlife, insects, horses, farm animals, you name it! I also paint pure abstract work.I have exhibited my work widely and my paintings have been sold throughout the UK and abroad.
Commissions are very welcome - pet portraits are a specialty! But I am happy to paint ANY animal, or an abstract piece, for your special commission!
I am an artist member of the 'Association of Animal Artists'.

Red Flight by Jenny Oldknow

Christine Gray

Christine is a mixed media artist who explores the use of colour and texture. Using a combination of collage, handmade silk papers, dyes and paint she creates abstract studies often combined with an illustrative technique.

Her work often reflects the landscape around her, including areas of Belper, Matlock, The Peak District and from visits to her parents on Anglesey. Christine also uses creative writing in her work. She is currently exploring Art and Running, painting abstract landscapes of the world in motion.

She moved to Derbyshire in 1991 and has made Belper her permanent home.

‘I studied Fine Art at the University of Derby and graduated in 2009 alongside bringing up a young family, I then continued onto a Postgraduate Certificate in Community & Participatory Arts at Staffordshire University . In 2010, I was selected for the ‘Start Up & Go’ business programme with University of Derby and since then have been working as an artist, making and selling work through various outlets and attending local festivals.
I am also working in collaboration with Andrew Martyn Sugars in our not for profit arts organisation called Corridor Arts, we put on art events in Amber Valley such as The Belper Art Trail with the Belper Food Festival Committee, that promotes collaboration between artists and works to keep our artistic community thriving.’

Belper by Christine Gray

Desperate Artwives Project Founder

Amy Dignam.

Amy graduated from Central St Martin in 2005. Dictated by the need to support herself financially and by the fact that job prospects for conceptual artists are not exactly flourishing, Amy ended up having to take up a job that is not even remotely near her artistic ambitions. A few years on and Amy is now married, has two gorgeous girls and is still in the same job. She is a housewife, mother and part-time employee, but at heart she is also an artist who is looking for an opportunity to keep her passion going.

Meditating on her situation, Amy realised that there are plenty of women in exactly the same situation – women that continue to produce incredible work behind closed doors while they feed their babies, support their husbands and chase a job that pays the bills but doesn’t satisfy their creative needs. These women need a voice and an outlet.

What if we created a movement to celebrate these talented women? What if we could find a way to collect the work of these women and then look for an opportunity to exhibit their work? In answering these questions, Amy created ‘Desperate Artwives‘, a movement, a website and a collection of work that will eventually be sifted and shortlisted for a London exhibition.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Links:

http://www.desperateartwives.com/desperateartwives.com/Welcome.html

http://www.gold.ac.uk/make/

http://www.jerwoodvisualarts.org/

http://www.familyfriendlyworking.co.uk/2011/11/27/new-project-desperate-artwives/

http://www.jennyoldknow.com/

http://www.purpleshedstudio.co.uk/

http://www.facebook.com/Ruthggray

http://www.ruthgraHYPERLINK "http://www.ruthgrayimages.co.uk/"yHYPERLINK "http://www.ruthgrayimages.co.uk/"images.co.uk

http://www.artbymandy.com/http___artbymandy.com/About.html

http://davidsandumart.posterous.com/call-for-artists-2nd-twitter-art-exhibit-in-m

http://www.corridor-arts.org.uk/

Peripatetic Art of Running

For this weeks AlphabeThursday post for the letter P, (click on the badge below for more posts) I would like to introduce my new blog - The Peripatetic Art of Running. 

I have taken on a new mission to get fit and healthy lately and have been running since January.  It's been a slow process, the wrong trainers for the way I run left me with rather bad shin pain, so I had to just go very very slow and easy, but keep going I did.

As usual, I find it impossible to embark on something without emerging myself totally in it, so have decided that the best way to deal with this aspect of my personality is to make art about it.

I've started exploring the colours and shapes I see when I'm out running, taking photographs on the move, and then abstracting them onto paper. I'm quite pleased with yesterdays endeavours.

Running Routes 1

Running Routes 2

N is for Nerves.

This weeks AlphabeThursday is N is for Nerves and I've got quite a few today.  You can follow the badge below for more entries.

Tomorrow is installation day for my next exhibition at The Crompton Tavern in Derby.  Its a lovely old pub steeped in history and the owner is an artist who lets other artists display their work.

For this exhibition, I've concentrated on paintings of Derbyshire and Wales, the two places that are special to me.  I based the idea around Thomas Hobbes's travels in Derbyshire where he named it 'The Wonders of the Peak' 

I've been busy framing, finishing off and trying to ignore the self doubt and worry.  Luckily I will have some help from a fellow artist and friend to install the work, straight lines are not my strong point and its likely the paintings would all be slightly wonky if left to me!

View towards Belper, Derbyshire. Mixed Media Painting.

I'm also showing some paintings for the first time, so I feel rather nervous about that too... However, I have my best Joe Brown dress ready and my friends, Red Ruff will be singing thier 3 part harmonies to entertain us all.  Follow the link for their My Space page where you can hear some of their beautifully sung songs.

Very Exciting New Year

I feel very excited at the moment.  I'm preparing for an exhibition at The Crompton Tavern(more information to follow) and got my cheque in on time for the Derbyshire Arts Trail in June.  I'm joining a group at Banks's Mill in Derby and showing my work there.

I've been reading some historical context of Derbyshire and some of the travel writing.  Daniel Defoe (ca. 1659–1661 to 24 April 1731) was less than complimentary, calling the Peak District a 'Wonderless Wonder' while Celia Fiennes (c.1662-1741) was very scathing of the beer in Buxton. 

'... the beer they allow at meals is so bad that very little can be drunk..'

My favourite writing has been by Thomas Hobbes(c.1588-1679), the philosopher who is credited with being the founder of English moral and political philosophy.  His most famous work is Leviathon, where he presents his thoughts on metaphysics, psychology and political philosophy.  He wrote De Mirabilibus Pecci after touring the Peak District and dedicated it the Second Earl of Devonshire and describes there being 7 Wonders of the Peak.  My aim is to visit and paint all these wonders over the next couple of weeks ready to show at the Crompton.

View over Belper

This is the same view over Belper as the blue based painting done earlier, but I thought I would challenge myself by using a different pallete. I usually stick to purples and blues so changing the colours I work with was challenging and fun.  I enjoyed doing this painting, elements of it really work for me.

It feels more traditional in style and colour so is a new departure for me, I'm not sure its a route I want to take, I enjoy the abstract element of painting so this is a bit too representative.  I am still enjoying this experimental process of finding my own style and voice using paint.  It feels good to be returning to it and I still feel inspired by the John Piper exhibition I saw during the summer, a quick dip into the book I bought and the inspiration and thrill of looking at his work returns.

More experiments with paint.

This is a painting I've been working on for the last couple of days, it a view of Belper from the fields near my house, where I often walk my dog.  Its one of my favourite views, showing a vista from the Chevin to Alport Heights.

I'm really enjoying playing with paint, but have realised that I have a preciousness about getting it right.  If I start a painting on a canvas or on a board, I put a pressure on myself to get it totally right.  When I work on paper, I'm more relaxed and often I quite like the results.  However, as the image above shows, paper is not always the best thing to work on as it does not carry enough weight to keep it from becoming warped.

So my next challenge to myself is to become less precious about getting it perfect the first time on a board or canvas.