Exhibition at Unity Theatre

Here's some pics of the work in situ at Unity Theatre www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk. The Private View evening was wonderful - lots of dear friends and family turned up, including some I haven't seen for years. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves hugely. The venue is so pleasant, the evening sun was shining, Liverpool was looking lovely. People said a lot of nice things about the work! Sold eight pieces now, which is a v good percentage apparently. One of the dear old friends was Tony Wells www.tonywells.co.uk (established Artist & Illustrator & ex-colleague from Hugh Baird College days & ex-tutor from pre-Degree Foundation course) who very kindly said later: "Your show is excellent.... you have faced the elements and produced terrific results. Also, the work is figurative, with strong abstract qualities....v good !" As Tony does not mince his words & used to frequently make me cry with his brutal crits when I was a student (I exaggerate, but not a lot!), this is very gratifying! I am told theatre visitors' reactions have been very positive.Started a big monoprint last w/e, so, onwards, ever onwards...   

                             Monoprints - compositions based on Hightown beach
                                          sketches & photos.

                            Collages & prints - beach stuff again

                            'Dune Shadow' - acrylic on MDF

                            Unity Theatre bar area- big conservatory style
                                          extension so light floods in.

                                       

Framing just about done - but still have to attach the screws and wire tomorrow. Plus have to decide on titles and prices - then plan exactly where everything is going to go on the walls so I'm not dithering about on Wednesday.... Looking forward to having it all done and dusted and seeing everyone on Thursday at the private view. The image is called 'Under the Outlet', an A4 size paint and collage composition on card, inspired by work started at Hightown beach on the Merseyside coast. I'll post lots more of the work I'm exhibiting when I've got time. Got to finish some stuff which is on MDF (so doesn't need framing & paint the sides & varnish each too. 

Meanwhile.... here's an ink painting I did when I was a student, from a tiny photo of my great grandmother (my mother's grandmother). It's a good likeness. It must have been taken in the 50s some time and she is still dressed in a late-Victorian style. She was a fierce woman who brought up, I think it was 8 living children - her husband and a 2 year old died the same year. She took over her husband's job as caretaker of a school in Waterford in Ireland, but on retirement came and lived with her daughter & family throughout the war and later. She shared my Mum and her sister's bedroom and made sure they got up in time for Mass. My friends will now be able to see where my profile comes from.

Went to Unity Theatre, Hope Place, Liverpool yesterday to measure up for the exhibition. Sending out postcards with image and lettering, as above, as invitations- info on the other side. Still have a LOT to do.... Private View is on Thursday 30th August 5.30 - 7.30 (theatre-goers will be arriving from 7.30 for the evening's performance) & exhibition will be on until 29th Sep. Open Mon-Sat 12-6pm. 

Had a bit of a nostalgic wander around that part of Liverpool. Elegant Georgian terraces, though Canning Street, where we lived in a top floor flat, is still a bit scruffy. 

 Taken with my phone- boats on the river Alt, the Irish sea beyond. In the foreground - prehistoric woodland remains. What a place.

 Installations - provided by the tide.

A strange & lovely plant in the sand dunes.

Above are all  Merseyside coast pictures - I'm working hard towards the Liverpool exhibition at the end of August & have decided to do a new series of work on the coast there, where I often played and messed about as a child and teenager. I have recently spent happy (very hot) hours on the beach at Hightown and beyond, sketching and taking photos. Here's a few images from the last time I was there. I'm still working in the landscape here in the north Peaks area as well.  About to start preparing some lino relief and intaglio prints... been quite a while, so I'm a bit nervous. The whole thing of having a solo exhibition at this stage in my renewed career is a mixture of fear and a feeling that this is exactly the right thing to do, even if it's a complete embarrassment!! 

So here's a few I'm working on at the moment. I've got pictures by the St Ives painters, amongst others,  in my head. I want to convey how it feels to be in these lonely, mysterious places - I wish I had a good enough recording of the sounds of the beach. The bells on the boats clanking in the breeze, the seabirds calling, distant voices. The heat... I wish I'd had the nerve to ask the naked couple if I could paint them! The last, monochrome image is from Coombes Rocks, the quarry ridge rising above the Cheshire plains. 

I think... this is working!! I'm back.

I can only post from school at the moment. So frustrating. Here's a photo I took on Hightown beach on a cold clear windy day.

Having trouble

Haven't been able to post for a while due to technical problems. Been busy though. Have 4 pieces in the Millyard Gallery in Uppermill, until 20th May. Dropped off 2 pieces at the Stockport Gallery on Sat, hoping they will be in the Stockport Open. Spent Sun before last on Hightown beach in Merseyside taking photos and musing about a new series of work....