Esmarelda

It's been a while since I've posted about any of my own artwork and that's mainly because I've not really had time to paint over summer and now that I'm back at University I'm focusing more on my dissertation. I did however manage to get a few paintings finished but it's just taken me a while to get back into the documentation process. This painting, Esmeralda, is based off a fancy looking apartment block I came across while on holiday to Cala d'Or. The clean white walls and exotic plants bursting out the soil at the base of the building that surrounded the entrance of the apartment really stuck in my head and I knew I had to paint something based on that image. I tried to be a little less rigid with my painting style and capture the different greens within the leaves of the plants. I think it worked and I am happy with the final result.

Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2016

Kate Fahey - Cumulative Loss

As well as visiting the John Moores Painting Prize 2016 on my day trip to Liverpool I also managed to see the Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2016 exhibited at The Bluecoat. The Bloomberg New Contemporaries features 46 artists chosen by guest selectors Anya Gallaccio, Alan Kane and Haroon Mirza. The exhibition showcases artists working in a wide range of disciplines from painting and drawing to new media such as image manipulation and animation. I found the show very interesting and I felt particularly inspired by the work of Jack Bodimeade and James Berrington which has given me a few ideas for my own practice so it was definitely worth the  visit.

Here are a few photos from the exhibition.

Anna Bunting-Branch - W.I.T.C.H

Jack Bodimeade - Plug 1.1, Plug 2.2

Jack Bodimeade - Plug 7, Plug 8

Seungjo Jeong - Interface L3

Sebastian Jefford - Salvaged Gore

George Ridgeway - Tides

Zsofia Schweger - Sandorfalva, Hungary #18

James Berrington - Smeed Dean Islington yellow Rustica, Whitburn Orange Multi

John Moores Painting Prize 2016

On Tuesday I went to Liverpool to see what events were happening in conjunction with the Liverpool Biennale and while I was there I took the opportunity to see the John Moores Painting Prize 2016. I submitted a painting to the John Moores Painting Prize last year but I was unsuccessful so it was really interesting to see the standard of work I was up against in the exhibition. While I didn't like or resonate with some of the artwork I understand why my work was not selected. I don't think I'm quite on the same level as some of the artists in terms of painting and concept but I hope to get there by the end of my final year at University. The John Moores Painting Prize is definitely something to aim for and I won't be put off from applying.

Here are some images of the work selected for the exhibition.

Michael Simpson - Squint (19)

Christopher Hanlon - Untitled

Selma Parlour - One, The Side-ness of In-out

Gabriella Boyd - Birthyard

Tristan Barlow - Truck Stop Swamp

Ben Cove - Freeloader

Graham Crowley - Blue Drift 4

Zhang Yang - OLD NEWS

Wang Wang - Corrupted Land

Cornwall Film Photos 2016

I'm pleased to say that I've finally had the film developed from my holiday in Cornwall back in August. It's taken me ages but I had a half filled roll that I wanted to use up before I sent them off. Cornwall was amazing and even though we've been there four years in a row, we still manage to visit new places which means it's great for photo opportunities. I love taking photos on my Dad's old Nikon FA because the colours are so pure and its always a surprise to me that they come out as clearly as they do. Just like with my trip to Cala d'Or earlier this year I thought I'd share some of my favourite snaps. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

New Beginnings

Silson Contemporary has officially opened! Friday 7th October saw the launch of Silson Contemporary, a new independent art gallery located in Harrogate, with its first exhibition 'New Beginnings' that is currently showing a few of my selected artworks. The private view was fantastic as I was able to meet some of the other exhibiting artists and the buyers of my two paintings; "White and Blue Pot" and "Handmade Pots on Indian Stone".

It was a very exciting occasion for me because it marked the first time my work had been selected to be shown in a commercial art gallery. It was amazing to be able to meet and talk to so many different people involved in the gallery and enjoy the delicious nibbles generously provided.

There is an incredible mix of artworks for sale at the gallery including encaustic paintings, devoré, bronze sculptures and charcoal drawings. You can check out the Silson Contemporary website here for more details on each exhibiting artist and their available work.

Here are a few photos from the private view (photos courtesy of Amy because I forgot to take some!)

Thank you to Sarah at Silson Contemporary for putting in so much hard work and for believing in my paintings enough to have chosen them to be exhibited in the gallery! Also, thank you to Terry who kindly provided both Amy and I with a lift to the private view!

If you have a spare moment you should check out everyone else's artwork. Here is a list of all the artists and links to their websites (or other relevent pages):

• Gina Bean
• Cath Brooke
• Peter Clough
• Gary Crowder
• Claude Frere-Smith
• Richard Gray
• Marcus Hammond
• Bali Kaur
• Suman Kaur
• Moz Khokhar
• Gill Kirk
• Terry Lister
• Julia Poulton
• Pietro Sanna
• Freya Stockford
• Dionne Swift
• Gary Thomas
• Tim Tudor
• Anna Whitehouse