Prized moments...: September 2012

since I've finished Uni I have been working at my little "pop-up" gallery....Laine & Co.

It all started when I had this idea about opening a small community of art studios attached to an outlet where artists and the local community could show and display their work, hold exhibitions run accessible workshops and the likes....I (along with fellow artists !) wanted to be able to connect....to share.....to encourage....and to celebrate... through art and creativity.

I found what I believed was the ideal venue and set about realising my vision!....alas the local council don't share the same drive or ambition as me and after waiting for 9 months for them to deliver their side of the deal....decided to take a years lease up the road while the council sorted their financial affairs etc....(my initial enquiry was July 2011 and I'm still waiting 14 months later!)

Laine & Co art gallery is a "Pop-up" gallery helping and supporting new and emerging artists. "Pop-up" because I took the opportunity to take a lease for just a year to put a few ideas into practise and test the waters while awaiting the fate of the building 7 doors down the road!...maybe this was a more sensible idea and better than taking on such a huge venture with no experience!...

So....I have been working at the gallery since July....promoting and plugging new artists....offering short solo exhibition space each over 3 weekends....I had so many people wanting to take the opportunity I decided to opt for short exhibitions and offer more artists the experience. I personally find it sooooo hard to get my foot in the door in terms of getting my work as an artist out there, so to be able to offer space for an artist to display a body of work is a good feeling and hopefully beneficial to them too.

The gallery has been open for 6 months now and over the last few months I have come to realise that life as a gallery owner and a new and emerging artist is far from easy!.....sometimes I don' t see anyone all week and rely on my website and online sales!.....strange as I thought people wanted to see art first hand! I don't see the artists who are exhibiting returning to see new exhibitions or attending each others previews....I always feel it's important to show and share support to fellow artists?! I have hardly seen any other gallery owner, yet I attend all of their previews when invited...

I have also come to realise why galleries are so particular and dare I say it strict when it come to the criteria for exhibiting work. Times are hard and people want good quality work that will hopefully stand the test of time. Cheap paint, canvases and frames do not only look unappealing but are also a reflection on the gallery let alone the artist!....I have felt really bad for turning artists down, I know what it feels like to be dashed, I can see it from both sides and this is one of the jobs I don't enjoy....but I do love it when an artists come to show me their portfolio and it screams "wow" at me....you know, when you get goosebumps and it just instantly hits you!...priceless

As an new artist I have also found it hard to not only settle down and produce what I feel is quality work, a reflection of what I can do....as a much respected and admired artist and friend said to me recently.... "you need to find yourself!"...and how right she is! but the other issue is also where to start and get my work out there, Scarborough is not the art hub of the world and I need to spread my wings in terms of exhibiting etc
I also want to be able to offer bespoke gifts along with the art displays....

Jenny Pepper's lovely felt vessels fit in really well
and are beautifully made

Jenny Pepper's felt sculpture...inside is delicately threaded
pebbles and sea-washed glass

These wonderful applique birds are by Emily Bott
and good friend and old work colleague

I have learnt so much from running the gallery in just this short time....how people are afraid to step across the threshold of the gallery, preferring to squash their faces against the window rather than come in....or... sometimes customers lean through the doorway to my studio leaning perilously rather than take that one step further, even when invited!....yet I love the way people are pleasantly surprised when they come in and once they've looked around and ventured into the studio open up and ask loads of questions ...or how people say "how long have you been open?" "this is great" or "are you doing workshops?"...

I also understand that things take time, people seek reliability, familiarity and trust in where they shop....such as the best place to seek out quality, affordable stuff....(although the shop next door has now started displaying second hand goods outside on the pavement....nice!) .... all these qualities takes time....and sadly money...and one thing I don't have is a money tree!

rag rugging/proddy rug kits I made...
book making ones on the way too!

My original plan was that the art studios would help fund/finance the gallery, I've found that not many small galleries are overly affluent hence the plan that the two would work well together....a constant source of art etc and rent....although there are two of us sharing a studio behind the gallery, it's not quite supporting the gallery financially!

....so the continuity of the galley will be decided after Christmas...and in the mean time I will continue to experiment, develop and try to find what I can both create successfully and also enjoy doing...no small feat!...

...what else have I been doing...

...I was really pleased to receive a huge box of goodies from a-n as a thank you for being a student rep...I loved being able to spread the word about a-n and it didn't take that much to do really.I found the website really useful, I've subscribed to a-n Air and use the site regularly for reviews, opportunities, help, info, whats on.....and as a practicing artist the Public Liability you get free when you subscribe is a bonus! I even took my insurance out for the gallery through them....very helpful and thorough and at a really reasonable rate too!

...Hubby made me go out for a short walk to catch the last rays the other day....he said I needed to get out more. Apparently I spend more time on the computer than ever before.....trying to publicise the gallery and myself so a short walk was called for to brush off the cobwebs and get some fresh air ....little fibber....we walked for ages....view was great tho'!

We also had our meet and greet for our exhibition at The Triton Gallery, Sledmere....it looks good, but I felt my work was lacking!...back to the "find myself" scenario!

(will post some photos next time hopefully)

And of course I am working mornings at a local primary school....you get the picture: small chair = knees under my chin!....it's definitely opened my eyes to not only how differently upper and lower schools are ran but also how a school can successfully manage their funds to offer a really great environment for both students and staff.....it's actually ok and gives me an opportunity to not only work with primary kids but also some much needed cashums!

I'm really looking forward to my next exhibition at my gallery by an artist called Marion Atkinson. We met at a printing workshop by artist Dawn Brooks and got talking as a group, like you do!...She's been studying an MA in Fine art at York St John her exhibition is based on a visit to China, it's both intriguing and incorporates textiles so I share Marion's enthusiasm to use cloth within her work.

blimey....rather a long and serious blog!....I need to relax and get those creative juices flowing again,

'til next time....pip toodle!

I had soooooo many plans for things to do, see and visit over the summer months and now it's September....hey ho! I'm sure I'll somehow get over it!...gutted I didn't get to "Cloth and memory" exhibition at Salts mill gallery..I think that was bad management on my part as I really wanted to see it....so I'll have to wait until next August to see part 2!

... My next exhibition's looming at the Triton gallery. I have almost finished all three pieces of work....The exhibition is basically about a group of artists who meet up monthly to discuss art and stuff, visit each others studio's, guest speakers etc type of affair ....

...who decided to exhibit together at the Triton Gallery, Sledmere house.

The brief was ~Sledmere! so anything to do with the building, gardens history etc....quite an open opportunity to play with. After a group visit around the house I laid it to rest for a bit...revisiting photos and researching it every couple of weeks etc....letting ideas formulate , & trying a few of them out....

....I found some of the least obviouse elements of the place interesting... gutter brackets, plaster molding, repeat patterns,

as you can tell from this eclectic collection of photos...I seem to be drawn to relief marks etc I hadn't realised this until I looked at the selection of photos....and it definitely wasn't my intention...
interesting!

....with such wonderful furniture and rooms to feast your eyes on I hone in on plaster work, plant tags and garden figurines....?

It took a while to get my head around what I wanted to do, I found the house quite sad and forlorn...don't get me wrong it most probably wasn't and isn't but the first time I went it was just opening for the season and it seemed eerily quiet..there was nobody about apart from a few random gardeners going about their business!

Sir Christopher Sykes extended the building and redecorated it in the 1780's and 1790's, sadly it was ravished and gutted by a fire in 1911, however through careful restoration most people still think of Sledmere House as an eighteenth-century house.

Something that really appealed to me was the vast amount of rich and ornate plasterwork by Joseph Rose. How it's repeated throughout the house weaving its beauty in the least suspecting places: corners, ceilings, pillars etc. so I decided to concentrate on just one piece of plasterwork.

I wanted to portray through my work how uneasy I had felt on my first visit....is that how the children had felt when they were there I wondered...present but never really properly seen or heard....in the shadows... did they peep past the columns totally unaware and unaffected by their beautiful surroundings at unsuspecting guests and visitors...just like the lone stone figurines dotted and hidden surreptitiously throughout the gardens?!

So the idea and body of work was formed....influenced by Rose's plasterwork muted tones and shadows....and a lone figurine!....

So here's a sneak peak at some of the work hopefully going into the exhibition...of course its mixed media!...and just like Frank Stella I have used the same pattern/shape and repeated it in various forms and playing with shadows, tone and scale...