Seasons greetings.

Here's hoping that you all have a great festive time. Our lovely friend Becka Fairley has made us some star shaped bunting from the new Esme Winter wrapping paper and we are just about to string it. It's the last decoration to go up as we have been so busy. Becka has just started a blog: http://bettylovespaper.blogspot.co.uk

I also went a bit mad with my other paper decorations this year. I suddenly got a notion that I needed paper pom poms...

Hot dog

Our lovely dog Winnie has really enjoyed having the fire lit recently. She gets really close and lies there for ages. My studio is so cold at the moment that sometimes I come in to work by the fire.

The picture over the fireplace is a pastel by Elizabeth Merriman and there are sculptures by John Maltby, Edwina Bridgeman, Jane Muir and Christopher Marvell.

Painting commission

Today I was painting on the kitchen table as it was too cold in the studio.

I have recently been commissioned to do a painting which combines various elements from previous paintings, this one is destined for a customer in Singapore.

Andrew, my husband made a short video of the progress of the painting:

Painting in progress from Debbie George on Vimeo.

Winter light inside and out.

Winter has definitely arrived, I woke to an amazing frost and a light scattering of snow, the morning light so bright and low. Here are a few photographs of inside and outside. The first is my view from the bedroom window, looking down on the bird bath and snow covered plant pots.

Seascape painting, Jo Aylward

Every morning when we sit up in bed we see this painting by our friend Jo Aylward. It has a lovely sky which seems to look different every time I look at it. Every Year Jo and I go on holiday to Cornwall together, this seascape was painted at Church cove one of our favourite places.
I have known Jo for about 15 years and have collected her work from the first time I saw it at her degree show to only a few months back when I visited her home and studio in Kent.
Starting from December 1st, Jo has a show opening in a wonderful cafe/restaurant called the Black Douglas, which is in Deal, Kent. She will be exhibiting 20 new paintings all of which I wish I could own. http://www.joaylward.co.uk/

This Black and white portrait of Jo Aylward was taken a few years ago by my husband the  photographer Andrew Sanderson.http://www.andrewsanderson.com/

Paintings for Byard art, Cambridge

This is a selection of paintings in the studio, they are now framed and ready to view at Byard art Cambridge as part of their Christmas exhibition.

Beside the wave gallery, Falmouth, Cornwall

I regularly exhibit at Beside the wave gallery in Falmouth.
On Friday 30th November their Christmas exhibition begins and I have sent them a new collection of work for this show. Here are a few from that selection.

Tony George

Recently I visited Tony George (my brother) who lives in Norfolk. He is a maker/designer, but that title really doesn't do him justice. He has made interesting sculptures which he has all over his house, -a house which he designed and built almost single handed. He has a natural sense of design and can apply himself to any task. He is currently refurbishing two properties in Norwich with the intention of opening a gallery and a shop.  

Exhibitions

I have been busy painting for a number of Christmas exhibitions. The pictures shown here in my studio are all destined for the Christmas show at Bircham gallery in Holt, Norfolk. I also have a solo show there in April 2013.

Elizabeth Merriman

I started collecting the work of Elizabeth Merriman a number of years ago. I'm really pleased with my most recent acquisition, a painting in oil 'two pears and crocus'.

Elizabeth Merriman completed her BA (Hons) in Fine Art at Canterbury College of Art and followed this with a post-graduate higher diploma at the Slade School of Fine Art where her work was shortlisted for the Barclays Young Painter award.

Her work has featured in several London galleries with work now in a number of private and corporate collections including Unilever.

Now living and working in East Anglia, Elizabeth’s work has also been shown at galleries in Norfolk, Suffolk and Yorkshire.

Here are a few other examples of her work, which include pastels, oil and pencil drawings.

Alice Pattullo

An artist who we spotted in Ulverston last November seems to be attracting a lot of attention recently. We fell in love with the distinctive style of Alice Pattullo who's screen prints in beautiful vintage colours are to be seen all over just now. Take a look at her work at: http://www.alicepattullo.com and see for yourself. The shop was the very lovely The Shop Floor Project. She had done some exclusive screenprint editions on unusual country pursuits;

The Shop Floor Project can be seen here;  http://www.theshopfloorproject.com 

We bought a print of a seabird in a hat from her Superstitions portfolio;

Mark Hearld exhibition.

We were invited to the opening of Mark Hearld's exhibition at The Yorkshire Sculpture Park last week and squeezed ourselves around a very crowded gallery. We went again today so that we could get a proper look. We took our thirteen year old daughter Lily, who is really interested in all types of art. The light there was beautiful today and it would have been nice to have had the time to walk around the lovely grounds.

New Cards by Artists' Cards

Artists cards have just published four of my paintings as note cards. This is my fourth set of cards, previously I have had work published by Art angels, Avocado cards and The Art Group, who also published a range of posters. I still have copies of the posters and if anybody is interested in buying any Contact me for details.

Visiting Mary Fedden

A few years ago I had the chance to visit the home of Mary Fedden, an artist whose work I have admired for many years. This visit, with my husband the photographer Andrew Sanderson, was actually my third visit to Mary's house. Mary allowed us to take pictures anywhere we liked and consequently we got some great shots. We made a book about her place called 'Visiting Mary' and it is available on Blurb.com

I got to look round her studio and see her sketchbooks;

Outline sketch

So here I am writing a blog, -something that I never thought I'd do! I've decided to take the plunge as a way to show current work in a way that I can't with my website. I also want to be able to connect with people and share events in my life which may be of interest. It may take me a little while to get into the swing of things, but I'll stick with it. To begin with I'll post a few images of lovely Cornwall where I get a lot of my inspiration.