New paintings.

Apologies that it has been so long since my last post, I have been busy painting for three solo shows.

I have been looking at detailed pieces of Sunderland lustreware, the illustrations seem to tell a story and I find them a rich source of inspiration. The images often depict simple scenes populated by less than perfect illustrations of people and animals, and this is partly why I am inspired by them, there is a naive quality which I love.
Here are a few of the most recent paintings.

Crocus.

In my paintings over the years, a particular motif might hold my attention over a number of paintings. It may have been wooden animals, feathers, book covers, sailboats or certain ceramics. Recently, I have found that birds have appeared quite a bit and the flower which I'm most drawn to right now is the Crocus.
I find the colours so joyful, and at a time where everything else is so grey and we are all wishing for spring to arrive, I think they bring a little brightness.

Artists' Cards

Here are four new cards which have just been produced by Artists' Cards. (http://www.artistscardsltd.com/) This is the third set they have published of mine since Spring 2013.

The second batch of cards were mentioned in this post; in September.

New Gallery

For many years I have had my work in six galleries in the UK, but so far they have mostly been in the south. I was recently asked if I would show at a gallery in Ripley, just outside Harrogate in North Yorkshire and after a little visit decided immediately that it would be a lovely place to show. Ripley is a town right out of a Dickens novel and almost every house is a beautiful example of honey coloured stone and classical architecture. The gallery is called Chantry House, and is right in the centre, and easy to find. It is run by Emma Hargreaves.

The gallery can be found at:

Chantry House Gallery

Main Street

Ripley
Harrogate
North Yorkshire
HG3 3AY

01423 771 011

Byard Art Cambridge

Here are some of the pieces that I am currently exhibiting in the Christmas exhibition at Byard art in Cambridge.

Bircham gallery Christmas exhibition

Bircham Gallery (Holt, Norfolk) begin their Christmas exhibition on the 30th of November, and these are the pieces I will be including in their mixed show.

Owl cup and cowslips.

I have just finished painting this today, I am working towards a solo show at the Rob Fogell gallery in Stamford in April/May 2014. I will post new images as and when I have finished them.

New work.

Here are a couple of new paintings, done in the last couple of weeks. One of them includes a book cover originally designed by Enid Marx, and is part of an ongoing series of paintings depicting beautiful book covers from my collection.

Portrait of the artist.

I was recently asked by a gallery to supply a portrait of myself for their website. One of the images I considered was this one taken by my husband Andrew Sanderson. He used an old wooden 5x7 inch Kodak specialist camera, one of his favourite cameras for portraiture.

Nursery Ware

I have been collecting nursery ware for many years, and occasionally I have included it in a painting. A recent commission inspired me to look again at this very detailed, decorative work. Here are a few of the paintings I have done on this theme:

Penguin Music score.

Here are two paintings in a series of still life images with patterned music scores behind. The first one is just about to be published by Artists cards. These books were originally produced by Penguin and they commissioned several artists to design the front covers. I bought a number of these books last year as I was really taken with the colours and the designs. I found out later that the illustrator of this one was Stephen Russ, who taught my mum at Corsham Art School in the sixties.

Spring flowers.

Springtime has come later than normal here due to the heavy snow. Now that the snow has finally gone, the flowers are coming up in the garden and inspiring me to paint some new still lives.
This is a lovely time of year and seeing these flowers coming through after being buried under eighteen inches of snow only a few weeks ago is a joy.

Emily Sutton and Mark Hearld.

Last weekend we visited the open studios of Mark Hearld and Emily Sutton in York. The opening was in their own house and we saw so many interesting and inspirational things. As artists, we have collected and hoarded all sorts of objects and curiosities over the years, and we immediately felt at home there. There were a lot of people looking around and almost everything had sold by lunchtime. We bought two paintings by Emily Sutton and they were quite happy for Andrew to take pictures around their house for this blog.

We are going over again on Sunday to collect the work and spend a bit more time in York, one of our favourite Cities.

Exhibition photos

I was in Norfolk on Tuesday and Wednesday and got to see my own show for the first time. Chris and Debby from the gallery have done a really nice job and hung the paintings very well. We spent some time talking with them and looking round. Chris said that sales had gone really well, with six sold before the show even opened.
The show continues until the 17th of April at Bircham Gallery, Holt, Norfolk.

Rabbits.

Over the last year I have been introducing more animal imagery into my work: Cats, dogs and birds etc, but recently I have been looking at Victorian illustrations of Rabbits. Coincidentally, my husband, the photographer Andrew Sanderson had photographed a toy rabbit belonging to a friend's (Jo Aylward) daughter. With it being Easter Sunday, I thought I'd share them with you....

Bircham Gallery 25 years painting

The opening of my solo exhibition at Bircham gallery went very well by all accounts, with good sales. Unfortunately I couldn't be there as I was at the Selvedge Art show in London. To commemorate the gallery being open for 25 years, I sent along a small celebratory painting.

Solo exhibition at Bircham Gallery.

I have just finished a rather busy period of painting and organising of framers, couriers etc. I have been full on since before Christmas and I'm just beginning to see the results. This is all new work and I have included some paintings which are a slightly different direction for me.

My work is now safely at Bircham Gallery in Holt ready for the opening of my solo show on Saturday 23rd of March.

Bircham Gallery are celebrating 25 years of being in business this year and my show is the first in a range of special exhibitions featuring artists and craftspeople. 

Saturday 23rd March to 17Th of April 2013

Opening times: 10.00am - 5.00pm.

Bircham online catalogue:  www.birchamgallery.co.uk

14, Market Place, Holt, Norfolk, NR25 6BW.