Fred's Exhibition

Wisbech Rock Festival

This Sunday afternoon saw Fred and I offering arts activities at the Wisbech Rock Festival.


Ready for the off!

We hoped to attract some of the younger children who might not be quite as interested in the music as the teenagers and older folk!  Fred was making his groovy sponge and pipe cleaner folk while I made musical shakers utilising empty Pringles tubes.

Phoenix, proud artist! 

The weather was windy but with lovely sunshine and the park soon started to fill up with people of all ages.  We had a slow start but a steady flow of children started and we had a fun afternoon with them. 

Teenagers love arts and crafts too!

We chatted with lots of people during the afternoon and enjoyed our time at the event.  Roll on next time!  ;o)  All photos courtesy of Rob Morris.

Beyond Convention

The posters for my solo exhibition, Beyond Convention, have arrived!  ;o)  Exciting times!

AiR Solo Exhibitions

One of the exciting things about this residency is that my fellow AiR, Fred, and I both get to have a solo exhibition each at the beginning and end of our year of residence.  :o) 


The exhibitions will be held in the Skoulding Suite at March Town Hall.  The venue is a nice space with a good degree of scope to put on an interesting and entertaining exhibition which is my intention! 

It's a case of ladies first -- thanks, Fred!  ;oD -- and my exhibition will be on the weekend of 14th/15th May with a preview on Friday, 13th (eeek! lol).  That's just 35 days away, yes, I'm counting! 
lol  I'm on a pretty steep, but very enjoyable, learning curve right now, there's so much to be done, not just creating work, but thinking about the layout of the exhibition, publicity, the arrangements for the preview event, and all the myriad details to be considered.  

Apart from a small exhibition of jewellery in March library a couple of years ago I haven't had a solo exhibition and I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity.  ;o)  As the space is large with good height and is mine, all mine, ;o) I'm working on some larger installation pieces which I haven't had the chance to do previously.  Watch out for the saga of the little shed, coming to a blog near you soon!  ;oD 

To whet your appetite I thought I'd share a photo taken of my latest piece of work which will be featured at the exhibition.  I haven't titled it yet, there are several runners competing for the honour, and when I took it to be photographed by photographer, Rob Morris, (also Vice Chair of Fenland Arts Association), the first shot he got was of me tinkering with the piece, very Hairy Jeremy I thought!  ;oD

I've been working with video tape as an art material since last summer and this piece is constructed from stretched tape, I have the blisters to prove it too, suffering for the greater good of my art!  lol  More on my video tape adventures soon!

Mothering Sunday at Dunham's Wood

The first Fenland Arts Association event that I've attended since becoming Artist in Residence -- oh, how I do love that phrase! ;o) -- happened at the weekend.  It was a fundraiser (creative arts funding being a pretty rare breed at the moment) held locally at Dunham's Wood.  Wandering off briefly, the venue is a local treasure, it has a lovely small woodland, a maze, funky sculptures, narrow gauge train rides, quizzes and refreshments.  Apart from special events they are open at Easter and Bank Holiday weekends, if you've never visited give it a whirl this year, it's a great family friendly attraction.  ;o) 

So, back to the fundraiser...


I was there with fellow AiR, Fred, to provide some arts & crafts activities for children.  My activity was a simple card featuring paper lilies made from drawing around the child's hand, cutting it out, curling the fingers, rolling and gluing to the card, effective but easy for children of all ages. 

Fred was making great books with leather covers featuring an embossed metal motif made from dog food tins.  ;o) 

Both activities were popular even though the strong wind required some battening down on our part!  ;oD


In addition, all the usual Dunham's Wood activities were available along with a raffle, lawn games and face painting by Fenland Arts administrator, Claire Tash.

There was live music from Bondy and Andy Hill from the DUDI Crew...

...as well as folk musicians, Karen and Keith Cheale. 

All in all, it was a great afternoon, being a part of Fenland Arts Association events is a joy and it was lovely to see so many folk from babies to grandparents and every age inbetween having a good fun time!  ;o) 

All images coutesy of Rob Morris

It was a fab start to my residential year!    

Setting off...

Early this year the Fenland Arts Association announced their plans for a year long artist's residency, to begin in April 2011.  I have long wanted to add "Artist in Residence" to my CV and to be able work locally in a residency programme was a very appealing prospect for me so I applied with alacrity.  ;o) 


I am now one of two Artists in Residence chosen to work with Fenland Arts for the next year.  ;o)

With a selection of my artwork

My fellow Artist in Residence is Fred White.
  

Fred with some of his work

I have to say I am very excited at the prospect of the year ahead, there are so many opportunities available, there are existing Fenland Arts Association events that we will be supporting as well as new events and projects to set in motion.  We will be leading and/or facilitating workshops, supporting the activities of Fenland Arts Association as an Arts Award Centre, looking for funding streams for relevant projects and exhibiting our work in two solo exhibitions each at the beginning and end of the residency.


Fred and I with Fenland Arts Officer, Katherine Nightingale

One of the ways I will be documenting my year is via this brand spanking new blog!  I'm looking forward to sharing news, work in progress, images and videos of events and projects and more. 


Stay tuned!  ;o)