Somerset Open Studios 2016: 17th Sept – 2nd Oct

I shall be taking part once more in Somerset Arts weeks (now Somerset Open Studios) “The Somerset landscape teems with humour and mischief in Nancy’s imagination: Cider Apple Fairies cavort overhead, tiny Ditch Dragons hunt worms by the roadside, Rhyne Maidens inhabit drainage ditches to the great annoyance of swans. Enjoy pictures and landscape together: there is room for a picnic in the garden.” Opening times: Wednesdays – Sundays, 11am – 5pm, 17th September – 2nd October Exhibition Soirée: 3 – 6pm, 17th Sept. On the first Saturday I shall be staying open a little later and we shall have…

21st – 23rd November: ‘Christmas’ exhibition and card sale

Christmas Exhibition: I would like to invite you to my pre-Christmas Exhibition. My apologies, I know it is not even December, however from 21st – 23rd November in Moorlinch we are planning a pre-Christmas exhibition and sale of arts and crafts: a perfect opportunity to do a bit of Christmas shopping, for others or just for yourself! I shall be in my studio, and there will be more to see just up the road at Spring Farm Arts. Opening Times: Open 11am – 5pm Friday 21st – Sunday 23rd November Venue: The venue is my studio, please scroll down for…

Somerset Arts Weeks 2014

Astonishingly mild weather continues and the sun is blazing into the studio, as I crouch on the windowsill to get this shot of all the artwork on display. This is my studio – the gallery-wall side of it anyway, all spruced up and glistening with not an inconsiderable number of square inches of gold leaf, amongst the drawings and paintings. So, if you are going to be nearby in the next fortnight, do come and visit! Details of the exhibition as follows: Dates: 20th September – 5th October 2014 Times: 11am – 6pm every day except Mondays I am very…

Strange Fish at Clevedon Pier 2

The exhibition is up! See my previous post if you want to read the start of that, and my exhibitions page for the venue details and so on. I would have photographed the inside of the gallery, but the light was fading, and it’s never easy to get stunning photos of an empty gallery. So here is the head of the pier itself, with one of my posters. Fear not: for you hydrophobes and sufferers from vertigo, my exhibition is at the dry end, on solid ground…. …and some circling seagulls: Right, that’s one exhibition up and running, one more…

Strange Fish at Clevedon Pier

Funny, you wait all year for an exhibition and then three come along at once. On Saturday I took down the exhibition at Ilminster and in only a week or so I will be re-hanging everything back in Moorlinch ready for Somerset Arts Weeks… and then yesterday The Tolhouse Gallery, Clevedon Pier, contacted me: they’ve had a cancellation, would I be interested in wall space in their gallery for three weeks starting in the middle of next week. Well of course that would clash completely with Somerset Arts Weeks… so I said I’d be delighted and I would take the…

Filth, depravity and a light lunch with coffee

I spent an enjoyable few hours at Ilminster Arts Centre (where I currently have a solo exhibition), in my ‘artist-in-lurking’ capacity. The exhibition is stewarded and I don’t have to be there at all, but I feel it does no harm to spend some time there on hand to talk to people should they wish to. On occasion the mere being there and talking to people has led to sales which I am sure would not have happened without the human connection. People often like to how how it’s done, sometimes even why it’s done (a more difficult question). Which…

Spring Farm Arts is open for Easter

Apparently it’s spring, so it must be time for our Easter open weekend at Spring Farm Arts. I must admit that when I put this leaflet together six weeks or so ago I did expect it to rain all weekend, because it does that. I didn’t expect sub-zero temperatures and snow… However, if you’re in Somerset and can brave the elements, we would all be delighted to see you! Opening times: Friday 29th March to Monday 1st April, from 11am to 5pm. Venue: Spring Farm Arts, Spring Farm (formerly Moorlynch Vineyard), Spring Lane, Moorlinch, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA7 9DD, UK. I…

Christmas Fairs, and other devilish things…

It looks like I have run out of time for the making of any more baubles because the event rapidly approaching is our Christmas Art Fair – on Friday in fact they will have to be ready for sale, and a few people have got in quick and emailed me for some, too. I have two Christmas events coming up, one weekend after another: Christmas at Spring Farm – 30th November to 2nd December Christmas fair at Ilminster Arts Centre – Saturday 8th December (see the exhibitions page on my website for more info and opening times) So I though…

Talent is not enough…

It’s not enough, simply to have artistic talent. Oh, it may be enough for the painting of beautiful pictures, but artists have to eat, too. One of the hardest parts of making a living out of art is sometimes not the making of the actual artworks, it’s getting people in through the door. And selling them artwork, of course, but getting them through the door is the first task. I exhibit with a small group of artists we call ‘Spring Farm Arts‘, after our venue. I wouldn’t exactly say we are in the middle of nowhere – we are not…

‘Registered Animals’… and other exhibitions

So… the last few days have been short on artwork, but rather long on cutting out pieces of cardboard, mounting up drawings, wrapping up prints, and quite boring things like that. The dining room currently looks like this: …though now I think about it, it’s not usually much better than this. I shall get back to the real artwork soon I hope, but for the moment a lot of this activity is because I will have work in a few exhibitions – including the ‘registered animals’ which I shall tell you about in a moment. So, in case, by some…