Summertime, seaside and sculpting

Haven’t posted for weeks but I haven’t been sitting around doing nothing. Enjoyed some real ‘away’ time in Devon for a few days in August - got a great little room in a guest house which was about a 10 minute stroll down to the seafront.

Art was the focus of the week. Checked in at 1:45pm on Tuesday - I’d forgotten how lovely the journey down here is, the track runs right along the very edge of the water and you can watch the sun dancing on the waves coming in to shore, watch all the little boats and count herons and wading birds as you go by.

First port of call was The Artizan Summer Open 2018 in Torquay and it had a really good range of work on show. I loved Sarah Easter’s Maple Dreams painting – glorious colours and a taste of the autumn to come, a very atmospheric Stonehenge mixed media piece from Susan Cavaliere, several excellent graphite and acrylic wildlife paintings and beautiful alabaster carvings by Zoe Singleton who I chatted with for a bit. It was really interesting hearing how the sculptor has to follow the stone rather than following a pre-planned idea, as its ‘outer shell’ could chip off in any direction to reveal the inner core. The shape then has to evolve according to what remains, allowing random colours to come through depending on the type of alabaster. It’s given me some ideas of how to approach my sculptures from a different angle – reductive rather than…whatever the opposite is. Additive? Addictive? Both work! I should look that up.

Image below: Sorry I didn't find out the name of the guy who was doing this - lots of work involved only for it to be washed away on the next tide...then he'd come back the next day and do another!

I also picked up a brochure for Devon Open Studios, which ran from 8-23rd September. The images in there got me thinking again about all the painting ideas I’ve been pondering on but until now, have not put into practice. I’m really going to have to do something about that.

On Wednesday I walked over to Cockington Court, which has craft studios, wonderful gardens, walks and a tea room or two, this being Devon and all. I didn’t manage that as I spent quite a while looking around the crafts and chatted with Janet Ventre who had the most wonderful mosaic mirrors, among other things, in her unit. Friday, I headed to Totnes to stay with friends. We had a lovely few days visiting old haunts, whizzing around the local galleries, noting all the changes to the town’s area (not all good sadly), and having a mad catch up of everything and everyone, including seeing how my old studio looks.

Have to say that being able to hit so many art venues in such a short time and within walking distance was just wonderful. The thrill of creativity from being in this kind of environment is a great boost. Of course there is art where I live now but just not in the variety and quality that is here. I do miss Devon. I can see me going back there eventually.

I haven’t been totally off making duty either. Pre- made two armatures so I could work while away; both finished now, along with a few others that have been waiting for a decision on how to decorate them. Tried a couple of new dance styles; one is a kind of jive/rock n roll something or other…nice bare foot and whirly skirt sort of idea and another which, if you ever watched So You Think You Can Dance and saw Alex Wong and Twitch do their hip hop routine…well you might just recognise it, and if you haven’t seen it, get to YouTube and watch it! A fantastic routine with sparkling choreography, perfect timing and hilarious facial expressions from Alex. It all fits perfectly together and deserves its title of most favourite routine (still) after more than 10 years.

So, I just spent this morning sealing everything and adding felt to the bases then trying to photograph them. Good light and hence focus, is a bit of a problem still in this new room (cold, gloomy, rainy morning didn't help) and it took three attempts to get images that weren’t blurry. I have some ideas for a couple of new pieces and I’m hoping that my local gallery cooperative will be finishing up their renovations soon so I can have a place to start showing and selling work. My shelves are starting to get a bit crowded now.