Exhibition and Craft Fair update

Three Running Hares
© Sue Wookey

It's a new year, and I have quite a few dates coming up where I'll be setting out my craft stall again and also doing some exhibiting. First off  is a Local Artists Exhibition at the Red Dot Gallery, Icknield High School, Luton. This is a wonderful exhibition space which I know well, having done an Open Studios there in 2010. The Exhibition will feature a lot of different artists living in the local area, and runs from 5th-30th March. I haven't decided which painting I'll be showing yet, but am hoping it will be a new one. You will find full details for the Red Dot Gallery on their Website here.

I'll be taking part in a Craft Fair on Saturday 10th March, 12pm-4pm, also at Icknield High School (the North Hall). More details to follow!

March is going to be a very busy month as I will also be taking part in another Craft Fair at the Priory in Dunstable, from 23rd-24th March. The Christmas Craft Fair was really enjoyable and I'm looking forward to being there again. Once again, you'll find full details on their Website:

After the sucess of last year Priory House is hosting it's second Craft Fayre in March.

Having trouble finding the ideal item for that hard to buy for person?
Join a host of local artists and craftsman as they display a collection of crafts that will prove irresistible.

Crafts will include Pyrography, Wood Turning, Glassware, Art work and more.
The Fayre will be open from 10.00 to 4.00pm Friday 23 March and Saturday 24 March, some of the crafts will be on display for one day only so be sure to visit.

 And finally - still in March (I'll need to stock up on energy drinks!) - Luton Hoo Walled Garden will be holding its annual Open Art Exhibition, from the 16th to 18th March. I'm hoping my submission will be accepted again, but even if it doesn't make the cut this year, this is a wonderful exhibition to visit. The theme this year is Garden and Landscape Inspired and the exhibition is being sponsored by the Artist's Network Bedfordshire.

Hopefully I might see some of you again at one or other of these events!

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Obsidian Art: 'The Horse in Art' Exhibition

Leave it all Behind
© Sue Wookey

Obsidian Art has a wonderful exhibition coming up throughout January featuring The Horse in Art. I'll be exhibiting the original of Leave it all Behind (above), and there will be prints of it available at the exhibition, along with my Moon Horse:

"The Horse in Art 2012" 

Friday 6 January - Sunday 5 February 2012 

40 selected artists exhibiting more than 400 artworks - paintings, drawing, prints, sculpture, cast glass and more.

If you love horses (count me in on that one!) then this is a must see! I just know I'm going to end up buying something... (again!).

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Priory Christmas Craft Fair

 My stall at Priory House

Well, it's been a busy week with the craft fair at St Albans last Saturday, and now two days at Priory House in Dunstable. I'm beginning to feel like an old hand at it. At least I now know how to refold my tablecloth properly, and how to hide my water bottle and energy bars behind the card stand!

After a rather quiet start on the Friday, the Craft Fair went very well on the Saturday - probably helped by the magic presence downstairs of Father Christmas, and assorted elves and Christmas Angels. It was a nice day and, once again, I met some lovely people, so thank you to all of you who took the trouble to come up and chat with me, I enjoyed all our conversations.

Priory House used the Craft Fair to showcase artists and craftspeople who they have connections with, many of whom have work in their lovely shop. If you are in Dunstable it's worth popping in if you are looking for something special. They also hold my cards and prints can be ordered through them too!

Hopefully the Craft Fair will be a regular feature there, so watch this space.

 Dunstable Priory through the window

Having a Fair old time...

 My stall at St Albans with twinkly lights

Yesterday was the HVAF's first Art and Gift Fair at the Old Town Hall in St Albans, and it was a really wonderful event thanks to a whole team of people putting in an enormous amount of hard work. I thoroughly enjoyed it, once I got everything set up, because so many people took the trouble to come through the door and they were all very appreciative of all the fantastic work that was on display. There was never a quiet moment and I kept forgetting to sit down, so my poor old feet are really complaining today (along with my arms after lugging all that heavy stuff about!). But it was really worth it. And what I enjoyed most of all was talking to so many interesting people who were encouraging about the work that I do, and who even came up with some new ideas for me to work with, all of which I will take on board. To all of you that stopped by my stall and may be reading this, thank you! And to those souls who fell in love with things and bought them, a double thank you!!

The Fair was full all day...

I was lucky enough to be positioned in a nice corner, so could get my enormous display board up where it could be seen, though it does have fuzzy-felt mind of its own and tried to flatten me at the end of the day when I was at my weakest, by collapsing on me as I took it apart. I was also lucky to be near Hilary and Ben so I had someone to chat to and pull faces at. We all had a good time but it was certainly tiring and once I got home I couldn't move. At the moment I feel as though I can't ever look at tricksy hanging hooks, bubble wrap and cello bags again, but I have to because.....

.....this Friday I will be doing it all over again at the Priory House Craft Fayre, Grove House, Dunstable! I shall be setting up my stall (cute Christmas cards included) on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th, from 10am to 4pm:

Priory House is hosting it's first Craft Fayre, making it the perfect place for your Christmas Shopping. Having trouble finding the ideal item for that hard to buy for person? Join a host of local artists and craftsman as they display a collection of crafts that will prove irresistible. Crafts will include Pyrography, Wood Turning, Glassware, Art work and more. The Fayre will be open from 10.00 to 4.00pm Friday 9 December and Saturday 10 December, some of the crafts will be on display for one day only so be sure to visit.

For added incentive Saturday 10 December is also the day of the Priory House Christmas Cracker. Spend a day of festive fun with the team at Priory House.

For more information please contact Priory House on 01582 890270 or email prioryhouse@dunstable.gov.uk

My poor muscles are protesting, but I'm sure it will be a great couple of days. So if any of you at St Albans are regretting not buying a print, mini-original or cute mouse cards, you know where to find me!


Photos © Sue Wookey

St Albans here I come...

Christmas Mouse © Sue Wookey

I've been very busy preparing for next Saturday's HVAF Art and Gift Fair at St Albans (see full details in the posting below). This is the first Fair I've had a stall at and I'm really looking forward to it - once I get it all set up! I keep telling myself that it can't possibly be as difficult as Art on the Common because there is no Gazebo to erect and no wind or rain to contend with. Just a large self-assembly display board to wrestle into submission. In readiness I'll be practising bunging it all together and sticking stuff on it, just in case!

In a moment of last minute panic I decided that I really had to have some Christmas related stuff on show, so I've painted and made some cards of a little mouse with a Christmas present and another carrying a fir branch to make a mouse-sized Christmas Tree. Between now and Saturday 3rd I'll try and do a couple more. If I don't sell any, then at least half of you reading this will get them for Christmas.

The Fair will be at The Old Town Hall, Marketplace, St Albans, AL3 5DJ, and will be full of wonderful hand crafted gifts. Come along and support starving artists for Christmas. Just kidding. But come along anyway.

 The Christmas Tree © Sue Wookey

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Art and Gift Fair, St Albans

On 3 December I'll be taking part in this Art and Gift Fair at The Old Town Hall, Marketplace, St Albans AL3 5DJ. The Fair will be a wonderful chance to do some Christmas shopping and support the Odyssey Cinema Appeal. The Craft Fair is organised by the HVAF and promises to have a wide range of beautiful local arts and crafts. If you didn't get a chance to get along to Open Studios, I will have all my prints and cards there, small mounted originals like those I've been posting here (at least, the ones that haven't already sold!), and maybe a couple of larger originals too, depending on space.

And while we are on Open Studios, thanks to everyone who came along to see us at Artscape throughout September. We all had a wonderful time doing our Open Studios there (thanks to Gurmeet and all the Artscape Staff), met some very interesting people and had the chance to talk about why we love what we do. We even met fellow and budding artists and, between chatting, actually managed to do some work:

Dawn Hare © Sue Wookey

Curiosity © Sue Wookey

Artscape Arts Exhibition

 

 My stuff hanging at Artscape © Sue Wookey

Well - we've hung our exhibition ready for Open Studios and all went smoothly. I even managed to get all of my paintings up in straight lines without lying on the floor and crying, which I think is always a plus. All of the paintings are new to Artscape, and two have never been exhibited before - my Green Lady and Twelve Hares. Along with my paintings, there are new watercolours and wonderful photos of Venice from Teresa Newham, beautiful acrylic mounted photography from Hilary Taylor and some stunning figurative painting from Helen Griffin. As always we have an exhibition that is full of a variety of styles and different media.

I've added some small, reasonably priced watercolour originals into the mix, which I hope everyone will like. They are very different in style from my usual square work with a border, but still explore the things I love. Along with those that are based around symbols there are nature paintings - such as the owls I posted here - foxes, hares, badgers and these little paintings of mice:

Autumn Fieldmouse © Sue Wookey 

Spring Fieldmouse © Sue Wookey

You can't tell from the scans, but they all have silver and gold pen work on them so they change in different lights!

You can see the exhibition at Artscape Arts, Unit 8, Southdown Industrial Estate, Southdown Road, Harpenden, Herts AL5 1PW from now until the 1st October with artists present on the following open days:

Sat 10 Sept 1pm - 5pm

Fri 16 - Sat 17th Sept 1pm - 5pm

Fri 23rd - Sat 24th 1pm - 5pm

Fri 30th Sept - Sat 1 Oct 1pm - 5pm

I will be there for all of them apart from Sept 23rd-24th. You will find full details of the exhibition here and it would be lovely to see you there if you are close by!
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Open Studios at the Farmers' Market

Herts Open Studios is nearly upon us again (where on earth does the time go) and a bunch of us returned to Harpenden Farmers' Market to promote the event, (full details here on the HVAF Website). We were lucky because after being hammered all over the county with yesterdays torrential rain we were suddenly blessed with perfect marketing weather. I didn't need my cagoule. I didn't need to cover my nose with factor 50 sunblock. We didn't have to tie everything down with guy ropes and extra strength sticky tape. Everything stayed upright, attached and unbent. My painting stayed on its easel and didn't fall over creating a glass incident. Perfect! And we had a steady stream of really interested people who all took brochures and genuinely want to support the event. We even found some new artists. We all had a really fun day talking to everybody (and each other) and are now looking forward to doing our individual Open Studios.

 Click on the piccy above for a larger version

I will be exhibiting throughout September, along with artists Teresa Newham, Hilary Taylor and Helen Griffin, at Artscape Arts, Unit 8, Southdown Industrial Estate, Southdown Road, Harpenden, Herts AL5 1PW. The Exhibition will run from Monday 5th September to Saturday 1st October, with Open Studios days, where artists will be present, on:

Sat 10 Sept 1pm - 5pm

Fri 16 - Sat 17th Sept 1pm - 5pm

Fri 23rd - Sat 24th 1pm - 5pm

Fri 30th Sept - Sat 1 Oct 1pm - 5pm

We really look forward to seeing any of you there who are in our area!

All photos © Sue Wookey

Twelve Hares

© Sue Wookey

One can never have too many hares! Twelve Hares is a painting based on the fascinating symbol of the Vesica Piscis, two overlapping circles creating a central mandorla (also found in my painting The Cradle of Life). For some unfathomable reason - I guess it's that Muse again - the whole thing popped into my head almost complete, but then, having got it well and truly stuck there, I had to draw it and make all the hares fit. That's the sort of thing that can give you sleepless nights! The Vesica Piscis represents the birth of life and this painting is filled with circles and mandorlas, defining the shapes of all the twelve hares found in this work. They symbolize the continuity of life and its cycle. Dancing between day and night they show Nature's abundance and continual renewal. At the bottom of the picture a hare guards a secret - which could be the full moon, or the pearl of great price, or even the white stone of the alchemists. What ever is it, it is the complete and perfect heart of all life. I composed the words for the border because I couldn't find anything that summed up the complexities I've stuffed into this work. I'm still not entirely convinced that I've captured it, but they read:

Year by year on the hill rises the golden corn, and over the hill swings the reaping moon, and always on the hill leaps the nimble hare - Sue Wookey

Please God there will always be hares on the hills.

'Twelve Hares' is now available from by website, Galley Hill Art, as a limited edition giclee print using lightfast inks on heavyweight archival 100% cotton Hahnemuhler fine-art paper.

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The Green Lady

© Sue Wookey

I've finally finished and scanned (I now have my own A3 scanner!) my companion piece to The Green Man Ready for Battle. Where he shows nature at its most implacable, The Green Lady is much gentler! She represents Nature at its most abundant and generous. I've surrounded her with honeysuckle because of its beautiful scent, field bindweed for abundance and strength, and blackberry blossom for its fruit. I've also painted in my favourite butterflies (comma, holly blue and ringlet) and a couple of visiting bees. There is even a tiny ladybird. As a final detail I've given her green eyelashes. If I was a Green Lady I wouldn't have anything less.The quotes around the border read:

Nature never did betray the heart that loved her - William Wordsworth 

In leaf and blade, in bud and bloom exultantly her gladness grows - R.W. Service

The Green Lady is now available as a limited edition giclee print at Galley Hill Art.

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