More Christmas Decorations

Just a reminder that we are selling Christmas Decorations at the Eagle Gallery in aid of Leukaemia Research. All the ones I've shown you previously have gone (yay - thanks to those of you that bought them!), so I spent today wrestling once more with my acrylic paints and a teeny-tiny brush, and made four more (above). I think I'm starting to get the hang of this decoration thing...!

They will be hung with the efforts of other members on our tree in the centre of the Gallery - and I have to say it looks lovely with some very inventive things on it - everything from stitched decorations to ceramic and painted wood. So if you're in the area pop in and have a look and take in our Christmas Exhibition : -).

If you are interested in keeping up with everything that's happening in the Gallery you can also follow us on Facebook.

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Christmas Exhibition at the Eagle Gallery

I've been very busy preparing Christmas Decorations for our Eagle Gallery Christmas Exhibition (see above). We'll have a tree at the exhibition hung with the decorative efforts of all our members and the proceeds of their sale will go to Leukaemia Research. I've been painting papier-mache hearts with an snowy, Christmassy animal theme:

I have to say they've haven't come out too badly considering the fact that I've never painted with acrylic before (watercolour isn't robust enough for this) and, of course, given that they are really miniatures. For a lot of the time it felt like a wrestling match between me and the paint, but I think I won in the end and the second set of three (in the bottom photo) work much better for being simpler. The reverse sides are also painted with snow scenes, animal footprints and spirals. I also painted a lovely Robin but, do you know what? He just worked so well I can't bear to give him away and will be putting him on my own tree as a reminder of how to do it properly.

'Christmas Cracker' Exhibition

25th November - 24th December

The Eagle Gallery

101 Castle Road

Bedford MK40 3QP

Owls, Hares and Harts

I've been playing around painting some animal watercolours with lovely loose, wet-in-wet backgrounds, the idea being to splodge paint about in a wild, wet and haphazard manner then stare at it until I can see what sort of animal might live in the resulting chaos. This is huge fun. A bluey, greeny, reddy wash was clearly a hill seen from a high angle, so had to have a barn owl flying over it:

Hunting at Dusk © Sue Wookey

The next was all heathy and heathery with a spot of yellow gorse, so I decided to put a hare leaping through it. I'm now obsessed with painting hare hair with a teeny tiny brush:

Leaping Hare © Sue Wookey

The last painting was all dark and mysterious with lashings of Payne's Grey (I love Payne's Grey but I suspect I'm fairly alone in that), so it seemed perfect for that most elusive of all animals, the White Stag, with a ghostly owl popped in for good measure. All the paintings feature the moon because... well... I like the moon, so why not.

White Stag © Sue Wookey

There are more to come (I've now got a rough and wild background that looks distinctly snowy... another stag???) and I'm hoping to exhibit them in mid-June in a shared exhibition at the Eagle Gallery, Bedford, along with the more usual, mystical stuff. More details of the Exhibition to come!

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Kingdom Animalia CD

Kingdom Animalia 

Time to share some exciting news with you all! My painting, Four Elements, with its Celtic stag, salmon, hare and hawk will be used as the cover art of Kingdom Animalia, a recording celebrating the magic of animals by Welsh musician and songwriter, Gwion (Richard Price). I'm thrilled to be part of this project - the subject is very close to my heart - and Gwion has now launched a fundraising  page to help the project along:

The Shapeshifter: Kingdom Animalia

Kingdom Animalia "is a musical celebration of the inherent knowledge, wisdom and magic of the animals who inhabit the Celtic realm. It's a collection of songs from the tradition of the British Isles, plus newly written material which present the splendor of a particular animal."

I'll keep you updated as the project progresses and - of course - when the CD, which will also be available as downloads, is released.

As Richard says - 'here's to the animal kingdom'!
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Artscape Open Studios: Thank you!

Hilary, Teresa, Pauline and Judi hard at work!

Thank you to everyone who came to visit us at Artscape through September - we had over 200 visitors, most of them on the days we were demonstrating. It was lovely meeting so many interested people and having the chance to talk about what we do. I think all our visitors appreciated the variety of work and techniques at the exhibition. I have to also give a big thank you to Gurmeet and all his team at Artscape for letting us use the 'room above the shop' and for making it so suitable for us. It really showed off the work and I know that a lot of the staff went the extra mile to get it ready and cover our Open Studios hours. It really was appreciated. You are all great!!!

I enjoyed demoing but didn't manage to create anything particularly spectacular. It's hard to paint and talk and it's more important to talk! We were there to share, LOL. I did some more of the small watercolours based on British wildlife. Yes -  MORE badgers! But I did managed to throw in a a rather slinky looking fox (below). I'm pretty sure he's up to no good. And I spent far more time than is sensible producing a painting of two bunnies in a woodland glade. The glade is great, but the bunnies are too cute. Is it possible to paint bunnies and not make them look as though they've escaped from a chocolate box lid? Hares are so much easier - all those angles and quick eyes and gangly legs. Bunnies just look like bundles of fluff on the verge of an anxiety attack. The bunnies may yet end up in the bin along with the ex-red squirrel from a couple of weeks ago. Still, it was a lot of fun, even though I was trying to eke the paintings out so much I ended up painting individual hairs with a teeny tiny brush. If you do a big wash late in the day you have to get soggy paper home. Not going there.

Woodland Meeting and Misty Morning with the slinky fox

 © Sue Wookey

I made up some packs of cards for the first time and they did very well - I had a Christmas Pack (remember the little mice?), a pack of Animals with the Moon, a pack of Tree of Life paintings and finally a pack of Sacred Landscapes. They seemed to do well and now I'm thinking of doing packs of the small woodland animals. I like a project - something to work on as the nights draw in and painting time gets shorter.

 

 New card packs

 (only available directly from me at craft events and exhibitions)

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Artscape Artists hard at work!

L to R: Teresa Newham, Pauline Ashley. Judi Menges and Hilary Taylor

We're now well into our Open Studios at Artscape in Harpenden and, as you can see above, we've got plenty to show visitors in our demos. Teresa Newham has been making mini-triptychs using acrylic paint, each displayed with their own little easel. Hilary Taylor has been creating digital art using a drawing touch screen (creating much less mess than me and T), Pauline Ashley has been repairing ceramics and Judi Menges has been showing how she prepares her fabulous fused glass designs prior to firing. And what have I been up to? You can see my little watercolours in the foreground, along with my all-important coffee mug. I've been concentrating on trees and some free-flowing woodland scenes with animals, mainly badgers since everybody likes them so much! You can see two of my new badger paintings below, with lots of splashing and sploshing and wet-in-wet technique. There was also a red squirrel but, alas, he ended up in the bin. I have to brush up on my squirrel skills!

The exhibition runs until the 28th Sept (see full details below) and we will be demonstrating today (2.30-5.30), and on the afternoons of the 27th-28th Sept. We've had lots of visitors so far and this is a chance to thank all of you who've come to support us, it's been lovely to see you!

Deep in the Wood © Sue Wookey

Time to come out © Sue Wookey

Exhibition 2nd - 28th September (except Sundays and during classes)

Open Studios 21st, 27th/28th Sept

Sat 2.30pm - 5.30pm, Fri 1pm - 5pm

Artscape
Unit 8, Southdown Industrial Estate
Harpenden
Hertfordshire
AL5 1PW

Full Open Studios information and online brochure available from the HVA Website.

More Exhibitions!

Well - it's all go this month! This is a reminder that as well as having work at our Open Studios exhibition at Artscape in Harpenden (see the post below) I also have three pieces at the Red Dot Gallery in Luton. We hung the work this morning and there is a great variety of pieces from south-of-the-County members of the Artists Network Bedfordshire. This is a county-wide event with other artists at other venues. Full information on all the Art Trails is available from the ANB Website. We are open at the Red Dot for both of the next two weekends:

ANB September Art Trail

Red Dot Gallery 

21-22, 28-29 September

The Red Dot Gallery

Icknield School

Riddy Land

Luton LU3 2AH

I also have work at the Eagle Gallery in Bedford with a members' show running from the 16th September to the 10th October:

Eagle Gallery

101 Castle Road

Bedford, MK40 3QP

Open Studios now open!

My work and Teresa's photos

We've now started our Open Studios at Artscape, hanging last weekend and launching our exhibition with an Open Evening on Friday night. Thanks to everyone who came along - it was a really great evening and it was lovely to know how many people thought the exhibition looked really good. This is largely due to the efforts made by the Artscape team who have made the space so light and airy and who have installed a new hanging system. No more banging in nails (and getting it wrong and trying to plier them out again...!). The work went up easily and it really made a difference to the overall look. They even had a beautiful display cabinet for Judi's glass. Not only does it light up, it revolves. Our very own magic roundabout. Pretty cool, huh?

I would show you a lot of great photos of friends, family and faithful supporters, wine and nibbles in hand, admiring it all, but I completely forgot to take my camera out of my bag. So much for being up with the digital age. So I only have photos of it all set up for our first demo of the month. We will be there every Friday and Saturday afternoon throughout the month, and also the afternoon of Wednesday 18th which is Art Trail day. The more visitors the merrier!

Hilary's work and Judi's glass in the swanky new display cabinet.

Temple of the Midwinter Sun

Temple of the Midwinter Sun © Sue Wookey

Another new painting which I'll be exhibiting at our September Open Studios at Artscape (see the post below). This painting is really a companion piece to The Temple of the Moon and shows the sun rising on the morning of the Winter Solstice. This always brings the promise of new life and new birth as the year finally turns and the days get longer. This promise of life is reflected in the mysterious appearance of an 'egg' in the centre of the painting with the sun as its yolk. Mysterious because I didn't put it there deliberately, it just appeared - much to my surprise! I was sitting looking at the nearly finished work and had one of those 'Hey! What the heck!' moments when my eyes clocked it. Sometimes the Muse is very, very tricksy and likes to put in that little bit extra. Inspiration, eh? You just never know what's going to happen.

The double spirals on the stone - found carved at many prehistoric sites - track the winding course of the sun through each year, as is declines and increases. And I've made the trees beeches because everyone knows that sometimes beeches have 'eyes' in their trunks, so they make good Guardians for this mysterious place!

The words around the border are written by me and read:

The Sun rises and the world rises from darkness with him. 
The seed of every seed, King of green and gold, 
even the grass drinks from his Golden Bowl. - SW

The Temple of the Midwinter sun is available as limited edition giclee prints from my website at Galley Hill Art. 

One of those beeches that you just know is looking at you:

 

© Sue Wookey

Coming exhibitions!

Herts Open Studios

Artscape, Harpenden
September 2013

This year we will once again be exhibiting as Artscape Arts at Artscape in Harpenden (click on the poster above for a bigger version) and, as always, will be holding a month long Exhibition with Open Studio Days:

Exhibition 2nd - 28th September (except Sundays and during classes)

Open Studios 7th, 13th/14th, 18th, 20th/21st, 27th/28th Sept

Sat 2.30pm - 5.30pm,  Wed/Fri 1pm - 5pm

This year's Artscape Arts group will be myself (paintings and photography), Teresa Newham (paintings, prints and photography), Hillary Taylor (drawing, mixed media and photography), Judi Menges (glass) and Pauline Ashley (ceramics and china restoration).

Artscape
Unit 8, Southdown Industrial Estate
Harpenden
Hertfordshire
AL5 1PW

Full Open Studios information and online brochure available from the HVA Website.

ANB September Art Trail

Red Dot Gallery 

21-22, 28-29 September

The Artists Network Bedfordshire are exhibiting around the County throughout September, and I'll be taking part in an exhibition at the Red Dot Gallery on the weekends of the 21st - 22nd and 28th - 29th September, 11am to 4 pm. 

The Red Dot Gallery

Icknield School

Riddy Land

Luton LU3 2AH

Full information is available from the ANB Website.

September is going to be a very busy month!!!

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The Tree of Life

The Tree of Life © Sue Wookey

OK - I know this is a bit ambitious, but I had this sudden idea (one of those challenging inspirational flashes) of combining all the Trees I'd painted into One Tree. As soon as I had the idea I could see it complete, but working it out on paper was another matter! Sometimes the Muse can be very tricksy.

The Trees I've painted have all followed a progression. Many years ago I fell in love with a photo I saw of an 17th century Indian Chola bronze of the Tree of Life. The stylised shape haunted me and I did a painting inspired by it:

 Indian Tree © Sue Wookey
 

When I finally got around to working as a full-time artist, I repainted it as the Indian Tree of Life and Knowledge and this same simple shape can be seen in the centre of my new painting, like an archetype or seed at the centre of the Tree. The Tree of Life is a symbolic representation of all manifest life, the Many growing into being from the centre and source of all things, the One. Divine Being knowing and being known through the created universe.

The Indian Tree of Life and Knowledge © Sue Wookey

My next Tree was a development of this seemingly simple image into a more realistic looking Tree which I called Balance, showing the balance of opposites held in harmony. A Yin Yang where something can only be truly known in relation to its counterpoint: light/dark, sun/moon, up/down, good/bad. Without the counterpoint nothing can really exist because it cannot be held in relation to anything. Understood and held in balance these forces bring wisdom.

Balance © Sue Wookey

Balance can be seen as the second Tree in the new painting above. The third Tree is based on The Golden Seed, the Tree bearing fruit. In the Golden Seed, the fruit is shown as Suns and Moons. In my new painting I've shown it as Golden Apples. I could write a whole book on Apple symbolism! This is the Tree bearing life. Told you this was ambitious!

The Golden Seed © Sue Wookey

The final Tree is based on the World Tree, our manifest world and the most realistic Tree in the painting. The trunks of all four trees are contained one inside another and all the Trees progress outwards from the centre of the painting in a series of circles or worlds, from the Source to our cosmos. I have another Tree, the Cosmic Tree of Life, but I decided I'd put in enough Trees for one painting! Art would be so much easier if I stopped trying to paint Life, the Universe and Everything, but these Trees will keep pushing their way into the light and I am sure there are more Trees to come - though I'm really not sure where one goes from here!

World Tree © Sue Wookey

Limited edition giclee prints of The Tree of Life (and all the others) can be bought from my website at Galley Hill Art. 

HVA Summer Exhibition

 HVA Summer Exhibition

Harpenden Public Halls

Southdown Road, Harpenden AL5 1PD

 27th - 28th July 9am - 4pm

I will have three of my paintings at this exhibition, which will feature paintings, sculpture, ceramics, jewellery, textiles, glass, prints and photography by members of Herts Visual Arts. £1 entry in support of the local Samaritans.

Further information from www.hvaf.org.uk.

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The Old Way

The Old Way © Sue Wookey

Yup - another painting of a fox! I just can't resist that russet fur. This one is just wandering casually onto the Icknield Way, England's oldest road, where people were tramping up and down long before the Romans came and made everything annoyingly straight. I've indulged myself by - possibly - overdoing the flints massing about at the bottom of the painting. I just love flint. And it's the bedrock of the Way around these parts. I've held this painting back for quite some time because I think I just over-flinted it (can one over-flint?), but going back to it recently I realised that I like it anyway, and the fox is super-foxy and deserves to be shown. The words around the border read:

The flint path, the forgotten path, the green way where old secrets wind
between the hawthorn and the hazel, and under the ash and the oak.
-SW

Limited edition giclee prints are available from my website at Galley Hill Art.

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Art, come rain or shine

Well - Art on the Common took place last weekend on Harpenden Common and was a success, raising a nice sum for Cancer Research UK. But not without some trial and tribulation! I swore last year that I would never do it again after spending hours holding down a gazebo in a gale force wind, and by 2pm on Saturday I was wishing that I'd stuck to it.

It all started out OK with overcast skies and the odd smattering of light rain (see above). It was a bit of a pain covering and uncovering our precious stock and carrying our browsers under the cover of the gazebo, but we weren't complaining. At least, the others weren't. I confess to the odd bit of whinging and moaning. But then the heavens opened and it poured and poured and poured. Not just any old rain, but 45 degrees angled rain that would insist on joining us under our bit of green canvas.

Gazebo with everything out

Gazebo with everything in (including us)

We threw everything we had over - well - everything we had. My blue Irish wool blanket started to smell like a very old wet sheep on a Kerry hillside. Pools of water built up on top of everything and we began to realise that we couldn't pack up without getting everything soaked, so we were pretty much stuck. Water started to gather in lakes on top of the canvas and Hillary got herself soaked trying to release it. I bet Picasso never had to do that.

Eventually we decided that pack-up we must, so we started from the inside out, beginning with things that were a Bit Damp and progressing through the Rather Wet to the Jolly Well Soaked. We tossed it all higgledy-piggledy in our cars just as the sun came out. I could type a very rude word here, but I won't. Driving home in a very wet car, with everything gently steaming inside, I decided that this was it. Never again! But on Sunday, guess what? It was lovely. The rain mostly held off, the sun peeped in and out. We had so much extra space around us that we spread out and made a picnic area with seating for guests. We considered the benefits of hiring a triple pitch next year with a paddling pool and BBQ. Visitors came past steadily and bought things, and we said to ourselves 'How nice to be on Harpenden Common in a bit of sun and doing something worthwhile'. So - yes - see you again next year!

All photos © Sue Wookey

Time the sun came out

You might notice that the Blog looks a bit different! For the last couple of years I've had a cool (literally) background image of Galley Hill covered with snow. Perhaps it's the miserable weather we've been having - the T-shirt's have hardly seen outside a drawer - but I suddenly longed for something sunnier. So now the sun's out and the corn is as high as an elephant's eye. Well, maybe more like a hare's, but you know what I mean. Perhaps it will encourage the warm weather before this weekend's Art on the Common, the annual extreme arting on Harpenden Common in aid of Cancer Research UK. This year I will be sharing a double pitch with fellow artists Teresa Newham and Hillary Taylor, although we won't be sheltering under a full gazebo after last year's total gazebo failure! Come along and cheer us on, and support a good cause. Start praying now for fair weather and no wind as it's not looking so good....!

Art on the Common

Harpenden Common

Sat 15 - Sun 16 July

Three Leaping Hares

Three Leaping Hares © Sue Wookey

I've thinking about it for ages and have finally got down to it - painting another version of the Three Hares. I painted my first, Three Running Hares a few years ago (see below) and there was such a wonderful response to it I put it on all my publicity postcards. It also appeared in the Earth Pathways Diary, in 2011. But I've been painting a lot of hares since then and I know how much everyone loves them, so I wanted to visit this extraordinary symbol again.

This time I've tried to orientate the hares so that they form a clear upward pointing triangle. There is a moon in the centre (hares love the moon) and three ancient mounds containing three of its phases. The hares are contained in three interlocking circles, which I hope bring a sense of movement to the painting. I've surrounded the whole thing with trees representing the four seasons.

No one knows the real origin or meaning of this strange symbol, but it is found all along the Silk Road from ancient China to South West England, where it can be seen on church roof bosses and in stained glass. Adopted by the Cornish Tin Guilds it became known as the 'Tinners' Rabbits'. The Three Hares chase each other around and, in an optical illusion, share only three ears. It's one of the many symbols that contain a trinity, like the triskelion (the Isle of Man symbol) and the Celtic symbol of three interlocking spirals.

The words around the border are written by me and are - appropriately - a Celtic Triad :

Three things the Hare loves: the deep green meadow grass,
the circling light of sun and moon,
the unfolding seasons bringing all their joys in turn.

Prints of Three Leaping Hares can be ordered online from my website at Galley Hill Art.

Three Running Hares © Sue Wookey

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I'm joining the Eagle Gallery

Wonderful news - I've been accepted as a member of the Eagle Gallery, an artists' co-operative based in Bedford:

'The Eagle Gallery is a unique, artist-led gallery, run by a co-operative of 45 Bedfordshire artists. We provide an informal, accessible and friendly space to show original art works produced by our members. We show a wide range of work embracing ceramics, glass, jewellery, sculpture, printmaking, collage and photography, as well as painting in oils, watercolour, acrylics and other media.'

It will be lovely being part of a group and have a place to exhibit regularly. It's a great gallery and I urge anyone interested in local art to pay it a visit as the exhibitions change each month with a mixture of group exhibitions and solo/small group exhibitions. I'm thrilled to be joining them and will keep my Exhibitions Page regularly updated with anything I'm taking part in.

As I have joined as both a painter and a photographer, I've added a long overdue Photos Page to my blog. I can't imagine why it's taken me so long.

The Eagle Gallery

101 Castle Road

Bedford 

MK40 3QP

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Fashion Show and Summer Fair for Macmillan

Fashion Show and Summer Fair
The Meadow Barn
Tewin Bury Farm Hotel, nr. Welwyn
Monday 20th May 2013

In May I'll be taking part in this really enjoyable event in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. As well as some beautiful crafts there will be a Fashion Show. The ticket price of £12.50 includes champagne and nibbles, or you can order a two course lunch from www.tewinbury.co.uk. Click on the poster for full details

For tickets contact helenelizabethbrookes@talktalk.net or ring 07538 079410

A new Sacred Landscape

Sacred Landscape 7 © Sue Wookey

I thought it was about time that did a new painting in my Sacred Landscape series - it's been ages since I did some standing stones and I've had this one sitting in my sketch book for about 6 months!

As with the others, this is an imaginary landscape - I seem to carry them around in my head - with energy spiralling out of the trees at the top and flowing down to the circle of stones in the foreground. This is a little circle with little stones and a running hare brings a bit of life to it, mainly because they seem to be muscling their way in to every landscape I do at the moment. In fact I have another nearly completed local landscape where a furry long-eared critter is emerging from the long grass. Though I strongly suspect that one is actually a rabbit!

Prints of Sacred Landscape 7 are available from my website at Galley Hill Art.

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The Apple's Heart

The Apple's Heart © Sue Wookey

About time I posted another new painting, I hear you say. Well - honestly - I have three but I've been hoarding them while I get around to scanning them and making prints (not my most favourite pastime...). This is probably the most interesting of the three and came from some extensive doodling at the Houghton Regis Craft Fair, while waiting for customers. It's dangerous to doodle because simple ideas just get more and more complex when you have time on your hands, and you end up with something excruciatingly difficult to paint. Like this. But then The Apple's Heart shows that most complex of all symbols, the Apple, token of wisdom, fertility, healing, sacred gifts and much more in myth and folklore. So it never would have been easy! With its star shaped heart and association with the mystical Isle of Apples, Avalon, the painting barely touches the magic associated with the fruit of the Tree of Life and Knowledge.

The words I've composed to go around the border read:

The wassail fades from Wisdom's field, 
yet full I grow and branches part 
for Avalon and Gawain's shield, 
and you who know my secret heart. - SW 

Prints of The Apple's Heart can be ordered online from my website at Galley Hill Art.

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Luton Walled Garden Exhibition

 The annual Luton Walled Garden Exhibition is fast approaching, running from the 22nd - 24 March. Not only do you get to look at some fantastic garden and nature inspired art, but you can check out the progress being made to restore this amazing octagonal kitchen garden.

This year the theme is The Garden and Beyond and I've definitely gone beyond by submitting Badger Moonrise, Grove and The Owl Knows. I wish I had them all in my garden, though the tawny owls mooch about the bridleway behind my house at night! I expect they fly over the walls sometimes to check out the shrubbery. Hopefully at least one of these paintings will be on the walls when the Exhibition opens.

I will be there on the Friday afternoon, probably around 1-4 pm, set up with a table so that I can demonstrate. This involves not only painting, but saying 'aaaaargh' a lot and chucking water at 300gsm paper until it squeaks.

The exhibition is open from 12pm - 7pm on Friday and 11am - 5pm on Saturday and Sunday (when there wll be other artists demonstrating what they do), and this year there will be cards and prints along with the wonderful exhibits put together by local school children. Who could forget the cute elephants made out of milk bottles?

Craft Fair at Houghton Regis

I'll be setting up my stall in Houghton Regis this coming Friday 8th Feb, and again on Friday 8th March, at the Community Centre, Tithe Farm Road. This is next door to the Library in Bedford Square and there is plenty of parking nearby.

I'll have all the usual prints (including a couple of new ones), cards and mini-originals. The Craft Fair runs from 10am - 3pm and is a new venture for Houghton Regis. Hope to see some of you there!

More details available here.

Badger Moonrise Prints available!

I now have prints of Badger Moonrise available at my website at Galley Hill Art, where it forms a companion piece with all the others in this series. Click on the images below to find out more:

© Sue Wookey