Julie Caves

Black at Cultivate Vyner Street

2012-01-23T20:42:00.003Z

'BLACK'

Opening night: Thursday 2nd February at 18:00 - 21:00

then open from Friday 3rd - Tuesday 14th February 2012

Note: the gallery is shut Mon-Wed unless you make an appointment.

Cultivate Vyner Street

I will have a painting in this exhibition.

"What light through yonder painting breaks?"

2012-01-06T20:25:00.000Z

The Jerry Saltz Abstract Manifesto, in Twenty Parts

"Abstraction is one of the greatest visionary tools ever invented by human beings to imagine, decipher, and depict the world."

"...contemporary artists have not only begun to re-explore the possibilities of abstraction... Abstraction is breaking free again."

"Abstraction contains multitudes."

Go read this article, it is awesome.

Abstract Painting

2011-12-13T20:06:00.000Z

"Abstraction, as it turns out, is among the greatest tools invented by human beings to envision the chaos of the universe." - Jerry Saltz

Something Blue

2011-11-27T17:31:00.002Z

A second blue event for me in the same week- I have 3 paintings in the show Something Blue at Cultivate Vyner St.

BLUE - the World's Favourite Colour

2011-11-16T11:58:00.006Z

I will be presenting a short illustrated talk at the next meeting on Nov. 30th of the Colour Group of Great Britain. BLUE - the World's Favourite Colour will have many speakers - all about blue. I will be talking about painting blue skies.

a small sky study in oil by Julie Caves 2011

Drawing Crowds

2011-10-19T12:13:00.003+01:00

I have a drawing called Collection No.1 in Drawing Crowds at the Stone Space gallery in Leytonstone in East London.

3rd – 20th November 2011
An exhibition of exploratory drawings from 25 artists.

The exhibition features work from Amanda Lawson, Asa Medhurst, Asmi Kazmi, Carla Wright, Chetan Kumar, Claire Meharg,Cos Ahmet, Dan Neamu, David Farnham, David Harker, Debbie Locke, Edward Jeavons, fuad ali, Gillian Swan, Heenam Kim, Jane Rutterford, Jen Leonard, Jillian Knipe, Joanne Tidey, Julie Caves, Mary McFerran, Morgan Tipping, Nic Boin and Patricia Rozental.

Little Benefits show

2011-10-17T18:07:00.000+01:00

Little Benefits
opening Thursday 20th October
then open from 21st - 30th October
11.30 - 18.00, Thursday to Sunday, or by appointment

Little Benefits is a ten day show at Cultivate Vyner Street. They intend to pack the gallery walls with a carefully selected diverse collection of smaller works in a variety of mediums. Work will be no bigger than 30cm x 40cm and and all work will be for sale at a price of no more than £100. I have 5 landscape paintings in the show.

Red Show

2011-10-05T11:54:00.008+01:00

I have a painting in the multi media group show called

RED
at Cultivate, Vyner St.

Place No.2 (oil and acrylic on canvas)

Making our Mark at the Mill on Coppermill Lane

2011-09-24T20:00:00.001+01:00

I picked up my small oil painting from the community exhibition at The Mill today. It was great to be a part of their inaugural exhibition!

Art Grows on Trees

2011-08-26T11:05:00.010+01:00

Every year on the long pathway to the Town Square the trees will grow pieces of art to be picked!
Art Grows on Trees is one of the Waltham Forest Arts Club's projects for the E17 Art Trail.

I have made two series of small works on paper for this event.
The Whole Picture 2.
I created a 22x30in acrylic painting on paper and cut it into 28 pieces. They each make a nice artwork that can be framed or posted on the wall. Plus there is the possibility that sometime in the future all 28 recipients will get together and the pieces of the painting will be reunited and they can see the whole picture.

Blue Birds mini prints.
After taking a class with Stephen Fowler at Falkiner's I carved a set of 3 stamps in the shapes of pigeons which I have been drawing a lot lately.
I then drew on the stamps with ink pencils and printed them onto paper and added some painted details.

Now I just need to package them up for hanging in the trees during the E17 Art Trail!

The Poetry Trail Anthology

2011-08-22T10:30:00.000+01:00

Paekakariki Press are printing a Poetry Trail Anthology of work in the Walthamstow Poetry Trail. Available at all good stockists during the E17 Art Trail. The E17 Poetry Trail Anthology Launch is Thursday, September 1 · 7:30pm - 10:30pm

This year and for the first time, the E17 Art Trail plays host to a poetry trail. Inspired by the themes of “Home” and “Community” – poets and artists have collaborated to create the Walthamstow Poetry Trail. Estate Agents along Hoe Street have donated property display spaces to provide a focus for the trail with illustrated poems to draw you along the street. Poems will also be displayed in the windows of the Walthamstow Library. The art prints on display will be provided by Paekakariki Press who will also be printing an anthology of the poems which will be available to buy during and after the Art Trail.

I did this illustration for a poem called Soap by Anna Johnson.

Cafe Gallery Projects Open 2011

2011-08-16T21:44:00.002+01:00

I always enjoy the Cafe Gallery Projects Open Exhibitions. Here is my piece Brick Wall No. 2. The exhibition was up for July and August but is finished now.

Art Subject Seeking Arts Writer

2011-08-15T16:04:00.009+01:00

Dear Arts Writer,
I am responsible for publicising our annual Open Studios and Silent Auction event at my studio complex.
I thought a good way to get the word out might be to find someone who would want to write an article about the group of artists, cos they are interesting. So I am now seeking an arts writer who is looking for a subject.
If you are a writer and need something interesting to write about- the group of artists at Blackhorse Lane Studios might be just what you are looking for!

Blackhorse Lane Studios is located in the vibrant art area of Walthamstow in NE London. This new artists’ space managed by the Barbican Arts Group Trust (BAGT) has been here just three years but the 28 artists have a much longer history with their collective achievements in education, exhibitions and prestigious art prizes.

The group includes emerging and established artists whose diverse practices transverse both contemporary and traditional styles. The studio artists include sculptors using both organic and recycled materials, a painter using highly personal subject matter, beautiful works created from large scale paper cuts that relate to the female form, an artist that uses glass to make interactive works, another artist layers transparent colours to elicit a subconscious reaction, a painter of Rubinesque male figures, large scale quirky animal characters created by palette knife, and an installation artist who uses light projections.

In addition to their art these artists would be interesting to write about because they are interesting people who have led interesting lives. One artist lives on a boat, another used to ride to school on a pony, while another has been a resident artist in India. We are a varied group. For example, the music you can hear playing from inside the studios varies from Jimi Hendrix to Maroon 5 to Radio 4.

A number of the BHL artists have been short listed for the Jerwood Drawing, Sculpture and Glass Prizes and some have even gone on to win one or more of these. Other achievements include: short-listed for the Max Mara Prize, winner of the Pride in the House exhibition, commissions for British Telecom, British airways, and the Bank of England, permanently placed commissioned sculptures in London Parks, visiting artist in Santiniketan in Bengal, India, a winner of a Millennium Award and many more too numerous to list. Their collective art training includes all of the prestigious art colleges in the UK plus some in Italy and the USA.

Our annual event, the Blackhorse Lane Open Studios and Silent Auction, is part of the popular East London arts festival the E17 Art Trail. We will also have the ArtWorks Open exhibition in our ArtWorks Project Space, selected by Graham Crowley and Kiera Bennett; poetry readings by the Forest Poets; and a Kid's Art Quiz with prizes.

If you need a subject to write about and find this group of artists intriguing please contact me: julie.caves(at)yahoo(dot)co(dot) uk.

Blackhorse Lane Open Studios and Silent Auction

2011-08-01T09:55:00.014+01:00

OPEN STUDIOS AND SILENT AUCTION

IN VIBRANT WALTHAMSTOW

- only 15 minutes from the West End

by London Underground or Overground!

*September 10th-11th 2011 (PV Sept 9th 6-9)
*Featuring: painting, sculpture, installation, ceramics, animation, photography, graphic arts and book arts.
*ArtWorks Open 2011 – ArtWorks Project Space – selected by Graham Crowley and Kiera Bennett
*Poetry readings by Forest Poets on Saturday Sep 10th
*Kid's Art Quiz with prizes
*Part of the popular East London arts festival the E17 Art Trail, located near Inky Cuttlefish Studios, Artillery and Tokarska Gallery.
*Among the 28 artists at Blackhorse Lane Studios are winners of Jerwood Prizes and many other art prizes; graduates of the Royal College of Art and other major art colleges; and sculptors, painters and video artists.

Dates: September 10th-11th
Times: 12.00 - 6.00pm each day
Preview Evening: September 9th 2011 (6-9pm) including a donation bar and entertainment
Address: 114 Blackhorse Lane, London E17 6AA
Website: www.artworksproject.com
Free admission

Blackhorse Lane Studios is located in the vibrant art area of Walthamstow in NE London. This new artists’ space managed by the Barbican Arts Group Trust (BAGT) has been here just three years but the 28 artists have a much longer history with their collective achievements in education, exhibitions and prestigious art prizes.

The BAGT artists’ diverse practices transverse both contemporary and traditional styles. The studio artists include sculptors using both organic and recycled materials, a painter using highly personal subject matter, beautiful works created from large scale paper cuts that relate to the female form, an artist that uses glass to make interactive works, another artist layers transparent colours to elicit a subconscious reaction, a painter of Rubinesque male figures, large scale quirky animal characters created by palette knife, and an installation artist who uses light projections.

Two days when artists open their studios to the public the Open Studios is your chance to meet the artists in their work environments, get insights into how and what they create, and even take home a work of art. Engage in one of the most exciting aspects of contemporary art by discussing art with the artists themselves. Stop by and enjoy, be inspired and perhaps hallenged at this friendly, relaxed event.

It is also a good opportunity to purchase original works at pre-gallery prices! Visitors will have the chance to bid on an artwork by a Blackhorse Lane artist in the Silent Auction. Part of the proceeds from the auction are donated by the artists to Barbican Arts Group Trust’s Public Programme. You can see the artworks in the auction in advance by going to the website: www.artworksproject.com. Bidding starts on-line in September 7th and in person at the Preview Evening on September 9th.

The ArtWorks Open 2011, an annual open exhibition, takes place in the ArtWorks Project Space in the Blackhorse Lane Studios building. http://www.barbicanartsgrouptrust.co.uk. This year’s exhibition is selected by distinguished artists Graham Crowley and Kiera Bennett who will be awarding £1,000 and £500 prizes, both with solo shows at ArtWorks Project Space. Graham and Keira will discuss the works in the show and how they were selected at a special event on Saturday 10th September at 2pm.

In addition to the Open Studios, Silent Auction and the ArtWorks Open there is more going on: members of ‘Forest Poets’ will be performing poetry readings on Saturday Sep 10th between 1:00pm and 3:30pm and for children there will be an Art Quiz (with prizes donated by Jackson’s Art Supplies) to encourage the younger visitors to ask questions of the artists about their work.

The artists include Charlotte Hodes winner of the Jerwood Drawing Prize, Sandie Sutton who has permanently placed commissioned sculptures in London Parks, Mike Thorn winner of the Pride in the House exhibition, Helen Maurer winner of the Jerwood Prize for Glass. Other achievements of the artists include a number that have been short listed for the Jerwood Drawing and Sculpture Prizes and the Max Mara Prize, commissions for British Telecom, British airways, and the Bank of England, visiting artist in Santiniketan in Bengal, India, a winner of a Millennium Award and many more too numerous to list.

Participating artists: Franki Austin, Francesco de Manincor, Jonet Harley-Peters, Charlotte Hodes, Lucile Montague, William Stok, Valerie Large, Tam Joseph, Elizabeth de Monchaux, Jonathan O’Dea, Michelle Reader, Mike Thorn, Neil Irons, Rosemarie McGoldrick, Lisa Peachey, Katrin Mäurich, Julie Caves, Sandie M Sutton, Pauline Evans, Duncan Evans, Daniela Rizzi, Charlotte Gerrard, Gisli Bergmann, Helen Maurer, and Matilda Bevan.

Transport:
Tube: Victoria Line to Blackhorse Road
Overgound from Liverpool Street to St James Street Station or Gospel Oak to Blackhorse Road Station
Buses: 158 from Stratford, 123 from Wood Green or Ilford, 230 from Walthamstow Central or Wood Green
Car Parking in Shakespeare Road
Map: http://ow.ly/5EQ5k

For more information or images please contact Julie Caves: julie_caves (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) uk or Sharon Tate: bag.trust at btconnect.com

The Blackhorse Lane Studios are managed by the Barbican Arts Group Trust (BAGT). The Trust was formed in 1972 by artists to create studio and exhibiting space in the Barbican area. BAGT received charitable status in 1984 in recognition of its community and educational work undertaken through exhibitions, public art projects, open studios and schools projects. BAGT moved east in 1989, with assistance from Greater London Arts and established Hertford Road Studios, and in 2008 added another studio block at Blackhorse Lane E17.

PRESS RELEASE:
click on images for larger view

Draw The Garden

2011-07-28T13:56:00.002+01:00

The Waltham Forest Arts Club is hosting an afternoon in the Vestry House Gardens. Start the E17 Art Trail off creatively - be a part of it! Bring your ipad or sketchbook or use our pencils and paper, find a spot in the garden and draw!
The garden's beautiful planting is inspired by its history as an eighteenth-century workhouse garden, with an emphasis on useful plants including vegetables, herbs and dye plants. There is also a wild meadow area and a bed designed to attract butterflies.

•Sat. Sept 3rd, 11:00 to 3:00
•Vestry House Museum Gardens, Vestry Road E17 9NH
•Meet and draw with some friendly creative people!
•Bring your ipad or sketchbook or use our pencils and paper

Materials kindly provided by Jackson’s Art Supplies

Draw the Garden

2011-07-10T09:50:00.001+01:00

During the E17 Art Trail the Waltham Forest Arts Club is hosting an afternoon in the Vestry House Museum Gardens. Start the trail off creatively - be a part of it! Bring your ipad or sketchbook or use our pencils and paper, find a spot in the garden and draw!

Sat Sep 3rd 11:00-3:00

The garden's beautiful planting is inspired by its history as an eighteenth-century workhouse garden, with an emphasis on useful plants including vegetables, herbs and dye plants. There is also a wild meadow area and a bed designed to attract butterflies.

Vestry House Museum
Vestry Road
Walthamstow
London
E17 9NH

Rise Art

2011-07-08T18:11:00.001+01:00

I now have a profile on Rise Art.

THE ABBEY ART CENTRE EXHIBITION

2011-07-05T22:27:00.003+01:00

THE ABBEY ART CENTRE EXHIBITION -

SATURDAY 16TH & SUNDAY 17TH JULY 2011
89 PARK ROAD, NEW BARNET, HERTS EN4 9QX
10-minute walk from Cockfosters at the end of the Piccadilly Line

The historic church/barn museum will be full of art including my newest painting. There will be art all over the grounds with open studios as well so you can meet all of the artists (see below).

featuring:
MATT BATEMAN - SYLVIE BOREL - LAUREN BRANDRICK - JULIE CAVES - MIKE FIGGIS - LISA FREEMAN - BRUCE GILBERT - CHERYL GOULD - VERENE LACK GRIESHABER - MOLLY HAGAN - RUTH PARKER - JAN POLOCZEK - ROY RODGERS - ROD ROSS - LEAH SELBY - SHEILA SELBY - LIZ SHEPPARD - DAVID SHILLINGLAW - ROMANY TURNER

I am now a VV member!

2011-07-01T16:42:00.003+01:00

Promoting emerging female fine artists.

VV Art Collective

Working towards the Leytonstone Arts Trail

2011-06-19T19:08:00.004+01:00

Today I have started framing the small paintings for the Leytonstone Arts Trail- July 1st to 17th 2011.

It looks like like the first 8 paintings from the Spring and Autumn Colours series will be finished just in time. They will be hanging on the nice white walls of the Excel Properties in Leytonstone offices at 28 Church Lane, E11 1HG.

Postcards to Japan project

2011-06-13T16:00:00.001+01:00

The postcards have been arriving in Japan the last few weeks and they have uploaded them to a website.

Axis Travelling Moleskine

2011-06-01T23:57:00.009+01:00

Austin Skies - charcoal and pastel and American Tablecloth - graphite, charcoal and pastel.

I am pleased to have participated in the Axis Travelling Moleskine. The theme is Americana. These are my two drawings. The sketchbook is about A5 size. If you click the image it enlarges to about life-size.

I just sent it on its way yesterday, it is still touring.
More info on Axis here.
Flickr images here.

Blackhorse Lane OPEN STUDIOS

2011-05-18T08:30:00.004+01:00

Blackhorse Lane Open Studios and Silent Auction
Two days when artists open their private studios to the public.
Featuring: painting, sculpture, drawing, textiles, design, illustration, installation, ceramics, animation, photography and book arts.

Part of the E17 Art Trail.

This is your chance to meet artists in their work environments, get insights into how and what they create, and even take home a work of art. Engage in one of the most exciting aspects of contemporary art by discussing art with the artists themselves. Stop by and enjoy, be inspired and perhaps challenged at this friendly, relaxed event.

It is also a good opportunity to purchase original works at pre-gallery prices! Visitors will have the chance to bid on an artwork by a Blackhorse Lane artist in the Silent Auction. You can see the artworks in the auction in advance by going to the website: http://www.artworksproject.com. The Preview Evening on Friday Sep 9th from 6-9 pm will include bidding for the Silent Auction, a donation bar and entertainment.

For children we will be running an Art Quiz with prizes donated by Jackson’s Art Supplies. In the same building The Artworks Project Space will have its annual Open Exhibition. On Saturday the 10th there will be poetry readings all afternoon by the Forest Poets. Michelle Reader and Mike Thorn will have sculpture on display in the yard.

Event: Blackhorse Lane Open Studios and Silent Auction
Dates: September 10th-11th 2011
Artists: 30 international artists
Opening Times: 12.00 - 6.00pm each day
Preview Evening: September 9th 2011 (from 6-9pm)
Address: 114 Blackhorse Lane, London E17 6AA
Website: www.artworksproject.com
Tube: Blackhorse Road (Victoria Line)
Admission: Free

Postcards to Japan

2011-05-12T15:13:00.000+01:00

Kate Thomson & Hironori Katagiri of the Scottish Poetry Library have a project called Postcards to Japan in which I am participating. I have just sent my A5 postcard.

The Long Conversation: Poetry and Painting

2011-05-09T15:18:00.007+01:00

The Long Conversation: Poetry and Painting
“Painting is silent poetry, and poetry painting that speaks.” – Simonides

The exhibition coincides with the Waltham Forest Literature Festival.

For this exhibition artists have interpreted the long-standing relationship between the written word and visual art, in the broadest terms. Poetry that paints a picture, paintings that are full of poetry, text-based work, artists’ books, sound installations, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and poetry readings are all included.
There will be a display of books to read and purchase.

Opening party:
May 23rd 7-10pm

Exhibition:
May 24th - 28th
6-8pm Tuesday, 6-10pm Wed. to Friday, 10am –10pm on Saturday

The Red Room, at Ye Olde Rose & Crown
53 Hoe Street, Walthamstow E17 4SA

Listing on the Arts in Waltham Forest website.

The Long Conversation: Poetry and Painting call for artists

2011-04-14T14:13:00.007+01:00

Call for Artists

Waltham Forest Arts Club are organising an exhibition to coincide with the Waltham Forest Literature Festival.
May 23rd to 28th in The Red Room at Ye Olde Rose & Crown, 53 Hoe Street, Walthamstow E17 4SA.

The Long Conversation: Poetry and Painting
"Painting is silent poetry, and poetry painting that speaks.” – Simonides

Do your written words paint a picture? Are your pictures full of poetry?

Artists are called to interpret the long-standing relationship between the written word and visual art, in the broadest terms. All mediums are encouraged including: concrete poetry, text-based work, artists’ books, sound installations, photography, painting, printmaking, sculpture, performance, and poetry readings. We would especially like to encourage our writers and poets to participate in this exhibition. There will be a long table for display of books to be read so please also bring along your editions and cards.

Artists may submit up to two pieces of work, there may be some selection involved depending on the amount of work received. Very large work might be a problem. To pay for the space we ask that each participant contribute £5, to be delivered with the work on May 22nd. Please, if you can, sign up for a slot on the invigilation rota at that time. No commission to be charged on any sales of artwork. All work should be delivered ready to hang or display, no clip-frames please.

You must be a member of the Arts Club to participate. Membership is free. Join on-line: http://www.artsclub.org.uk

Register interest by May 8th. Email for registration form: exhibitions@artsclub.org.uk

Listed on Arts In Waltham Forest

Book-ish

2011-04-08T01:41:00.002+01:00

I will have books and prints at this little fair:
BOOK-ISH is a new and unique event that will bring together and help promote the fast expanding literary, design and illustration communities in the Borough of Waltham Forest (and beyond). It will be held on Saturday 21 May at Leytonstone Library, from 12-4pm, part of the WALTHAM FOREST LITERATURE FESTIVAL (10-21 May 2011).

The fair will give participants the opportunity to share their skills with the general public, and to sell a range of products including illustrators' magazines and fanzines, handmade books, poetry books and pamphlets, fine art and letterpress prints and posters, stationery, postcards and cards.
PRICES FROM £5.

Cakes from SUZIE'S KITCHEN and MUSIC FROM TONY TUNES of the Shellac Collective, playing vintage 78s.

In association with Forest Poets and E17 Designers
£1 entry includes a drink and the chance to win a goody bag.
Leytonstone Library 6-8 Church Lane, Leytonstone, E11 1HG

BABE 2011

2011-02-25T00:09:00.003Z

BABE at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol.

Sat 30 April 11am - 6pm & Sun 1 May 11am - 5pm
Bristol Artists Book Event (BABE) is back and bigger than ever for 2011. Spread over three floors, more than 80 artist bookmakers, dealers and small presses from Bristol and around the world will come together at Arnolfini to show and sell their work. BABE provides a relaxed and friendly space to meet and chat to artists about their work and buy works of art. Prices start from just a few pounds.

MORE INFO

Bibliotherapy at BABE

BABE is coming up!

2011-02-12T02:47:00.005Z

I am working on two new books and an edition of lino prints for BABE.
Plus, I will have my usual back catalogue of books and postcards and I will be bringing back my book jewellery.

The Bristol Artist Book Event is held every other year at the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol.
This year it is the weekend of the Royal Wedding- April 30th and May 1st.
BABE is organised by the lovely Sarah Bodman.

vox pop veto gov

2011-01-13T12:02:00.002Z

A protest sign in this photo of the Slade Occupation demonstration in Dec 2010 says: vox pop veto gov.

It takes a lot to organise people and to get anyone to pay attention when they are busy with so many other things. So I hope the student protests are a sign that people are paying attention and the government (which is supposed to be us, people we have chosen to speak our wishes for us) will have to answer.

The people are saying the government is wrong and must be stopped.

Merry Christmas everyone!

2010-12-14T12:15:00.004Z

This is my favourite Christmas animation, possibly my favourite animation of all time. So many lovely subtle touches that I can watch it over and over.

White Christmas sung by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters (1954)
(Bill Pinkney sings the bass lead, Clyde McPhatter sings the falsetto)
Genius animation by Joshua Held (2002)

(Click on the full screen button in the lower right corner to see it bigger.)

Christmas Craft Market at Vulpes Vulpes

2010-12-08T11:19:00.000Z

Christmas Craft Market at Vulpes Vulpes, artist run gallery and project space in Hackney, in East London E5. Sat. Dec 11th 12-6.

Crafts, cards, textiles, accessories, drawings, prints, books, cakes, mulled wine and more! Support your local artists!

Christmas Selling Show

2010-11-12T10:57:00.010Z

I will have some affordably-priced paintings in
The Blackhorse Lane Artists
a Christmas mini art trail
on Dec 11 and 12 2010.

It is a collaboration of Blackhorse Lane Studios and Inky Cuttlefish Studios because we are just 3 or 4 minutes walk apart on the same road in E17. There will be lots to choose from if you want to be artsy in your gift-giving. Support the artists in your community and find unique gifts at the same time!

Info will be up soon on the studios website.

Address:
Blackhorse Lane Studios
ArtWorks Project Space
114 Blackhorse Lane
London
E17 6AA

Remember that Blackhorse Road Station is just 15 minutes from the West End on the Victoria Line or mainline train.

Chocolate Factory N16 Open Studios

2010-11-10T11:58:00.003Z

My old studios - Chocolate Factory N16 will be opening its doors for the weekend.

Saturday 27th November 11-6 & Sunday 28th 12-6. Private view Friday 26th 6-9pm

Fine art, ceramics, printed design.

David Batchelor talk cancelled

2010-11-08T11:42:00.002Z

The talk at Byam Shaw was cancelled. But at least my train journey there and back was relatively easy!
David, I send you huge get well wishes.
I have missed seeing you speak three times now.
My stretch of bad luck has to end, sooner or later!

But how do I find out when it will be rescheduled...

Inspired By Morris

2010-11-07T21:04:00.003Z

Some friends from my studio are in a group show at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow E17.
Jonet-Harley Peters
Neil Irons
Pauline Evans

Inspired By Morris

A group show of contemporary art and craft inspired by the life and work of William Morris. Works in all media, from textiles and ceramics to film and photography, will encourage visitors to look afresh at Morris' artistic legacy.
9th October - 24th December 2010

Rodrigo and Gabriela in Shepherds Bush

2010-11-04T19:31:00.000Z

Rodrigo and Gabriela last night were awesome!
The tube strike challenges were a small price to pay.

CREATE - the final meeting

2010-11-02T11:35:00.001Z

Just back from a week in Bristol attending the last CREATE workshop.

We had some great workshops on light and shadow, coloured light (and coloured shadow) and coloured light on coloured surfaces. Longer workshops than in the past so really good. Also colour memory and colour mixing. And inkjet printing and high dynamic range photography. And colour naming.

Was great and am sad to see it all come to an end.
Thanks everyone!

Blogiverssary

2010-10-31T10:53:00.002Z

I have been updating this page for five years!
Sometimes frequently and sometimes sporadically.
*time passes in a flash*

Frieze is hot!

2010-10-14T11:56:00.001+01:00

I loved the first day of Frieze! Saw Thomas Demand talk, rode one of Gavin Turk's art bikes, looked at lots of art, loved the painting best, and drank a £2 bottle of water! Didn't look at everything yet, am spreading it out over the 4 days.

I'd rather have something to say and poor skills with which to say it than lots of skill but nothing to say.

2010-09-10T14:18:00.007+01:00

A friend and I were trying to figure out why an exhibition we saw together recently at a gallery we both like had drawings that we both felt had little skill and no meaning. They were really uninteresting. Even reading the artists' statements did not help to give the work any meaning. It was slightly messy, barely bothering, low quality work. It was odd that it was where it was. (We never did figure it out.)

It made me remember some thoughts I have had when thinking about quality in relation to art and I decided to write them down:

Some people are very good at making things look nice or real or accurate or beautiful - they are, for example good drawers.
Some people have great ideas, intelligence, messages to get across, open-minds, or new ways of looking at things - they have insight and ideas.
Some people have both - good technical skills plus a reason to make work, something to say. If they also have their own unique flair then you have a really good artist.

Lots of people can draw things that look nice. But if they are not interesting, compelling, brain (or eye or soul...) activating, they are boring. I can only look at a drawing of a perfect flower or nude or bowl of apples for so long. (Perhaps in the past those things used to mean something, tell a story of religion, fable, allegory, or talk about the beauty of life and its abundant riches or the glory of nature. But most artists now do not do a nude, or still life for any particular reason and so it ends up not meaning anything to the viewer and is boring after a minute or two. I always go back to the intention of the artist. The act or process of making art can be reason enough to keep the viewer interested if the act is somehow authentic.)

The world loves it when you have both skills and ideas as you may be a genius.
But if they have to chose just one, most of the time they will accept ideas over draughtsmanship. So some concept driven art in exhibitions is not skillful looking, because of lack of skill. BUT you also have people who feel like if it is too pretty then you miss the idea for the eye candy. (Like some professors feel that dressing too trendily makes it appear that they are not serious of mind.) Or the naive look may be part of the concept, masquerading as a teenager, for instance. But I think the clever artists know that if your idea is wrapped in skill or beauty then it is more easily understood cos people will look longer.

But then you have the people who are trying to access their childlike essence or their primitive soul or their subconscious and come out with weird stuff that looks simplistic but symbolises big ideas. And that can be enough to keep us looking.

I'd rather have something to say and poor skills to say it with than lots of skill but nothing to say. Over the years, I'm glad to say, my work has gotten better, on both sides.

p.s. For some reason this makes me think of the Auden quote:
"If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me."

My painting in an Esty treasury

2010-09-09T19:31:00.003+01:00

I had my painting "Gold Spike" chosen for an Etsy treasury!

Thanks Glenda!

Images from my studio - Open Studios 2010

2010-09-07T20:34:00.005+01:00

Ok- this is a clockwise tour of my studio the first weekend of September at our Open Studios.

Starting at the door (note the drawing poster of me on the door at the right, by Duncan Evans):

The newest work is the 4 paintings on brown linen. The work on the easel is in progress:

Long wall, work from 2009/2010:

Long wall, work from 2009/2010:

Works on paper 2010:

Works on paper 2010:

Oils and acrylics on panels from 2010:

Open Studios - comments on my work

2010-09-06T15:56:00.003+01:00

For the Open Studios this year I chose to show just work that I had made during the year since the last open studios. From that year's work I curated a show on the freshly painted walls of my studio.
I hung four paintings on brown linen I made in August on the short wall near my door, 10 paintings on the long wall, 5 large framed works on paper were on the tables leaned up against my shelves on the back wall, and 10 small (50x40cm) works on panel from the Elusive Memories series were hung on the side wall.

This was a good year for discussions about the work.

Vertigo was the favourite painting by leaps and bounds. Everyone loved the depth achieved in the layers. (Which I cannot seem to capture in a photograph.) I also got an unexpected response of a number of viewers doing a sort of interpretive dance in front of it. They bent forward a bit and stretched their arms wide and made big swirling motions with their fingers.

The next best liked was the newest work on brown linen.

Some comments I remember:
"The longer you look at them the more you see." (The most common comment after "Nice colours".)
"I can't buy them cos I think it needs four paintings hung together and I can't afford four." (referring to the 10 paintings from the Elusive Memories series)
"I really like your new work. Except the panels on this wall are not to my taste. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be mean, but you know they are just too hard for my liking. Well... they are better as you get closer to them aren't they. Oh... I like them much better when I can see just one of them, they are not hard at all then." (also referring to the 10 paintings from the Elusive Memories series)
"I like that you see more in them as you keep looking at them, that is what you want for a painting on your wall, isn't it."
"I like the paintings on paper best. But then I love paper."
"How do you decide on titles?" (I work in series a lot and am glad when one title gets to last for a bit. Titles for single works are hard for me.)
"The brown linen paintings are so different to the others." (Discussions about responding to the surface followed.)
"The right frame makes a painting look even better." (Started by me talking to other artists about the framed works on paper.)

In my comments book- in addition to the expected comments on my "great use of colour" I also got a "challenging work" which I think is really good.

I also had my bookworks out and had some nice discussions about some of those.

Going to the private view

2010-09-03T15:04:00.008+01:00

Going to the private view at Blackhorse Lane Studios last night:

Later on it got too busy to take pictures. It was well attended!

It was great to see everyone!

Julie Caves on E17 Art Trail Blog

2010-08-26T14:35:00.000+01:00

Me on the E17 Art Trail Blog

Thanks Valerie!

Travel is easy for getting to the Open Studios

2010-08-25T22:25:00.012+01:00

The tube is running the weekend of the Open Studios! YAY!
(Scheduled works are the following weekend and the planned tube strike is the day after.)

When everything is working it is easy to get to Walthamstow.
We are the stop before last on the Victoria line, just 15 minutes from the West End. (the Vicky line is speedy!) Just 5 stops from Kings Cross.
Blackhorse Road Station.
Buses and the overground go to the Blackhorse Road station as well.

Follow the signs to walk 5 minutes north on Blackhorse Lane. We are on the right as you come around the corner.

Google Map

What’s on? BHL Open Studios is!

2010-08-20T14:54:00.002+01:00

Blackhorse Lane Open Studios is listed in the What’s on section of a-n Artists Newsletter.

Art in the Corridor website is up!

2010-08-20T10:07:00.007+01:00

Blackhorse Lane Open Studios and Art in the Corridor
Friday 3rd to Sunday 5th September, 12-6pm each day
Preview Evening: Thursday 2nd September, 6-9pm

The Art in the Corridor website with the images of the 62 works is up!

There is a nice selection of styles and range of prices for this affordable art exhibition in the corridors of the Open Studios.
Original art from £45 to £400.

E17 Art Trail buses

2010-08-19T10:19:00.003+01:00

E17 Art Trail buses will be stopping at Blackhorse Lane Studios!
But it looks like only on Sunday.

Barbican Arts Group Trust (no 4) (that is us!), The Page (no2), 27 Thorpe Cresecent (no24) and the William Morris Gallery (no 31) are bus stops on Sunday 5th September, and The Page (no2), and the William Morris Gallery (no 31) are bus stops in our area on Saturday 11th September.

Drawing Residency workshop exhibition

2010-08-18T09:32:00.002+01:00

Natuka Honrubia will be showing her amazing huge drawings created during her time as the Artist in Residence at Blackhorse Lane Studios.
Her exhibition will be in the Artworks Project Space 2 – 5th Sept during the Open Studios (and 9th to 12th as well with a public talk on the 11th at 4pm).

The Drawing Studio Residency Workshops Exhibition with work by members of The African Caribbean Women’s Development Centre and Leyton Joint Community Day Services that was run by Natuka Honrubia during her residency will be held in studio UF_15 and will run during the Open Studios. There is a preview for this on Thursday 2nd September at 2pm.

Natuka Honrubia. Sin T¡tulo (untitled)

Open Studios Facebook events page

2010-08-10T10:43:00.003+01:00

The Blackhorse Lane Open Studios
has a
Facebook events page.

It is now just 23 days away!

Open Studios listed on Axis

2010-08-05T09:52:00.003+01:00

The Open Studios has been listed in the Events area of the Axis website.

It is now just four weeks away!

Open Studio invite is ready!

2010-07-31T12:04:00.003+01:00

Thanks Francesco!

Countdown to Open Studios 2010

2010-07-29T15:39:00.031+01:00

My to do list to get ready for our open studios five weeks from today!
update 10/08/10: only 23 days away!
update 16/08/10: only 17 days left!
update 19/08/10: two weeks left!
Update: It's TOMORROW!
I will be ticking things off as fast as I can. Lots to do!
(I have a feeling I will be adding a few more tasks as well.)
Is there anything I have forgotten?

For the art:
-Finish making work. Leave time for oil to dry. Pick a day to stop painting so I can start on the rest of the stuff.
update 09/08/10: Still painting!
update 15/08/10: Still painting!
update 19/08/10: last day of painting will be Sunday.
-Varnish
-Sign
-Paint sides if needed
-Buy timber and brace wooden painting panels
-Attach hanging hardware if not framing and if needed
-Photograph
-Name the work and add to records
-Frame some works on paper (6 big A1) have ordered frames and measured for mounts
-Make reproduction prints? No.

For the studio:
-Take down winter draperies
-Put unfinished work in the loft to store it
-Remove old screws from walls and patch and paint
-Repair canvas storage rack
-Decide on work to hang and placement, install. Put rest in loft.
-Make labels and price list
-Package unframed works on paper and put in the print rack? -No.
-Make copies of CV, etc.
-Write statements about 2 series of work: Place and Elusive Memory
-Tidy and pack away
-Scrub floor
-Ladder and light bulbs
-Make book table display
-Prepare refreshments
-Take photos
-Chose outfits

For Art in the Corridor Sale:
-Choose 2 paintings, and replacements if those sell
-Take photos of my work
-Send photos and label info for website and labels
-Deliver for hanging

For open studio committee:
-Schedule
-Rota
-Post hard copies of all info on bulletin board
-Reminders
-Write door and sales procedure signs
-Final decisions on invite and press release
-Organise prizes for Kid's Quiz

For publicity:
-Invite everyone!
-Send out press release.
-Announce/post show everywhere
-Tweet/post regularly
-Post invites to galleries
-Create Facebook event page

Other:
-No new phone to Tweet from til after Sep. :(
-Get contents insurance sorted
-Install dust filter in corner

Open Studios is just over 5 weeks away!

2010-07-25T14:26:00.003+01:00

Who: 30 international artists

What: Blackhorse Lane Studios Open Studios - part of E17 Art Trail

Where: Blackhorse Lane Studios
114 Blackhorse Lane, London E17 6AA

When: Sep 2-5

Website: http://www.artworksproject.com

It's in the mail

2010-07-24T19:23:00.000+01:00

Starting today I will be writing more letters.
I have dusted off my lovely collection of stationary.
I plan to write a letter a week to family, friends and perhaps the occasional minister.
Doing my part to support the postal service. Since many of my letters will be going to the States I will be supporting the fantastic postal service there as well, which is also threatened.
Plus, everyone loves to receive a letter! They will really know I love them.

Freya Douglas-Morris

2010-07-23T19:02:00.005+01:00

Freya Douglas-Morris makes gorgeous paintings. Dreamy landscapes created from combining partial memories of places.
She has a wonderful understanding of colour as evidenced in her painting Water Lillies.

I met her yesterday at an arts event. We hit it off right away and started talking about painters we like. We simultaneously said that Peter Doig's early work and Chris Ofili's recent work are both gorgeous and somehow related. Although our paintings are different Freya and I are on the same wavelength!

Speaking of which: does anyone know where I can see images (or the real thing) of Ofili's 2009/2010 paintings?

Eleonora Schinella

2010-07-22T20:13:00.001+01:00

Eleonora and I worked at an after school arts programme together for Rowan Arts a few years ago. Happily I just reconnected with her at an arts event today! And found her lovely website.

Artisanal Pencil Sharpening Service

2010-07-21T20:06:00.000+01:00

David Reese offers Artisanal Pencil Sharpening Service (pencil included, and print).

My paintings at the Abbey Summer Show

2010-07-20T20:18:00.006+01:00

Last weekend was the always amazing Abbey Summer Show in Barnet, North London. If you were there you know what I am talking about!

Work was on display in a few different places including the clock tower, open studios and workshops, and Lisa Freeman made a gallery out of the glass cases along the wall of the arcade.

My new paintings were in the 12th century barn/church.
I took these pictures without a tripod so they are a bit blurry.
You can see better pictures of the paintings on my website. The series is called Elusive Memories. As always, the main concern is the investigation of colour. The wood panels are heavy with lots of layers of paint and some are really shiny.

London is London, England is England exhibition

2010-07-03T21:04:00.002+01:00

Solo exhibition of new work by Jonathan O'Dea at the Vestry House Museum.

Two different jobs with the same name

2010-07-02T17:04:00.003+01:00

I like this:

"It’s more that there are two different kinds of people involved in a job that has the same name. There are people who work in the arts because they want to make a lot of money, and there are people who are genuinely interested in art. They happen to be selling it, but they could have done something completely different in that field, like writing or curating."
-gallerists Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers

From an interview in The Art Newspaper.

distill a lifetime of events

2010-06-28T14:51:00.001+01:00

I like this:

"paint's unique ability to distill a lifetime of events rather than photography's glimpse of a frozen moment".

From the essay by Charlotte Mullins at the beginning of Painting People.

Exhibition at the Abbey

2010-06-27T17:37:00.002+01:00

I will have a few paintings in an exhibition in the old church at the Abbey Art Centre on July 17th and 18th. That is where I used to have my studio, if you recall.

Artspeak

2010-05-30T04:46:00.006+01:00

If you don’t understand what is written maybe you haven't made an effort.

If a reader doesn’t immediately understand something they are quick to blame the writer for using unnecessarily “big” words. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but most of the time if you can’t understand something easily it is because it is not easy. It is written for intelligent people who will take the time to read something complex and difficult rather than dismissing it because they didn’t understand it immediately. Much popular writing is written to be easily consumed on the train, to the reading level of a ten-year old. But that writing isn’t about big ideas or new ways of thinking.

When an artist uses the language of their profession it is often dismissed as "artspeak". Other professions are not ridiculed for using terms that relate to their work. Engineers are not accused of deliberately using difficult language when they speak about their subject. Physicists talking about complex topics are not told to simplify their language so that everyone can understand. But artists and art critics are derided for their manner of writing and speaking about art, an often difficult subject. It is commonly accepted that those writing about art try to make it “sound important” and purposefully use complicated language in an attempt to hide the fact that they have nothing to say or to be exclusionary.

Writing about a piece of visual art is a difficult thing. Do you describe it, judge it, explain it, talk about the maker or all of the above? And who are you to judge it or explain it? If a picture is worth a thousand words then what about a complex picture with ten years of build-up behind it? How do you write about a mind-mending, multi-faceted, hard-to-grasp concept, about something you understand with your eyes, not with words? Art writers are making the word-less into words. To simplify the idea I will modify the anonymous quote: Writing about art is like dancing about architecture.

If an artist works at expressing a new philosophy visually it may take ten years of making work about that set of ideas to get to a point where the artist feels the idea is well communicated. If it is a complex idea then why would someone writing about the work not need to use complex terms? If the artist took ten years to explore an idea and then shares the results with us, why would you think it could be explained in a paragraph that could be read in one minute? The artist put in the effort, the writer put in the effort, if you want to know what they are talking about you will need to put in some effort, too.

Sometimes understanding a work of art is easy but writing about it might be difficult and reading that writing might be difficult but will probably be fascinating. Sometimes understanding a work of art is hard so reading what someone has written about it will probably be hard, too. It is fashionable to bash “artspeak”. But, the next time you hear someone doing it think for a minute about how hard the artist and writer worked and ask the speaker if they actually tried to understand it.

Oh I Do Like to Be...Beside the Lee!

2010-05-20T14:12:00.006+01:00

Oh I Do Like to Be...Beside the Lee!

Exhibition of artwork themed around the Lee Valley Nature Reserve and Lee River.

In the Lee Valley the city jostles with nature. This beauty, variety and contradiction have inspired artists from the Waltham Forest Arts Club to create and exhibit their work at the WaterWorks Nature Reserve and Golf Centre.

6-26 June 2010
Launch Party 6th June, 3:30 - 5:00pm

at the WaterWorks Nature Reserve Golf Course Cafe in Lee Valley Park.
Lammas Road, London E10 7NU. Off Lea Bridge Road near Rig Approach.

ArtWorks Open 2010

2010-05-16T22:53:00.002+01:00

ArtWorks Project Space Exhibition
at Blackhorse Lane Studios in Walthamstow (a 5-minute walk from Blackhorse Road Station on the Victoria line.)

11th to 25th June 2010. Check site for opening hours.

Selected by Graham Crowley and Timothy Hyman.

This is a small work exhibition: all work will be 50x50cm or less.

Lisa Peachey - A vestige, ghosted - exhibition

2010-05-14T09:46:00.008+01:00

Lisa Peachey will be at the ArtWorks Project Space at Blackhorse Lane Studios May 27 to 30.
Her work is really beautiful.

Open times: Friday 28 to Sunday 30 May 12-6pm.
Private view: Thursday 27 May, 7-10pm.

A vestige, ghosted

Ideas are to objects as constellations are to stars.
Walter Benjamin.

A silent thing. Enjoyed only because it is, and continues to be, there. But what is it for? It has no purpose. It is a remnant of a previous place, where things made meant something, signified something: something shared. When figurines dancing on weary shoulders hushed a city. When god was seen in a block of marble. When things were worth their weight in gold.

It endures. And it is cherished, sometimes. Sentiment, ritual, habit (or market force, for some). Beyond a lifetime, perhaps. Or in a timeless minute of unrecognised care, like being carried by my father in moonlight.

What’s yours is definitely not mine. But you will persist in dusting it. I just hope that it at least ends up at the Salvation Army, instead of being put out with the bins at night.

The object’s tender silence leaves me dumbfounded. Yet from it I gain a sense of identity, and identify with it – despite, or because of, its immutable inaccessibility, its dissolubility, its seemingness only to warm momentarily to my palm. As if in an anechoic chamber, the absence of any murmur of response only focuses and reverberates internal conversations until it appears to whisper volumes, greater than its infinitely empty core.

The works exhibited have one small, domestic thing in common: I made them. They are of me, over time. That is all. They mimic those things that I live with: that sticky brown care of a chair over-varnished and over-polished day after day; the light and shadow of a winter, spent looking for meaning for them in the only place I can – the place where they are. They have a familiar presence. They cannot claim a purpose, or a meaning, except that unspoken and insular lament that objects often conceal – that we chose them and loved them and they couldn’t love us back.

Lisa Peachey studied at De Montfort University, Leicester (1996), and The Slade, London (2006). Previous exhibitions include Olympolis Project, Litohoro, Greece (2008), and the Jerwood Drawing Prize, London (2006). In 2008 she was shortlisted for the MaxMara art prize, in association with the Whitechapel Art Gallery. She has also curated projects, including ‘In its wake’, at Elevator Gallery, London, and has written texts for Moot, Nottingham and Site Gallery, Sheffield. She lives and works in London.

Beyond Words

2010-04-30T17:18:00.006+01:00

I will have two paintings in Beyond Words - an exhibition of art relating to the word, in its broadest form, from the printed word to its most abstract representation, taking in artists books, paintings, prints, installations and sculpture. This show of work by artists of the Waltham Forest Arts Club in timed to coincide with Literacy Week and aims to show that communication goes beyond words.

The exhibition will run from the 15th to the 23rd of May, 2010. The opening hours are Saturday and Sunday from 12 till 9 and weekdays from 5 till 9. Opening event on Saturday the 15th from 6pm.

Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre Pub, 53 Hoe Street, Walthamstow E17 4SA . A five minute walk from Walthamstow Central on the Victoria line. The exhibition is in The Red Room in the rear of the pub.

Because it is word oriented and will have artists' books you'd naturally think I would have books in this exhibition. But my paintings have story/word-focussed titles: Once Upon A Time and Secret Word.

Hope to see you there!

Vote for policies not personalities

2010-04-28T10:57:00.002+01:00

This great website lets you compare policies from the six major UK political parties on a range of key issues: Health/NHS, Economy, Immigration, Europe, Welfare, Democracy, Environment, Education, and Crime. Pick the ones that matter the most to you.

Since you do it without knowing who wrote the policy you can be unbiased. It looks like a lot of people are surprised by their results.

It takes a few minutes if you want to read the policies properly, because some of them sound similar at first. But it is worth the time.

Take the survey at Vote For Policies to find out who you should be voting for.

There are people trying to fix things.

2010-04-13T22:48:00.007+01:00

Really great discussion/interview on Art:21- Must art be ethical? I am so glad to hear there are good, intelligent people working on this stuff.

Jennifer Dalton says:
"Here’s a sampling of the ethical concerns that have been raised and discussed at #class:
* Do different ethics apply to the art world than to the rest of the world?
* Is individual artistic ambition compatible with collective artistic activism?
* Is the commercial art system elevating the best art and artists? If not, should we try to change it?
* Should we work to expand access to art beyond the wealthy/well-educated/big-city-residing elite?
* What can be done about commercial galleries who don’t pay their artists?
* What can/should be done about gender inequities in the art industry?
* Should galleries be regulated? Licensed? Would this ensure better business practices?
* How does one define success in art? Is it reasonable that even “successful” artists have day jobs?
* Does anyone benefit from the proliferation of artists getting MFA/BFA degrees aside from the schools?
* Should artists work for free?"

Go read the rest.

E17 Art Trail - Save the date

2010-04-01T15:41:00.006+01:00

The dates have been announced for the E17 Art Trail.
The 3rd-12th September 2010.

There will a a launch party on the first evening.

Blackhorse Lane Studios (where I am based) will be participating with a 3-day Open Studios Sep 3rd to 5th. Our launch party will be on the Thursday before: Sept 2nd.

More announcements to come!

I am started to get excited already!

We should have been able to have it all: science and jena se qua.

2010-03-12T14:41:00.017Z

A few weeks ago I heard some announcers on Radio 4 (didn't notice who) showing their ignorance by laughing at Prince Charles (for whom personally my feelings are ambivalent) because he said in a speech that he was not in favour of the Enlightenment or we should take another look at it. They said he was waaay behind the times and essentially wanted to go back to the Dark Ages. Although its name makes it sound like all that went before it was darkness, it is a name the supporters chose and could be seen as a propaganda tool. It is foolish to believe that because they named their movement The Enlightenment that the ideals espoused by the leaders of the movement have to be correct and superior. Fascists have given the name "Freedom" to their movements and we didn't believe them. The remarks of the announcers show how accepted the values of the Enlightenment have become.

I have been thinking about this for a few weeks. Everything I hear seems at the moment to relate to this idea. This blog is what finally spurred me to write this post. "Art for Life’s Sake: The Necessity of Making and Viewing Art" In this blog post they ask "Why should contemporary humankind, which operates in a culture that prizes left-brain competencies, care about fostering right-”brainedness”?"
Prizing these "left-brain competencies" is directly related to the Enlightenment values being accept wholeheartedly as the correct structure of our society.

Most bookkeeping uses the values of the Enlightenment and so you only see actions and assets that can be measured in a concrete way. That is never the whole story. Many other things happen in a business but because they cannot be measured in a "scientific way" they are not counted, are invisible.

In Tacita Dean's book Place we learn that the word "place" was a hot topic of concern for the ancient Greek philosophers as it meant many things that were hard to grasp like "sense of place" and "place in society and the world". They said it was the fundamental thing to think about, because if you didn't solve the problem of "place" you couldn't go on to anything else. Everything started with "place". (The word was rich enough to write a whole book about.) It is nearly impossible for us to understand this now as the meaning of the word was changed completely by the Enlightenment. Valuing only that which could easily be measured they robbed the word of all its richness and meaning and replaced it with the easily defined and measured meaning of "location". The other parts were left out because the inflated egos of the Enlightenment fathers were insufficient to the task of measuring it completely. So they left out what they were not capable of, what was too hard. To leave out that which is inconvenient to your theory seems a bit like cheating, doesn't it. If they were really good we should have been able to have it all: science and jena se qua.

This leads me back to Prince Charles. Radio 4 announcers: your ignorance, lack of philosophical education, and assumption that the way things are done/thought now is the only way they should be done/thought, is a disappointment. A world made of only bare-bones, measurable, concrete ideas with no room for nuance, colour or flavour should sadden us all.

The Prince Charles story, the post on the Venetian Red blog, the accounting series on Radio 4 and the book Place are all causing me to think about this recently. But for some time I have been thinking about it in relation to the great colour scientists of the past. They left out the mysterious part of measuring and describing colour and made it seem simple. But everyone today still has a really hard time with it. Because their systems are insufficient. Science alone is not good enough. How do you measure my feelings about ultramarine blue or compare them to your feelings about crimson?

If I wanted to change the world, have everything be based upon my values, get rid of that pesky Romantic way of seeing the world, simplify things (by getting rid of the interesting parts), it sure would be clever of me to call my philosophy "The Enlightenment", wouldn't it? That would set everyone straight!

you know this is where you belong

2010-03-11T14:14:00.001Z

Quote from Jackie Battenfield: "Let's face it, no one chooses to be an artist for the money...you keep at it because you are driven to create and can't imagine doing anything else with your life. For better or worse, you know this is where you belong."

The Dying of the Light, 2005, Julie Caves, 40x40 inches, acrylic on canvas

Food, Inc. trailer

2010-03-10T14:53:00.001Z

get more creative

2010-02-10T14:56:00.000Z

10 Benefits of a Recession

* It causes you to get more creative.
* It forces you to make the tough decisions.
* It thins out the competition.
* It makes you realize you can’t take anything for granted.
* It reminds you that real wealth isn’t about the stuff you own.
* It fosters out-of-the-box thinking.
* It makes it easier to abandon business-as-usual.
* It brings you back to the basics.
* It accelerates change.
* It causes you to be less wasteful.

From the Howie's Brainfood blog.

Victoria Lucas video about Collect

2010-02-02T15:46:00.003Z

Victoria Lucas curated the Collect exhibit.
Axis Arts interviewed her for Artist Stories and here is the video.

It is an exhibition of works using paper, including my artists' books. The video shows Petulant = Pouty about halfway through.

Collect runs until 10 February 2010 at the Westgate Studios, 55 Westgate, Wakefield, WF1 1BW.

a-n Interface: Collect Exhibition

2010-02-01T17:01:00.000Z

More coverage of the exhibit I am in in Wakefield.

a-n Interface: Collect Exhibition

'Collect' Sneak Preview

2010-01-22T17:25:00.001Z

'Collect', the exhibit I am in, is featured on Sneak Previews on Axis! How exciting!

Collect exhibition

2010-01-22T15:21:00.008Z

I have been invited to put three bookworks in a show at Westgate Studios called 'Collect'. It is a paper based exhibition featuring artists from around the UK. The exhibition runs from 27/01/10 - 10/02/10. The opening night (27th January 5-9pm) also coincides with Wakefield's bi-monthly Artwalk.

COLLECT

Louise Atkinson
Julie Caves
Katherine Johnson and Stacey Allen
Steffan Jones- Hughes
Simon Lewandowski
Victoria Lucas
Andy Singleton

Collect is an exhibition that features the loved object created using paper based materials. The artists selected are all concerned with the passionate interest we have for personal possessions, and the objects of the everyday.

Collections are extraordinary instruments that allow us to learn about the civilisations we live in, past and present. They allow us to rationalise the passage of time, putting our fears surrounding the constant loss time demands temporarily at rest. Most of all they tell us something about ourselves, allowing us to place ourselves in the real, to remember, and to make ourselves feel more alive.

Text by Victoria Lucas, exhibition curator.

COLLECT is a free exhibition. It opens on 27th January 2010 from 5-9pm.

Links:
More on the Westgate Studios blog.
On Arts News
There is a Facebook Event page for this show.

Pieces out in the world

2010-01-15T16:30:00.010Z

I have been thinking about my work that is no longer with me, that has gone out into the world. If I really like a painting, if it is really good, it is hard to let it go. But I have these photos left. And I really am glad that people liked these paintings enough to take them home and live with them. These mixed feelings could be a definition of bittersweet.
This painting is Calligraphy 1. 50x70cm, acrylic on fine texture linen canvas, painted in 2006. It was my most popular painting that year. Everyone loved it! It now lives in a home in North London. My first proper, fine-art-price sale in London. The picture is rather poor, I'm afraid. Now I take better pictures. A bit better.

This untitled painting is approximately 30x40cm, acrylic and oil pastel on watercolour paper, painted Aug 2007. It sold in December 2008.

This small painting sold Dec 2007. Acrylic on canvas, 12x16 inches.

Oh Tanenbaum!

2009-12-30T21:23:00.001Z

Went to the Tate Britain today to see Tacita Dean's tree. Doh! They took it down before the Christmas break. I hear it was lovely...

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-24T20:32:00.003Z

I hope your holidays are cheerful and the new year sees your dreams come true!

(Image is from the Christmas card we made this year!)

Private View Dec 4th, Waltham Forest Arts Club Winter Show, Vestry House Museum

2009-12-07T23:15:00.005Z

My small painting "Twilight No. 1" from the Twilight Series, in the lovely Walthamstow exhibition. Some really good work on show and nicely hung.

Waltham Forest Arts Club Winter Show, Vestry House Museum

2009-12-03T21:50:00.002Z

Waltham Forest Arts Club, that infamous and mischievous bunch of creatives from NorthEast London, is proud to present a Winter Exhibition with an eclectic mix of works in print, paint and sculpture as well as an interactive piece and film.

at the Vestry House Museum
Vestry Road, Walthamstow E17 9NH
Wednesday to Sunday 5-24 December, 10am-5pm

We cordially invite you to our opening night on Friday 4 December, 7-9pm.

We hope to see you there!

Martin Adams
Roan Allen
David Barette
Valeria Bateson
Anna Bisset
Janet Bowstead
Julie Caves
Monika Cilmi
Brenda Coyle
Nancy Crowe
Ashleigh Dix
Cheryl Dix
Sieglinde Dlabal
Duncan Evans
Pauline Evans
Diana Furlong
Amy Henson
Wayne Keenan
Kim Kirby
Jo Landau
Wendy LeBer
Yvonne Overton
Anna Pczuska
Nadiya Pavliv
Helen Porter
Shirley Pountney
Katja Rosenberg
Sono Scott
Christina Sibley
Anna Spain
David Sullivan
Pete Tomlinson
Trish Willock

The latest news

2009-11-08T23:21:00.001Z

October and November have been quite busy.

* I finished the 2 series' for the #MailArt project and posted them off. I have been receiving the exchange cards almost every day and have been scanning them and posting them to the Flickr page.

* I will have a small painting in the Waltham Forest Art Club Winter Show in December. One of the Twilight series.

* I am making a big painting to take to the States next week. First time to roll a painting. Will be good to learn how that works out. Especially since the oil will not be bone dry.

* The CREATE conference in Gargnano, Italy was fantastic. Lots of conservation science. Really fascinating. And gratifying to know there are people out there devoting their time to preserving art, old and new. I have plans to work with some Italian scientists to look at the longevity of some of the materials I use. We also have a collaborative art project going and I am working with some great people, it should be interesting.

* The Twitter 140 Art Show finished its exhibition in Arizona and is looking for its next home. Anyone with ideas please contact me.

* I participated in Ryan Gander's We Are Constant project at the Frieze Art Fair. It was my favourite piece at the show.

* I attended an intensive workshop on colour with Jane de Sausmarez. It was great to do all the exercises I had read about in all the good colour theory books like Johannes Itten's book. We did 20 hours of exact mixing and painting of charts, ruthless.

* I ran out of the studio last night just in time to make it to see the last of the Guy Fawkes Night fireworks in Victoria Park. Beautiful, reflecting on the canal. Ooh, ahh.

* It looks like the Colour Group of Great Britain will not be having an exhibition in December as planned. Don't know when, now.

Artist of the Week

2009-10-17T20:00:00.001+01:00

I am Artist of the Week on the Twitter 140 Art Show blog.
Sheree Rensel has done a great job!

#MailArt2

2009-10-16T18:03:00.011+01:00

At this stage of making the postcard paintings I have painted the fourth layer of acrylic paint, still wet.

This is 3 of the 10 postcards sent from the series Leaves From My Street.

The #MailArt2 mailart project was organised on Twitter. In September and October 2009, the 29 participants in my group, from the USA, UK, Ireland, Australia and Canada, mailed each other art.

Each artist made 28 unique postcard-sized artworks and posted them (without an envelope, so they would show the signs of the mail system and wear and tear).

I made two series:

Leaves From My Street is a series of 10 unique pieces.
The postcards, made from 300lb smooth watercolour board, are painted with layers of transparent acrylic paint and acrylic resin gel, built up over a few weeks. This creates a depth that gives a three-dimensional aspect to the paintings. The lower layers create a green landscape with blue sky. The top layer has the branch of a tree painted in the foreground. There is also a small autumn leaf embedded in the top layer of clear gel, floating above the scene. A poem about blue skies and trees is handwritten on the back. They are each signed and numbered.

The Whole Picture is a painting cut into 18 pieces.
I cut the 22x30 inch painting, made by pouring and layering transparent acrylic paints and resin gels onto gessoed 300lb smooth watercolour board, into 18 pieces. Each was given an identifying code as to its place in the picture. Each postcard is an individual painting, but it is also part of a greater whole. The pieces were posted to 18 different cities in four countries. Perhaps one day they will be re-united and the recipients can see the whole picture.

This is the original image intact, 22x30 inches. Acrylic on gessoed 300lb paper.

This is the painting cut in to 18 parts for the series The Whole Picture.

A detail shot, some of the 18 small paintings / postcards.

CREATE at Lake Garda!

2009-10-15T07:43:00.000+01:00

I will be in Italy next week for the next CREATE training conference: Training Course 5: Colour Heritage and Conservation, hosted by the Università Degli Studi Di Milano. A whole week at Lake Garda (think: backdrop for the last 007) learning and sharing ideas about colour! Heaven!

4 year blogiversary

2009-10-09T22:07:00.000+01:00

It doesn't seem possible but I have been writing this blog for four years now. Wow.

Not working builds up pressure

2009-10-03T19:45:00.002+01:00

"When an artist is not working, there is mounting pressure that nothing can relieve but work." -Julia Cameron

This quote was tweeted on Twitter last week. The sentiment is true for me. I get more and more difficult to live with (or so I am told) if I go through a patch, for some reason, where I cannot go to the studio and work. I think it might be this: I use a part of my brain when making work that I do not use in regular life. When this part is used it keeps a balance in my brain. When it is not used I become "unbalanced". (Mostly irritable and snappish).
That's my thinking on it for today anyway.

Tiny Touring Print Show

2009-10-01T02:05:00.003+01:00

I have a 5cm square print, Autumn Leaf, in the Tiny Touring Print Show in Bristol. It is a group of tiny prints exhibited in a travelling trunk. Its first stop will be the IMPACT print conference in September. Then it's off to see the world!

The Collective Egg

2009-09-30T18:55:00.008+01:00

The Giant Egg Event: Artists, Writers, Architects, Photographers, Poets, Working together to help Save the Rainforests of Madagascar has been organised to draw attention to the now extinct Elephant Bird.

Tim Grosvenor has also started up the Collective Egg, a group of artists organised through Twitter, who have given him art and words to include on one of the giant decorated eggs commemorating the Elephant Bird.

I have an egg-themed piece on his website.
Eggsistential Crisis by Julie Caves 2009

Twitter 140 mentioned

2009-09-29T20:18:00.001+01:00

The Twitter 140 art show was mentioned on Moshe Mikanovsky's Art Blog in an article on using social networking tools.

Twitter Art Show Opening Night Pictures

2009-09-19T19:09:00.006+01:00

I have a painting in the Twitter 140 art exhibition in Arizona.
This picture is from ZephyrusNYC's photostream on Flikr. More on the group's website!
(Mine is the white framed square with the coloured overlapping circles.)

IMPACT print conference in Bristol

2009-09-18T14:33:00.003+01:00

My panel discussion went very well yesterday.
I wasn't sure if people would find my talk interesting but I had so many people come up to me afterward to tell me how much they enjoyed it, that it seems it was! Turns out that an artist telling people how they do things and why, giving insight into the thought process, how the work is approached and how decisions are made, is fascinating to people! Who knew.

I had to miss the rest of the print conference to come back to London. They are doing some interesting workshops today including colour management (which I need), so I am sad to miss it. Because the topics are relevant and it is such a lovely bunch of people, I do plan on attending the whole thing next time!

I will start saving for the airfare now...

IMPACT

Blackhorse Lane Studios Open Studios

2009-09-13T10:10:00.002+01:00

The 3-day weekend of open studios has been great! Lots of good conversations and I have met some great people. Today is the last day, I am going there in a few minutes.

Someone has bid on one of my paintings in the Silent Auction! Very exciting!

The image is of the display I have up in my space, this is the left wall looking through my door.

E17 Art Trail Blog

2009-09-11T08:22:00.001+01:00

I have been interviewed for the E17 Art Trail Blog. It is a good blog, a commissioned project for the trail. Thanks Valerie!

Open Studios, so soon!

2009-09-06T20:52:00.003+01:00

This weekend I hung half of the paintings for the Open Studios that begins next Friday at noon!
The rest I will hang this week. As well as doing the signs, labels, copies of cv and the table of my book works. Hope I get a chance to mop the floor...

Open Studios at Blackhorse Lane Studios