Fine and dandy

 

plenty to see in my studio . . .
© Teresa Newham

#HertsOpenStudios is well under way!  Sue and I have been welcoming people twice a week since 18th September, with two more Saturdays and the Wednesday in between still to go.  We've had a pleasing number of visitors and excellent weather so far.

. . . making use of all available space 
© Teresa Newham

The weather has been extremely important this year, as we are keeping everything as ventilated as possible, and sitting outside when we can, in order to give folk more space to browse. My own studio behind the kitchen is their first stop, where they can see most of the watercolours and reduction linocuts that I have made over the past two years.

Sue's display on my dresser, and her display board & browser
© Teresa Newham

Sue's work is laid out in my dining room as usual - a mixture of watercolours and drawings, and her lovely painted hearts.  Like me, she has made good use of her time during lockdown - but we are both absolutely delighted to be meeting people face to face again, some for the first time in ages.

more of Sue's work in my dining room
© Teresa Newham

I have some pieces in the dining room too, along with greetings cards.   Having kept so much of my work to myself for so long (showing it on social media isn't quite the same) I am loving the feedback, the comments, the insights and the interaction which Open Studios brings with it.

my dining room display
© Teresa Newham

We've both made some sales, and I've had the chance to try out my SumUp card machine for the first time - it works really well.  We still accept cash, of course, but it's good to give people the option because we want everyone to feel comfortable when they come and see us.

sketchbooks laid out on the dinner table - for now!
© Teresa Newham

Our demos have been taking place outside while the weather has lasted - although for the last three sessions we'll almost certainly be indoors. The watercolours Sue makes during Open Studios often become exhibits the following year. I've been printing Japanese Woodblock - but that will have to wait for another blog post!

Sue painting in the garden - well wrapped up
© Teresa Newham

Sue and I will be open again from 11am - 4pm this Saturday 2nd October, Wednesday 6th October and Saturday 9th October.  For full details of venue including directions of how to find us, click here.

Open Studios has begun!

my paintings & cards making a colourful display
© Teresa Newham

So Herts Open Studios 2015 is finally under way. It's particularly exciting for me this year because for the first time I am opening up my own studio - alongside fellow artist Sue Wookey - and over our first weekend we've had thirty visitors!

my studio has been transformed . . . .
© Teresa Newham

The studio itself (aka the room behind the kitchen) is home to some of my paintings, photography and printmaking - plus a little exhibition of how multicoloured linocuts are put together.  I'd forgotten just how much arty stuff I have, so the browsers are in here too . . .

. . .  and has its own printmaking exhibition!
© Teresa Newham

I've overflowed into the dining room, where Sue has put up her display board and a whole bunch of other exhibits.  And of course, there's all our cards. Nobody - but nobody - is going to complain that there's not enough to look at!

The dining room's had a makeover, too . . .
© Teresa Newham

It's quite a transformation - two days previously I was still framing pictures, and only set up the space on Friday evening, with my husband's help.  Almost every item of furniture has been pressed into service - we managed to squeeze in a couple of extra tables, too.

my old dresser makes the perfect foil for Sue's smaller pieces!
© Teresa Newham

Sue & I have been doing demonstrations at the dining room table. Once again I'm trying out a medium new to me - coloured pencil.  It's a technique my late mother perfected and in fact the pencils used to be hers - which gives a sense of continuity to what I'm doing.

Sue painting a watercolour Sun Horse with my sketchbook in the foreground
© Teresa Newham

We've had some great comments in our visitors' book and many people have remarked how lovely it is to see the artwork in an informal setting.  There's the opportunity to sit and chat over a cup of tea, too, and guests have enjoyed leafing through Sue's sketchbooks.

. . . and there's even space for Sue's display board!
© Teresa Newham

A big thank-you to those of you who came to see us last weekend.   We'll be open again over the next two weekends and on Wednesday 16th September (see the side panel for details) - so if you haven't been able to make it yet - or would like another look - we'd love to see you!

cats, cows and conversation

Hillary, Sue & Pauline giving demonstrations at Artscape during #HertsOpenStudios
© Teresa Newham

What exactly do people think when they see our demonstrations for #HertsOpenStudios?  Do they wonder why the results don't look like the art on the walls?  we're always keen to discuss our work with visitors and they often have questions, so any demo needs to be easily interruptable; which rules out anything requiring deep concentration.

 

visitors - we like visitors!

© Teresa Newham

Sue uses watercolour sketches to plan out future paintings, Pauline demonstrates her restoration work, Judi shows how she prepares glass for firing (and then has to clear it away to take it home!), while Hillary weaves paper into textured sheets and baskets or colours  her graphics on a tablet.  I prefer to use the time to try out new media or practice my drawing skills.   And, if we're not chatting to visitors, we chat amongst ourselves.

animal crackers . . . my first cow
© Teresa Newham

- I took these lovely photos of cows near Redbournbury the other day, I'm going to try drawing one.  
- She's got a thing about cows, you know . . .
- Animals can be tricky things to portray.
- Yes, I once painted a sheep which looked more like a dog. Not sure about cows . . . 
- You need to discover what makes a cow a cow.  Its essential cow-ness.  Then your drawing will look like a cow.

And this advice worked - eventually I drew a cow which looked like a cow.  I usually avoid portraying animals, but, emboldened by the success of the cow, I decided to try a cat:

first attempt at a cat ~ in pencil
© Teresa Newham

Perhaps because I'm more familiar with cats than with cows, making these drawings felt more natural.  The pencil sketch took up one complete Open Studios session.  Next time I moved on to using chalk pastel pencils.  I've only just started using these regularly, and enjoyed exploring the various ways they could be used to express long and short fur.

second version of cat ~ chalk pastel pencil
© Teresa Newham

With half an hour left at the end, I dashed off the pen and wash sketch below.  Ironically this quick little drawing is my favourite - I like the way the colour has dried on her face - to me, it has the most character of the three.

ten-minute watercolour cat
© Teresa Newham

At the time of writing there are still four Open Studios sessions to come at Artscape: we'll be there between 1pm - 4.30pm on Friday 19th & Saturday 20th September, Friday 26th & Saturday 27th September at Artscape, 8 Southdown Industrial Estate, Marlborough Road (off Southdown Road), Harpenden AL5 1PW.  Our exhibition in the upstairs room is open during shop hours unless there is a class on. Do come along and see us if you can!

Back to School

A couple of months ago a Harpenden primary school asked some local artists to give a short talk to their pupils during the school's Art Week.  I went along to show Year Five some of my work.  They'd researched my website and had loads of questions - it was great fun and I was delighted to be asked back last week to judge their photo competition, which took as its subject 'Autumn Colour':

the photo competition
© Teresa Newham

All the photos were of an extremely high standard so it was difficult to choose a winner - eventually I settled on the atmospheric landscape in the third row above.  The budding photographer had got up early to take advantage of the morning light (one of the 'Teresa Newham photo tips' which had been put up in the centre of the display), and had captured some wonderful grasses in the foreground, as well as the mist and the trees!

watching runbacks
© David Lyness

The teacher had also asked me to do a demo which the children could follow.  The idea was that we would each make a small watercolour based on some holly which I'd taken along from my garden (enough for each table), ideally using just red and green.  I emphasised that we were not necessarily aiming to reproduce what was in front of us, but using the holly as inspiration for a painting.

different greens
© Teresa Newham

I painted my demo piece in stages - and, while each of these were drying, took a walk around the class to see how they were getting on, answer any questions and offer advice when the children asked for it. They used many different approaches: some of the pupils decided to experiment with a variety of greens; some worked in great detail while others had a much looser style.

my demo
© David Lyness

I'd used the visualiser on my first visit;  this time the teacher lent me his microphone headpiece, too, so that I could explain what I was doing while I had my back to the classroom.  All this equipment was a little daunting at first but I soon got used to it, remembering not to move the painting about on the table in case it disappeared from the screen!

shapes and shadows© David Lyness

I encouraged the class to try a variety of techniques:  wet-in-wet, lifting out, glazing, dry brushwork, spattering; this resulted in some very nice contrasts of colour and a variety of leaf shapes - having studied the holly carefully we noted that some leaves were remarkably smooth while others were spiky.

drybrush and spattering© David Lyness

After an hour we had thirty or so small watercolours - each one a personal vision of the holly in front of us.  As the children tidied up and handed their paintings in for safe keeping while they dried, I reflected: who had learnt more that afternoon - the children?  or me?

loose and atmospheric
© Teresa Newham

With many thanks to David Lyness, the pupils of Mercury Class, and the staff at Manland Primary School.