hanging at the Hoo

the Walled Garden project at Luton Hoo
© Teresa Newham 2012

Last weekend was the third annual Open Art Exhibition at the Luton Hoo Walled Garden.  The renovation of this garden is an on-going project, and it was good to see how much work has been done since last year.

the Open Art Exhibition at Luton Hoo Walled Garden
© Teresa Newham 2012

As usual, the exhibition was held in the Conservatory,  and included exhibits from local schools on the subject of  "The Secret Garden", as well as entries from all over the UK to the Open Exhibition itself, which had the theme of landscapes.

"Poppy Fields" was displayed with other exhibits of a similar colour
© Teresa Newham 2012

I had entered two of my watercolours: Poppy Fields and Lavender Fields, an older work which is still one of my favourites.  Given the amount of interest and the number of entries, I was extremely pleased that they were both hung.   The whole event had been extremely well curated, with works of similar colours grouped together into a pleasing whole.  It's a while since I visited an exhibition and this one was particularly enjoyable!

Lavender Fields
© Teresa Newham 2012

NB many thanks to the organisers who allowed me to take some general photos for this blog.

Work in Progress 3

The final element of my ongoing linocut project is now complete.  For many reasons, it was the trickiest image to realise; that of the Shepherd.  Not only did I have to attempt to depict Our Lord;  I had to draw a sheep and a lamb.  I copied a suitable lamb from the internet but struggled with the sheep, until I remembered a photo I took several years ago in Kerry: 

from Valentia to the Skelligs
© Teresa Newham 2012

So my favourite sheep made it into the image; and, having discarded as a cop-out the idea of denoting the presence of the Shepherd by a hand, or a foot,  I did what so many artists do, and plagiarised something else - in this case, the Paternoster statue by Dame Elisabeth Frink.

tracing the image
© Teresa Newham 2012

As you can see from the above photo, I changed my mind about the design halfway through, deciding to omit an unnecessary horizon and swap some of the black and white elements around.  Plus it was vital not to repeat the mistake I made with the previous image in this project - it had to come out the right way round.  So I was understandably nervous by the time I took the first print:

first print of The Shepherd
© Teresa Newham 2012

The half-dozen prints I made of this image required a bit of touching up; but are none the worse for that. The next step will be to display all four images together . . . !

linocut prints: The Shepherd
© Teresa Newham 2012

larking around with Photoshop

I'm slowly getting to grips with some of the aspects of Photoshop Elements.  It's embarrassing, really - I had full Photoshop training a few years ago but because I don't use it that much in my job, I've forgotten most of it and only retained the bits I need.  So I've started slowly with Elements, learning how to select items using the various tools. 

There was one photo in particular which I was extremely keen to get to grips with. It was taken at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton last summer while PBGS were rehearsing their G&S Sketch Show ahead of the performance in the Paxton Theatre. Tension was mounting, and the chairman, producer and stage manager started larking around to break things up a bit:

larking around at Buxton
© Teresa Newham 2011

As a photo it simply didn't work - it was taken on zoom from the darkened auditorium toward the lighted stage, it was fuzzy, hopeless.  But they were making great shapes and I was really keen to make something of that.  Originally I'd tried to do a silhouetted version in Picasa:

larking around in Picasa
© Teresa Newham 2011

But I was sure that I could do a lot more with it in Elements!  for one thing, I could see on the original photo that our chairman was making some great jazz hands, which were partially obscured by the chap behind - one of the theatre production team - lovely guy but he wasn't really necessary to the picture.  So I decided to have a go at removing him and extracting those hands in the process.  It took a while, and every selection tool that Elements possesses - plus the eraser - but in the end:

Buxton silhouette
© Teresa Newham 2012

So there you have it - three of PBGS's leading lights in silhouette, but to my mind instantly recognisable to those who know and love them.  I reckon this image has still got some way to go - so next I'm going to explore how to put some kind of background on it.  Watch this space . . . !!

Work in Progress 2

Vine lino block and original sketch
© Teresa Newham 2012

I finally found time to produce the third of the four linocuts I started back at Open Studios in September.  This one is the vine, as in "I am the vine, you are the branches" (John 15:5).  Sharp-eyed readers will immediately spot the schoolgirl error I made when cutting the block - the design is the same way round as the original sketch!  Faced with doing all that work again (those grapes took ages), I took a look at the sketch in a mirror and decided it would work just as well in reverse.  So I was holding my breath even more than usual when I pulled the first print:

first vine print
© Teresa Newham 2012

When I saw the result, I was delighted.  Because of the way I intend to display the four prints, I think this one will work even better the 'wrong' way round!  I went on to make six prints in total:

six vine prints
© Teresa Newham 2012

Having completed the third print I'm now keen to get on with the fourth and final one, of which more another time . .  .!

Just after seven

The mild winter has brought blossom to the trees in central London.  Snowdrops are appearing in the garden, a reminder that we will have the joy this year of discovering exactly what our garden contains.  Ironically we are having a cold snap just as the days are starting to lengthen noticeably - and yesterday morning the birdsong at dawn moved me to write a poem for the first time in ages:

© Teresa Newham 2012

Today a thrush was singing to the dawn
just after seven.  A clear and frosty morning
as though an unseen Hand had spread a sparkling veil across the land.
I wondered: did he sing for joy
or simply to keep warm?
or was he singing to the trees -
calling the sap to rise, the Spring to struggle from its knees?
Today a thrush was singing to the dawn
just after seven.  A clear and frosty morning.
A glimpse of Heaven.

New Year, new studio

school tables provide a working surface
© Teresa Newham 2012

Finally, my studio in the new house (not so new now, of course!) is pretty much up and running.  Like everything in life, it's a work in progress, but the basics are there.  I ordered two school tables back in the Autumn and waited patiently for the call to say when they would be delivered.  As things turned out, we came home from work one evening to find them neatly stacked on the porch across our front door.  Ah well . . . at least I didn't have to take time off work to wait in for them!!

artworks on the walls!
© Teresa Newham 2012

You can just see the linocut I'm currently doing at the bottom left of the photo above.  It's the third one of the set of four I've been working on since last summer.  Which, coincidentally, is the last time I picked up a paintbrush . . . roll on Spring and the lighter days!   There are two doors (to the kitchen and the garden) and three windows/window openings to the studio, so ironically not a lot of wall space.  But there's room to hang a few artworks and there is scope for more.

dining room and kitchen beyond
© Teresa Newham 2012

It's a pleasant space to work in, with a stone floor, so any spillages won't matter.  I first discovered the joy of a spill-proof floor when I attended short courses at Central St Martins - particularly when applying very wet watercolour washes that you want to run into one another.  And being next to the kitchen is handy not just for keeping water jars replenished when painting, but also for clearing up after printmaking . . . 

jolly storage
© Teresa Newham 2012

The room also has some useful built-in cupboards painted primrose yellow (see above) with room for books and paints on top (and our toolbox).  I haven't been able to resist 'borrowing' some items from elsewhere in the house either:  the wicker drawers were originally for the bathroom, and the hamper now houses my greetings cards instead of some old documents.

I feel so grateful to have access to a space like this, and I'm keen to put it to good use.  Must get down to some art-making!!

gifts and gorillapods

Christmas stuff
© Teresa Newham 2011

Christmas, so long anticipated, is over;  and we've been using this period between Christmas and New Year to rest a bit and recharge our batteries.  Thanks to my family's enthusiastic use of my Amazon Wishlist, I've a ton of books to read:  the first one I opened was the amazing Linda McCartney - a Life in Photographs.  It's easy to forget that Linda Eastman was a respected photographer before she married Paul McCartney.  The first part of the book contains many fascinating images of famous rock stars of the '60s and '70s;  the second part is mainly the McCartney children and their father.  But they are no mere snapshots - Linda McCartney had an eye, and it shows.

gorillapod noir
© Teresa Newham 2011

The second photography-related gift I received was my crazy and clever Gorillapod.   Every budding photographer should have one!  I'm still to explore the full potential of this little bendy wonder but I'm in love with it already.  You can use it as an ordinary tripod, or to balance your camera on an uneven surface, or hang it off anything it will attach itself to, in order to get that elusive shot.   Or just put it somewhere you can't get to yourself, as in the photo below:

pots and brushes
© Teresa Newham 2011

I've also been given Photoshop Elements, and a dummies' guide to it:  so that sorts out my photography project for 2012 (and possibly beyond, depending how complicated it is to get to grips with).  And various art-related books: watercolour, printmaking, collage.  The possibilities are endless.

Finally, I'd like to wish readers of this blog a blessed and inspired 2012.  Happy New Year!

a Christmas message



Holy Family

limited edition linocut

© Teresa Newham 2011

Christmas is nearly upon us.  It's a time of preparation  -  of presents, food and decorations, certainly, but for Christians it's also the season of Advent - a time of preparation for our minds and hearts.  We are called upon to be ready: not simply to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but ready for him to be born again within us.  That can be quite a challenge at this time of year!  And in that spirit, let me wish everyone who reads this blog - whatever your beliefs - blessings and peace this Christmas.

Seasons of Mist . . .

© Teresa Newham 2011

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
      Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
   With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run . . .

                                                              -  John Keats

We've had a mild autumn;  scarlet geraniums are still blooming merrily in my porch at the end of November, and even the fading leaves have lingered longer than they might have.  If it wasn't for the evenings drawing in at tea-time you wouldn't know that December will soon be upon us.  I love the rhythm of the seasons, so the recent misty mornings, with just a touch of winter chill, have been a delight to me, as well as a sign that autumn is slowly giving way to winter.

This month's Photos on the Run celebrates this change: dramatic shots of bare branches outlined against the sky, berries in the garden, the trees of Harpenden Common shrouded in mist.  This time of year, with its shortening days, has a sense of anticipation and mystery.  Christmas is coming . . .

keeping it local

visitors enjoying the exhibition on Saturday afternoon
© Teresa Newham 2011

If it's November it must be time for the Harpenden Arts Club Annual Open Exhibition; and, sure enough, I recently found myself sorting out d-rings, labels and bubble wrap for the four entries I'd rashly listed on the application form.  I went for framed exhibits this year:  View from my Back Bedroom Window (which following our house move is now the view from somebody else's), Cardinal's Wharf, Poppy Fields and - to vary things a bit - a framed reduction linocut Venetian Masks.

View from (somebody else's) Back Bedroom Window on display at the exhibition
© Teresa Newham 2011

As usual I'd put myself down for a couple of hours stewarding - I don't get along to the club meetings so stewarding is a good way to meet other members and, of course, the general public.  I was delighted to find myself sitting alongside the talented watercolourist Jan Makower, who's work I really admire.  We had an interesting chat about selling art during the recession, and I asked her about the various classes she runs. 

Cardinal's Wharf on display
© Teresa Newham 2011

And I have to say, recession or not, the public are still buying art if it's at the right price.  A number of HAC members obviously have their own following, as they'd sold several pieces each (local scenes are very popular); and our stewarding session saw one eager buyer purchase two ceramics - it was great to see some ceramics on show alongside the paintings and there was a good variety of media on the walls, too.

unframed exhibiits in browsers, plus ceramics (Poppy Fields hanging in the background)
© Teresa Newham 2011

We were kept busy sorting out voting slips - the HAC encourage visitors to vote for their favourite three exhibits, and there were so many completed slips that the jar assigned to hold them was completely jammed, and I found myself putting them in batches held in place with elastic bands (I hope they make it into the count LOL).  The HAC allow stewards to sell their own cards during their stint, and a lady who popped in just as we were closing bought some of mine.  That was a bonus!

Venetian Masks was there, too!
© Teresa Newham 2011