Calypso

 

 A companion piece to Circe. Poor Calypso weeping at Odysseus' departure on his raft. Prefering the risks of the open seas for the possibility of a return to Ithaca over immortality and her love.

Circe

 This year's Rugby Artists Group exhibition is on the horizon, with a theme of "Voyages". There's nothing in my recent oeuvre that speaks to me of voyaging so I had to come up with something. Classical literature is always a good source so the Odyssey seemed ideal. 

Circe was the first that came to mind, with some of the cursed sailors. The play of white and black areas is something thatt has come from the workshops that Eric Gaskell and I run. So I need to get it out of my system. I've got a couple of 10x8 frames in stock that will take this print and the companion piece of Calypso that I'm working on next.

Artist's bedroom, Cemex

 The second print in this series. I was talking to Clare Pentlow about my idea for doing views of Cemex and she mentioned seeing it from a bedroom window (maybe her mum's). So that sent me thinking about famous bedrooms. So here we have a take on Van Gogh's. Though the chair is mine, and the pics on the wall.

Doing these larger prints does take time. Especially when doing several colours. I used several smaller blocks stuck on a board for the red and yellow to reduce the sheer amount of cutting. You can see the yellow one in the pic below.

Leamington Open 2024

 I've got two works accepted for the Leamington Open. Really chuffed about this one, it's really tough to get in as its such a small gallery. The woman who spoke to me on the phone said getting two accepted is "rare". The two works are Blackthorn, Cemex and Skinny woman. There have been a number of exhibition calls the last couple months and I held these back especially because I felt they were some of my strongest recent work.

The exhibition runs from 2 Feb until 12 May

Postscript 2 Feb 2024. I went along to the lauch last night to find that Skinny Woman was one of the works commended by the judges. Didn't get the big prize, but I think this is a pat on the back worth having. I spoke to one of the judges who said they tried not to have more than one work from any entrant, but the overall winner and I managed to sneak the extra one in.

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Coventry Art Societies Exhibition (CASE)

 2 Feb - 3 Mar 2024 at Gallery 1, Herbert Art Gallery, Coventry.

This biennial exhibition was extended this year to include art groups from around Warwickshire. So I submitted some work under the umbrella of Rugby Artists and Makers.

I've had two pieces accepted - Story without words (consisting of five prints from the Anna Bloom series) and Blue Coat. It's going to be a big show. Can't wait to see what it looks like hanging.

 

Rugby Artists and Makers: Go Fourth! Exhibition

 In the same slot as last year at Floor One Gallery in Rugby Art Gallery and Museum - the last couple of weeks of the Rugby Open in the big Gallery Upstairs. (23 January - 3 February)

My work for this exhibition is Poppies. Its a work that has grown on me over time. I like it much more than when I first did it. So I feel it should show its face around the place so that others get to appreciate it too.

PS. 22/01/24 - exhibition hung today, probably the best looking RA&M exhibition to date, Link to the catalogue here.

Blackthorn, Cemex

 In Rugby, the cement works is an ever-present feature of the landscape. Like Mount Fuji.

Maybe I could do a series of these views. Could be 36. Though I suspect I might get bored by then. I've got about six in my mind right now. We'll see how they go.

The thing I found interesting here is that the two parts could each stand alone. I did conceive of them together as a single piece, but I could use them singly or together with some other block(s). All kinds of things could serve as background to the thorns and Cemex could stand behind some other shadowy figure.