Monday 1 December 2014

Exhibition opening this weekend


The new exhibition, celebrating the first birthday of Camden Image Gallery, opens at the weekend, and above is one of the new pieces I'll be exhibiting. It's been a few months since I last exhibited, as I've had a lot of other things to focus on, so I'm looking forward to showing work again.
Camden Image Gallery has been very significant for me over the past year. The managing director is one of my close friends, and I've made many new friends through the gallery too. I remember, over a year ago, the first time I saw it before it was open to the public, and the way that it has grown over the last year is inspiring. Elena works extraordinarily hard, and I'm very proud to be associated with this gallery.
I'm really excited about the new pieces - I was intending to keep these drawings in charcoal only until I was asked to be part of this exhibition, but I feel that using colour has also been really effective. I love how streaks of vibrant colour come through in certain places, and I love the build up of layers, as in my paintings. One thing I'm really enjoying is the freedom to make mistakes and blur them again, and being flexible with how I build up layers. I'm really thinking of this body of work as experimentation, and maybe that is aiding my process.
Something I've really picked up on in these drawings is the texture that can be developed from constantly screwing up paper and drawing more layers. In the image above in particular, the final layers of pastel look like tracings of texture, and this is something I'm very keen on. I'm now even more enthusiastic about working on paper for a while, and drawing rather than painting. I have an idea for a large and intricate piece of work, totally different to previous pieces, that I plan to work on when I get back to Sweden next month, and now plan to incorporate colour into this piece, as well as monochrome charcoal drawings. 
My recent work, as well as being pieces in their own right, has also been serving as preparatory work for the new idea, and it has really inspired me. I've learned a lot about which types of paper work best, and the different results that different papers can yield. I've now been working with the theme of weathering for just over two years, and it's amazing how the idea has grown and developed in that time. Using paper allows for lots of new possibilities, and I want to keep working with this.
This exhibition is also significant, because it is likely to be my last exhibition in London for a while. On 2nd January I am going back to Sweden, and this time should be staying for the foreseeable future. I'm looking forward to producing more work, and exhibiting in a new country.


Thursday 6 November 2014

Upcoming exhibition

I've been working on new drawings, and I'm happy to say that I'll be exhibiting some of my new work at Camden Image Gallery next month as part of the gallery's first birthday exhibition. It's really nice that my work was included in the very first exhibition at this gallery, and will now be part of a show exactly one year later.
The theme for this new show is colour, which suits my work perfectly. I'm not really keen to exhibit older work, so I'm starting some similar drawings of body parts in coloured chalk. I plan to build up layers using a variety of colours, to create rich and vibrant pieces. Using a number of colours rather than working exclusively with black charcoal will hopefully create a broad range of effects. I really love smudging and building up layers with charcoal, and I hope that this proves as effective as it has with charcoal. I'm excited to exhibit my new work as it's been a change in direction for me, and one that I find I'm really enjoying working with. 
I've been experimenting with a number of different papers, and I've enjoyed seeing the strengths and weaknesses with each. Currently I'm particularly enjoying working with a thick handmade textured paper. The pieces become textured anyway in the process of weathering, and using a surface that already has some texture adds to this effect. 
The Camden Image Gallery show is open to the public between 7th and 11th December, 12-7pm daily.

Tuesday 7 October 2014

Exciting new work

After a bit of a hiatus I'm getting back into really focusing on producing work, and there's been a bit of a change of direction for me too, which is very refreshing. I've been distracted by other things in my life over the past few months, but this work feels really fresh to me, and has really helped to rejuvenate my motivation.
Recently I've become more interested in drawing than in painting, and this is what I want to concentrate on for now - to the point that I left my paint and brushes in storage in Stockholm! A few months ago I worked on some smudged and layered charcoal drawings, really enjoyed this, and felt that this was something I'd like to take further. As I'm currently between England and Sweden as well, it seems logical to make work that can be moved around more easily than large canvasses. Further to this, rather than concentrating on images of faces, I'm experimenting with drawing body parts, just to bring something new into my work.
Weathering is still of interest to me, and using paper rather than canvas allows me to explore this theme in a new way. I've been weathering the drawings using various combinations of screwing up the paper, and getting it wet, building up layers of charcoal. I particular like screwing up the paper before drawing, as the textured surface guides the drawing in some ways. I really enjoy working with charcoal and getting quite messy - I see the smudges and shadows in these drawings as a positive, something to build up texture and layering within the drawing. Fixing the images at different stages also contributes to the effect. 
I'm planning to experiment with different types of paper, and keen to also try scratching or scrubbing the image once I have some stronger paper or thin card. I'd also like to experiment with drawing and sewing whilst the paper is still a bit damp - this isn't really possible with the brown paper I'm currently using because it's very thin and fragile, especially when wet.
Embroidery is still important in the work, and I've been using embroidery as a means of repair, not using it to embellish the imagery in these pieces. To contrast with the smudged, dark charcoal, I'm intentionally using embroidery thread in bright, vibrant colours. I'm full of enthusiasm about this new body of work - it's a departure from my previous work, and feels like it's something a bit new for me. 
Although these pieces can stand up for themselves, they're also preparation for a new work I have in mind, which is very different to anything I've produced before, and which I also feel very excited about. I'm still thinking it through now, but I feel like it could be something quite special. 
I've received a really positive response to these pieces so far, and I'm really in the right frame of mind to keep working on these ideas. I think I needed something new to really grab me and make me throw myself back into my work, and this idea is really working for me now. I think this body of work has relevance to work I've produced previously, but is still bringing in a new angle.


Sunday 31 August 2014

A side project

Yesterday I moved from London to Stockholm. The first blog I wrote was during my time living in Finland, and this proved more popular than I ever expected. As a result, the obvious thing to do now is to start a new blog about my experience in Sweden - A Stray In Stockholm.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how things unfold here, and to writing about them, and hope that this new blog will be as successful as the first.

Monday 14 July 2014

East Finchley Open


Yesterday I attended the East Finchley Open, an open house event involving lots of local artists. It's a shame I didn't know about this previously, as it's something I would have really enjoyed being involved in. Even more unfortunately as I'm planning to relocate to Sweden at the end of next month, so might not have the chance in the future either.
It was great to see so much art so close to home - one of the locations was literally around the corner from my own home!
There was quite a variety of different media and styles, which I really think was a positive. I didn't manage to visit every single house, but did go to more than half of them. Each one had quite a different atmosphere, which was interesting. What I particularly liked was that there seemed to be quite a lot of fibre art, and I did meet one artist who was a felt maker and had a really nice conversation with her about felting and her work specifically. She incorporated other materials into her felt pieces, and the results were really visually interesting. In the first house I visited there was another artist making textiles based work, which really reminded me of Natasha Kerr's work, and I found it really impressive. Seeing the work in a home environment was a great alternative to a more traditional gallery environment, and I could see how her work in particular could really work in the home.
I obviously can't speak for the houses that I didn't visit, but I would have liked to see more painting. All of the houses had a mixture of different styles and media, and there was plenty of ceramics and jewellery work too, but as painting is of particular interest to me I'd have appreciated seeing more of that. The first house I visited had some amazing paintings, and the artist was really experimental with the way paint works and what it can do.
It was really great to see the diverse range of work being made in this area, especially as Finchley probably isn't somewhere that immediately comes to mind as an artistic hub. Maybe things will start to change with events like this going on. I personally loved the fact that I could access so much art without having to really go anywhere, I managed to visit multiple locations just by walking in a big circle from my house.
The event is also on next weekend, with some slight variation in the artists involved. I strongly encourage people to visit the open houses next weekend, especially if you're in the area, as it was a really worthwhile day. I might even venture to some of the houses I missed out on. It was a really enjoyable afternoon and I met some interesting people too. I'm really pleased that something like this is going on in my area.

Monday 23 June 2014

My European Tour


I recently got back from a trip away, where I visited Stockholm, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. It was particularly nice to go to Barcelona as it was the only place on the list that I hadn't been to previously. A lot of people told me beforehand that I'd love Barcelona because of the art and architecture, and they were absolutely right.
Whilst I was in Stockholm I visited Moderna Museet, the modern art gallery, and it was brilliant. When I go abroad I really enjoy being able to see work by artists from overseas who may not have actually reached England - this is something I really loved about visiting galleries in Finland. This was definitely the case at Moderna Museet. The show at the time was by a Swedish artist, Nils Dardel, who I understand is very well-known within Sweden, but was not someone I had heard of before. I found it really interesting, as the artist had worked in a range of styles throughout his career, but with consistent themes, and it was interesting to see how the style had changed and developed over time.
Added to that, the permanent collection was very impressive, with work by some very famous names. It took quite a while to get through the entire gallery but it was very worthwhile and I would definitely visit again. The museum is set in a lovely park area by the water, and outside the gallery there were some sculptures that were also really exciting. The area was very green, so the colours of the work outside cut straight through the environment and really stood out.


I didn't have a chance to see any exhibitions in Amsterdam, but when I got to Barcelona I was particularly excited to visit Fundacio Antoni Tapies. Antoni Tapies is one of my favourite artists, and was a significant influence for me when I worked more with collage. His work still inspires me to be bold and expressive within my work, and this feeling was renewed when I visited. Unfortunately I actually found the gallery quite disappointing, as I had expected it to be bigger and to contain more work. Perhaps part of it was shut whilst I was there, but there was only one room of Tapies' work, and another with a temporary exhibition by another artist. I enjoyed what I saw but felt quite let down by how little there was of it. I understand that the pieces by Tapies are shown on rotation, which leads me to think that it literally is just the one room. I would probably visit again to be sure, but the whole thing took about 20 minutes to get around and was a bit underwhelming.
I obviously saw a lot of Gaudi's architecture in Barcelona, and I loved how vibrant and colourful it made the place seem. I'm really keen to visit Barcelona again in the future as I really enjoyed myself and would like to see more.
Whilst I was away I took a sketchbook to document my adventure, and this has become an ongoing piece of work now that I'm back home. I always have a sketchbook with me, and working in sketchbooks is something I really enjoy doing. As I have a large number of sketchbooks, some for my own practice and notes, some more like this to document particular experiences, I'm considering exhibiting these in July. This isn't something I've done before but they do represent a significant aspect of my practice, and it presents an alternative to pieces hung on the wall that the viewer can't touch or directly interact with. Now that I'm home and settled I need to get back to the felt pieces I was working on prior to going away, as these could be an additional element to an exhibition. My holiday was absolutely amazing, and I'm glad that the actual experience has given me something to work with at home.

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Current things

I've been a bit quiet lately because I've had so much to do, but I'm still alive, and have a couple of plans at the moment. I'm exhibiting at Art Splash at Trispace Gallery on 30th May. It feels like a while since I've exhibited, even though it's not really long at all, and I'm looking forward to this show. I haven't yet started thinking about what I'll actually exhibit, but I'll get to that soon. I think it'll be an interesting event, with music and art.


The above is a collage, made this afternoon, for Art House Co-op's 5 minute challenge. It was made with materials found around my home, and I think that it sums me up quite accurately. I like it, and I think it's a good reminder of what it's possible to do in only five minutes. I think that sometimes doing a piece of work that is completely unrelated to my general practice can be really useful, and just enjoyable rather than something done for a specific purpose.

Recently I've been working on some writing rather than actually making art. I'm working on more cut ups, this time inspired by being able to see into the windows of so many of my neighbours. I hope to eventually work on some book art making use of these texts.

Next month I'm also going away to a few places in Europe for a couple of weeks, and I hope that this opportunity to see art in several countries and have some time to relax will inspire me. At the moment I have ideas for a lot of different pieces of work, and need to focus a bit more.


Saturday 22 March 2014

Coffee Art Project Opens Today!


The Coffee Art Project opens in Brick Lane today, and I'm really looking forward to seeing it later on today. I really enjoyed working on my piece for this show, and I'm pleased that I took part. I've seen a video of the exhibition being installed and it looks great, I'm excited to see how other artists have interpreted the theme.
The show is on until next Sunday, and definitely worth going to see as so many artists are involved.

Thursday 6 March 2014

Current work

This week I've been sketching in charcoal, which I haven't done for quite a while. I've really got back into using it, and I'm particularly enjoying smudging lines or areas I'm unhappy with, and then reworking them. I find this really adds to the character of the sketch, and I find the results to be much more interesting and atmospheric than completely clean lines. I like the build-up of layers and intensity in this image, and I'm keen to work a lot more in charcoal now that I've rediscovered the medium.
I'm also planning some new fibre pieces, having unexpectedly discovered a quantity of unrefined wool amongst my materials this morning. I'm planning to felt the wool and use this as a surface for embroidery, and will most likely also weather the work once it's completed. It's been a few months since I worked on a completely embroidered piece, and I'm feeling a desire to do this again.

Sunday 23 February 2014

My art fair experience

Parallax Art Fair finished yesterday. This was the largest exhibition I've been involved in as of yet, so it was a new experience, and provided great exposure for my work.
Due to other work, including curating a show, I feel that I didn't prepare as far in advance as I should have for Parallax, and I've certainly realised that something on this scale needs more preparation than other shows. I think taking on other shows and responsibilities since agreeing to be part of Parallax might not have been the best idea, and I've realised that in future I need to be more mindful of the workload that I take on.
For consistency, the organisers of Parallax have very specific requirements for how work should be hung. I was under the impression that this wasn't very flexible, and this was the element of the show that caused me the most difficulties, but upon attending the show I noticed that very few people had actually hung their work in the way described by the organisers. If I exhibit at a Parallax event in the future I think I'll be less concerned about
hanging the work in a way that suits me better.
The show was very busy, and during the private view it was difficult to just walk around because it was so crowded. Not every single person at the venue would have seen my work, but I was pleased with the number of visitors. When I attended the fair yesterday a lot of other artists commented to me that it was quieter than they had expected, but there were still a lot of people coming through. The fair was held in Chelsea Town Hall, which is a great location with plenty of foot traffic.
I was really impressed with the huge variety of work and styles in the show. Understandably, not
everything was to my personal taste, but I feel that anyone could have found something they liked. I really enjoyed being involved in a show that was so diverse. The artists showing encompassed so many different styles, backgrounds, and interests, and for me it was great to be part of a show including artists I doubt I'd ever exhibit with otherwise. I feel that my work was exposed to a really diverse audience, and probably to people who would never normally see, or choose to see, my work. In relation to my own tastes, I really liked that there was so much vibrant, colourful work in the show.
It was interesting also to meet other artists, particularly artists from outside of London. Generally artists were friendly and supportive of each other, but one thing that I found really disappointing is that some artists were perfectly happy to leave their flyers in other artist's spaces, stand in other artist's spaces blocking their work whilst talking on the phone or to a visitor, or leaving their belongings in another artist's space. I noticed this happening quite
a lot, and a couple of the artists near to me were culprits. I think that one person in particular was just ignorant rather than genuinely rude, but I was quite surprised that some artists had so little regard for others. Perhaps they were just very concerned with promoting themselves and ensuring that they were seen, but I feel it's a poor attitude to do this at the expense of others.
When I saw an artist putting her own flyers in front of my work and business cards I quite happily moved them into her own space, and I hope that others who found this happening took the same approach. The fact that this was happening is probably just the luck of who I was placed near to, and may not have been an issue with other artists or in other parts of the venue. I don't think this would put me off exhibiting at an event like this in the future, it's just unfortunate.
Sitting in my space yesterday was great because I met a lot of different people and got plenty of feedback and comments from the public, which was really positive for me. Many people asked
questions about the work and made comments, which made me happy. I had quite a good position in the room as my work was at the very back, whereas there were aisles going up the room towards the back, meaning that some people may miss work in one of the aisles, whereas my space was fairly unavoidable.
The pieces I showed were made between 2011 and 2013, including the paintings made in Iceland, and I don't intend to exhibit the same work again in the near future. I have more recent work that I'm pleased with, and I feel that the work with weathering is continue to develop in new ways, so I'd like to focus on that for now. Furthermore, I don't want every show I have to be repetitive and only show the same work. These pieces have all been exhibited at least three times, and I feel that this is enough.
Unfortunately I didn't make any sales at the show, but I feel this was a really valuable experience in terms of exposure for my work. The fair was quite different to the exhibitions I usually take part in, so it was a new experience for me. I'm really pleased that
I was given the opportunity to take part, and I hope that the exposure my work gained will pay off in the future.
On the whole this was a really positive experience, and I would be interested in exhibiting with Parallax again in the future. I really enjoyed seeing the other work in the show, and will definitely attend future fairs as a visitor. It's exciting to see so much work in one place, and to be exposed to so many different artists all at once. If I exhibit in the future I'll definitely prioritise this show over other work and be more sensible with my preparations. I've been working towards this show since December, and now that it's over I'm looking forward to working on new exhibitions and projects.

Monday 17 February 2014

Exhibitions this week




"Expression", the show I've curated for Camden Image Gallery, opened on Saturday night, and I got a lot of really good feedback from both visitors and the artists involved. It was a lot of work but I'm really pleased with the quality of the work in the show, and I think it looks great. The show is now open to the public until 1st March, so please do go along and see the variety of work.

I'm also exhibiting at Parallax Art Fair later this week, and am now preparing my work for hanging there. I'm really happy that I was offered this opportunity, and I'm looking forward to setting up and the private view on Thursday night. Tickets are free of charge, and can be ordered here. This is the last time for the foreseeable future that I will be exhibiting certain pieces, including the pieces made in Iceland, as I'm focusing on progressing and developing the work with weathering, so this is a chance to see these works one last time.

Thursday 30 January 2014

Upcoming exhibitions and work in progress

There's a lot going on at the moment, I haven't had time to update this blog for a while. I finally have a couple of days to focus on actually producing new work, which I'm quite excited about.

A couple of exciting exhibitions are coming up for me. I'll be showing at Parallax Art Fair in London from 20th - 22nd February, and I'm looking forward to the exposure that this will give my work. Tickets can be purchased at http://parallaxfeb2014-eorg.eventbrite.co.uk/. This will be the last occasion for now I'll be exhibiting the work I made in Iceland, as I've shown this extensively since I got back to London. I'll also be showing a couple of older pieces that complement this work, it'll be nice to see recent work shown alongside some pieces that were made a few years ago.

I'm also currently curating a show for Camden Image Gallery, to take place between 15th February and 1st March. It's a lot of work but I'm enjoying the process, and have been sent a lot of really great work. I'm really happy with the line-up of artists I have so far, I feel that the works are going to be very cohesive together, whilst also showing each artist's individuality very clearly. There are still some spaces available at an affordable rate, if interested please email me at tamsin@camden-image-gallery.co.uk. Any style/media is considered.

I also have some work in progress at the moment that I'm getting very excited about. A couple of weeks ago I started a piece on a slightly larger scale than usual, with 10 layers of painting, drawing, and weathering, using a combination of natural and deliberate weathering. After painting the background colour blocks I immediately started intentionally weathering the canvas, and was really impressed by the effect this had on the surface. 

Whilst the piece was naturally weathering outside the frame was damaged quite significantly, and now the canvas is kind of twisted and asymmetrical, which brings a brand new effect into the work. I'm not sure how the work will look when hung, as the canvas isn't straight, but I think this will really emphasise the weathering aspect of the work. I'm ready to start painting the actual portrait now, and I'm really looking forward to seeing this piece completed. 

The effect of weathering the surface before the paint dried has really inspired me, so I'm going to work on some abstract pieces made in the same manner over the next couple of days. I loved the background just as it is, so I think these pieces will turn out well, and will also really emphasise the use of weathering in the work. These pieces, along with the portrait piece, may be exhibited at the upcoming exhibition in Camden.

The final exciting thing at the moment is that my work was featured on the Artpromotivate website earlier this week, which has surely exposed my work to a much wider audience. I'm really pleased about this, and the artist spotlight can be viewed here.

Wednesday 8 January 2014

Call for artists

I'm looking for artists for a group show I'm curating, the gallery is spread over two floors and located opposite Camden Road station in Camden. Any style/media will be welcome, you do not have to be London based to participate. The show will take place between 15th February and 1st March. For more information please contact me at tamsin@camden-image-gallery.co.uk.

Saturday 4 January 2014

Upcoming Solo Show - Interior


I'm very pleased to announce an upcoming solo exhibition on 18th and 19th January, titled "Interior". This is a pop-up show in my own home in North London, which will be really different to exhibiting in a conventional gallery setting.
The idea is to provide a more intimate experience, for both viewers and myself as the artist, than a traditional gallery environment could. As my work is quite personal I feel that it makes sense to exhibit it in my private environment. The show will be revelatory, and give viewers an insight into my life. I'm really excited about doing this.
I'll be showing work made between 2011 and 2014, including experiments and pieces that have not been shown before. I'm planning to hang the work like a salon exhibition, and include as much as I can. I'll also be showing some brand new fibre pieces. All work will be for sale.
I'm really looking forward to the show, and I hope to have a good turn out. Refreshments will be provided.