Some of my Paintings

Last year I went to an oil painting evening class and it was a revelation for me! I found I loved everything about it, this medium was for me and I began painting enthusiastically, guided by my wonderful tutor. The other students were lovely too, many were very accomplished artists, but were very encouraging and welcoming towards me. I have recently started sharing my painting online and thought I'd put some here.

Near Vik, Iceland

Yellow Tulips

Cityscape

The blackbird

Winter Scene

Spring Blossom

A Late Lunch in McGrew's Bistro and the Olly Olcock Exhibition, The Old Fire Station, Carlisle.

My cousin Glen and I visited Carlisle's new arts venue The Old Fire Station for the first time this week. We met up in McGrew's Bistro which is part of the complex. It was a hodge podge of different tables and chairs, we went for very comfy armchairs. We both chose pate with ciabatta, salad and Cumberland sauce and shared a bowl of chips. The food came quickly and was lovely, a generous portion of delicious pate and the ciabatta lightly toasted, the Cumberland sauce went really well with it. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The cost for the two pates, one bowl of chips, two teas and one coffee was £17 which we felt was reasonable. My only complaint would be that they had the automatic doors permanently open and it wasn't a warm day, so the place was quite cold and I had to keep my jacket on.

We went upstairs to view the Olly Alcock  art exhibition, which took a while to find as it was a bit of a rabbit warren and no signs guiding you there until you found the right entrance. It was a small exhibition of acrylic paintings mainly of Cumbrian Lakeland scenes though there were a couple of paintings of a plane and steam train. The quality of the paintings varied, some were a little "flat,"but most were very good with a lot of detail. My favourite was a striking picture of Helvellyn's Striding Edge, which is the left hand painting above. The paintings exuded feelings of calmness and serenity and highlighted the stunning beauty of Cumbria's Lake District.

The exhibition is free and lasts until the 31st of July.

Address:  The Old Fire Station,
                Warwick Street
                Carlisle CA3 8QW

Website:  http://oldfirestation.carlisle.city/

Julie Dumbarton, Artist

Recently grown to love the work of the artist Julie Dumbarton, normally my preference for art is for gentle, pastel watercolours, but I love Julie's bright, vibrant paintings which are the opposite of my normal taste.

Photo from Julie's Facebook Page

A few days ago I drove to Langholm, where Julie has her studio situated in Buccleugh Mill. I was going there to pick up a mini painting in person. Julie's art sells for thousands of pounds, but every now and then she does a series of minis which sell for £75.00. I think it is a brilliant idea, it means ordinary people like me can afford to buy a small piece of her original artwork.

When I arrived at the studio Julie was not there but her husband Craig welcomed me warmly. The building was large, bright and airy, full of canvases ranging from small to huge, all alive with colour. In the middle was a table piled with tubes of paint and scattered around the space were comfy looking sofas. There was a little shop area that sold calendars, cards and other things.

My Mini (sorry about the reflections)

After a chat with Craig I was free to wander around the studio and it was lovely to see the paintings in real life, Julie is such an talented artist, I love the colour and life within her work, it makes you feel good just looking at them. The building itself, though large, had a warmth and lived in feel about it. That warmth also comes through in Julie's website and Facebook page which are both informative and friendly in tone. And it comes across strongly just how much painting means to Julie, it is her life.

I'm very happy with my mini, I love the mix of colours and the Monet-esque subject matter. They have lovely prints of many of Julie's pictures so that will be my next purchase, and I already know which one I will have, (one depicting the northern lights) so time to start saving for that!

I will be going back to the studio in the future, they have an open day every Friday from 10:00 - 16:00 and hopefully I'll get to meet Julie herself. She also does painting weekends and that is something I am seriously considering attending as, though I can draw, I cannot paint for the life of me! Anyone reading this who is local, pop round to the studio, you are in for a treat!

Nowhereisland

Heard about this project recently and it appealed to me. I love the way it uses art and nature to bring people together, and I also love the very Britsh quirkiness of the project. I am proud to be a citizen of Nowhereisland! Below is info about Nowhereisland taken from its website.

Nowhereisland is an island from the Arctic on a journey to South West England, arriving during the Olympics held in London.. As it made this epic journey, it travelled through international waters, whereupon it became the world's newest nation with citizenship open to all called Nowhereisland.

Along it's journey it is accompanied by a mobile Embassy, packed full of intriguing objects and fascinating information and hosted by the Nowhereisland Ambassadors.

Nowhereisland is an artwork by Alex Hartley which has caught the imagination of thousands of people across the world.Over 15,000 people from all over the world have already signed up to be citizens, contributing to the online constitution and responding to the year-long Resident Thinkers programme. Also school and organisations along the south coast of England are getting involved.

Along its coastal journey, Nowhereisland will visit eight ports and harbours where it will be hosted by choirs, bands, citizen marches, a flotilla of surfers, gig rowers, sea shanty singers and thousands of people on cliff tops, beaches, harbours and promenades. Find out more about Nowhereisland's journey.

Nowhereisland is a Situations project, one of 12 arts projects across the UK, funded by the Arts Council of England, and is part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in summer 2012.

Read all about Nowhereisland here

Peter and the Wolf Exhibition Dublin 1 October 2003

My friends Chris and Andy were in Dublin on their honeymoon and they asked me if I’d like to meet up with them there for a couple of days. On the 1st October the Peter and the Wolf exhibition was opening, this being the first stage of a mini-tour for the paintings, so of course we were keen to go to see them.

We walked down Dame Street to the City Hall where the exhibition was being held. It was really interesting to see Bono's pictures - which were huge in some cases, large in all cases. Some were more like practice sketches, but others were very good and interesting, the longer I looked at them the more I saw. Bono’s father featured a lot, in one picture he's very stern and there's a tiny Bono below looking up at him. There was a menace and darkness about the pictures in general and the wolf tends to look a bit stoned in my opinion!!! Bono’s daughters' additions of the flowers are the gentlest, softest aspect to the pictures, which I felt offsets the general harshness that came across in the artwork.

The CD of Peter and the Wolf was playing in the background and there was also a short film running about the making of the CD and paintings. All were being sold to support a very worthwhile cause - The Irish Hospice Foundation.

The City Hall itself, built in 1779, is a wonderful building. The exhibition was held on the first floor which was reached via a sweeping staircase. In the centre of the large room there was a circle of pillars with classical figures on pedestals inbetween them and high above a beautiful done in the centre. The large Georgian windows ensured the room was well lit.

We were almost first in, there weren’t many other people there. Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer arrived not long after we did and they did a photoshoot. There was also a man videoing the proceedings, and at one point I noticed him videoing us as we looked at the paintings, I tried to keep my back to him once I'd noticed! Later he approached us to say that they hoped to make a documentary about the making of Peter and the Wolf and the exhibition and as we were in some of his film and he'd like our permission to use our images. He didn't have his usual forms to sign so he asked us to say our names and give permission as he filmed us. I don’t know if the documentary ever came about.

Chris asked one of the women there if she thought Gavin would sign autographs and she said he probably would once he'd finished with the shoot, so we waited. Chris went to him first and he was really nice to her, she told him that she and Andy had just got married and he congratulated them, asked where they came from. He is so like Bono it's uncanny. His voice, his mannerisms, his humour, his clothes are all very similar. Then I went up to him giving him the auction brochure to sign. He said, "Aren't you buying the CD?" I told him I'd ordered it online, he asked which website and I said the Irish Hospice one, he seemed pleased at that. Then with a grin (like Bono’s!) added, "But you should go to Gavinfriday.com the official website, that's much better!" I told him I do go there too and he seemed chuffed about that. He asked my name (and how I spelled it – how many ways can you spell Sue?!) as he signed my brochure and looked right at me smiling as I thanked him afterwards. Like Bono he's a charmer!

It was really good to see the paintings in real life – there is something special about seeing brushstrokes etc that makes pictures really come alive, I could easily visualise Bono working on them. Bono came to the exhibition in person later that day I believe but we were long gone by then. It was really good to meet Gavin, I can certainly see why he and Bono are friends, they are like two peas in a pod as they say.