Recently I have been enjoying the summer and keeping my fingers crossed that it will possibly stop raining soon! To escape the rain I took a very inspirational trip to Barcelona where I fell in love with the works of Gaudi after visiting Parc Guell and the spectacular Sagrada Familia (The cathedral that is still being built from the plans that Gaudi left after he died). The shapes and colours use were astounding and both locations, I found, seemed very welcoming.
Some photos from Parc Guell
Some snaps from the Sagrada Familia, which totally took my breath away.
We also went in search of different street art recommended in a guide by, Barcelona graffiti artist, Pez. The guide can be found by following this link. I thought it was really exciting seeing and recognizing artists I have seen in London, especially the infectious smile of Pez's charterers!
Once I returned from Barcelona I had the exhibition opening of the Society of Women Artists' 151st Annual exhibition, which Growth and Process (Broken China) and Growth and Process (Pieces in Place) had been accepted for. HRH Princess Michael of Kent opened the show and there was a great buzz!
Following from that The Cambridge Open Studios was open at Cambridge Artworks on the first and second weekends of July. It was great to see around all the studios and the place was much bigger than I thought, with a range of different sized studio spaces. There was a great summery atmosphere at the opening evening, despite the odd torrential rain shower! I thought their exhibition area was a very nice space, well lit with lots of natural light and the artists had transformed their studios, but still with traces of the processes they use all around them which I really enjoyed, as much as seeing the wide range of art on display.
I was happy to see a spot of yarn bombing in Cambridge on a sunny afternoon...
Today, I returned to the studio! After a long time-out doing exhibitions etc. it was brilliant to get back in there! I think its important for any type of artists to strike a healthy balance between creating the work, looking at other artists' work and actually getting their own work out there. It felt great to get my hands on some ink again! I ended up experimenting by using Prussian blue, mixed with some black to really tone the blue down and add a bit of life to an other-wise normal black. I was quite happy with the result I got by over-printing the plate 4 times and rotating it. The result seems to have created a new form and yet more possibilities for Growth and Process.......
