Tanya Raabe - Who’s Who Defining the Faces of an Arts Movement

Colin Hambrook  -  Tanya Raabe  -  David King

Currently showing at the Solihull Arts Gallery is an exhibition featuring the work of Tanya Raabe a collection of portraits of other disabled artists.

For Once Its Not a Thursday Night

I was very pleased to see that the Artist Talk as part of the show was scheduled this time for a Monday night, everything seems to be arranged for Thursdays in the local art world and its impossible for me to attend. Every exhibition private view or preview is on a Thursday, events such as the very good Creative Networks monthly networking night was moved from Wednesday to Thursday (because of the football on TV). I’m a member of the Solihull Artists Forum but I rarely attend a meeting because its on a Thursday (and generally in competition with something else that night). Even my own artist talk at the gallery was on a Thursday

So you can imagine my delight when a flyer arrived notifying me its on a Monday (I didn’t believe it so I had to read again) I sent a email and joked with Aimee Green the Arts Development Officer at Solihull, she said it was on Monday just to accommodate me. Yep. So Monday comes and as I’m changing clothes I lean down to pick up some trousers and I felt my back go! Ouch! I thought not tonight of all nights. Anyway with the aide of a few pain killers I made it.

Julie McNamara

I was very glad I made it Tanya gave a great introduction to the artists of the Disability Art Movement.

Mat Fraser

The show Who’s Who Defining the Faces of an Arts Movement continues at the Solihull Arts complex until 4 July

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Solihull College Fine Art Degree Show

My own art practice has been a little quiet during the last couple of months a victim of the credit crunch it seems, more about this and my theories why in future posts but for now I might as well talk about other artists work. I went to two degree shows last week and saw some impressive work, more to follow about the Birmingham University show but for now my visit to the Solihull College BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree Show “Nineteen Degrees

As I completed my degree at Solihull College I like to support their Fine Art BA (Hons) Show but this year I couldn’t make the Preview Night but I found it better to visit the show away from the crowds

First body of work that caught my eye and impressed was by Alex Lydon. The work has to be viewed with the 3D glasses,

so it’s virtual impossible to photograph accurately in short it highlights the fact that:  “photographs are generally seen to convey factual visual information where paintings are not”.

Its been a long 6 years for John Henry Thomas who eventually finished the BA which he chose to do part time, (a full time commitment is 3 years) he deserves some kind of award on top of his degree for lasting the pace, it must be horrible seeing students finish who began the course after you started.

Johns work has always featured animals and illustrated his excellent drawing skills although his canvas has increased in size by about 2000%

Emily Forder work is related to Obsessive Compulsion her installation contained many tablet bottles, smells of medication and the walls were covered with a representation of the human digestive system.

I decided I wouldn’t go in the Fine Art studio this year until the Degree Show but I had to go there once and I saw Rebekah Fearn working on her instillation, I avoided asking what’s it all about? Because I wanted to wait for the show, none the less that peep was enough to make me look forward to seeing it completed. It represents a ‘womb-like’ space, a place of nostalgia providing security and comfort.

I had no idea what this work by Hannah Raithby-Allin was about until I read the brochure – it deals with Conformity and the way society expects conformity even with children going to school aged 4.  simple and effective.

Helen Rand who’s work focuses on with the illness and recovery from cancer told me she had almost completed her work for the show when she was allotted a larger area and so it was a race against time to complete more paintings.

Solihull College BA traditionally have a larger selection of painters than the other shows and here are two great artists to follow that tradition.

Mark Skirving

 

Jenny Mann

Cure Leukaemia Art Auction Just Giving Page

Just been told that the Just Giving page has been launched you can see the latest total and also make a donation.

The page is live until 30 September 2009

the Cure Leukaemia Art Auction

Last night I was at the Cure Leukaemia Art Auction in Birmingham. First of all the hard facts the local artists raised £13,000 towards the charity.

My contribution to the event was “Cavernous Deep” a photograph printed on glass. Here the successful bidder Gavin Buckley (right) is joined by Fine Art auctioneer Martin Lambert from Humberts (Cotswold) Ltd.  Gavin has known my work for some time in his role at Arts and Business. I was selected for the AandB project Visual a few years ago and Gavin is the Director. So he knows all about my art practice and about this particular piece. He was a very determined bidder.

 

I was trying to take photographs and listen to the bidding and I could hear and see Martin acknowledging bidders around the room. My stress levels were really high as the starting bid was offered to the floor, because you don’t want it to have come down, but it didn’t and continued on a steady curve upwards.

The Cure Leukaemia Appeal is a multi-million pound project launched in 2004 to create a world class centre of excellence for clinical leukaemia research at University Hospital Birmingham. You can download a copy of the brochure from
www.artauctionbirmingham.co.uk
and more information from
www.cureleukaemia.co.uk

Of course this was a great networking event with all the local arts business and creative industry folk. So a quick mention for some of my artist friends who I spoke to last night.

Chris Keenan
www.primeobjective.co.uk
To source my photography I go few miles down the road but Chris travels the World and goes up mountains and balances on glaciers to produce his brilliant images. He told me on the trip that produced the image of the “The Franz Joseph Glacier”, New Zealand  he had been guided up the glacier took some photographs then when he had finished his film he turned a corner to find a scene to die for. Now that’s another aspect if Chris was using digital media then he could delete one of the lesser shots. Not surprisingly his image of the glacier is featured on the front of the brochure www.artauctionbirmingham.co.uk

Another artist who uses traditional film methods is Dan Burwood
www.danburwood.co.uk
I love the set that he produced in Cuba. I have bumped into Dan a few times this year because he was involved with schools project based around my exhibition at Solihull in Jan/Feb/March this year. For once Dans bicycle wasn’t to be seen chained to a lamppost outside the venue.

And finally Ross Jones,
www.ross-jones.co.uk
I remember deciding that I wanted to draw because I was fascinated by artists whom could produce accurate pictures that somehow evolved and took shape on paper. My first adult art learning lessons were in a drawing class, I loved it and found hard move on into other media –it had to be a drawing. So I’m naturally drawn to Ross work.  I must get the pencils out and get back simple draftsmanship.

So there it is do have a look at the sites and enjoy some high quality art work

Cure Leukemia Art Auction Tuesday 19th May 2009

I have been asked to donate a piece of my artwork for the Cure Leukaemia Art Auction which takes place at Wragge & Co's Banking Hall in Birmingham on Tuesday 19th May.

Cure Leukaemia is a charity based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, supporting the treatment of and research into Leukaemia and the patient environment. The Centre for Clinical Haematology is unique in bringing both of these things together and was opened in 2006.

This is the second time I have been involved in this charity event and on the first occasion my picture “Shared Earth” raised £650. One couple was very determined not to be out bid for a unique print of mine.

Once again I have donated a unique piece for the auction its a large copy of the image “Cavernous Deep” this particular image was printed using a machine that has since broken down and has been scraped and the new printing process uses different inks. making it even more unique I now use a different type of glass. Its going to be interesting to see if the credit crunch will effect the bidding and final auction price.

You can download a copy of the brochure from

www.artauctionbirmingham.co.uk

and more information from

www.cureleukaemia.co.uk

Sorry just a test

Hi Folks

Haven't blogged in the month of May because I’m having trouble publishing a post I just get a error message that will mean something to someone but not me, in an effort to find out what is the problem heres a very short almost “Hello World” or even Twitter like post.

Last night I actually made it along to the Birmingham Bloggers Meet it was a double first for me:

1) It was the first time i have managed to make it they have this great idea to rotate the day (so Wednesday this month and guess what Thursday next) so that anyone who cant make such and such a day isn’t left out- a great idea. but each event has coincided with something else for me.

2) even though I am a Guinness drinker and I frequent the various pubs in Digbeth it was the first time I have been in the Spotted Dog (Alcester St and Warwick St) shame on me, it wont be the last.

Sculpture Mark Tilley Fires His Kiln

A fellow member of the Solihull Artist Forum is Mark Tilley he is a sculpture and this week he has been firing his kiln on the back lawn of his home in Knowle. On Tuesday morning he began the process to flash up at 9.00am and reached a maximum temperature of 1250deg Celsius about 5pm. The kiln is then allowed to cool.  While on a workshop Mark discovered how to build and then run his own kiln and he has been using it since 2003, obviously there is so much more control and satisfaction, using this kiln than the mass produced electric oven models that merely involving flicking a switch.

Mark has to nurture the process during the day constantly checking the temperature as the heat increases up through a constant line on the graph. Mark was behind his original planned timescale (finish by 2:30pm) because there had to be more consideration for early morning damp in the kiln and therefore he kept the heat lower than normal for about 90 minutes.

At some time during the day the gas bottles have to be changed I stood well back and was considering videoing this aspect but Mark was too quick for me and had begun before I got a good vantage point. It took two minutes from start to finish and for some reason the temperature in the kiln dropped less than normal, a sunny day does make the work very pleasant in the garden but it’s not going to affect the extreme temperatures inside the kiln.

When the kiln was able to be left un assisted Mark showed me his garden workshop/studio.

This is used for storage which he says is fine until he wants to find something – I think everyone has that dilemma with storage

Thursday morning the kiln was opened

A small group of artists had gathered to see what surprises the firing had provided.

Click the image to view larger

Everything seemed to work as it should and the only problem was trying to assemble the tiles into the right position on the picture board, like a large jigsaw, no problem there was enough people to figure out the puzzle.

Two tiles had stuck together but Mark assures us that with care they can be separated.

This piece will go into an exhibition at the Solihull Arts Complex later in the year.

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