Monoprint on 250 gsm Somerset

The quarterly newsletter of Bella Bee,

with a sprinkling of other artists I've met along the way.

It's all in the Pink - monoprint with Chine-colle detail on 250 gsm Somserset.

This was made as a bit of fun at the end of a print workshop session one week, but the style was so enjoyable to do and a step away from recent work, that it continued.

This (above) was shown at the Bath Academy exhibition (29th June - 6 July).

WILTSHIRE PRINT CREATIVES

AT THE 

BATH ACADEMY

It appears that belonging to a group using the same / similar disciplines for their art carries a big draw. The exhibition was as well received as it was attended with Caroline making a sale on the opening evening with many smaller sales of cards for everyone.

Shown (above) are just a few of The Creative's;

Jane Temperely; Bella Bee (me); Caroline Morriss; Judy Brett; Hayley Cove; Alex Nash and Kerrie McNeil.

It was a late lunch after setting up the show, all done in sweltering 30+°C degree heat so iced cocktails (ice-creams for Hayley and Caroline - none for me; I'm not a fan) were well-deserved.

^Claire Camacho and Ian Bertram with some of their work at the exhibition.

Martin in the sweltering heat of the art sale.

The following week saw The Creative's attend the annual Black Swan Art Car Boot sale.

It was tarmac-altering hot with all stalls under a cloudless sky.  Needless to say, it was well-attended in the morning but by mid-afternoon most visitors must have decided to stay at home or go to the beach, and who can blame them?

There was a good mix of printmaking techniques on show including Martin's linocuts (below).

I have now left the group, which has set a fixed number of people, so by the time you read this newsletter, there should be someone new in my place. 

Good luck to the group and to the new printmaker. 

Here's to it going from strength to strength.

H E A T  wave

The heatwave that was summer 2018.

Of course it was going to show in the printmaking! :)

All monoprints on 250 gsm Somerset, some with Chine-colle.

I'm not going to lie - this was fun.  After months of greys (and not being a lover of pink), these just happened.  Maybe the sun affects us all in strange ways?

Jane Gibson

at

Bay Tree Gallery

"Nearly all the work begins with a thrown cylinder which is then distorted, changed and added to. It becomes a surface for painting."

The protracted heatwave has made it easy for people like me. Going out into the woodland or sitting by the lake is a joy.  Taking a box of pastels and a sketchbook, there is a slight feeling of zen when sketching by the water.

Below are two examples of the quick intuitive wide marks made by these thick pastels. They make for a different way of working; being bold in nature. 

After making a few more pastel sketches, out came the oil paints and a soft abstract using the same general colours and theme was painted.  It also led on to the next more stark abstract show below (from the heart).

E X P E R I M E N T A L

I say the work I do is for myself first and done for others second; and yet this is the page reserved for a love of mid 20th Century abstract art which I know will not be to many people's taste.  It's probably Marmite, but it's my Marmite.

Some of you might recognise the origins of the image above from the previous section in the field studies (shown before).

The one below is after many weeks of very hot weather.  We cracked open various chilled drinks with friends under the shade of a large umbrella.  Cooling down can be a very pleasant affair.

B4

A collaboration of four.

Mention has been made before of this collaboration with the four of us; three living in Beckington and myself from the woods.

After almost two years, we now have a plan with a view to a section in the Frome Art Society's Black Swan Arts exhibition.  By its very nature the work we have is a learned process where we had to strip back to the basics and work back up into a new person with four parts.  It sounds easier than it was.

The result so far has been abstract in nature with a whole new persona none of us would have come to working alone; and so we have given rise to a new identity which has its first showing on 20th October. 

All B4 works are collaborative and some invite further collaboration from the viewer.

Needless to say it is experimental and may be seen as a nonsense.

Time will tell. 

The middle of August saw a meet up with Caroline Morriss at Hauser and Wirth in Bruton.

It was a catch up really, and I brought some sketchbooks along as the bruising heat of June and July had given way to a fresher more comfortable atmosphere.

The exhibition on show was of Alexander Calder, the man credited with inventing the mobile as an art form.  Some of the pieces on show were mobile; others static.

After what turned out to be a very pleasant tour through the rooms of Calder, we ventured outside and across to the allotments rented out to locals by the gallery.

There, I did a couple of very quick artichoke and onion sketches whilst Caroline sat next to some very regimented onion beds to sketch.

Sometimes it is so easy to forget the most joyful and fulfilling things can be achieved so effortlessly.

Caroline in the allotment garden and her onion sketches. (Above).

Finally, another collaboration in the West Country, this time in Tiverton, Devon.

Artbomb is an exhibition in the High Street showcasing established artists, with all proceeds going directly to the artist.  (Unusually so).

Work from Jo Mortimer, Viv Styles, Colin Harrow, Keith Benge, Rachel Toll but to name a few.  Of course, you will also see some Bella Bee there too.

1st - 31st October 2018.

Tonia Gunstone

There was much to think about after talking about her latest online exhibition which  is all about water, and her upcoming open house for one day at the end of September.

Tonia says she is influenced by Californian artist Heather Day and Helen Frankenthaler, both who use large expressive movements and loose lines.

Using acrylic paints and wax resist, Tonia uses a variety of sizes to create her energetic studies, from squares of board to larger canvasses. They result in a very immediate and honest body of work, which has culminated as part homage to Cornish holidays with her family and part alter ego where her inner impetuosity is let to run free.

Congratulations on sales made already on her online exhibition continues for a short while yet. 

Chalk Horse.

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As ever, if you have enjoyed reading this newsletter, please do not forget to leave a comment.

It is always good to hear from you.

There is also a blog for more.

Bella X