A big big thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate our new summer collection of gorgeous maker designer artwork.  It all went swimmingly, gliding effortless like a swan on the lake( with it’s feet paddling frantically under water). I for one, had a brilliant evening.  I keep trying to remind myself on these evening I’m supposed to be working but to be honest it’s so  lovely to just relax and meet everyone and …just……..breathe!   The atmosphere was really lovely and great fun as always, though I must say I have been left with more chocolate torte than I can cope with…oh lord… what IS a girl to do??  :-)   The night was also graced with live acoustic guitar by Geoff Haves whose playing perfectly complimented the sunny evening, he actually had another gig to go to that evening in Canary Wharf so big thanks to him for giving so much of his time and playing so beautifully!

Unveiling the new collection is so exciting and a huge amount of work goes into setting up the gallery, so it’s lovely to hear the positive feedback and really does make it all worth while. I’d like to thank Ray Mallaney, Gayle Joubert and Jessica Healing who all swept into action and worked their socks off to help prepare and get everything ship shape.

So who are the new talented crew who will be here for your delectation  for the next three months (drum roll please!)

I am proud to introduce work by:
Adam Aaronson (Blown Glass), Adriana Brinsmead-Stockham (Cast Glass), Alan Friend (complex and simple line drawings), Annie-Rie ( traditional painted stained glass), David Metcalff (Wire Sculpture), Elinor Lamond (Juicy colourful ceramic bead jewellery), Heather Bailey ( Bright and stunning mixed media wall art), Jeanne Lewi (Strange but alluring plant inspired ceramics), Jule Mallett ( Hengrel’s – Genetically modified hen humour textiles),  Kathryn Bonson (Ceramics inspired by her love of the Pennines), Linda Connelly (Enamelling – Quirky, feminine jewellery and artwork),

These artists are all driven by the desire to create, but I think we all are – the questionis, what are we creating?  Whether it be a pot, a painting, a glass lamp or a  business, a safe, caring and welcoming home or a loving partnership, we’re all creating all the time.  The more we focus on creating wonderful things for our lives, the less room the doom and gloom merchants in the outside world will have to unbalance us.  Sometimes changes are undeniably hard, especially when financially and emotionally things are absolutely not as we would like them to be, but perhaps we can flow more easily though the difficult times and eventually celebrate what ever changes happened, if we can see each thing as an opportunity to create something new, reinventing all the time – something to aim for anyway!    I hope this gallery will reflect that, reinventing all the time, creating a place where everyone can find something lovely that someone else has created especially for them, just when they need it!

Having never made felt myself, I had no idea what this day would bring about.  The first thing that struck me was the colour of the wool.  The most gorgeous rainbow collection of the softest skeins of wool, really vibrant and rich.  Jane Llewellyn, our workshop tutor for the day, also bought a lovely selection of finished work, a kind of ‘this is one I made earlier’ kind of thing.

The piece that I loved most was the window hanging Jane compares to a stained glass window. Wonderful translucent silk with delicate felt designs in relief patterns.

Extremely pretty and I’d be very happy to sneak it away, but I figured she’d miss it

Our game workshop gang duly arrived.  Alison, Roz, Bev and Alison’s daughter Lara. After some background on felt and it’shistory, the work really begun.

This  is no quiet retiring process, I had no idea it was so physical, watching the gang roll, scrub and even throw the felted pieces on the ground outside, you really do have to give it your all.  I have to say it looked like great fun!  Cast in the role of chief tea maker and biscuit bringer it was fascinating to see the whole process from start to finish.

Lots of smiles all around and that was brilliant!

This week artist spotlight is on ALison McGechie.  Alison works in wood taken from it’s natural environment, and recycled metal. She enjoys experimenting with the unique qualites of the materials, individually and in combination.   We talked about how her recent work is about mutability and the cyclical nature of life – decay and regeneration, and her life-long fascination with the human body.  Life drawing has been her inspiration. “Over years of intense observation, her interest has moved from a concern with form to focus on layers; what lies beneath the surface, and issues surrounding the changes that are wrought on human flesh over time.”

Her work is developed through a dialogue created with the materials, she uses rotted tree stumps as the basis of the sculpture melding these with etched and cast metal.  Her work is flowing and poetic in shape while allowing the materials to speak for themselves.  You can see her work here at the gallery until May 6th.

My creativity starts with having my own space to work and immersing myself in the present actuality of just doing it. The combination of  me – the ideas – the material – and the hope it will add up to something! 

  ‘Inspiration’, whatever that is comes into play at many points. It might be the dawning of an idea for a new piece or at any point through the making process when something falls into place and the next stage becomes clear – but, most of all, I suppose, when you know for the first time what it is you’re trying to do. I don’t think of inspiration as being distinct from ideas although ideas can be developed more consciously through the cerebral processes involved in research.

Sometimes  material,  perhaps an intriguing piece of wood, just seems to offer the potential for something exciting. An idea will be generating, either from my last piece, something I’ve seen or read about, or, occasionally, a theme I’ve been toying with, e.g. ‘to be worn’, ‘to do with the body’. Often it’s a visual idea – an image just pops into my head. Lots of things feed into this: past experiences, other art works that I’ve loved, reading, visual research, photographs, things I see around me, say, graffiti on a wall, peeling paint on a step I pass, and suddenly everything seems to connect. A poem may suddenly come to mind, or a song. Sketching, playing with ideas and experimenting in the workshop help develop it into something. The materials themselves are crucial to this process. As I work it becomes a dialogue, the work evolving in response to the materials and the ‘accidents’ that occur along the way – ‘happy’ or otherwise – which is why I call myself a ‘maker’. For me it needs to have all the elements- the formal, the skills-based technical stuff and the aesthetic. But all for the expression of some idea that means a lot to me. I want people to find the pieces moving and beautiful. When it comes together it’s great and it’s the materials that make that happen.

I love seeking out new experiences, people, conversations, nature – a walk by the sea or on the Downs. Time to cogitate and reflect on experience . The excitement I get from seeing other art all sustain my creativity.   When inspiration seems in short supply I love life drawing, going to exhibitions, going into the workshop and experimenting with materials and techniques.  I think I have to relax – allow myself time, play with materials, write down passing fancies or ideas, until something gels or sticks. Seeing great art is a wonderful stimulus – it keeps alive in me the wonder of art and a belief in its value.

    My working environment is extremely important. I need space, light and I like to know where everything is. There’s something about the atmosphere of a place that makes it conducive or not. I’m happy to share workshop space and companionship and the cross-fertilisation of ideas with others who share my passion can really help me be productive. Conversely, I find friction in my place of work very counter-productive. The studio I’m in at the moment is by the sea and that’s great. It gives me an excuse to see the sea every day. I find the sea both energising and calming. I reward myself for a hard day’s work with a walk by the sea or, in good weather, a swim. What could be better!

 The interesting thing about working as an artist is it’s not something you switch on and off – obviously not a 9 to 5 thing. But you do need to establish some kind of routine and that’s not easy. Finding a balance between my need to cut myself off to create and my need for other people, friends and social interaction, can create a tension.  I’m easily distracted unless I’m totally immersed in the process of creating. Then I’m completely anti-social. Life does have a habit of intruding though and there’s a need for stimulation too. An artist’s life can be quite isolating and my support network is very important to me.

My earliest memories are of just knowing it was what I wanted to do. I guess I was about five when I first became conscious of this – just a sense that it was part of who I was. I always thought I’d do it but it’s taken me a lifetime to allow myself to pursue this path wholeheartedly.

I was never actively encouraged or discouraged as a child. My mother was artistic and took my sister and I to art galleries from an early age, which certainly helped me fall in love with art but I had little or no formal art education – creativity of any kind wasn’t fostered at the school I went to. Still it came as a shock at 16 when I was deflected from going to art school and it’s taken me 30 odd years to get back on track. It was at teacher training college in my 20s when I discovered 3D with ceramic sculpture. I’ve always done bits – always knew it wasn’t enough. So, eventually, once children had grown up and gone, I decided to really ‘go for it’ and get an Art Degree.

I’m not much interested in stuff that is obviously about feeding a market or made to exploit a fashion in art. Sadly public taste can be pretty uninspiring and fashions in art are often rather vacuous. It becomes predictable and formulaic. I like to be surprised. I wouldn’t judge anyone for choosing to pursue the commercial line but as a guiding light it doesn’t excite me. On the other hand just because something is popular doesn’t make it bad.  I do try to approach all work in good faith and judge it on its merits. There’s room for everything.

             I’m happy to take commissions as long as there’s an element of development or re-thinking I can get involved in. ‘ Revisiting’ an idea can be interesting and my latest commission was just that. The starting point was an existing piece, ‘Mother and Child’, but the brief was for a mother and two babes which gave it a new twist and the piece is very different. And when you’re working with natural materials, they’ll have their ‘say’ too. Every piece of wood is different, plus there are the accidents of creation. Responding to that is all part of it and will help ensure individuality. I’d hope that anyone commissioning work is doing so because they like my approach and trust my judgement as an artist. Then it’s a two way process. When it works well, their idea will act as a spur and inspiration – the start of a conversation from which new work emerges.

            I’m afraid I pay too little attention to marketing and probably have a totally impracticable attitude to selling. I tend to treat it as an affirmation rather than payment and I often find myself valuing the work more than the remuneration. I’d like to sell more but would prefer to do other things to make money than make work that I have no personal investment in.

I can’t imagine a world without art because I think people are at bottom creative beings, so I don’t fear for the future of art. I do feel that art is too little valued in the UK though and the gulf between the stars of the Art Market whose work fetches millions and the poor struggling artist, whose time is considered valueless, is absurd. The cost of art seems to bear very little relationship to the effort involved, talent or artistic worth, but I guess that’s just the way of the world. Whatever you do is subject to the vagaries of the market. At least it suggests that the unique nature of art is recognised as a valuable commodity. I’d prefer to put more emphasis on the value than the commodity though. For what it’s worth I reckon that there’ll be a resurgence of interest in art that’s well-crafted. People will get fed up with the slapdash, instant and throwaway.

 In one way,  I’ve achieved my hearts desire artistically, in that I’m now doing it full-time. So, just that I continue to want to make things and have the time, energy, physical strength and ability to do it well. I can’t say financial security because that might deaden the creative urge but it’d be great to have sufficient money to buy tools and equipment and materials and allow me to travel and work abroad which would be wonderful. I suppose, if I’m honest, I’d also like exposure and acknowledgement – that my work be seen and well received is important to me.

Looking forward?   At the moment metal excites me and I’d like to extend my skills in casting and forging.  I’m also very interested in etching. So many things to explore!

.

Sue Roche ARPS, CPAGB

 Sue specialises in capturing alternative views of landscapes and architecture and is takes constant inspiration from new environments and light.

With many years of experience in the dark room, working mainly in colour; some of her images verge on the monochromatic even though they were taken in colour.  She offers high quality presentations of the signed, limited edition prints which compliment her stunning images.

 As a member of The Royal Photographic Society she gained a Licentiateship with a panel of dramatic seascapes and an associateship with a panel of Venice as well as being an active member of the Guildford Photographic Society.

 She has had photographs published in brochures and journals and has won competitions leading to publications in the national & local press.   Sue is always happy to  undertake commissions,

When I started in photography I hand printed black and white images myself then moved on to colour from negatives in the dark room. Though my love of film remains, technology and time has moved on so I have increasingly moved from Film to Digital which presents a different set of exciting creative opportunities.

I sustain my creativity by exploring new places with my camera.  My primary photographic interest is in capturing the essence of the place and people through travel photography and I then exhibit these images in different galleries.  I really like free reign to wander taking pictures of whatever intrigues me and specialising in travel certainly provides me with a breadth of canvass to operate on. The ‘right light’ is obviously a crucial element and I will often get in the car chasing that last bit of sun, or start the day catching the sunrise over the sea or the mountains.

I also love visiting exhibitions in all of the arts, not just photography and find that just seeing other work in different media inspires me and helps me develop new photographic ideas. I like most art but I prefer more graphic, modern work and this is reflected in my own images and in addition I find listening to lectures by other through the Royal Photographic Society and other groups also inspires me to get out and try something different.

In addition to my other work, I also take commissions for weddings, portraiture and commercial brochures.  I find the weddings particularly innerving as it is a big undertaking to try and capture those magical memories of the wedding day for the newly married couple but once started I become wholly immersed in the creation of images of those special moments and always feel very honoured to be so close to the heart of such a personal event.  I must admit I take perhaps a less formal approach to wedding photography than the mainstream photographers, having an eye perhaps for the personal touch and the final images have been well received.

 Over the last 18 months I have been printing my photographs directly onto aluminium.  Doing this has helped provide my images with an even more contemporary feel and they have certainly proved to be very popular.

In addition I am also experimenting with mixed media. The base of the piece is overlays of other materials which is completed with an element from a photograph.  Although it is early days I am very excited by this new venture.  I already have one gallery interested in exhibiting the resulting pieces and I have committed to being ready to exhibit for the Open Studios in June.

Most of my work sells though galleries or from my website. So far I have been lucky in that my work always seems to strike a chord with people and as result I can’t remember an exhibition where I haven’t sold. The thing is to get the work out there, I look for places that are welcoming and where people feel comfortable walking in and don’t feel that they are going to get pounced upon. It’s important to take your time and really feel good about buying art of all types.

I really enjoy holding joint exhibitions with other artists working in other mediums and have been exhibiting with Kaleidoscope a successful art cooperative that has been running for over 10 years, it’s great fun and over that time we have grown together as artists. I’ve also taken part in the Surrey Artists Open Studios several times and this is a great opportunity to take the time to talk with people who like your work and want to know more about it.  This year I’m exhibiting with the ceramicist Terri Smart at her lovely studio inEast Clandon.

Like many artists I’m not an expert at marketing my own work. I send invitations for my exhibitions and my website is there for all to see but inevitably you look at it and think ‘I should really add this or that…’ but it’s always the last thing that I get around to doing as I always feel my primary focus has to be my photography and hopefully that shows.  It is a hard time for artists in the present economy so for me it’s important to get the images right and while I know I can do more in terms of marketing and sales, it has to follow not lead.

Looking ahead I’ll continue to expand my work on aluminium as it is such a different media and I am excited by the prospect of developing my mixed media pieces. At some point no doubt I will get round to updating the website and one day I would love to take on a photographic commission for a travel book.

An exciting year ahead for Sue  and meantime you can see a fantastic collection of her work at the Lovers Lights Gallery until May 6th.

Thursday 8th of March – The Date!   Having had no problem with any of the ‘big’ birthdays to date, it was a big of a shock to realise that there was the distinct possibility I might have a tiny issue with this one!  50…what is the big deal with 50!    I simply refused to discuss celebrations, even with family, so much to do planning the next show here at the gallery of course!  Then suddenly I couldn’t avoid it any longer and I had to make a decision – having seriously considered the option of drawing the curtains and waiting for the next day when we could all go about our business with no conversation necessary about how ‘age’ is all in the mind and how marvellous one looks for one’s age – eek!  I made the decision to mark the occasion of my half century by jumping out of a plane!  Suddenly I felt much better!

When I think about it, I feel better about myself now than I ever had.  I know my strengths and weaknesses and I am learning to make the best of both of them, but it’s taken me this long to figure out how.  The good news is, creatively there’s no reason why things shouldn’t just get better and better.  One of my main drives as an artist is the fact I love to play,  just as I used to when I was little, many artist say the same.  It’s still almost impossible for me to remain clean and tidy for a whole day.  I’m grateful now for the part of me that’s still 8 years old, I still sit on the floor, I still like getting my hands (and often everything else around me) dirty!   Age does not take our creativity from us, how we think does.  The decline in creativity does not start when we are 40 or 50. It starts around about the age when start school and have to think how we’re told to think.   At about 5 years old, we are constantly living in a self created world, we invent constantly and naturally but by the age of 12, our creative output has declined to about 2% of our potential.   It’s all well meaning, we have to live in this world and those of us whose heads are busy creating other possibilities find it hard at first as we try to conform.  As we get older, we learn to stop trying and to just be ourselves, it can take a lifetime to learn this one lesson.  I thank goodness for the part of myself that simply refuses to ‘grow up’ and ‘get real’ and accept reality – I hate that more than I can say and I’ve been told it’s time I did, more times than I can remember, thank goodness I never listen – hee hee!    That doesn’t mean that I’m are irresponsible (well OK, hands up sometimes!), it means that I’ve have held on to the knack of pulling things out of thin air and playing with them, I know the strangest things can happen if you can imagine them clearly enough!

So in turning 50, I see the future not the past, I have enough faith in myself to know I can create what lies ahead. My jump from a plane was a metaphor, a message to myself not to be afraid; of my age, of the signs I can clearly see that I am no longer ‘young’, of failure (chickening out), of pain (hitting the ground), of sadness (actually dying).  I’ve experienced them all, believe me, I’ve hit the ground painfully more times than I can count but hey I’m still here, still punching!

Now I know, it’s OK to let go!   Leave behind what needs leaving, put your head back, look into an abyss and jump (OK it’s easier strapped to a big strong chap but you know what..I could do that jump without him with a little training!   The fact remains, it’s all just a big leap of faith!   50? Huh – eeezy peezy lemon squeezy!

At the top of this post is a link to  the video my lovely son James made for me, I think it’s brilliant and I’d like to share it, hope you find a minute to watch it.  Makes me laugh anyway!

The soundtrack is one of my favourite songs.  Hope you enjoy it!

Happy Birthday y’all!

Janis xx

PS  Trust me to get the tallest guy( 6ft 4″ ) to jump with!  Sigh! me  not in the most glamourous of outfits either, get thee behind me vanity!  :-) xxx

 Jill Flowers works with paper in a way you’ve probably never seen before.  On first glance it looks like fabric, possibly lace, her delicate work blurs our preconception’s of materials in a delightful way.  Her two major works maps the life journey of ‘modern woman and man’ tracking their course from baby hood through childhood and adolescence into adulthood, old age and eventually death.  It is a subtle message, not a loud shout but careful examination of her work will reveal the journey communicated gently by our reading matter through the the ages of our lives.  

My creativity is mostly sustained by my love and passion for textiles and stitch.  However, I find that computer and administration hinders my working day and imagination.

I begin my ideas for work with thorough research into a project, quite a formal process of investigation, sketching and finally sampling with textiles, usually very experimentally.

The anchor of my work is inspiration.  It’s the starting point of all my projects and it’s the backbone of what I do.

This can be a very worrying and depressing thought, so far there has been a slow progression to the workbut it’s continuing to evolve naturally and find it’s own journey

I sat A level art many, many moons ago and as a young adult tended to be creative/artistic.  I did not go back to college until 2004 purely to further my knowledge of art and stitch.  I had a job as an interior designer so the one day a week at college was really considered a hobby.  At my graduation show the work was spotted and was awarded a touring exhibition visiting UK and Ireland, my life changed from this point becoming a full time textile artist in 2010.  So the path was a long and winding journey.

Some people ask how being an artist informs my life, and, to be honest, it’s too early in my career to really tell but I am enjoying the new challenge.

The one thing that does not interest me at all artistically is designs made by computers.  I will always make art by hand.

I have completed commissions but much rather develop work for my own enjoyment.  I feel commissions quite restricting and nerve racking.  “Will they like it?”  “Is this what they envisaged?”  “Have I got the brief, the message or colour right?”  Luckily, the work is very difficult to make an exact repeat.

I am a newcomer to the world of selling art, so far my pieces have sold through exhibitions and shows.  I don’t believe I have sold any from a web site.  I find marketing myself an ordeal; really difficult.  I just want to be in my studio.  The creativity and choices made to date probably would be the same even if I had won the lottery!

A difficult one due to the present climate, although there does seem to be a trend towards contemporary art and crafts being purchased, as they are unique and not massed produced.  New galleries are opening up exhibiting a complete range of mediums, from jewellery to ceramics, painters to textiles, all supporting their local artists.  Hooray!

I would love to have an assistant or manager that could organise all the administration work, marketing, preparing submission forms for exhibitions but especially all the I.T. computer work so I could just have complete indulgent days, even weeks playing in the studio.  Absolute heaven!  If they could feed the washing machine, sort the ironing, rearrange the house with a duster and be a whizz in the kitchen, that would be a bonus!  But I feel that would be pushing it a little!

A new textile based skill would be screen printing.  One day I hope to go on a course. But,  if it were to be a new, new skill I would like to learn about ceramics.

I like to keep the studio fairly ordered which is important to me, but being a bit of a mucky worker it never seems to stay tidy for long.  I call it ‘my organised chaos’.  Between projects I will give the studio a thorough clean to start afresh.

Come and see Jill’s work in the gallery until May 8th.

This weeks Artist spotlight is on Beryl Hole.  Beryl is based near Hampton Court in Surrey and has a long history and much experience working in ceramics and her passion for her craft is inspiring.  We shared a fascinating discussion on exactly how she fires her gorgeous Raku pieces, a process that is unpredictable and slightly dangerous, while also being rather exciting and exhilarating and a constant voyage of discovery.  Beryls work appears to me to explore the essences of both the  physical world of rock, water and sand with the ‘otherness’ of spirit with the silken smooth pure white forms, each happily rejoicing in their own space, but occasionally combining in harmony to create something different again.  All demand to be touched and engaged with.

My love of working with clay and trying new materials or techniques is what sustains me in my creativity and the only thing that hinders it is everyday life getting in the way.  Often just as you have clear need time to work through, something mundane but needing attention crops up.  I don’t know who said it but it’s true: life is what happens when you are planning something else.

I am always trying new ideas, but sometimes I need to develop new work because I am taking part in a themed exhibition and I have to work out how Ceramics can fill the criteria.  It’s then a matter of going through source material, drawing, and trying it out in clay.  I like to be shut away in my studio, on my own when I am working; the radio on and no interruptions.

I remember (many years ago) when I was at art college, another student sitting around saying she was waiting for inspiration; and thinking at the time, that is never going to work.  I think I have always felt that you just have to try new ways to represent what you are trying to do, not to be satisfied with the last result, but see if you can take it further, then sometimes you do seem to have reached an inspirational result, and you think why you didn’t do that before.  Brilliant.

Occasionally, if I can’t work through to new ideas, I just get away from it for a while.  Go for a walk, visit a friend, or go to an exhibition.  The V&A is always a fascinating diversion.

I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil;  it has always been part of my life.  But I think there are key moments when you have to follow your instincts.  After O level exams, I entered the 6th form at school, only to find that art would not fit into the curriculum, so I phoned the Art College, arranged an interview, got accepted and started the next week.  Then told my school I had left.  Even at 16 I knew this was what was right for me.  I think being an artist just means I look at things slightly differently.

Having worked in a pottery studio for a while as a production thrower, where you are just an extension of a machine, I now rarely do repeat work.  At the time it was a good discipline, I could throw any shape required, which has stood me in good stead.  Now I mostly do one off pieces, repeats are always slightly different, either in their decoration or shape, simply because they are handmade.

I find the process of selling or marketing my work difficult.  In order to continue making, which I enjoy, I have to sell, which is not where my skills lie.  It also includes paperwork, which I hate.  I’m not good at it and it takes me so long.  I find it disruptive.  If money was no object I would have the time to just make what I wanted when I wanted and have a salesperson to take care of the marketing.  I think the future for artists in the current financial crisis will be hard.  For many people what we do is not seen as essential.

If I was given a chance to learn a new skill, I would like to try stone or wood carving.

Beryl’s work is available through the Gallery until the first week in May.

London jeweller Gesine Garz creates her jewellery using old typewriter and cash register keys, which she sources from all over the UK and her home country Germany.  It’s fabulously fun, funky, eye catching and it’s vintage/upcycle creditentials make it a brilliant buy, especially if you’re searching for a gift for that man who has everything!

Here Gesine talks about her work, her inspiration and her life as an artist.

I love working with my hands and really exploring the materials, I have to say, I am not interested in creating art work using computers. Even though it is an important part of the modern creative world, personally I don’t like putting the “machine” between myself and my creations.

‘I have also always been very interested in other craft people’s work (by no means only jewellers), so it’s very important for my creativity to have a dialog with other artists. Sometimes it’s really inspiring to do joint projects with artists who work in other media like wood, textiles, glass or even fine artists. I have recently started sharing a workshop with other jewellers in Hatton Garden, which is definitely an inspiring environment. I have had a variety of studio spaces over the years from the tiniest little corner in the loft with a jeweller’s bench squeezed in to a corner of my living room and now my studio share in Hatton Garden. All these spaces worked fine for me, as long as I had access whenever I wanted to work. I have to say though, that sharing a space with others is nicer than working alone, even though it can be a little more distracting, but in a good way.

I don’t actually keep a paper sketch book and rarely make detailed drawings before I start making a piece. It’s all in my head. New ideas often come very randomly and unexpectedly. It can be visiting an art exhibition, a country walk or looking at architecture. I have a great passion for Arts & Crafts designs and Art Nouveau. Whenever I visit historic buildings with style elements of that period, I come home with my mental sketch book full of new ideas.  I don’t see a big difference between the inspiration and the “work” when it comes to my jewellery. The creative process flows directly into the making and carries on during the making. Even my teaching work as a tutor at a Jewellery school in Hatton Garden, although often stressful, is inspiring on many levels, although balancing that with enough time to work and create can be difficult. I honestly never have a “lull” in ideas, only a lack of time to realise them all, which can be frustrating.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a great passion for jewellery and all things beautiful. Even as a child, I remember visiting the local flea markets with my parents and hunting for little treasures. I started by collecting antique and contemporary jewellery but always wanted to learn the skills to create my own pieces.  Being an artist definitely informs how I see the world, where I work and who I socialise with.  It seems to me creative people always have interesting things to talk about.

If money was no object, I’d love a bigger workshop with all the tools and equipment I can’t afford right now.  I’d spend more time in the studio just making nice things. But I enjoy both my artistic and my teaching work, so, I am lucky in that respect. I think it is always hard to live of one’s art unless one has a good head for business too.   In my opinion, a high level of skill and imagination is what makes a good artist, but that is not always a guarantee for financial success. More time making would be nice though, I have not been promoting my work very aggressively in recent years, as the teaching has been providing my living. I am actually quite glad that I don’t have to live entirely off my art work as that would probably ironically effect  my creativity. I can enjoy the best of both worlds, I enjoy creating new work, but also don’t mind recreating pieces for clients for commissions as well.  I have to admit though that I do get a bit bored if I have to repeat a piece too often. On the other hand, I see it as a compliment when many clients want the same piece. It means I’ve got it right.’

Gesine will  be teaching jewellery workshops in the studio at the gallery, showing the secrets of how to create beautiful jewellery from found/memory objects.

To find out more check the website or give us a call. Tel: 0208 241 2940

Her work will be available for sales through the Lovers Lights gallery until May 8^th 2012.

      Someone said to me on a dark day last year in February, before this gallery was even the glimmer of an idea, that although it  still looks like winter, under the ground the sap is already rising!

That thought stayed with me ever since, and now when I look outside at the stark trees even though it all still looks like winter, I like to think about how underground they are already preparing for Spring and how it’s not far away!  So it’s in February we present our Spring show, starting with the blush of Valentines day, it’s seems like love is definitely warming up the the air (all that sap rising I guess!).

We launched the Lovers Lights Gallery in November last year with a collection of artists that absolutely could not have been more perfect. They really set the standard of the gallery in the area as a place for high quality, beautiful work, the gallery glowed and twinkled and it was a joy to be here!

I am amazingly grateful to them all for having the faith in me and this venue and taking the chance to show their work here as our inaugural collection.  I can’t tell how many times I was told by customers that they were amazed at the beauty of the work and the space, it was wonderful.  It was surprisingly hard to bring down the remaining work to make way for the new group of artists with a new collection of work.                                                             

I’m happy to say once again though, the new work fell together beautifully in what seemed to be a theme, not planned at all but there nonetheless!  Completely different but what a display, a brilliant collection that really packs a punch!  Ranging from crazy leaping hare woven wire sculptures, hand made (almost steam punk) stunning kaleidoscopes (forget the cardboard tubes of your youth, these are on a different planet), brilliant vibrant photography, gorgeous ceramics, beautiful batik, driftwood art that will have you pining for your cliff top hide away, jewellery made from typewriter and vintage till keys, paper art (really it’s so beautiful) and of course some very funky rather gorgeous re-cycled glass chandeliers and lamps.                                                                                                                         

 
  We had a fabulous opening evening on Wednesday, a glittering and utterly glamorous of course as   is our way and got things off to a very happy start with artists, art lovers and lots of really very lovely people who just wanted to come and see!  Doesn’t get much better!

 This collection runs to May 6^th, make the most of it while it’s here – I certainly intend to!

Janis xx

This week I talked to Anne Kelly and her work as a textile artist.  Anne whose work is rich, vibrant and highly detailed has been featured in the BBC Homes and Antiques Magazine.  Anne’s work often has a powerful sense of place and memory and she uses that to pulls you into the story of each piece.

My creativity is fueled by a constant flow of new source of inspiration.
I am constantly looking for new sources of inspiration I recently went to Taiwan and found the markets there very inspiring, the colours and richness of materials really excited me.

I find inspiration constantly in the world around me and my work is inspired by botanical, narrative and geographical themes.  I love using vintage fabrics and findings to help to create my pieces, using scrap/sketchbooks of inspirational drawings and fragments of cloth. I also use digital methods and processes and take lots of photographs. I use sketchbooks to document work as it progresses.  I don’t like to be too specific but generally speaking I prefer work based on the natural and observable world to art inspired solely by fantasy or based purely on imagination. The natural world has an infinite variety of imagery and resources. I like the more abstract elements of it as well as the more recognizable

The idea of work and inspiration to me are inseparable, but sometimes one takes over – in my view they are both necessary components of the creative process. The artists I admire most work on some aspect of their craft every day.

I like to have several projects to work on at any one time, and work between them. Currently I am co-authoring a book, and there is always work to do on that! I often ‘cut up’ pieces that aren’t progressing and reshape them into something else. A recent piece ‘Cuttings’ is made up of pieces from previous work.

I was constantly making things from the time I was a small child, So the art school training process seemed a natural Progression. I don’t think you are ever ‘finished’ as an artist – You need to keep learning as you go, otherwise your work becomes stale. I teach and mentor young artists, organize exhibitions and am working on two publications based on my work at the moment so it is inextricable. I love working with other artists and the feedback from them are mutually beneficial. I also love creating individual commissions for special places,  occasions and people. I consult heavily and in depth with the client whilst  retaining my own style and ‘look’. I often produce work in series,  which is  not identical but explores different aspects of the same theme. A recent commission for an American editor looked at scientific imagery and  Darwin.

I believe in order to survive artists have to be adaptable and flexible to survive, sensitive to their economic and ecological environment.
Selling and marketing work  is a huge part of any committed artist’s life – I try to choose venues that enhance and showcase my work well and in this I also like to collaborate with other artists and writers and produce work for charity exhibitions like the Hospice in the Weald in Kent.

I am very fortunate to have a piece of work (shown here) in theVatican collection.In April 2010 I was approached by The Archdiocese of Southwark to design and make an embroidered piece as a gift to be presented to Pope Benedict XVI on his visit to London.  It came about through a contact who had seen my work and suggested that I should be consulted. As with all commissioned pieces, it was important to understand which elements were most important and then produce some studies as suggested layouts.

These were pictures of Canterbury and Southwark cathedrals, South London and Kent, and fabrics to represent the multicultural make up of the archdiocese. I looked at the sketchbook work of Pugin in the National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum as he had designed the original cathedral. I was quite daunted to begin with but when I started to sew the piece the work came together. I used a variety of fabrics and techniques, old and new, to complete the work.

The framed textile was presented to the Pope during his visit to a seniors residence in Vauxhall. He took an interest in it before it was whisked away by his security guards! It is now in the Vatican Collection. I would love to see it in situ one day… It was probably the most challenging piece that I had completed to date. It was also photographed and reproduced as a card.

Anne’s work is on show in The Lovers Lights Gallery until February 5th