Taking to the streets in the name of art

Steaming cappucinos, yards of bunting, warm welcomes, gorgeous art by emerging artists and the chance to poke around people's houses - what's not to love about a local arts trail? 

I discovered some gems on the inaugural Headingley Arts Trail this week, not least the vibrant paintings of Julia Keates, inspired by her travels across the world.  Here are some of her works on display in her lovely home, where she paints in her large attic studio.

Have you discovered any local artists near you lately?

Anyone else love New York City? Part 1: NYC people

Living the NYC artist life on a stall with Jenny (Overallbaby), Dolores (Marikit Deisgns) and Louise (Dream, Inspire, Create) at Atlantic Antic in Brooklyn - I could get used to this!

and enjoying have Anna-Marie Still come to play

Do you love NYC too?

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Other posts from my recent US adventures:

New York part 2 (My kind of city)

Cape Cod

Portsmouth, NH

Squam Lake

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Sign up for the second Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap has now closed.  Check back here in a couple of weeks to see what beautiful creations have been flying round the world!

Do What You Love interview: Claudine Hellmuth

Artwork courtesy of Claudine Hellmuth

So excited to bring you this interview with artist, author and illustrator extraordinaire Claudine Hellmuth. Claudine combines photos, paint, paper and pen into quirky, whimsical-retro collages that she calls Poppets®. Claudine has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and she has developed her own signature product line with Ranger Inc (how cool is that?).  

Claudine has written 3 books and 3 DVDs about her techniques, and recently taught a techniques e-course 'At Home with Claudine Hellmuth' (which I took and loved) Originally from Orlando FL, Claudine lives in Washington DC with her husband Paul and their very spoiled pets.  Today she talks to us about Martha, commissions and her creative business life.

Artwork courtesy of Claudine Hellmuth

You have a very unique and distinctive (and gorgeous!) style. How did you develop it? Thank you!! It developed over about a year and a half. I had just finished writing my first book in late 2001 and was feeling very burnt out. I knew it was time to explore new things but I didn't know what they would be yet. I was looking through my old sketchbooks from college which included collage along with whimsical drawings and I felt like that might be a fun direction to try again. I took cheap paper and pens and crayons and just started playing around. After many months of experimenting I saw a theme that I was excited about developing and kept at it!

Having your own range of paint products (Claudine Hellmuth Studio with Ranger) must be any artist's dream. How did that come about and what was involved in making it happen?
I am very excited about my line with Ranger too! It is such a thrill to have this product line and Ranger worked with me to make sure it would be something I would really be proud of and I am. My partnership with Ranger happened very organically. I was already attending the Craft and Hobby Association conventions to promote my books. I met with Ranger and started working in their booth demoing their products. Over time the relationship grew and we thought of making my own line of products with them. I have been a painter for 21 years and have always worked with good paint so paint was very important to me. Ranger promised me that I could work with their chemist to come up with a paint I would love, that would be high quality and just right. And they delivered!

You have so many things going on - a brilliant ecourse, teaching, commissions, books etc. How do you manage your time and juggle it all?
Good question! At times it gets really busy and stressful but mostly it works out because each avenue of my work has it own "season" the custom artworks I get really busy around the holidays during that time the workshops are slower etc. so for the most part there isn't too much overlap, but there are lots of times when I have so much to do that I barely know what I should start on first!

I loved learning so many awesome new techniques from you in your ecourse At Home with Claudine Hellmuth. What is your favourite painting technique?
I have so many favorite techniques, they are all like magic tricks. I do love layering gesso and making texture with it, letting it dry and then painting over it. It adds so much depth to a background!

How do you go about creating your commissions?
I have a couple of different processes for creating commissions. When I am creating a custom artwork for a client, the client and I come up with a general idea, like a picnic or eating at a cafe or skiing and then I go from there. I work on the piece until it's at a draft stage and then I email the client with a photo of the work. at this point we can make changes or they approve the direction and then I finish it up!
When I am not creating custom artworks for clients, I use my own family photos or friends' family photos.  When I run out of those or when they aren't suitable, I "create" my own photo heads by combining 3 or 4 photo images together to "make" my own people. For example, I'll purchase vintage photos from ebay and then combine a nose from one person with eyes of another and a hair style of another person until I arrive at the look I want. This has been a lot of fun and it's very useful because then I can make sure the photo image fits with the context of the artwork. This is also great for when I do illustration work because I don't have to worry about copyright issues.

How was your experience of appearing on The Martha Stewart Show? It was wonderful being on the show. I still can't believe that it even happened!! it has been great or my business because when new clients come to my web site it's like having an endorsement from Martha. You can't beat that!   (NB: you can see Claudine on the show here)

What exciting new things do you have in the pipeline for your creative business?
Right now I am playting with a personal project using a doll house and incorporating my drawings into the dollhouse and photographing them. It's a project that's just for fun and all about what I want to do. so I am excited about it! It's reminding me of when I was little and I loved all things miniature!

Find Claudine on her website, blog or Facebook page or follow her on Twitter

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See here for more interviews with inspiring people doing what they love

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  The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap is back by popular demand!  Sign up now and be part of the fun (not to mention the special giveaway...)

Back by popular demand… The Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap!

It’s back! We had so much fun with the last Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap that we're going to do it again. Thank you to all of you who demanded a re-run!

Essentially, this is all about celebrating the deliciousness of fabric, paper, ink, paint, thread and all the other materials we love, by creating a stitched postcard, and then sending it to someone on the other side of the world – and receiving one in return. What’s not to like?

This time our theme is HOME. You can interpret this is any way you like.

It is great fun to do, and amazing to see how different people interpret the theme in different ways. Anyone can get involved, it’s free, and you don’t even need a sewing machine.

PLUS this year we have a special giveaway! Everyone who joins the swap will automatically be entered - see this post for details. You have to be in it to win it, so get signed up!


Here’s how it works:
1. Sign up by emailing your postal address and blog link (if you have one) to me at bethvnicholls at googlemail dot com.  You are very welcome to join, wherever in the world you live. Please also leave a comment below, and tell everyone you are joining in! The deadline for this is Friday October 29.

2. Add the Swap Image to your site, tell all your friends you are doing it and encourage them to sign up - the more the merrier!  (To do this, just save the top image above to your computer and upload it to your blog as a picture gadget, with a link to this page)

3. Create a lovely postcard using anything you want including a bit of sewing or hand stitching, with the theme 'HOME'. Use images, words, any kind of media. Go crazy! You have a fortnight from the sign-up deadline to do this, so by Friday November 12.

4. By this time I will have emailed you the address of someone else in the group to post your postcard too. Please post it within the following week.

5. By November 19 you should have received your handmade postcard from somewhere else in the world, bringing with it some stitched love to warm up your day

6. Take a photo of it and post it in the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap Flickr Group, and on your blog if you have one (You can join the group here)

7. A random selection of postcards and all blog links will be featured on the special Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap page, which will be archived, and I will do a big round up of all the lovely creations here at the end of November.

8. Check out everyone else's lovely creations, pat yourself on the back for your own and feel the kinship of being part of the Great Big Stitched Postcard Swap!

Happy stitching!

Beth

Squam round-up

There was a lot of laughter on this trip. In my last post about Squam I just wanted to share some of the (many) lighter moments.

Travelling to the retreat in style…

You can imagine our faces when Leroy and his mobile home rocked up to pick Louise and me up from the bus station. Not quite the shuttle we had been expecting, but we were delighted to find it filled with tea and biscuits and friendly new faces.

Wondering how apt it was that my cabin should be down this road…

Feeling lucky to share a cosy cabin with such wonderful ladies (Nina, Sylvia, Jayne, Kirsten, Brittany + Steph who is not in the picture)

Getting lost in the forest in the middle of a torrential downpour late at night with six girls laughing madly (our cabin was called ‘Wayonda’ for a very good reason). It looked something like this...

Admiring the work of fellow artists Andrea and Jess at the Visions of Squam exhibition at Mocha Rising in the cute nearby town of Centre Sandwich

Thank you Squam Lake for having us, and thank you Elizabeth for bringing us together

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Other posts about the Squam experience:
Reflections on Squam – I dreamed a dream
Bloom True – painting workshop with Flora Bowley
Open Your Eyes – photography workshop with Susannah Conway
Wabi Sabi paper – workshop with Judy Wise

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PS advance notice that THE GREAT BIG STITCHED POSTCARD SWAP IS BACK! It will launch on Tuesday 19 October, bigger and better with more sparkly bits – watch this space…

Bloom True class with Flora Bowley

Do you know Flora Bowley?  If not, you should!  Flora is an incredibly talented artist with a unique beautiful style, and a gifted workshop teacher.   She is a happy, spontaneous free spirit, and that is the way she paints.  She is also a ridiculously cool person who is great fun to hang out with.  I was so lucky to take a class from her in the US. 

Flora Bowley shows the second layer of a painting.  Flora's creation evolved into the bird below

It is hard to describe the workshop I took with her in the woods at Squam, I just loved it so much.  Although we were taught to explore a painting method very different to the way I usually paint, it felt really natural to me.  Rather than visualising something and painting it, we created layer upon layer, teasing out images that emerged organically. 

Layering it on

The lovely Jess Greene examining her creation

My paintings (above and below)

My paintings were really far from the kind of things I have created in the past, but I felt strongly connected to them, not least because they reminded me of my dreams the night before the workshop (wierd!)

It was also a lovely thing to see Lorrie Spotts living out her Mondo Beyondo dream by taking a class with Flora.

If you ever get the chance to check out an exhibition or take a class with Flora, do it! 

November 2010 update: Flora Bowley will  be teaching at the Do What You Love art and creative enterprise retreat in Yorkshire, England, in May 2011!  For more details see here or sign up to the newsletter on the right hand side.

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More on my Squam experience here:
Reflections on Squam - I dreamed a dream
Open Your Eyes - photography class with Susannah Conway
Wabi Sabi paper class with Judy Wise
Squam round up

for the love of trees (and sculpture)

A visit to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park does wonders for the soul.  500 acres of stunning parkland, with internationally renowned sculptors' work dotted here and there.  You can picnic by a Henry Moore, hide behind a Barbara Hepworth or get lost in the forest near the David Nash stairway.  You can even take an outdoor class in bronze casting.  And it is free to get in!

My man and I had a lovely couple of hours strolling through the land, making up stories about what each piece really meant, and sheltering from the rain in the cosy shadow of the big trees.

These two made me feel a bit funny - all those holes (above) reminded me of cheese, and the shapes below made me think of a Playdoh MopTop Hair Shop. 

Not sure that was the look the sculptor was going for... 

This ancient yew tree was amazing, just perfect for climbing when no-one's looking...

And this ash installation had sensors built into the ground, so when you walked inside, sounds came from speakers hidden in the woods.  On one hand it was as if you had company, but on the other it was a bit scary, as if the sounds were part of some kind of ritual going on deep in the forest.

Not sure if this was a sculpture or just a cool tree that had decided to shape its trunk at 90 degrees!

There are four indoor galleries too.  These works by David Nash were complemented by giant charcoal on canvas drawings.  Quite imposing in the big white space.

I love trees, and everything that comes from them, especially paper.  These sculptures were warm and calming too, sitting happily amongst the living trees of the country park.

Have you read 'Wildwood - a journey through trees' by Roger Deakin?  If you love trees, you'll probably love this book too

the sea, the sea

'The Sea': 12"X12" acrylic on canvas

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

by John Masefield

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I used this poem as the inspiration for this work-in-progress for Louise's 'Creative Color Challenge'.  Check out all the other contributions here...

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Have you ever been on a tall ship?  It is a magical experience.  I once raced in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race across the Bay of Biscay, wind in my hair and dolphins at the bow.  I love this poem as it captures that feeling so beautifully - the sense of freedom, and wandering wonder

Do What You Love interview: Yvonne Carmichael

Yvonne Carmichael is the curator of Art in Unusual Spaces, a scheme which opens up empty shop units in city centres for use by artist as project or exhibition spaces, inspiring and sometimes surprising busy shoppers. Artworks so far have ranged from miniature prams to giant robots and from den-making to really short artist films. Yvonne shares her thoughts on exhibiting art from a curator’s perspective.

Ingrid-Berton Moine's short artist film as part of 'Short Shorts: Very Brief Artist Films in the window of 42 New Briggate', Decemver 2009. Part of Art in Unusual Spaces.  Photo with permission from Yvonne Carmichael

How did you find yourself doing what you do?
 I studied an Interdisciplinary Art and Design BA at Leeds College of Art and on the course was a module focusing on collaboration. It was about this time things seemed to click, leaving the studio and meeting other artists working in the city made me realise that being involved in art might actually be something I continue doing after I graduated.

It was through connections made on the course I ended up co-curating 42 New Briggate - an empty shop unit next The Grand Theatre in Leeds. In the beginning this was in partnership with Opera North; putting on exhibitions which accompanied their productions next door in the theatre. Then in between the opera seasons there was time to work with artists on independent projects. Programming the two strands of the space was really exciting, the balance between having funding and a brief for some projects and other being much more self-directed was really great opportunity for me and I learnt a lot in a short space of time.

Whilst studying I was particularly interested in how artworks are presented to audiences. The final steps in deciding how to display or articulate what artworks are about are often vital to the audience's reception of that work. A lot of people who work in the arts wear lots of different hats from day to day, which is something I really enjoy.

What does a day in the life of an independent curator look like?
It really depends what kind of show you are working on. With Art in Unusual Spaces I seem to spend a lot of time carrying things from one shop unit to another - chairs, lights as well as washing windows, installing vinyl lettering (a very stressful time-consuming task, I can assure you), updating websites, writing press releases, getting hold of keys for shop units and of course meeting with artists and talking through projects.

Do you only curate exhibitions of art that speaks to you? What kind of art are you drawn to?
With Art in Unusual Spaces I like the artwork to respond in some way to the spaces. The shop units aren't white cube gallery spaces and have a more mixed audience than a gallery does. I like it when artists are prepared to experiment. I also find discussing projects with artists as they develop really interesting. Art In Unusual Spaces is also different to curating a gallery in that I rarely deal with completely finished bodies of work – rather I work with artists to help realise their ideas.
I like artwork where the audience and 'exhibition' space have been considered in the making of the actual work. I am also drawn to work which has a playful approach. This can often provide entrance points into the world of contemporary art for people that aren't familiar with it.

What makes an outstanding exhibition? What would be your advice to artists preparing for their first major show? How can they make it special?
I enjoy exhibitions which are ambitious and experimental. I think that it's often important to be honest about what you are doing and why you are doing it. I find it frustrating when artists succumb to the pressure of 'over-hyping' or over-explaining their work. This often leads to disappointment. Audiences can make their own opinion about work and it can be off-putting when artists tell them how fantastic their own work is.
When putting on exhibitions for the first few times it is easy to forget about marketing the event. This is the same for any kind of event I suppose, the focus is placed on getting the actual event together and letting people know about it is left until the last minute. The balance between the two things is something I am still learning. Artwork should be for everyone, not just people who might already know about it, and I think getting feedback from new audiences is always important.
Being able to collaborate is usually really key when putting on an exhibition, it's often not possible to organise everything yourself and it can certainly be a lot more fun if there is a group of people involved.

How important was your art education in helping you choose a life that lets you do what you love?
I gained a lot from my degree. I was very wide-eyed and keen when I was a student partly because I hadn't done a foundation course so felt I had a lot of catching up to do. The course involved regularly presenting yourself and your work, which at the time seemed to get in the way of the actual projects. In hindsight though, it has stood me in good stead. I am more able to communicate projects in their really initial stages to lots of different kinds of people. Also, I did workshops in many different mediums and processes (glass, wood, metal, jewellery, photography, film, photoshop and drawing). Though I'm by no means an expert in any it has provided me with an overview that has really helped me to be able to mediate for lots different artists.
Studying is great in that it provides a well needed excuse to spend time researching, exploring and learning and takes the focus away from doing paid work.

Why is public art important?
It depends what kind of public art you are talking about; prefabricated bronze sculptures that you might see in front of an office block are less inspiring than research-based and socially-engaged projects. I do appreciate, however, that one of public art's functions is to make places more attractive!

I think it's important that the public engage with art because it can help people think about places differently by offering new narratives. For example with a piece of work I did with the artist collective Black Dogs in Holbeck we helped people think about the area differently through guided walks and installations that played on the Italian and industrial heritage of the area.

Also, more generally, art provides an experience where the audience has to make up their own mind about the 'meaning' something carries so it can be a kind of training in critical thought; it isn't entirely consumptive or passive. I think art outside a gallery is often more interesting and thought provoking because it provides these experiences in a non-specialised space and can be more surprising.

For more info on Yvonne's work see her website

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For more inspiring interviews with people doing what they love see here