What's on August/September...

Hello!

I am busy preparing for a number of exciting events coming up in the next couple of months, including art fairs and exhibitions, so please read on for information on where to see my newest work next.

August:
Art in The Pen - 16th/17th
Coming up fast is Art in the pen, a fantastic and unusual art fair based in Skipton cattle mart! Featuring work from over 100 artists and makers, each displaying their wares in a cattle pen. It's my third year taking part in this event, and the quality an diversity of work is always impressive. Even better, admission is only £2, and refreshments are available on site. For information on getting there, and to see the full list of artists taking part, visit the website here.


Mini exhibition at York Hospital  - 20th August to 20th October
I am delighted to have been invited to exhibit some new pieces at York Hospital as part of their art and design scheme. For two months any visitors to the hospital will be able to find a small collection of my work located down the main corridor (close to junction 5). The works celebrates York and the surrounding area, with subjects including Castle Howard, the old Terry's factory ('The Chocolate Works') and Baile Hill. All work will be for sale directly through me, and the exhibition is in a completely public area so anyone can visit. I will be making a donation to the hospital's art and design scheme from any work sold. Visit York Hospital's website for more information on the scheme.


September:
New work at Alchemy art and framing, Macclesfield - September onwards
Three new pinned papercuts will soon be on the walls at the Alchemy gallery, Macclesfield. The new pieces are inspired by some of the stunning follies in the local area including Mow Cop and White Nancy.

The Way Through The Woods - September 13th to November 2nd
Masham Gallery
I will be presenting some new, woodland inspired pieces for the forthcoming exhibition at Masham Gallery. The exhibition features a diverse mix of painting, print, woodwork and textiles, plus my papercutting of course! Other artists include Hester Cox.


That's all from me for now, there are more events coming up later in the year, including Art for Youth North and The Art Market, but more on those later!

New Year

Happy New Year!

It's 2014, it's cold and it's about time I posted a new blog. Before Christmas I had a great time working on some interesting commissions (as you can see in my last post) and I am lucky to have a few more commissions to tide me over in the long quiet month of January. One of them is of Slenningford Park near West Tanfield, North Yorkshire. A handsome house not far from where I grew up, I have been driving past it for years but never stopped to look until now.

At this quiet time of year it's tempting to do very little, particularly when the weather is so dark and uninspiring. But I have to remind myself that although Spring feels like it's a long way off, it'll come around fast and with it my first big event of the year - York Open Studios. This is my first year doing YOS, and I can't wait to fill my living room with pictures and await visitors over the first two weekends of April. My stocks are low after a great few months of sales at the end of last year, so in between commissions I am getting on with finding new subjects and producing some new work. Following on from my exhibition Down Hidden Tracks in 2013, where I explored follies around North Yorkshire, I have begun by having a look at the stunning landscape of the Yorkshire Wolds, and some of the interesting buildings therein. At the moment I am particularly fascinated by the village of Sledmere, where you can't move for memorials, towers, sham-castles and temples. I am currently working on a large piece based on two of the memorials in Sledmere, including the amazing Waggoner's memorial (pictured), but I have a feeling this is the first of a number of pieces based on this lovely place.

A little further east of Sledmere, near to the sea, is the village of Carnaby, and tucked away up a narrow farm track is Carnaby Temple. I first came across the temple in a book of follies, and it instantly pricked my interest. There seem to be many stories surrounding it, apparently it was used as a sighting tower to aid smugglers coming in to Bridlington. I have also been told that the interior was decorated by paper cut outs, which seems appropriate for me! I love the way it sits amongst the endless flat fields catching the sun, and luckily when I came to visit it the weather was particularly beautiful (for January!).

I am also involved in North Yorkshire Open Studios and Art in the Pen this year, and more events will be confirmed soon, so keep reading!

Rosie x

Hello!

This week I've spent the majority of my time preparing for my forthcoming exhibition at Fountain's Abbey called Down Hidden Tracks. It's a joint exhibition with ceramic artist Charlotte Morrison, with whom I have exhibited at North Yorkshire Open Studios for the past two years.
My side of the exhibition follows my work on follies and other unusual buildings around the north. I am now at the point where I'm working on my last few pieces for the exhibition. There are some subjects that I really wanted to include, so I am desperately trying to find time to work on them. One of them is Polly Peachum's Tower, which can  be seen on from the road between Leyburn and Aysgarth In Wensleydale. In fact, one of the best views is from the churchyard in the village of Wensley, where I took a few snaps a few weeks ago while helping my dad Ian Scott Massie hang his current exhibition in the church there. I used the view from the churchyard (complete with gravestones) to make this piece. The tower has it's own unusual little story, as do so many of the buildings I have been working on, read more about it here.

The exhibition will be a mixure of wall hung work (mine) and 3D ceramics (Charlotte's) and will be on display in the beautiful Fountain's Hall, a short walk from the Abbey itself, between the 13th and the 26th of September. Charlotte and I will be there everyday to welcome visitors, so please do drop by.

In other news, I shall be exhibiting next weekend at Art in the Pen in Skipton. This will be my second year, and I'm really looking forward to meeting lots of people, and checking out the other artist's pens. There are over 120 artists and makers exhibiting and selling their work, and it's only £2 to get in, so how can you resist? Art in the Pen opens with a special evening preview on Friday August 16th, and runs 10am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday.

One last exciting snippet before I go...I am very excited to tell you that my piece 'The Temple, Allerton Castle', has been shortlisted for the New Lights Art Prize. My work, along with 49 other artists from around the north, will be on display at The Mercer gallery, Harrogate from September 20th, and I am in with a chance of winning one of the amazing list of prizes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.....

 

That's all for now, have good weekend!
Rosie x

Further afield....

Hello there!

Well, North Yorkshire Open Studios is done for another year. It's amazing how much intense preparation leads to an event that just whizzes by. I had a great time though, we had a fantastic number of visitors through, many of whom bought my brand new cards, and who allowed me to persistently publicise my exhibition Down Hidden Tracks. I'm feeling very positive about the events ahead, the first being Art in the Pen in August.

This week I'm enjoying the nice feeling of having got a big event out of the way, and being able to focus on something else. And at the top of my list is a small collection of work for the lovely Itch Gallery in Oakham. I have had my work in the gallery for about a year, and I keep finding exciting subjects in the area to work on. I was very excited to discover that a folly tower I have long admired, Belmont Tower in south Lincolnshire, was actually fairly close by, thus giving me an excuse to start a new picture. I have decided to go back to my flat papercut collage format for this piece (though given the stunning views towards the tower from Belton House, I'm sure I'll be doing a pinned piece soon), and have reached the end of the cutting stage today, so I thought I'd give you a preview.

Belmont Tower, Lincolnshire

The tower can be seen from the hall at the end of two mile long tree-lined walkway. The brickwork is stunning, as are the windows (which do look at little like eyes). The tower apparently used to have an arch either side of the main archway originally, but these have been demolished, leaving this slightly bizarre structure, nicknamed 'Lord Brownlow's Trousers'.

I've also finished a couple of pieces destined for Fountains Hall this September in the last week. The first is based on the lovely pond-side view of the Mausoleum at Castle Howard, the second completes my Terrace Temples pair, based on the leafy walkway at Rievaulx Abbey.

The Mausoleum from the pond, Castle Howard

The Terrace Temples ii, Rievaulx Abbey

That's all from me this week, have a lovely weekend.

Rosie

New year plans

Happy New Year!

I was intending to have written my first blog of 2013 before now, but I'm pleased to say that I've been pretty busy so far this year.

Being January, my first unexciting task is tackling the annual tax return. But luckily I have plenty of more interesting things to get on with too, such as getting some pinned papercuts ready to deliver to The Heart Gallery this weekend. It's a beautiful gallery filled with some fantastic work, and situated in the heart of Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. The Heart gallery was one of the very first places to display my work 4 years ago, so I'm really pleased to going back. I've made three pieces inspired by the local area;

Gibson Mill, Hardcastle Crags

Lund's Tower, Earl Crag

and The folly in the woods, Cottingley

Next month I shall be taking some work to The Imaginarium Gallery in Haworth, so I am already planning some more West Yorkshire pieces.

I was really excited to be contacted last week by the Cambridge Contemporary Art gallery, who have invited me to take part in their April exhibition this year. It is such a gorgeous gallery that I had the pleasure of visiting in 2011, and I have wanted to have some work in there ever since. It also means that I have an excuse to research all the beautiful buildings in and around Cambridge, and maybe do a piece on the Wimpole folly, an amazing tower nearby.

I've also spent some time this week researching and applying to some more creative events. I am going to be enjoying my second year of North Yorkshire Open Studios in June, but I am also hoping to take part in Art in the Pen in Skipton again in August, as well as the Saltaire Arts Trail and the Art Market in Holmfirth. Fingers crossed I am successful...

So as you can see, with this lot plus the Paperworks exhibition at Masham Gallery and my joint exhibition with Charlotte Morrison, Down Hidden Tracks at Fountains Abbey in September, it's shaping up to be a busy year. I better get back to work!

Have a great weekend!
Rosie x

Events...

Hi there!

I've had a busy few weeks, though I must confess it hasn't all been work related. I actually spent a very pleasant week on a canal boat which was a new experience for me. I can now say that I've been responsible for crashing a 55 foot long boat into a not one but two other boats. Woops.

I had to earn my holiday though, as just before it I went to Art in the Pen in Skipton for the first time, which was great! Lots of visitors, and it was great to meet lots of other artists and makers (and see a few I already knew) and see everyone's beautiful pens (like those of Charlotte Morrison, Hester Cox and Ian Scott Massie, below)

Next I'm off to the Saltaire Maker's Fair at the Victoria Hall on September 8th. It's a one day contemporary art fair, part of Saltaire's annual festival. This is another new experience for me and I'm really looking forward to it. The selection of artists also exhibiting looks great so I'll have to be careful not to spend any money before I've made any!


Lastly, I am just starting work on my biggest piece to date. I've been asked to create and installation to welcome visitors to the Crafted by Hand event in Masham town hall on October 8th. This is a one-day contemporary maker's fair featuring the cream of British artists and crafts people, and this is it's first year. I shall be making a large scale papercut piece for the entrance/lobby of the town hall, which will in part be inspired by the town hall's fantastic flock wall paper. That's all I'm going to give away for now....

Bye!

New Work in New Places

hello there!

I've been working away for the last month or so, trying to finish my new work for my two new stockists, the New Leaf Gallery in Monmouth, South Wales, and the Leeds Craft Centre and Design Gallery.

Countless childhood holidays in South Wales meant that I was really excited to be invited to take part in the New Leaf Gallery's current exhibition all about Wales. It gave me a chance to seek out old holiday snaps and remind myself of the places I really loved. I've produced 3 pieces which are on sale in the gallery now, here they are:

Tenby Harbour

Whitford Point Lighthouse

Laugharne Castle

This week I will be dropping off 7 pieces at the Leeds Craft Gallery. I am supplying them with a mixture of my usual style of collages and some of my new linocuts. The gallery in Leeds will be only the second place to have some of my new linocuts, which are also on sale in The Gallery, Masham. I have made 3 new collages for Leeds too, featuring some good old Yorkshire landmarks, such as Bootham Bar in York and Settle train station. Drop in there from this wednesday onwards to check them out.

Lastly, I am starting to get really excited about the North Yorkshire Open Studios, which is drawing ever closer! I shall be displaying and selling my work, demostrating papercutting, and probably drinking lots of tea at ArtisOn along with Charlotte Morrison, Ian Scott Massie and Josie Beszant over the two weekends in June. For more information visit the open studios facebook page.
I have also just found out that I am going to be exhibiting and selling at Art in The Pen this year in Skipton
this August. Watch this space for more info...



Thats it from me, have a good week!

Rosie x