Spring inspiration

Hello!

I have been neglecting the old blog for the last few weeks. Things have been fairly busy - firstly finishing my Cambridge collection, which was finally dropped off at Cambridge Contemporary Art at the end of March, then getting back to work on my forthcoming exhibition Paperworks at Masham Gallery. For this exhibition I've made a great little collection of new pinned pieces, and for the first time in nearly a year, a new giant map collage! This piece is inspired by spring, and the beautiful array of unusual buildings and stunning landscapes on the road between Leyburn and Aysgarth in Wensleydale. You'll have to come along to the exhibition, opening on May 18th, to see exactly which places I've included in the piece, but one thing you can clearly see here is that I've included one of my favourite features - a hot air balloon!

I'm also starting to prepare for the North Yorkshire Open Studios, which runs during to the middle two weekends of June this year. This will be my second open studios event, and again I will be exhibiting at ArtisOn along with Ian Scott Massie, Josie Beszant and Charlotte Morrison. I'm planning to have lots of new pieces (including some new linocuts hopefully) on display so you better come down and visit me. Visit the NYOS website to see all the other artists taking part and plan your route!

Well, better get cracking.

Have a good weekend!
Rosie x

Looking ahead

Hello!

This week I have made a start on my final piece for Cambridge Contemporary Art's exhibition 'Cambridge at it's Best', which opens on April 6th. I have spent the last few months putting together ideas and have ended up with 6 pieces, 5 of which are now complete and below.

The Fountain, Trinity College

King's College Gate

The Round Church

The Wimpole Folly

The Bridge of Sighs

I shall be delivering them to the gallery in just over a week, so this week I have started to look ahead to what's next. I have two 'big' exhibitions this year (shows that I have helped organise); The first is Paperworks at Masham Gallery in May, the other is Down Hidden Tracks, with Charlotte Morrison, at Fountain's Abbey in September. Time seems to have flown and everything is suddenly a lot closer than I imagined it to be - luckily I have tons of ideas and plenty of materials so now I just have to get on with it!

My obsession with follies is continuing, constantly giving me new possible subjects for work. I am so intrigued by these often bizarre buildings, and never realised how many are in this area. I have just finished a picture of one just outside Richmond called Culloden Tower - built on the parkland of Yorke House (now demolished) in 1746.It's a beautiful tower, and one of a number of follies in that area.I took a few shots of the pinning process, so you can see how the piece comes together.

My next few pieces will be over buildings at Fountain's Abbey - probably starting with St.Mary's Church, and another piece of somewhere in York!

Watch this space!

Back to Workshops

Hello!

I postponed my usual Friday blog last week as I was busy preparing for my first workshop of the year, at ArtisOn, near Masham.
Having not taught in a few months I was a little nervous this time, even though I was teaching a popular course - papercutting. We had a great day, I had a lovely group of 9 and as always was thoroughly impressed with the results. One of the things I like most about my workshops is the way everyone interprets the projects differently. The brief I've given may be simple - for example, cutting out your own name, which is always the project I kick off with on my papercutting courses, but despite having never used a scalpel before, everyone always embellishes and pushes themselves. Here are some of the results from yesterday.

Later we moved on to cards and hanging decorations, and had a look at the amazing variety of artists working with paper today. I made sure to tell everyone that they could see some great examples of this in the Paperworks exhibition I've organised at Masham Gallery in May. All in all a great first workshop of 2013!

Later in the year I will be tutoring an Further Papercutting workshop, aimed at anyone with an interest in the medium who has had a little experience using a scalpel. This workshop will focus on a larger project, so you could come away with a larger and more ambitious piece of work. If you are interested in finding out more about this workshop, please contact me or ArtisOn and I will be happy to answer any queries. You do not need to have attended one of my introductory papercutting workshops to attend my Further Papercutting course, so if you have practiced papercutting at home this course will be perfect for you!

Well, back to work.

Have a great week!
Rosie x

Pins and paper

Hi!

I've just been uploading some pictures of the two pieces I've finished this week, and couldn't help noticing the amount of work I've produced so far this year. I feel like I've been going straight from one project to another, and my work output certainly reflects that. I'm really pleased about this, as not only have I increased my productivity by a good amount from last year, but I'm pretty pleased with the pictures themselves. I know using phrases such as 'increased productivity' doesn't chime with the romantic image of an artist following their inspiration, but it's great feeling like I have lots of work to do, and even better knowing that I'm getting through it. There have been a number of times in the last couple of years when I was desperate for a project, and a deadline, so having lots in place this year is a good thing.

It seems I have the humble dressmaking pin to thank for this, as this latest collection of my work has proved very popular so far. I must admit I really enjoy the process of pinning the papercut pieces, and it's much cleaner and less gluey than my other papercuts!

Pinning my latest papercut.

If you are interested in seeing some of my new pinned work, visit The Biscuit Factory in March, Cambridge Contemporary Art in April and Masham Gallery in May - that way you'll see brand new pieces in their relevant locations!

Here are the new pieces I've finished this week:

The Round Church, Cambridge

King's College Gate, Cambridge

Have a great weekend!

Rosie x

Pictures of Home

Hey!

This week I've not been up to much actual 'making', so I'll keep this blog brief. In a time when I have a huge amount of pieces to make, suddenly I feel a bit restless and distracted, and don't feel like doing much. Typical! I've been looking at Cambridge a lot lately as I'm involved in an exhibition at Cambridge Contemporary Art in April, but I had the urge this week to jump ahead and make a start on my work for Paperworks, the exhibition I am curating at Masham Gallery in May.

I'm really excited about this show, the selection of work will be amazing and will certainly showcase the medium of paper brilliantly. I'm also excited about the work I will be supplying for it, as I feel I can have a crack at some subjects I've been meaning to work on for a while. Such as York!
York has been my home for over 3 years now, and yet I have only ever made one York collage (of Bootham Bar, below), despite the unbelievable array of beautiful buildings here. I would like to think that this year I'll get a chance to work on lots of York pieces, and I've started with one of my favourite buildings, The Treasurer's House, located behind the Chapter House of the Minister.

Bootham Bar, 2012

The Treasurer's House, 2013

I'm looking forward to working on more, and after a walk around the walls last week I am full of inspiration.

One more thing - I will be dropping off four new pictures at The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle this weekend, which will be on display as part of their spring exhibition from March 8th.

Have a great weekend!

Rosie x

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello there!

I would normally send out a blog on a Friday, but I'm going to be enjoying a special day off tomorrow to have a look at a few houses (exciting!), so I thought I'd send out a little update today instead.

I've been working this week on a small selection bound for The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle. I will be exhibiting alongside a fantastic array of contemporary artists in the Spring show, opening on March 8th. So far I have four pieces for them, including 3 brand new ones, and I may get another completed in time. I tried to find an interesting selection of subjects from around the North East, and ended up going back to one of my favourite subjects; The Zetland building in Saltburn-By-The-Sea. I think this must be my 6th work including this former grand hotel, but I just love it. I finished  this one this morning, which is quite appropriate since I spent last Valentine's day in Saltburn.

I decided it was high time I tackled at least one of the Tyne's lovely bridges, so went with my personal favourite, the swing bridge.

...And I finally had an excuse to have a go at a particularly gorgeous folly at Gibside Hall, near Gateshead. The Banqueting House is actually a self catering property, and is leased by the Landmark Trust if you're tempted (I am!).

Finally I had a lovely bit of news this week - the good people at Saltaire Arts Trail have accepted my application to take part in their Open House weekend in May. This means that somewhere in the UNESCO world heritage village of Saltaire my work will be on display in someone's living room, along with lots of other artists including my good friends Janis Goodman and Charlotte Morrison. Hooray!

Well, have a great Valentine's day, eat lots of chocolate and enjoy the rest of the week.



Rosie x

Sharpen your cutting skills with an offer from ArtisOn...

Hello!

Lovely materials for collaging....

If you've been following my blog at all I would like to think that you are a fan of papercutting or collage (because frankly, the stuff on here that's just about me is pretty boring). If you have taken an interest in working with paper, and have ever entertained the thought of trying your hand, please allow me to alert you to a fantastic opportunity that you may want to treat yourself to...

This year I am running some brand new workshops at ArtisOn, the creative studios near Masham where I have been teaching one day courses for the last few years. As well as my popular papercutting course, I will be introducing a special collage course exploring this fantastic medium through projects inspired by some of the great collage artists. I will also be introducing a new further papercutting course, allowing those with a little bit of papercutting practice to hone their skills and take the next steps to mastering the medium.

Learn how to use recycled and unlikely materials...

The lovely people at ArtisOn have decided to celebrate this trio of papery workshops with an enticing offer:

Book my beginners papercutting course 'The Art of Papercutting' on March 10th, and my new collage course 'Collage: The Power of Paper' on March 23rd, and receive a whopping  

50% 

off my second papercutting course 'Further Papercutting: Handcut Cards and Decorations' on July 6th!

Thats right! Why not dive in to the world of paper art with 3 lovely days of relaxed learning, delicious food and socialising with fellow paper lovers? In each course I will take you through a number of inspiring projects, introduce you to essential materials and show you the world of papercutting and collage through the work some great artists. All this is intercut with regular coffee breaks, biscuits, cakes, and a delicious lunch. All in a beautiful rural setting. I know I'm biased, but honestly, you'll have a great time. So why not take advantage of this exclusive offer while you still can?

Mid-workshop in ArtisOn's main studio...

Some collage results!

For more information, visit the ArtisOn site and read more about each workshop, or contact via my website.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Rosie