Cats and artists

I've noticed over time that many artists with whom I correspond regularly also happen to own cats - or rather, are owned by cats, as I'm sure they will agree! I wonder what it is about us that draws us to them so much? I realise that not all artists I know are cat lovers, in fact some actually have a dislike for them.

For me, it is the fact that they are such quiet creatures, they all have a beauty about them and I love the way they walk, look at you (quite often with disdain), talk to you (oh yes, they definitely have different noise according to what they actually want) and comfort you when you are ill or feeling down. I can't contemplate life without a cat to share it. I have two at the moment and I am very emotionally attached to both of them. One of them, Oscar, had to go the vets earlier this week and I'm afraid I just couldn't bring myself to take him this time. He's had infected bites from the local bully cat before, and the last time I took him he needed a couple of stitches as the skin was so badly damaged. At one point during the examination by the vet, I had to leave the room and sit on the steps outside for a while, or risk passing out! I felt silly and embarrassed, but I just got too upset to stay and watch. So this time, Keith said he would take him for me. When I got back home after collecting our grand-daughter from school, Oscar was asleep on his tower in the living room.

He'd been prescribed a week's course of antibiotics and some antiseptic wash to bathe the wound twice daily. Plus, the dreaded cat collar was sitting on the kitchen side ready to attach if necessary! What amazes me most of all about cats is their apparent lack of pain - Oscar was a model patient at the vets, letting him shave his fur off all around the wound without flinching, and he's not at all bothered when we bathe the wound with hibiscrub. Thankfully, the antibiotics are kicking in now and the wound is starting to heal up - but I still cringe when I look at it!

We haven't put the collar on him yet, that was mainly to avoid him constantly licking the affected area - which, contrary to popular belief, is NOT a good thing for cats to do! I'm glad we haven't had to make him wear it, as it apparently can make cats depressed. How the vets know this, I'm not sure, but I wouldn't want a depressed cat in the house!

I sometimes think I maybe should have just had female cats, but Oscar is such a delightful companion, and the only time he seems to get into scrapes is when other cats try to invade his territory - he's never gone far from our house so I don't think he's the perpetrator, more the defender in these attacks.

He doesn't even look like a fighter, does he?

On the other hand, this photograph of the cat we call "Pug-face" (aka Oliver) demonstrates a true bruiser of a cat, whose owners are even upset at how it shows no affection at all!! I'm sure it was either Pug-face or a new addition to the neighbourhood - both are built to fight and really look as though they mean business!

20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe

Last week I ventured south of the river Humber and visited the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre in Scunthorpe. Having entered an exhibition which was nearing the end of its run, I thought it was about time I took myself along to see where my creation was actually being displayed. I have been a fan of 20-21 on Facebook for a while now, but not known what the place was like really. Well, I can now safely say that it is a lovely venue. Easy to get to, very friendly staff and a well-stocked cafe as well as a gift shop (where I couldn't resist buying myself a lovely little brooch) - and on top of all that, the exhibition spaces are varied enough that several different exhibitions can run simultaneously with ease.

After a look at the Throwaway World exhibition, which I had entered (artists were asked to use a single paper cup as a starting point for a new artwork) with this creation of an African drum:

I was surprised and somewhat disappointed to see that there were only 19 entries in total for this exhibition - although the variety was wide, I'd expected many more creations! Here's the full display on the Facebook page dedicated to the 20-21 Centre: Throwaway World. The whole display was in a glass fronted display case set within one of the walls of the exhibition space.

On the opposite side to this was an exhibition of photographs by Alison Walker Smith - an arresting artist who creates some stunning images which are created using digital photography with different focal depths. They have to be seen to be appreciated, but if you click here you will find at least one example of her work. Having seen her work, my husband has been inspired to start a new project with his digital camera. I was particularly impressed with the exhibition by David Hancock - his portraits of young people playing computer games were very striking. I've seen David's work online before, here, but not seen anything in the flesh until I visited the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find some of his work there! You can see his work until November 6th, so still plenty of time to pop along.

In the largest exhibition space, which is the former St Johns Church building, was an exhibition entitled "Art With A Pulse II: Tattoo Exhibitionism". I am not a fan of tattoos, although I can see the artistic merits of them, when done well. however, this exhibition was really interesting and I could have spent longer - but we'd only got an hour on the car park so time was short! I was particularly impressed with the work of Paula Hardy Kangelos whose intricately detailed bead collages were fantastic. I also liked Jo Harrison's paintings here. I think the environment really helped to show off all these works of art and I have made a promise to myself that I shall be visiting again before too long. In the meantime, I plan to spread the word about the centre, as I believe it is a refreshingly friendly gallery with excellent facilities, plenty of activities throughout the year (and more during the holidays for children) and an obviously wide range of exhibitions and shows. The cafe sells freshly prepared baguettes, toasted sandwiches, paninis and jacket potatoes to name a few. I had a coffee and a piece of home-made date square, which took me back to my childhood when my Nanna used to make them regularly - although I'm sure my Nanna (who baked lots of delicious buns and scones, etc) didn't fill the squares she made with quite as many dates as I discovered each time I bit into my purchase at 20-21.

The centre operate the "Own Art" scheme, which is supported by Arts Council England, whereby interest free loans are available to anyone wishing to purchase artworks priced between £100 and £2000.

The centre is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Entrance is free.  Oh, and the gift shop is excellent. I bought myself a beautiful little hand-crafted brooch from Sky Moon Designs:

You can see more of her work on Facebook here.

If all this is not enough to tempt you to pay a visit to the 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, then I have obviously failed in my attempt! I just like to spread the word whenever I experience some thing or place that has had an impact on me. So there you go.I've started spreading the word.

The Holderness Art Show

I have decided to enter this, even though I've only recently received the entry form and the deadline is today - it's for an exhibition next weekend, two days only. As it's very nearby (a village or two away from mine) and doesn't cost much to enter (£1 per piece) I thought I'd better get my finger out and fill in the form. Obviously, there's no time now to post the entry form, but I am just going to pop out in the car and deliver it now. These are the two pieces I will be entering:

Violin - Dedicated to Daniel. Pastel on card, mounted & framed.

Cool Sticks - acrylic on board, mounted and framed.

Right, I'd better get the entry form and dash off before it's too late!!

First Curated Treasury

Well, I've finally managed to create my first ever Treasury on Etsy. I'm pleased to say that it was easy to do and I'm not going to stop now! I think they must have changed the way in which Treasuries are created. ( A Treasury is basically a collection of items on Etsy selected by the person curating the treasury)

These are a small selection of the items I included in my Treasury, but you can see the full list here


This first item is a beautiful felt headband made by my friend and fellow Rogue Gene Collective artist, Andrea Farmer.

I absolutely love this chunky necklace in a gorgeous shade of blue, it's been on my favourites list ever since I first saw it:

I also love these cerise coloured knitted hand warmers, by an online friend and lovely creative soul, Karin SF. I am a big fan of her creations on Etsy, so I'm sure I will be featuring more of her creations in the future.

Latest Sale

I have just returned from a week or so away to find out that I have made a sale through the Affordable British Art website. Nice news after many days of miserable weather, I might add! The painting is a watercolour I created a few years ago - I only recently added it to the site, along with a few others in a similar style, this is the 3rd one to have sold. I may have to paint some more in different colours now. I will be uploading some holiday pics once I've sorted through them all - at the moment I'm still sorting through all the dirty laundry etc!!!

Cerise Abscape is pictured here:

Fantasia Dolls House Club Exhibition

On Wednesday, 11th August, we took our two grand-daughters to see this well-presented exhibition at the Hedon Museum, East Yorkshire. It was staged by the Fantasia Dolls House Club and we were greeted instantly by two members who were keen to inform us of many of their techniques, which was very interesting. The main display was of a set of Victorian terraced houses, all decorated in different ways. It was a bit awkward for children to see what was inside the houses, since they were all set up facing into the middle of the room, but Matheea and Evie were allowed to stand on a chair in order to see the insides - well worth doing. Matheea, who is 8, was so impressed she wanted to go and make a start on building a miniature house immediately! She sat down for ages, chatting to one of the women and looking at one of the books on how to create miniature items. Evie was impressed with the "Wedding Belle" house and the fact that there were so many small items hand-made. They did think about using their "Polly Pocket" dolls as part of such a creation, but soon realised that these houses and people in them are not designed to be played with, but are works of art to be looked at instead.

I was equally impressed with the whole exhibition - a couple of my favourites were the "Theatre Box" and "Sewing Box" which were part of another theme the club had used for a creation - simply by utilising a cardboard box (of a fairly small size) in an imaginative way.

These photos show most of what was on display. The exhibition is on until Wednesday September 8th and I would urge anyone with young children to go and have a look - or any of you with an interest in hand-made crafts of any kind. The tiles on the roof of most of the terraced houses, for instance, are mostly made of pieces of cardboard, painted individually and stuck on.

Another of my favourite pieces was the replica of the Preston Village Show - the cabbages and cakes were made from polymer clay and I was in awe of the detail that had gone into each piece.

Here are some photos of the exhibition that I took on the day.

Here's Evie admiring the row of Victorian terraced houses.

If you look closely you can see the mess left behind by a seagull or two on the roof of the house painted blue! The Wedding Belle shop on the left had a mirror on the back  wall at the top, which gave the impression of a much larger room inside - very clever!

This is the view of the houses from the back, looking over the tops of the other houses. Some of them had attic rooms, whereas others just had two levels.

My favourite box design was the Theatre Box above, but I also liked the Jewellery Box next to it, and the Hat Box and Sewing Box, below.

Here is a photo of the rear of "Mystic Maria" (I think, I've forgotten her name actually) - the lady at the exhibition turned the house around so that Evie could see the crystal ball properly!

Finally, here are 3 shots of the fantastically created replica of Preston Village Show:

The museum is only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays, from 10am to 5pm. I have exhibited some of my paintings there previously, and despite it only being a small museum, it's great for children and adults alike as they regularly have varied displays alongside the regular exhibits. It is on two floors, with refreshments available at a very affordable price and very friendly staff, too!

Summer Poduction

This weekend, the Junior and Youth section members of Bilton Amateur Dramatic Society are performing their Summer Production. On Saturday July 24th and Sunday July 25th at 7.30pm, they will entertain family, friends and anyone else who turns up to watch them.

Keith and I have been busy making sure all the props and costumes are made/bought/acquired and in the right place ready for the dress rehearsal on Saturday afternoon.  Today we have designed the programme - a tight fit due to the fact that there are 23 named characters in the Junior play and four separate plays for the Youth with at least 5 characters in each of those!

The Juniors are performing a play that was written by one of our members, Andy Jowett, for the school-children he teaches at Preston Primary School. We saw it performed there a couple of years ago and thought it would be a good play to do in order to involve all the members. As it turned out, we have had to incorporate two of the Youth Section members and double up on some of the parts as people dropped out! Drama is a big commitment and not many young children are able to cope with the dedication required to rehearse on a regular basis - often to the detriment of going out with their friends! However, with a few slight alterations to the script and by omitting the songs from the original play (it would have taken way too long to rehearse those as well) we are now hoping to stage a play that lasts approximately 1 hour 15 minutes. There are three main characters - Singalong Spike, Detective Inspector Moldiwarp and Chief Superintendent Mole. Singalong Spike (Bethany Jones) is the leader of a criminal gang who open the play by stealing a pile of gold from the police and attempt to take it out of the country in order to get it laundered for cash. Along the way, as DI Moldiwarp (Bethan Holloway) constantly tries to keep up with the gang, we meet several characters with ridiculous names such as Bob the Carver (how did he get that name, I wonder?) and Reg Beet. C.S. Mole (Molly Robinson) is the boss in charge of the police force and he is determined to make his mark by catching Spike and his gang. Therefore he decides to send one of his young officers under-cover in order to find out what Spike's plans are. PC Jasper (Daniel Robinson) is selected to become one of the "glam rock gang". His cover is blown, however, when Stunning Suzi (Matheea Ellerby) overhears him reporting back to his boss after a meeting with the gang. The final result proves that crime doesn't really pay, but in order to find out what happens you will have to come along and watch!

The Youth Section will be performing four short sketches. First of all, they all take part in "12 Angry Pigs" written by Wade Bradford

They are all wearing very eerie-looking pig masks for this production and here are a few pics of them when they first tried them on a couple of weeks ago:

I love the fact that Molly is wearing her glasses over her mask, and the boys just loved posing for this photograph! Also included in the 12 Pigs Spoof are a few characters from children's nursery rhymes/stories such as the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood and Little Boy Blue. We have selected some of the members from the Junior section to play those parts.

The other 3 sketches are written by Johnny Ball. "Mind The Trains" is set in a railway station and features a star performance from a weighing machine, expertly crafted by Keith! Also appearing are a strangulated Tannoy voice courtesy of Molly Robinson, an odd chap sometimes known as Jacob Preston and a Sales Lady with all the customer service skills of an old mop. Johnny Ball has written all these sketches with great use of words to convey double meanings and create laughter. One of the opening lines makes me chuckle: Business Man:I say, Porter, have you seen your level crossing? One gate is half open and the other gate is half closed." Porter replies with: Yes, sir, we're half expecting a train.  Certainly groan-inducing lines, but a lot of fun to do.

"The Sins of Cinderella" is a spoof of the famous panto, complete with Buttons, Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Ugly Sisters and an orchestra of sorts! Sourcing the costumes for this has been a lot of fun, particularly trying to make the costume for the Fairy Godmother. I am not in any way handy with a needle, but I will persevere and create something for the job when necessary, albeit by hand. Fortunately, the Fairy Godmother in this production is supposed to be wearing a very tatty outfit, so I am happy with the result!

Finally, "Full Of Eastern Promise" is a tale of mistaken identity and long-lost sons returning. As this sketch was very difficult to learn, the teenagers involved in this play have really done us proud. When you have a character named "Iyam" and several cast members saying it out loud at different points, it gets very confusing! I think the audience will leave with a smile on their faces at the end of the evenings - and for the right reason, too.

I think next week I will be mostly lying down and relaxing.......Until the play reading I have to plan for the adults, that is!