Victoria Kiff
Prints and paintings by Victoria Kiff and Alastair Kendry
Private view: Friday 24th June 6:30 – 8:30
Victoria’s Artist Statement: I never imagined I would live in such a beautiful place as St Leonards, it is of great inspiration to my Art. My Art is made from various kinds of paper in the form of prints, paintings and drawings.
Marylyn Edwards
6 local printmakers showing together for the third time
Private view: Friday 17th June 6:30 – 8:30
This is the 3rd show for this group of local printmakers, most of them have exhibited in all the shows. They are all graduates of Hastings College, and currently use the facilities at the new South Coast College at Hastings. All are highly dedicated to the art of printmaking and to developing their already significant experience.
Dates for your diary….
Sun 29 May @10 -11 am. Children’s (6 yrs+) storytelling led by Mary Dawson of Rainbow Stories. Focussing on oil.
Sun 29 May @2 -4. Drop-in AF 2 and talk about oil with Anne Rouse.
Thu 2 – 15 Jun. Wendy Oxlade opens at the Dragon Bar, George St, Hastings.
Fri 3 Jun 2009. 6.30 – 8.30 Private View for Pip Carpenter in AF1.
Fri 3 Jun at 6 pm. Robin Holtom invites you to a preview for ‘Open Studios’
at 41B Marina. Entrance from the rear service road for Marine Court.
***Sat 4 Jun 2009. 6.30 – 8.30. Private View for “Graph” by “World Domination”.
(Note the date. This group is involved in the Brighton Festival on Fri 3 Jun )
Fri 3 Jun. 6 – 8.30 Private View for Sassy Luke’s retrospective at Love’s Café.
Thu 9 Jun. 7 for 7.45. Film evening. “Chico and Rita” , See under ‘Film’.
Wed 15 Jun at 6.30 and 8.30. Two fashion Shows at Sussex Coast College, Hastigs. Tickets @ £5.00 in advance or on the door.
Fri 17 Jun 6 – 9. SCCH private view for the Degree Show. Thereafter, 18 – 24 Jun open daily 10 – 4.
****Tue 21 Jun 6 for 6.30pm. Countdown to Zero. St Leonards Film Societry take part as one of 60 venues for a screening at BAFTA of the premiere of this anti nuclear film. See under ‘Stop Press’ below.
Fri 1 Jul. 6 – 9.30. Private View for SCCH Diploma Show. Thereafter, 10 – 2 on Sat 2 Jul and on 4 and 5 Jul 10 – 5.
Stop Press…
Members Show. The Arts Committee has decided to add a further Members Show to the Forum exhibition calendar 2011 as follows. This will take place in AF2 . Submissions are invited as follows.
20 Jul – 2 Aug. Members, surnames A – L. One piece per member. Hand-in, Mon 18 Jul 10 – 1 pm, unless by prior arrangement. Collect Wed, 3 Aug 10 – 1 pm.
2 – 17 Aug. Members, surnames M – Z . One piece per member. Hand-in on Mon 1 Aug 10 – 1pm, unless by prior arrangement. Collect, Wed 17 Aug10 – 1pm.
Forum AGM. Several members have enquired about the date of the 2010 AGM.
This is likely to be delayed until the summer or even possibly Sep 2011. This is because the AGM for the Financial year 2010 will in effect be the dissolution of the unincorporated organisation, Hastings Arts Forum. This can not happen until we have the Charitable Company, Hastings Arts Forum Ltd ready in place.
We await the Charity Commissioners’ ruling on our application for charity status.
The Forum Constitution requires that we give three weeks’ notice of any general meeting – so, what with a week to prepare the notices and contact all members this means a full calendar month. July and August are traditionally poor months for getting a quorum of members, so the AGM may have to be after the summer holidays – say mid-September onwards.
SOS !!! This is a call to all creative and artist members to fill in the survey form at http://www.jotform.com/form/11140921231. This survey is being collated and is expected to have a bearing on the levels and nature of funding for the arts in our local Hastings and St Leonards area. So act now to save it!!
***SLOS Film Society links in to BAFTA National Film evening. “Countdown to Zero” on Tuesday, 21 June in AF2. Countdown to Zero will open the Global Zero London summit with a gala screening at BAFTA. High-profile dignitaries, UK parliamentarians, and celebrities will come together to hear a discussion panel starring Her Majesty Queen Noor, Labour Party politician Margaret Beckett, ex-CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson and Oscar-winning producer Lawrence Bender. This discussion panel will be broadcast live via satellite and web-stream to around 60 cinemas nationwide, as well as a similar number of ‘Ambassador’ screenings in non-cinema venues. See http://goodwithfilm.com/s/1617
Emily Johns exhibition has been touring Wales. Last week, the National Theatre of Wales started a series of script workshops to develop a play inspired by Emily’s pictures. See also under Current Exhibitions.
Open Studios – South East. South East Open Studios opens this coming, bank holiday week-end and runs for three weeks. Many Forum members are taking part. For those who are new to Sussex / Kent, the aim is to persuade artists to welcome the public into their studios and be on hand to discuss their work. For further info see under Members Announcements. Hospitality is up to the individual artist – see who is offering tea and cake!! See who has a preview on Fri 3 Jun.
Battle Contemporary Art Fair, September 2011. Submissions due by 1 June. See under Members Announcements below.
Wanted – Artists to create ideas !! Oil empowers the World. How can you help change this for the better? Visit Anne Rouse’s Drop-in for a discussion in AF2, 29 May @ 2 -4. See Anne’s notice under the current exhibition Conscious Oil“ . We need to act NOW !
Current Exhibitions…
19 –31May.in AF2. Emily Johns. “Conscious Oil”. A series of lino etchings which examines the pervasive grip that ‘oil’ has on the unconscious part of our daily lives. Emily showed this exhibition in Rye last year, but it was largely missed by people outside Rye.
26 – 31May in AF2. Writing workshop led by Ann Rouse in conjunction with Emily Johns’ exhibition, Conscious Oil.
Conscious Oil Oil is not represented by the equivalents of naiads or dryads or Conscious Oil is a cross-disciplinary exploration by three practitioners – Emily Johns, a printmaker; Anne Rouse, a poet; and Milan Rai, a writer – of the intricate relationship between history, language and the geosphere; through the locus of oil. The commercial use of crude oil and its derivatives has marked the surface of the earth as well as its climate and has led to conflict and environmental degradation on a gigantic scale. The sense of oil as an ancient part of nature, a rich metaphor, and the subject of folklore has been almost completely overlaid. Our project, an installation of prints, essays and poetry represents the multi-dimensionality of oil in its human, natural and archaic aspects. It investigates crude oil as a natural repository of the primordial past rather than a commodity to be exploited at all costs, part of a shift in consciousness which will increasingly mark humanity’s new relationship with nature.
Sun 29 May 10-11am Children’s storytelling (6yrs+) A Story written in response to pictures and poems from the exhibition. Facilitated by Mary Dawson, Rainbow Stories. Mary uses her stories to encourage a love of nature and as a creative way to inform and empower children on global environmental concerns.
Sun 29 May 2-4. Writing Room in AF2, 26-31 May. Anne Rouse is facilitating a week-long drop-in. All are welcome to reflect and write. The focus is on Emily John’s exhibition, “Conscious Oil”, in which a global commodity becomes an ancient and potent part of nature. By responding to Emily’s mythology, with its new vocabulary of images, Anne wants us to re-imagine oil—an exercise that has acquired urgency from the crisis in the West’s unfettered use of oil and its effects on the developing world. Why not come along to the writing room in AF2 on Sunday afternoon and discuss how artists can create ideas.
Forthcoming Exhibitions…
1 – 14 Jun in AF1. Pip Carpenter. “There and Then – Here and Now
My work is about colour, in landscape both locally or in sunny climes, the essence of flowers in a vase or garden, or glimpses of colour in the darkness of a cathedral, creating settings which only exist in the imagination.
I begin working directly from the subject using drawing and watercolour to get down my first impressions. The finished work either remains as a pure drawing or painting or I make it into an original print by various methods including monoprint, drypoint and collagraph.
Having had a long and successful career as a lecturer, I am now a full time practising artist in Hastings, where I have more time to develop my work and can experiment with different techniques and media, concentrating on producing unique prints and paintings rather than vast editions of the same image.
Whilst based in London, I was involved with setting up the Half Moon Group and Southbank Printmakers and have been a member of Greenwich Printmakers for many years, specialising in different forms of printmaking.
Drypoints – made by scratching into the plate to make drawn, gestural marks.
Collagraphs - literally collaged materials which create embossed textures and a huge variety of surfaces.
Monoprints – a one-off image made from inking and wiping an individual plate, generally having a more painterly feel.
Recent themes depict mysterious gardens or cathedrals, combining the monumental with the minutiae in nature, such as a carved angel (in a beautifully arched church ceiling) meeting a moth, the Emperor in new clothes. These inhabitants, moths, effigies or flying angels also take a turn in dictating colour and atmosphere, leading the work in new directions.
Titles are becoming more important, anchoring the work but at the same time expanding possibilities for exploration and creating a body of work on a theme.
All the prints I make are limited editions, each print finished individually and hand coloured. The final working is the most critical, each piece dictating its own unique finish.
1 – 14 Jun in AF2. “Graph” – an exhibition by “World Domination” ( a group of Eastbourne, Brighton and Staffordshire members)
Fenya Sharkey. “Domestic Science” drawings.
A series of electrical circuit diagrams for household appliances.
Liminality is defined as ‘the transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and follows prescribed forms of conduct’; this could describe the status of the housewife. The stitch provides a metaphor for liminal states; the act of drawing with a needle generating simultaneous dual images.
Lizzie Hingley ‘I work in pen and paint, I create chaotic and ordered patterns with both.’
Andrew Flint– “..My art explores the nature of truth and authenticity, the fluidity of fact and belief that shapes the world around our selves. Asking questions of that world, such as: ‘how does myth affect us in our contemporary lives? -..”
Jennifer Sassi. “… I am a brighton based visual artist who uses a range of different materials to explore our human relationship with attraction and aesthetics. I use mechanisms such as nostalgia, ambiguity and raw image to create and question our humanistic attraction and aesthetic processes which is rooted withn our consciousness and existence…”
Lisa Donovan. “…The main impetus of my work is the exploration of our relationship with technology; specifically modern technology.
I believe it is the confusion, the errors, the reluctance, and the creative whims that make up the poetic expressions of humanity. I hope to provide a punctum that causes a moment of self reflection within which we become aware of ourselves as human: as contrary and separate from the technological process and spectacle that surrounds us.
The works that make up the ‘Catagorial Novum’ series are representations of the theory of emergence wherein a simple action, much repeated, results in the creation of extremely complex systems. The human being, in this instance the artist, acts as an unseen organising force giving rhyme and reason to an otherwise mundane activity…”
16 – 21 Jun in AF1. Six Printmakers.
This is the 3rd show for this group of local printmakers, most of them have exhibited in all the shows. They are all graduates of Hastings College, and currently use the facilities at the new South Coast College at Hastings. All are highly dedicated to the art of printmaking and to developing their already significant experience.
They share the use of strong imagery and a commitment to the progression of their craft. They are inspired by each other’s work and share an enthusiastic admiration for their fellow artist/printmakers. Although their work is diverse in approach and style they find that the opportunity of working in the shared environment that the print room in the college offers allows them to learn from each other. Screenprinting and etching are traditional methods of printing, the techniques involved are many and various, the sharing aspect of the group has allowed them to learn from each other.
Because of the limited wall space the artists will each have their own browsers where earlier work and other editions can be seen and purchased.
Phillip Cosham I am showing work relating to the City, films and aircraft of the 50’s and 60’s. I have an equal passion for ceramics and printmaking. I am currently experimenting with large scale prints using cardboard collagraph.
Geoff Dendle I hand screen print from original photographic images taken here in Sussex or on the island of Crete. For this exhibition I will be showing a series of prints taken on a filmset in Crete where the novel “The Island” written by local author Victoria Hislop was being filmed for an epic 25 part Greek TV production.
George Mundell George Mundell’s recent work features child images from film. He continues to display his love of bright colour in his Monoprints. He is also including popular old favourites ‘Hastings Bonfire’ and ‘New York City’
Derek Treacher.I work in the mediums of screenprinting, monoprinting and etching. My images are derived from photographs and drawings of urban imagery, and recently to the sadness I feel about the destruction and loss of Hastings Pier.
Del Querns. My prints are based on photographs taken in America and around Europe and are inspired by Americana/Pop art, the images are produced using traditional silkscreen techniques.
23 – 28 Jun in AF1. Victoria Kiff and Alastair Kendry. Paintings
Artist Statement. I never imagined I would live in such a beautiful place
as St Leonards, it is of great inspiration to my Art.
My Art is made from various kinds of paper in the form of prints, paintings and drawings. I combine found papers, (newspaper, letters etc), to construct an image. It is like a poem, with poetic structure and broken narrative. My favourite writer and poet is Johann Wolfgang
Goethe. The title ‘Sommernacht’ is inspired by one of Goethe’s written compositions. These lines best describe my Art concept, ‘All our most honest toil succeeds only in unconscious moments’. Goethe
Victoria Kiff. BA Hons, Central St Martins School of Art, London
16 – 21 Jun in AF2. Bruce Williams. Oils.
23 Jun – 5 Jul. Colin Heavingham. London-based artist in mixed media.
Exhibitions Elsewhere…
Sassy Luke 3 – 19 June – A Retrospective at Love Cafe & Gallery.Sassy Luke invites all Hastings Arts Forum members to her exhibition at
Love Café. Norman Rd, St-Leonards-on Sea., (during South East Open Studios). Private view: Friday 3 June 6 – 8:30
Dragon Bar. 2 – 15 Jun. Wendy Oxlade exhibits.
“Interior States” – group of four artists (Hermione Allsopp, Anonymous Bosch, Joe Packer and Shuby ) exhibiting at the Memorial Gallery, 2nd Floor, 7 Cambridge Gardens – includes ‘found objects’ and photography.PV Fri 20 May 6-8. and runs until 8 Jun by appointment, tel 07960266765 / 07775734874.
Members’ Announcements…
Siobhan Tanner posts. **Studio space available ** at Oak Passage Studios, Hastings Old Town. Suitable for single artist or share with one other. Please ring Anna 435799 or Siobhan 712840 for more details.
Life Drawing Sessions. Caroline Macey organises Life Drawing Sessions every Thursday 10 – 12 noon. £7 at the door. Soon there will be an evening session, 7.30 – 9.30. Tel : 079 23 49 44 .15
South East Open Studios. Forum Members taking part include Louisa Crispin, Mark Fisher, Brenda Hartill, Robin Holtom, Mike Leale, Mary and Tim Morris, Anna Pontonutti, Tim Riddihough, John Shanks, Annie Soudain, Clare Winchester, Anthony Wynne. For opening times over the next three weeks visit www.seos-art.org
You will notice that Hastings is not well represented. Robin Holtom and Anna Pontonutti for paintings and John Shanks and Mike Leale for photography.
Robin Holtom is opening his studio over the next three week-ends (Sat and Sun)
with a preview on Fri 3 Jun.
For tee-totallers and others, Mary(paintings) and Tim Morris (Photography) at Mayfield suggest an awayday and promise you tea and cake if you visit them. See the following links. http://www.seos-art.org/artists/marymorris
http://www.seos-art.org/artists/timmorris
Andrey Shipilov posts. I am a creative and active localartist in graphic design and photography, recently graduated from Hastings Art College with distinction.
I am looking for local freelance work or any other work , which will give me recognition as a graphic designer / photographer.
I am familiar with Adobe Creative Suite such as Photoshop and Illustrator and I am happy to help anyone requiring these skills.
Andrey is a Forum volunteer helping with the Hanging Team and the IT team.
Battle Contemporary Art Fair 2011. This Fair will take place in September 2011.
The Fair judges will select will select up 60 artists for exhibition from London and the South East. Artists will be required to submit three images of work completed since 1 Jun 2009 – these can be in any media except photography and video. Submission fees are £35.00 per artist (£25.00 per student). For further detail and application forms see www.pureartsgroup.co.uk
Applications for entry are open until 3 June 2011. www.pureartsgroup.co.uk
Jeremy Ebdon and Brij Sharma post Affordable Art in “The Stables” 16 May – 18 Jun. Seven artists show. *** New work from Jeremy and Brij.*** Beware the opening times. Mon – Sat 1030 – 2pm and 6 – 8pm.
Serena Thirkell posts. I am exhibiting at the Brighton FestivalOpen houses
Osborne Vistas
54 Osborne Villas Hove BN3 2RB 27/28 May 11.00-18.00 hrs.
27 St Leonards Gardens Hove BN34QA. 27/28 May 11.00-17.00
Maureen Connett posts: I will be singing jazz at the”Beach Tavern”, Sea Rd, Pevensey Bay (tel 01323761372) on Sunday,22 May, 3-5 pm
Vanessa Fowler, B Ed, (Taught at Hastings College for 20 years) reminds members that she has on-going ceramic classes for adults and children.
After School Club(Mon / Tue / Wed ) Junior Pottery Club – Sat 1200 – 1300.
Adults,( incl one-to-one) as arranged. £10 per hour.
FILM…
Thu 9 Jun.7 for 7.45. Chico and Rita. An epic animated story of love and heartbreak, set against the colour and bustle of Havanna, New York, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Paris in the late 1940sand early 1980s. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unite them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero – brings heartache and torment.
POETRY…
The next meeting of the Poetry Group will be Saturday, 4 June at 5 pm in AF2.
The theme will be “Oil” – so please have a look at Emily’s exhibition, 19 – 31 May.
“Wanted!! Creative artists !!” Oil empowers the world. What message can artists give which will bring awareness of the inevitable damage and destruction, which unfettered use of oil will bring to planet Earth. “Conscious Oil” is an exhibition which stimulates thought and offers a wide range of opportunities to engage in discussion with others. See the “Whats on” section of our website. The facilitators of this exhibition do not expect a ‘banner-waving’ response, but they do wish to see creative ideas emerge. (more…)
Slip in and out of Bruce’s sculptural paintings
Private view: Friday 17th June 6:30 – 8:30
I love atmosphere. I want the viewer to slip in and out of the painting. My work is mainly in oils, though sometimes I mix in emulsions. The work itself I see as sculptural.
(more…)
Prints and Paintings at Love Gallery
‘Sassy Luke A Retrospective’
Sassy Luke invites all Hastings Arts Forum members to her exhibition at
Love cafe
Norman Rd
St-Leonards-on Sea
3rd – 19th June, (during South East Open Studios)
Private view: Friday 3rd June 6 – 8:30
“Dates for your diary….
Sun 22 May in AF2 2-4 pm. Carbon Generations. see under “Conscious Oil” events below.
Thu 26 May. 7 for 7.45. Film – “Howl” (15). See under “Film” below.
Thu 26 May. 7.30 “Fuel on Fire” – see under “Conscious Oil” below
Fri 27 May@ 6.30 -8.30. Private View for Emily John’s “Conscious Oil” in AF2.
There will be entertainment – at 6.30
Deconvoilution and at 7.30, the Town Cryer promises to get your foot tapping. See under “Conscious Oil” below.
Sat 28 May. Elizabeth Nathaniels presents at Birbeck College on”The Residential Park: An early 19C space for the early 21 C” – See Members’ Announcements
Thu 2 – 15 Jun. Wendy Oxlade opens at the Dragon Bar, George St, Hastings.
Stop Press…
Emily Johns exhibition has been touring Wales. This week, the National Theatre of Wales has started a series of script workshops to develop a play inspired by Emily’s pictures. See also under Current Exhibitions.
Writing Workshop in AF2, 26 – 31 May. “The Writing Room” is the title of a writing workshop facilitated by Anne Rouse in AF2. The focus is on Emily Johns’ exhibition “Conscious Oil”. Anne will also attend our Poetry Group meeting on 7 May.
Club Français de 2 à 5. Between Thu, 28 Apr – 9 Jun, Michel Guille’s role will be taken on by some of the regular participants, including Fiona, Pierre and Chris. Do come along and support them.
In the meantime there is plenty to do and discuss in Michel’s pre-Easter sessions. And on the 21st April, on the occasion of the birthday of ‘Le Duc de Normandie’, there will be a Spring Quiz.
Discount for Forum members. (On production of a Forum membership card.)
Brookers, Norman Rd on bills of £10.
Expressions, Kings Rd. on bills of £10.
Post Office Tearooms. 10% on menu items (not specials )
Relax Café, for meals from the menu.
Current Exhibitions…
12 – 24 May in AF1. Danny Mooney. New painting and sculpture..
“…I love paint. I love the way it flows over surfaces, highlighting texture or concealing it. I add layer after layer of paint to my work until it feels right.
Some of my paintings are more 3D than 2D and some of my sculptures are as painted as my paintings. If I’m not painting I’m drawing. I fill sketchbooks with 30 second sketches of people. My wire sculptures are based on these drawings and are very 2D. I like the way they look as if the drawings have jumped off the page.
All of my work has meaning for me but I like it when people use it to tell their own stories. I’ve been painting and making objects for 20 years. I studied Fine Art at Goldsmith’s and Guildhall in London. My work is represented in collections in the U.K., America, Switzerland, Japan and China….”
19 –31May.in AF2. Emily Johns. “Conscious Oil”. A series of lino etchings which examines the pervasive grip that ‘oil’ has on the unconscious part of our daily lives. Emily showed this exhibition in Rye last year, but it was largely missed by people outside Rye.
Conscious Oil Oil is not represented by the equivalents of naiads or dryads or even King Coal, and yet oil has a personality; it is an agent in human affairs. It has a biography. This project re-imagines human history from the point of view of that oil-entity.
Conscious Oil is a cross-disciplinary exploration by three practitioners – Emily Johns, a printmaker; Anne Rouse, a poet; and Milan Rai, a writer – of the intricate relationship between history, language and the geosphere; through the locus of oil. The commercial use of crude oil and its derivatives has marked the surface of the earth as well as its climate and has led to conflict and environmental degradation on a gigantic scale. The sense of oil as an ancient part of nature, a rich metaphor, and the subject of folklore has been almost completely overlaid. Our project, an installation of prints, essays and poetry represents the multi-dimensionality of oil in its human, natural and archaic aspects. It investigates crude oil as a natural repository of the primordial past rather than a commodity to be exploited at all costs, part of a shift in consciousness which will increasingly mark humanity’s new relationship with nature.
Sun 22 May 2-4 pm. Carbon Generations. Who was the first person in your family to smell paraffin? Will your great-grandchildren recognise the sound of the internal combustion engine? A performance by Benjamin D and Tim Fairs from PLATFORM using intimate stories from family histories to look at the rise and fall of coal, gas and oil across seven generations. PLATFORM works across disciplines for social and ecological justice.
Following the performance you are invited, if you wish, to participate in a writing workshop examining your own Carbon Generations. You are welcome to bring with you family stories, photographs, artefacts, family trees etc.
THU 26 MAY 7.30. Fuel on the Fire. Iraq expert Greg Muttitt will take us behind the scenes to answer one of the most pressing questions: what is happening to Iraq’s oil? Fuel on the Fire, just published by The Bodley Head, is “A cracking read” (the Guardian). “Greg Muttitt has kept his eye firmly fixed on the prize: Iraq’s vast oil wealth” (Naomi Klein).
Fri 27 May 6.30-8.30pm. Private View. At 6.30pm “Deconvoilution” real-time manipulation of sound, image and video responding to the exhibition and its local resonances by physicist Dr Patrick Nicholson.
At 7.30pm The Carbon Town Cryer Last seen and heard, uninvited, exorcising BP from the Tate Modern turbine hall, CTC has a rabble-rousing tune f or your least favourite oil company, at least four soulful hymns to Climate Camp and a clutch of more ruminative wanderings amongst the fossil fuelled ruins that still somehow call upon the foot to tap… ’sweetly revolutionary sounds’ – New Internationalist.
Sun 29 May 10-11am Children’s storytelling (6yrs+) A Story written in response to pictures and poems from the exhibition. Facilitated by Mary Dawson, Rainbow Stories. Mary uses her stories to encourage a love of nature and as a creative way to inform and empower children on global environmental concerns.
26 – 31May in AF2. Writing workshop led by Ann Rouse in conjunction with Emily Johns.
Forthcoming Exhibitions…
1 – 14 Jun in AF1. Pip Carpenter. “There and Then – Here and Now”
My work is about colour, in landscape both locally or in sunny climes, the essence of flowers in a vase or garden, or glimpses of colour in the darkness of a cathedral, creating settings which only exist in the imagination.
I begin working directly from the subject using drawing and watercolour to get down my first impressions. The finished work either remains as a pure drawing or painting or I make it into an original print by various methods including monoprint, drypoint and collagraph.
Having had a long and successful career as a lecturer, I am now a full time practising artist in Hastings, where I have more time to develop my work and can experiment with different techniques and media, concentrating on producing unique prints and paintings rather than vast editions of the same image.
Whilst based in London, I was involved with setting up the Half Moon Group and Southbank Printmakers and have been a member of Greenwich Printmakers for many years, specialising in different forms of printmaking.
Drypoints – made by scratching into the plate to make drawn, gestural marks.
Collagraphs - literally collaged materials which create embossed textures and a huge variety of surfaces.
Monoprints – a one-off image made from inking and wiping an individual plate, generally having a more painterly feel.
Recent themes depict mysterious gardens or cathedrals, combining the monumental with the minutiae in nature, such as a carved angel (in a beautifully arched church ceiling) meeting a moth, the Emperor in new clothes. These inhabitants, moths, effigies or flying angels also take a turn in dictating colour and atmosphere, leading the work in new directions.
Titles are becoming more important, anchoring the work but at the same time expanding possibilities for exploration and creating a body of work on a theme.
All the prints I make are limited editions, each print finished individually and hand
coloured. The final working is the most critical, each piece dictating its own unique finish.
1 – 14 Jun in AF2. “Graph” – an exhibition by “World Domination” ( a group of Eastbourne, Brighton and Staffordshire members)
Lizzie Hingley ‘I work in pen and paint, I create chaotic and ordered patterns with both.’
Andrew Flint– “..My art explores the nature of truth and authenticity, the fluidity of fact and belief that shapes the world around our selves. Asking questions of that world, such as: ‘how does myth affect us in our contemporary lives? -..”
Jennifer Sassi. “… I am a brighton based visual artist who uses a range of different materials to explore our human relationship with attraction and aesthetics. I use mechanisms such as nostalgia, ambiguity and raw image to create and question our humanistic attraction and aesthetic processes which is rooted withn our consciousness and existence…”
Lisa Donovan. “…The main impetus of my work is the exploration of our relationship with technology; specifically modern technology.
I believe it is the confusion, the errors, the reluctance, and the creative whims that make up the poetic expressions of humanity. I hope to provide a punctum that causes a moment of self reflection within which we become aware of ourselves as human: as contrary and separate from the technological process and spectacle that surrounds us.
The works that make up the ‘Catagorial Novum’ series are representations of the theory of emergence wherein a simple action, much repeated, results in the creation of extremely complex systems. The human being, in this instance the artist, acts as an unseen organising force giving rhyme and reason to an otherwise mundane activity…”
16 – 21 Jun in AF1. Six Printmakers.
23 – 28 Jun in AF1. Victoria Kiff and Alastair Kendry. Paintings
16 – 21 Jun in AF2. Bruce Williams. Oils.
23 Jun – 5 Jul. Colin Heavingham. London-based artist in mixed media.
Exhibitions Elsewhere…
Dragon Bar. 2 – 15 Jun. Wendy Oxlade exhibits.
South East Open Studios. Forum Members taking part include Louisa Crispin, Mark Fisher, Brenda Hartill, Robin Holtom, Mike Leale, Mary and Tim Morris, Anna Pontonutti, Tim Riddihough, John Shanks, Annie Soudain, Clare Winchester, Anthony Wynne.
“Interior States” – group of four artists (Hermione Allsopp, Anonymous Bosch, Joe Packer and Shuby ) exhibiting at the Memorial Gallery, 2nd Floor, 7 Cambridge Gardens – includes ‘found objects’ and photography.PV Fri 20 May 6-8. and runs until 8 Jun by appointment, tel 07960266765 / 07775734874.
Members’ Announcements…
Elizabeth Nathaniels is giving a lecture at Birbeck College on Sat 28 May
“…My lecture is based largely on James and Decimus Burton of Burtons’ St Leonards, will take place at 4 pm at Birkbeck in Room B 35 Malet Street. Conference starts at 9.30 am and continues until 5.30 and wine will be served!
Would love to see any HAF and St Leonards friends who might like to go…”
Andrey Shipilov posts. I am a creative and active localartist in graphic design and photography, recently graduated from Hastings Art College with distinction.
I am looking for local freelance work or any other work , which will give me recognition as a graphic designer / photographer.
I am familiar with Adobe Creative Suite such as Photoshop and Illustrator and I am happy to help anyone requiring these skills.
Andrey is a Forum volunteer helping with the Hanging Team and the IT team.
Jeremy Ebdon and Brij Sharma post Affordable Art in “The Stables” 16 May – 18 Jun. Seven artists show. *** New work from Jeremy and Brij.*** Beware the opening times. Mon – Sat 1030 – 2pm and 6 – 8pm.
Serena Thirkell posts. I am exhibiting at the Brighton FestivalOpen houses
Osborne Vistas
54 Osborne Villas Hove BN3 2RB
21/22 – 27/28 May 11.00-18.00 hrs
27 St Leonards Gardens Hove BN34QA
21/22 – 27/28 May 11.00-17.00
Maureen Connett posts: I will be singing jazz at the”Beach Tavern”, Sea Rd, Pevensey Bay (tel 01323761372) on Sunday,22 May, 3-5 pm
Vanessa Fowler, B Ed, (Taught at Hastings College for 20 years) reminds members that she has on-going ceramic classes for adults and children.
After School Club(Mon / Tue / Wed ) Junior Pottery Club – Sat 1200 – 1300.
Adults,( incl one-to-one) as arranged. £10 per hour.
FILM…
St Leonards Film Society. 26 May @7 for 7.45. “Howl” (15). 1 hr 24 mins. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg—poet, counter-culture adventurer, and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career: the poem HOWL. Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, HOWL is on trial as prosecutors try to get the book banned. HOWL is simultaneously a portrait of a renegade artist breaking down barriers to find love and redemption, and an imaginative ride through a prophetic masterpiece that rocked a generation and was heard around the world.
POETRY…
The next meeting of the Poetry Group will be Saturday, 4 June at 5 pm in AF2.
The theme will be “Oil” – so please have a look at Emily’s exhibition, 19 – 31 May.
Exciting mixed media by the group World Domination
Private view Saturday 4 June 6:30 – 8:30
A group of Eastbourne, Brighton and Staffordshire based artists showing exciting 2D mixed media work
Prints by Pip Carpenter
Private view: Friday 3rd June 6:30 – 8:30
My work is about colour, in landscape both locally or in sunny climes, the essence of flowers in a vase or garden, or glimses of colour in the darkness of a cathedral, creating settings which only exist in the imagination.
Dates for your diary….
Fri 13 May Private View. (Danny Mooney). @6.30 – 8.30.
Sun 22 May in AF2 2-4 pm. Carbon Generations. see under “Conscious Oil” events below.
Thu 26 May. 7 for 7.45. Film – “Howl” (15). See under “Film” below.
Thu 26 May. 7 for 7.45 “Fuel on Fire” – see under “Conscious Oil” below
Fri 27 May@ 6.30 -8.30. Private View for Emily John’s “Conscious Oil” in AF2.
There will be entertainment – at 6.30 Deconvoilution and at 7.30, the Town Cryer promises to get your foot tapping. See under “Conscious Oil” below.
Sat 28 May. Elizabeth Nathaniels presents at Birbeck College on”The Residential Park: An early 19C space for the early 21 C” as part of the Angles 3 conference.
Stop Press…
Trish Kilczewski. Our condolences to Trish on the death of her husband last week-end after 40 years of marriage. The funeral service is on Thursday, 19 May at 2 pm, at St Thomas CE Church, Southborough, Kent. For anyone unable to attend and whomay wish to pay their respects Trish will be at home at 134A, Basement flat, Marina at circa 4.30 pm.
Writing Workshop in AF2, 26 – 31 May. “The Writing Room” is the title of a writing workshop facilitated by Anne Rouse in AF2. The focus is on Emily Johns’ exhibition “Conscious Oil”. Anne will also attend our Poetry Group meeting on 7 May.
Club Français de 2 à 5. Between Thu, 28 Apr – 9 Jun, Michel Guille’s role will be taken on by some of the regular participants, including Fiona, Pierre and Chris. Do come along and support them.
In the meantime there is plenty to do and discuss in Michel’s pre-Easter sessions. And on the 21st April, on the occasion of the birthday of ‘Le Duc de Normandie’, there will be a Spring Quiz.
Discount for Forum members. (On production of a Forum membership card.)
Brookers, Norman Rd on bills of £10.
Expressions, Kings Rd. on bills of £10.
Post Office Tearooms. 10% on menu items (not specials )
Relax Café, for meals from the menu.
Current Exhibitions…
12 – 24 May in AF1. Danny Mooney. New painting and sculpture..
5 – 17 May in AF2. “Art as expression” Paintings by Elsie May, Cynthia Strother Smith, Jo Messer. Note timings for the private view, 5 – 7 pm.
Elsie May My painting is the result of experience – emotional and physical- related to line, colour and form on the canvas with the application of paint thick and thin plus scraping and scratching where necessary until satisfied with the picture. Visits to Hastings intensified my delight in the shapes and colours of the sea and beach and the furniture with which we equip them. ,
Cynthia Strother Smith “The boundaries of painting and drawing should always be pushed but choices have to be made; whether to play safe or take risks where a mark or a scribble may be vital to the finished work by giving it life and interest”
Jo Messer. These paintings are about colour and the paint. They usually start from drawings or from memory, a poem or something that catches the imagination from a newspaper image, to familiar things that need to be looked at again in a different context or scale. Street art also gets a look in sometimes.
The start is always exciting and energetic; the first line or “right” colour excites. At the start you cannot see the finished article; you may have to change the picture many times until the subject looks right in the space it occupies.
Jo Messer has been painting for more than 30 years. Has had her work hung in numerous exhibitions including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Woodstock Museum Gallery and other galleries in the UK. She was short listed for the John Moores 25 painting prize in 2008 and her paintings were also featured in the publication “Feelings about a Form”.
Forthcoming Exhibitions…
19 –31May.in AF2. Emily Johns. “Conscious Oil”. A series of lino etchings which examines the pervasive grip that ‘oil’ has on the unconscious part of our daily lives. Emily showed this exhibition in Rye last year, but it was largely missed by people outside Rye.
Sun 22 May 2-4 pm. Carbon Generations. Who was the first person in your family to smell paraffin? Will your great-grandchildren recognise the sound of the internal combustion engine? A performance by Benjamin D and Tim Fairs from PLATFORM using intimate stories from family histories to look at the rise and fall of coal, gas and oil across seven generations. PLATFORM works across disciplines for social and ecological justice.
Following the performance you are invited, if you wish, to participate in a writing workshop examining your own Carbon Generations. You are welcome to bring with you family stories, photographs, artefacts, family trees etc.
THU 26 MAY 7.30. Fuel on the Fire. Iraq expert Greg Muttitt will take us behind the scenes to answer one of the most pressing questions: what is happening to Iraq’s oil? Fuel on the Fire, just published by The Bodley Head, is “A cracking read” (the Guardian). “Greg Muttitt has kept his eye firmly fixed on the prize: Iraq’s vast oil wealth” (Naomi Klein).
Fri 27 May 6.30-8.30pm. Private View. At 6.30pm “Deconvoilution” real-time manipulation of sound, image and video responding to the exhibition and its local resonances by physicist Dr Patrick Nicholson.
At 7.30pm The Carbon Town Cryer Last seen and heard, uninvited, exorcising BP from the Tate Modern turbine hall, CTC has a rabble-rousing tune f or your least favourite oil company, at least four soulful hymns to Climate Camp and a clutch of more ruminative wanderings amongst the fossil fuelled ruins that still somehow call upon the foot to tap… ’sweetly revolutionary sounds’ – New Internationalist.
Sun 29 May 10-11am Children’s storytelling (6yrs+) A Story written in response to the pictures and poems from the exhibition. Facilitated by Mary Dawson of Rainbow Stories. Mary uses her stories to encourage a love of nature and as a creative way to inform and empower children in relation to global environmental concerns.
26 – 31May in AF2. Writing workshop led by Ann Rouse in conjunction with Emily Johns.
1 – 14 Jun in AF1. Pip Carpenter.
1 – 14 Jun in AF2. “Graph” – an exhibition by “World Domination” ( a group of Eastbourne – Brighton members)
16 – 21 Jun in AF1. Six Printmakers.
23 – 28 Jun in AF1. Victoria Kiff and Alastair Kendry. Paintings
16 – 21 Jun in AF2. Bruce Williams. Oils.
23 Jun – 5 Jul. Colin Heavingham. London-based artist in mixed media.
Exhibitions Elsewhere…
Stuart Duff View from a Window. Previews this Saturday, 30 April 3-6 pm at Black Shed Gallery, Robertsbridge. For more details see www.blackshedgallery.org.uk
Eastbourne Festival. 23 Apr – 15 May. Several Forum are members taking part by opening their studios or exhibiting in galleries. These include Ian Francis, Jan Mirosola-Jones, Fenya Sharkey and Liz Claridge.
Jan Mirosola-Jones and Cathryn Kemp are exhibiting at 4A, Baslow Road
Fenya Sharkey and Liz Claridge exhibit at the Old Studio, 14, Bath Road, daily for three weeks. Further info at tel: 07889895022
Can you come and drink Pimms with Liz and I next Saturday afternoon (14th May from 2pm) Warning: there aren’t any parking facilities but you can park for free on Saffrons Road.
We are exhibiting: Chance Encounters - collaborative photography and sculpture. Open daily 2-6pm until and incl 15th May at The Old Stable, Bath Road, Eastbourne BN21 4UA Tel 0788 980 5022
The 2nd show is: History of the WRVS - collaborative textile banners made by a local group I facilitate open Mon-Fri 10-12 until and incl 13th May at the WRVS, Hyde Road, Eastbourne Tel 0788 980 5022
Ian Francis. Exhibiting in “The Plantation”, Carlisle Road, EASTBOURNE (near the Towner). Runs 21 Apr – 15 May. Ian adds that if you are in Eastbourne for the Arts Festival, drop in, have a cup of coffee and enjoy his abstract work.
Members’ Announcements…
Andrey Shipilov posts. I am a creative and active localartist in graphic design and photography, recently graduated from Hastings Art College with distinction.
I am looking for local freelance work or any other work , which will give me recognition as a graphic designer / photographer.
I am familiar with Adobe Creative Suite such as Photoshop and Illustrator and I am happy to help anyone requiring these skills.
Jeremy Ebdon and Brij Sharma post Affordable Art in “The Stables” 16 May – 18 Jun. Seven artists show. *** New work from Jeremy and Brij.*** Beware the opening times. Mon – Sat 1030 – 2pm and 6 – 8pm.
Serena Thirkell posts. I am exhibiting at the Brighton FestivalOpen houses
Osborne Vistas
54 Osborne Villas Hove BN3 2RB
14/15 – 21/22 – 27/28 May 11.00-18.00 hrs
27 St Leonards Gardens Hove BN34QA
14/15 – 21/22 – 27/28 May 11.00-17.00
Maureen Connett posts: I will be singing jazz at the”Beach Tavern”, Sea Rd, Pevensey Bay (tel 01323761372) on Sunday,22 May, 3-5 pm
Vanessa Fowler, B Ed, (Taught at Hastings College for 20 years) reminds members that she has on-going ceramic classes for adults and children.
After School Club(Mon / Tue / Wed ) Junior Pottery Club – Sat 1200 – 1300.
Adults,( incl one-to-one) as arranged. £10 per hour.
FILM…
St Leonards Film Society. 26 May @7 for 7.45. “Howl” (15). 1 hr 24 mins. Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg—poet, counter-culture adventurer, and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs, and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career: the poem HOWL. Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, HOWL is on trial as prosecutors try to get the book banned. HOWL is simultaneously a portrait of a renegade artist breaking down barriers to find love and redemption, and an imaginative ride through a prophetic masterpiece that rocked a generation and was heard around the world.
POETRY…
The Poetry Group met in the Forum on Sat 7 May at 4 pm. The focus of the readings was “music” and was voted a success. While some expressed their difficulty in responding to the theme, we all managed some lines. OF particular interest was Wendy Oxlade’s surrealist verse based on the repitition of seven words. Lee Buchanan accompanied at will on the korah and her guest, played west African instruments. Anne Rouse spoke about her upcoming workshop for writing, with a focus on oil and Emily John’s exhibition “Unconscious Oil” 26 – 31 May. Anne has a grant from the Arts Council to attract first-time visitors to an art gallery, through the medium of her workshop. Anne will welcome ideas for attracting such groups.
The next meeting of the Poetry Group will be Saturday, 4 June at 5 pm in AF2.
The theme will be “Oil” – so please have a look at Emily’s exhibition, 19 – 31 May.
