Fenfolio: exhibition

Showing posts with label exhibition. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 October 2018

North East Open Studios 2018

I can't believe how fast summer went! It has already been more than two months since I last posted an article here. Earlier this year I started to use Instagram where I regularly post photos and videos. It's a more convenient way for me to record my artistic journey and connect with other artists and people who are interested in my work. You can see the latest feed on the right-hand side of my blog (if you receive blog updates by email you first have to click the title).

It has been a very busy time with a kayak expedition to Greenland (which I hope to write about later this year) and preparations for the yearly North East Open Studios. From 8-16 September I exhibited at the beautiful Phoenix Hall at Newton Dee in Bieldside, Aberdeen, with 10 other artists.

Artists at the Phoenix group

In the run up to NEOS I was asked by the Committee, among a few other artists, to take part in a promotional video which was going to be shared on social media. It was exciting to do but it's so weird to hear yourself talking!

Video of me in my studio

Video of all interviewed artists

I had a wonderful, light space and was able to display my works in the way I wanted. I brought two side tables to display my print sculpture "Betula"and my limited edition artists' book "Woodland" (the original was sold at RSA Open!).

Settling in in my exhibition space

As most visitors like to buy smaller items, I designed and made various notebooks. These proofed to be very popular so soon I will have these available in my Etsy shop!


A selection of my handmade notebooks

I used wooden boxes to display my notebooks and cards

For the event I also made a new artists' book where I used birch bark and some leftover prints.

This print sculpture was another new piece I added to my collection. It is made from two prints (from a laser engraved plate), machine-stitched together and assembled onto a piece of birch branch with three twigs.

"Betula" print sculpture (front)

"Betula" print sculpture (close-up back)

It was an amazing week, where I met so many lovely people. Hearing their feedback about my work was just priceless. I also really enjoyed working together with the other artists and being part of a group. Newton Dee has been a fabulous host for our event and I can't thank them enough for letting us use their space. Even though I was exhausted after 9 days of listening and talking, it's something I definitely want to do again, again....and again!

Monday, 2 July 2018

RSA Open Exhibition of Art

Not long after I delivered my artists' books to the Royal Scottish Academy for the
RSA Open exhibition of Art 2018, I heard both had been selected. As you can imagine I was over the moon with this news! Last week I was able to pop down and see the exhibition for myself.

The Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh

My artists' books were displayed amongst a few others behind glass in a display cabinet. I was quite disappointed that only two pages of my book "Woodland" were shown so you couldn't see any of the other prints, the handstitching and the lasercut and laser engraved covers. I can understand why they had to do it like this as so many visitors come and would like to touch it if it wasn't behind glass. I've learnt from this experience and next time I'll probably provide my own display box!

Artists' books are shown here behind glass

Close-up of a few artists' books ("Woodland" on the left)

I was pleased with the way they displayed my other book, "Trees in a box".

Close-up of a few artists' books ("Trees in a box" on the right)

Artists' books, prints, sculptures and paintings in the Finlay room

There was so much artwork to see so I really took the time to take it all in. So many different styles, mediums, subjects....Some grabbed me, inspired me, some didn't do it for me but what I really liked was the way they grouped various artworks together. My goodness, it's a mammoth job to curate such a huge exhibition!

The members' lobby

The artworks that really stood out for me are below:

"January's Pairing" by Gillian McFarland

"Mearns Triptych" by Robin Palmer

"The Fall No 6" by Simon Ward

"imcaqlaq#183.8" by Joseph Calleja

"The girl in black" by Anne Power

"Bathtub Existentialism" by Joao Villas

The exhibition runs until the 25th of July and takes place at the Lower Galleries of the Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture. The address is The Mound, Edinburgh, but entry is via Princess Street. Opening times; Mon-Sat 10am- 5pm, Sun 12-5pm. Do pop in if you're in the area!

Wednesday, 13 June 2018

Art exhibitions Edinburgh

Last week I travelled down to Edinburgh to deliver two of my artists' books for the RSA Open Exhibition which were pre-selected. Tomorrow I'll hear whether they have made the final selection so fingers crossed! As I had a few hours spare before I was being picked up by Jaap for our bike/hike/camp weekend at Rannoch, I was able to visit two fantastic exhibitions.

The first was at City Art Centre: Plastic Beach by Robert Callender.

Born in 1932 and died in 2011, he was a much-loved teacher and a cherished member of the Scottish art community. He was driven by his interest in the craft of making and the environment, particularly the coast, the sea and those who worked on it. Painting, 3D works and printmaking is complimented by his writings; prose and poetry on maritime and environmental themes.

"Plastic Beach"

Info about Plastic Beach

He joined a tradition of papermaking more aligned to Japanese and Chinese constructive techniques where paper, card and mixed media could be engineered into powerful utilitarian structures. The process of recycling and contemporary thinking reveal the artist's commitment to environmental concerns (info from LateralLab).

"Grey Deck" (1989) made from paper, card and paint

Detail of "Grey Deck"

Two small boats on wall

Framework of boat made out of paper, card and paint

Detail of framework

Callender's artworks are huge!

"Cross Section of Artwork" (1980s)
card, wooden frame and paint

Detail of "Cross Section of Artwork"

Artists' book "Coastal View"

I was blown away by Callender's work. Not only because I'm always inspired by art with a coastal theme but also because of the process. To create such large pieces out of paper and make it so realistic is mindblowing!!

My next visit was at Edinburgh Printmakers where I actually did a course earlier this year. With much interest I had heard and read about Translating Travels by Imi Maufe and I was delighted I had the opportunity to actually see it.

Imi Maufe is a British Artist based in Bergen, Norway. She has been turning journeys into books since 2002. Some long, some short. Others short, made long by getting lost. Modes of travel vary – ten days skiing from hut to hut, five weeks on board a Tall Ship, four months cycling with a small tent, or a short swim downstream. Her artist books are concise, conceptual documentations of the events that happened along the way. Text combined with signs and symbols is used in a minimal manner. Sometimes the text speaks for itself conjuring up a visual story in short sentences

Her books and other works attempt to show just a glimpse of her experiences through printed matter that rarely uses the photographic image. In this exhibition, she is showing work from the past fifteen years – a collection of such travels that have been developing into contained boxed pieces that can also involve collaboration with other artists (info from: Edinburgh Printmakers website).

Translating Travels by Imi Maufe

As part of the Shetland Arts Residency on board the Swan, Imi spent 5 weeks as part of the crew and documented the voyage with this Bunk Box.

"LK243 Bunk Box", Mixed Media

Detail "LK243 Bunk Box"

"Voyage Map", screenprint

Two screenprints

Binocular screenprint

Fifteen books are housed in a specially designed case. These books from 2002-2018 document getting lost, significant train rides, long and short bicycle rides, mountain ski tours and other wanderings.

"Translating Travels Suitcase" with various screenprinted artists' books

Artists' book "Cycle Ride"

Screenorint "Greetings from Norway"

Artists' book "Discovering Shetland"

Poster "Translating Travels"

This bookshelf box was produced for the Visual Arts in Rural Communities residency. It was designed to travel on a Northumberland mobile library and to be taken out on loan by library users.

Part of "Living North of the North Tyne"

Another screenprinted artists' book

SwimWalk performances started during a Hospitalfield residency in Arbroath in 2016 after a mis-order of swimming hats and a love of cold water swimming.

Installation "SwimWalk"

Detail of installation "SwimWalk"

The combination of outdoor activities, travel, environment (coastal theme again!), printmaking and artists' books really resonated with me. No doubt I will refer back to this experience when making new pieces for my own exhibition later this year!

Sunday, 24 September 2017

National Open Print Exhibition

In spring this year I saw an advert to submit artwork for the National Open Print Exhibition at Bankside Gallery in London and thought: "Why not?". So I decided to send them 6 images of my handmade prints, including my very first artists' book which I wrote about in one of my previous posts. You can understand how excited I was when I heard my book was accepted to be exhibited!

Organic Book by Fenfolio

Last Tuesday I met my mum in London who came over from The Netherlands just to be at the preview. It was such an amazing experience and lovely to have shared this with her!