Thankyou to everyone who came to my exhibition:D I had such a good time! xxx

Art and The Mountain Goats

Fabulous weekend, first a great night out at the academy in Manchester to see a band called The Mountain Goats, then my exhibition. Have a look here for The Mountain Goats on myspace, they're great, the lead singer has a wonderful presence on stage. Thanks to a friend who let me have the tickets.

The Derbyshire Open Arts began yesterday and it's been wonderful, we've had lots of lovely visitors and some sales. I've had great feed back on my work, it's all been really positive and I'm already thinking about the paintings I want to work on next, I'm feeling quite inspired:D
Below are a few pieces of my work which seem to be popular.

xxx

6 days to go:D

Some new pics for the exhibition to feast your eyes upon. It's this weekend so come and have a look and eat some cake:D

Love and light xxx

Less than 2 weeks to go!

I'm really excited about the upcoming Derbyshire Open Studios. As the name suggests, the studios and galleries are open to everyone, so please come and have a look and say hello.

I've been doing some new work for it, as you know. I've started to paint on canvas for a change, it's lovely:D Here's a preview of what i'm working on at the moment, not quite finished yet.

I've been taking some photos of these lovely little flowers, not sure what they're called. The background is one of my new canvases, I intend to paint the flowers on the canvas.

Finally, thank you to all my friends who've made me smile and laugh this week and bought me baileys, it's much appreciated:D

Love and light to all xxx

Changes

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay. 

Robert Frost

I think I first the above Robert Frost poem in a film called the outsiders, many years ago. I always liked it. As someone who often has trouble letting go of things, even when they're not so good for me, I find it very poignant. I wonder if that's why I love cherry blossom so much, they're all the more beautiful because of their ephemeral and fleeting nature.

I've been working on some new pics of cherry blossom, and I've been working on letting go. A slow process to be sure, but I'm not doing too badly:D

Here's a sneak peek of my new pics.

Love and light xxx

Glossop artists open up

 Catherine Carr. Catherine does this fantastic knitted glass!

 Ghislaine Howard. I love the sensitivity in this piece.

 Tracy Cupitt

More artists than ever before will be taking part in the Derbyshire Open Arts this year. This is the fourth time that Glossop has been represented in the successful countywide event that runs from Saturday the 28th until Monday the 30th of May. Thirteen Glossop artists will be opening up their studios to the public as part of the annual celebration of arts and crafts taking place at over 100 venues across Derbyshire. It will give people the chance to see the artists in their studios, look at their work and talk with them about it.

Full details of all the artists, images of their work and a detailed map showing the location of all the venues participating in this free springtime event over the bank holiday weekend can be seen in the free brochure available at the library and many other places around Glossop. Further details and a downloadable copy of the brochure can be found at: www.derbyshireopenarts.co.uk 

Glossop Artists involved: 

Tracy Cupitt (that's me) has painted all her life, but her experience studying textiles at Manchester Metropolitan University and her recent residence in Japan affirmed her belief in the significance of the decorative and her respect for the craft traditions of different cultures. A talented artist, she specialises in colour and surface pattern, still-life compositions, and, more recently, intricate portraits in black ink. Tracy’s paintings are imbued with light, not from without, but, it seems from within. 

Ghislaine Howard is a painter of national reputation who was named as a Woman of the Year 2008 for her contribution to art and society. Her powerful paintings and drawings interpret our shared human experience and the dramatic landscape of the Dark Peak. Recent exhibitions include The Choreography of Walking at Salford University and Stations of the Cross: The Captive Figure at York Minster which marks the beginning of a three year association between Ghislaine and The Minster. She has exhibited widely at venues such as Manchester Art Gallery, Canterbury Cathedral and Imperial War Museum North and has work in major public collections including the Royal Collection. 

Michael Howard is an art historian and painter whose paintings and prints celebrate the work of those artists he loves and the pleasure of colour, form and texture. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Programme Leader of the School of the History of Art and Design at the Manchester Metropolitan University, where he teaches both academic and studio-based students. He has published widely including books on Lowry, Monet, and Van Gogh and has works in both private and public collections. 

Ian Mood is an artist who is drawn towards the shifting vastness of the landscape; its unpredictability and awesome might. Through his work he seeks to capture some of the defining qualities of our brooding landscape: how, in the space of a single walk one can experience all the vagaries of the English weather system – from being caught in a sudden downpour to the unexpected flash of brilliant light that breaks through the pearly canopy of low-lying cloud. Ian Mood studied Fine Art at UWE Bristol. His current work features landscapes and seascapes of Derbyshire; the Welsh coast; Brooklyn, New York & Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. 

Catherine Carr is an Independent Craft Designer who specializes in glass and textiles. She is inspired by the role of women in textiles, celebrating the history, memories and skills of women workers in homes and the textile mills of Derbyshire. Catherine’s work reflects the use of fibre

arts, particularly knitting and crochet. By applying these traditional skills to an innovative process of recycled glass products she makes beautiful and delicate glass lace structures which cast striking shadows. Each glass piece has been individually hand knitted or crocheted or woven. Following heating, applying precious lustres and manipulating the work at very high temperatures, a formed glass vessel emerges. Because of this hand crafted process, all pieces are original and unique. 

Glossop Fibre Arts Co-operative was formed in July 2010, five of its members are exhibiting during the Derbyshire Open Arts weekend and work on display includes stitched images, digitised fabrics, button jewellery, painted silk scarves and polymer clay jewellery. Over the past ten months the co-operative has organised workshops, informal get togethers and run a stall at the monthly Local Produce Market. Their next workshop is ‘Silk Painting’ on Thursday 19th May 12 -3pm with Margaret Preston and there will be a meeting weekly on a Thursday afternoon from June in The Smithy Studios. 

Adrian Holt is a ceramics artist living and working in Glossop. He has been professionally involved in ceramics for over 18 years, exhibiting at art fairs and galleries across the country. “I produce a diverse range of hand-built ceramics, their forms and finishes reflecting the many ideas and techniques used to create them. Important influences are natural history, the local environment and cultural traditions from around the world.” Adrian’s work includes animal and figurative sculpture, masks, busts, pots and tiles. His most recent work includes decorative wall hangings from the ‘Crack in the Landscape’ series and the installation ‘Bug Wheel’. 

Christine Keddle studied illustration at Hornsey College of Art before training as a medical artist. After working in some of the major medical institutions in London and Manchester, she taught art in Stockport and Bedfordshire. However, her real interest has always been in painting and drawing, seeking inspiration from classical mythology and the countryside. Her work has been exhibited widely and she undertakes private commissions. 

Simon Parkin has been exhibiting nationally since 1995 and running successful open studios for 10 years. His paintings are a response to the environment here in Derbyshire. He uses memory and observation as well as found objects which he embeds in the surfaces of paintings. Simon then uses various techniques of applying paint in order to capture the persona of the changing colours, textures and light of the High Peak. 

Artists’ contact details:

Tracy Cupitt: Ghislaine Howard Studio Gallery, 7 Oak Street, Glossop, SK13 8LS tracycupitt@hotmail.com www.gingerhoneycat.blogspot.com 07905186446
 

Ghislaine Howard: Ghislaine Howard Studio Gallery, 7 Oak Street, Glossop, SK13 8LS ghislaine.howard@btinternet.com www.ghislainehoward.com 01457 854368 
 

Michael Howard: Ghislaine Howard Studio Gallery, 7 Oak Street, Glossop, SK13 8LS m.howard928@btinternet.com 01457 852368 

Ian Mood: Ghislaine Howard Studio Gallery, 7 Oak Street, Glossop, SK13 8LS www.ianmood.co.uk 07989855559
 

Catherine Carr: The Smithy Studios, Smithy Fold, Glossop, SK13 8DD catherine@catherinecarrglass.co.uk www.catherinecarrglass.co.uk 01457 867656
 

Glossop Fibre Arts Co-operative:

The Smithy Studios, Smithy Fold, Glossop, SK13 8DD 01457 857200 glossoptextilearts@googlemail.com www.glossopmoot.wordpress.com Carole Beckett beckettc@stockportgrammar.co.uk Carole Haines carole.haines@btinternet.co 07908887056 Barbara Helm bbrbr51@aol.com www.littlebarb.co.uk Margaret Preston maggie.preston@btinternet.com Amanda Shackleton amanda@ashackleton.orangehome.com

Adrian Holt: 66 Surrey Street, Glossop, SK13 7AJ adrian.holt@talktalk.net www.adrianholt.co.uk 01457 867471
 

Christine Keddle: 13 Pikes Lane, Glossop, SK13 8EA 01457 852124 

Simon Parkin: 43 High Street East, Glossop, SK13 8PN simon@simonparkin.co.uk www.simonparkin.co.uk 01457 855936

Hope to see you there:D  xxx