New year, new plans

As a participant in the Turps Correspondence Course I have joined up with a group planning exhibitions in different parts of the UK. The first show will be held in collaboration with Hypha Studios and The Dispensary Gallery in a large empty retail unit in Wrexham, North Wales. I was able to contribute to the organisation by designing a submission form, the first google form I've ever created, which shows how easy it is! My painting Open to Possibilities was selected by the curators. When I applied for the Turps CC I didn't expect opportunities like this to come along so I am very grateful for the enthusiasm and efforts of the other members of the group. The plan over the next six months, is to have another show at Cross Street Arts in Standish, Wigan and then a London exhibition. It's all very exciting. In addition I was invited by artist and curator Ruth Heaton to be part of two group shows involving women artists and also a joint contemporary artist exhibition organised with artist curator Sean Williams. These latter shows have limitations on the size of work I can submit so I am working on some smaller panels at the moment.

I was thrilled to be invited to visit artist Alison Edmonds' studio in Bates Mill, Huddersfield earlier this month. Alison came to my solo exhibition last year and visited my studio so it was very enjoyable to see her amazing paintings and discuss our work at length. See https://www.alisonedmonds.com/.

As you can see I have several goals to aim for without setting anymore! Apart from my mentor's feedback for my course, and two local art crit/discussion groups, I am nourishing myself by visiting exhibitions e.g Contemporary British Painting Prize 2024, Surreal Landscapes at the Hepworth, reading Martin Gayford's new book How Paintings Happen, and why it matters, watching the weather and changes in nature.