Art in Woodstock Festival

I spent a day in Woodstock on Thursday manning 'The Art Wall'. A great idea 'The Wall' was sponsored by several companies and constructed by a local building company. Children of all ages were given the choice of paints or felt pens and left to show their artistic talents on the wall.

The whole festival is run by a committee who organise the advertising, venues, handling of the art works and the invigilating duties of the artists. This year there were 60 artists in shops, galleries and hotels within Woodstock. I was exhibiting three of my paintings in the 'Real Wood Company' shop.

It is an ideal location as many visitors are in the town to visit Blenheim Palace, so the footfall is good as is the timing since it is half term and many people welcome it as a day out with their children. Perhaps next year some other members of SAF will apply although it is quite a distance to transport work. Maureen Toomey

Big Draw at the Artrix

Found myself on the way to the Artrix at Bromsgrove on Saturday with Steph and Jackie, we were about to become involved in the 'Big Draw'. Carol, a fellow SAF member met us there. After setting up our equipment such as paper, crayons, paints, scissors etc. we spent the next four hours helping children of all ages to express themselves with art. Steph and Jackie had put together teaching boards with Picasso portraits and then the children used these as examples to put their own collages together in the Picasso style. Carol experimented with paint and I did experimental drawing. It was an exhausting day but extremely satisfying.

Two of the Picasso Portraits

The artworks produced on the day will be on display at the Avoncroft Museum as part of their Big Draw between the 26th and 31st October. Maureen Toomey

The SAF Informal Get Together

The first Thursday of each month and Solihull Artists Forum hold an informal get together in the coffee bar at the Art Complex, (new members are always welcome) this month we did a look back on the Arts Trail although at times it was difficult because there was a large crowd in the café all waiting to see the 60s pop star Joe Brown in the theatre. In other words a little bit load.

As a member of the forum I spent Saturday and Sunday driving like mad round all the artist studios, it was great to see the work in the flesh so to speak. I have uploaded the photos of the day to my Flickr site so that anybody can download the images full size http://www.flickr.com/photos/johngarghan/sets/72157624950109147/

John Garghan

Woodbridge Gallery Exhibition

Yesterday Stephanie Adams and I attended the private view of the Artists International exhibition of paintings and ceramics at the Woodbridge Gallery, Moseley, Birmingham. The group was formed by artists who are from or have resided outside the UK and this geographical diversity shows in the works on display. Solihull Artists Forum member Usha Khosla had some of her new pots on show, coloured at the rim with a beautiful aquamarine glaze.

Some of the paintings by AI member Ann Gibbons

The exhibition, held on 2 floors, continues until Sunday 10th October. For more details Tel. 0121 449 5581 - Jackie Mackay

SAF Exhibition at Packwood

Yesterday I went to the National Trust house at Packwood for the first day of the exhibition, inspired by a sketching evening last summer (June 2009 blog) by 10 members of SAF. The room, on the 1st floor was small (in fact it used to be a bathroom) but the works sat well in the space because they were all framed in a similar light oak colour as stipulated by the National Trust.

My piece was of a Majolica drug jar to be found in the adjacent bedroom. The colour of the finished painting, especially the background, had to be lightened in order to co-ordinate with the frame. I have done commissions where I have had to fit in with surrounding decor but never before a frame! The exhibition continues until the 29th October - for opening times checkout the Packwood House website. Jackie Mackay

Out Yer Tree at Coombe Abbey

Just returned from a soggy day at Out Yer Tree Outdoor Art Exhibition, today (Saturday) was the artists walk and talk, 32 artists discussed their work with various visitors to the Coombe Abbey Country Park. There is an eclectric mix of contemporary work, all hidden either in the trees, the lake, woods or in the formal gardens. It is worth a trip to visit to the Country Park, once you have got over the shock of £3.00 to park the car.

These are a couple of photos of my work of distorted hybrid flowers unnatural in shape and size, whimsical yet futuristic. Placed alongside plants and flowers from our natural environment evoke a feeling of unease in the way we view them. The Exhibition runs until 17 September. Avril Elward

Blacked Out in London

I was invited to join a group of artists from different parts of the country to exhibit in a show in London. ARCH 897 an old railway arch at London Bridge. As I like exhibiting in unusual places I accepted and went to London for a visit. The gallery was to be a dark space, only the work was to be lit, the space I was allocated was a separate arch which meant the work had to be a fair size to make any impact. I was intrigued by the noise of trains rumbling above, and felt what ever I made should evoke movement, trains, and colour. So here it is ‘Time Wheels’.

Jackie and Maureen suffered a very soggy day in London to visit the show and took this video for me The materials I used for the revolving piece, which relied on the viewer pressing a button to start was a soil pipe cut, heated and bent so as the Perspex discs could be bolted to the pipe. A car head light was fitted underneath to light up the whole thing. The mechanism for the movement was very much a Heath Robinson affair and intentional. The second piece, I used a large plastic tube with disco lights fitted which shone onto a mixture of found objects , the shadows then projected onto the wall, which gave an interesting effect as the colours changed. The preview evening was a great success, with around 150 people attending. For more information about other artists in the show www.blackedoutexhibition.co.uk. Avril Elward