WORKSHOPS - 'Breathe' Land Art, Ryedale Council

I worked with MakeMore Arts in August to deliver 5 land art sessions for Ryedale Council. These were around the theme ‘Beathe’ and were commissioned by Ryedale Council to tie in with playgrounds in Ryedale going smoke free. We set up the installations in some beautiful sites working with enthusiastic children and parents. 

    

 

INSPIRATION - This Woman's Work

Help! I can't stop listening to this song....

EVENT - Arts Fest

AIM & CLICK - Internal Wiring

I love walking past those phone box cable cabinets and seeing them open whilst an engineer is working in them... this feels like my brain at the moment

WORK IN PROGRESS - Preparing for Art Fairs

Tiger theme going on in this kiln firing. I'm decorating some of my porcelain mugs with tiger stripes for selling at some upcoming Art Fairs. I'll be at the Arts Fest at the Monument in Newcastle this Friday and Saturday. 

AIM & CLICK - Cormorant at South Bay

I'm fascinated by cormorants, I love being by the beach and catching glimpses of them, this was a rare treat to watch, this cormorant spent ages on the RNLI slipway today with outstretched wings. It did almost feel like it was modelling for me at one point 😀

INSPIRATION - Emma Kunz @ the Serpentine

A friend told me about this exhibition when I was in London and highly recommended that I visit, suggesting that it was completely up my street. Emma Kunz was a clairvoyant and spiritual healer who used a pendulum to create huge geographic drawings which she used to assist in her healing, referencing these drawings as ‘portals’…. Well, this is indeed right up my street! Completely! Having taken a 3 year hiatus from ceramics to pursue a healing and clairvoyant path myself, this exhibition spoke more profoundly to me than anything I have seen in some time. Without question there is something to these drawings. I could not tear myself away, I stayed at the serpentine for 3 hours, finding myself drawn into working in a healing capacity with these images, zooming between rooms in strange sequences seeking and seemingly knowing which drawing should follow the proceeding one (this I found all the more interesting as Emma Kunz never dated any of her drawings or provided any information, when asked to describe them she would say that they were “shape and form expressed as measurement, rhythm, symbol and transformation of figure and principle”). I found this to be the oddest experience I’ve had at an exhibition . My impulse and instinct to work with these drawings in a way unfamiliar to a gallery context felt strange. I was responding to this exhibition from the perspective of a healer more than an artist. I was magnetically drawn to certain intersections in the images, my hands hovering, my fingers drawing energy from various points. This was a very personal experience which felt at odds with the ever changing influx of vigilant invigilators, one of whom told me off for touching the glass.

These powerful artworks find me at a time when recent spiritual events have brought me into an unanticipated place. I needed to interact with these drawings, that this work exists I found breathtaking, even more so that the work is retrospective. Kudos to the Serpentine Gallery for bringing this artist to a modern day audience….and especially to me.

I loved the added touch with this exhibition of the creation of the stone benches, importing large chunks of the healing rock AION A that Emma Kunz discovered. The simple form of these benches summed up by co-curator Christodoulos Panayiotou, “I shall add only a series of benches for Emma Kunz. I see them as viewing devices. They shall allow vision rather than being seen”…. for this he referenced Paul Klee- “Didn’t Feuerbach say: For the understanding of a picture, a chair is needed? Why a chair? To prevent the legs, as they tire, from interfering with the mind”. As crystal is also an amplifier it will indeed help allow vision 🙂

                                     

WORK IN PROGRESS - Portable Goveshy

Spent the past couple of days constructing a portable Goveshy to take to the London environment protests, just finishing off... the original Goveshy is too cumbersome but as I have some #michaelgove busts left from 2013 and now Gove is environmental minister seems fitting ... and I massively want to go and #protest #mustrebel #goveshy #craftscouncil #political installation ...I'll be heading to #parliamentsquare tomorrow as the last day of protests there 😀just need to decide on a slogan for the bottom board... is "Smash the Gove-rnment" too confrontational?

EVENT - Beer & Beard Festival

My Tureen Heads and Painting are having an outing to the North Yorkshire Beard Festival and the Cambra Beer Festival this weekend at Scarborough spa. This is rather a different setting than they are used to being shown in, I'm sure my creations will be keeping their eyes on everyone's goings on and shenanigans! 

EVENT - Poppies in Peace @ Beck Isle Museum

I’ve spent the past two months working with MakeMore Arts on their Arts Council England funded poppies in peace project. we’ve run workshops with 500 children in schools throughout Rydale and the culmination is an exhibition of the work produced to be displayed in the Beck Isle Museum in Pickering. Today we installed the poppies created by the children in the activity room, the exhibition will run until 24th November.

https://www.makemorearts.com/blog/poppies-in-bloom?fbclid=IwAR3yKSHshqz-Tk6U1x3zw6mgwwK8FoP8fXPTq5zHrNT0gsmOTHEfD-NZwhM

EVENT - New Gallery, Pineapple in Bishop Auckland

I've recently had my work stocked by the lovely Pineapple Gallery in bishop Auckland. They have taken some of my Large Portraits on paper and some of my smaller ceramic works. 

OUT & ABOUT - Gongers bid for Guinness Book of Records

Took myself off to London to join in with the Guinness Book of Record attempt at the most Gong Players in one room... what an amazing experience! One of the rooms at Hammersmith Olympia was full to the brim of the most amazing and somewhat huge gongs. Swoon...

EVENT - Summer Artfest

 Back at the Summer Artfest at Monument in Newcastle this weekend...

WORKSHOPS - Clay Inventions at Worsbrough Mill

A busy workshop today at Worsbrough Mill as part of Barnsley Museums Cracking Ceramics! project. 

OUT & ABOUT - Barry Basil

Met the very lovely Barry Basil today and received a gorgeous kiss 👄💓

WORKHOP - William DeMorgan Inspired Land Art

What a great day! Barnsley Museums invited Land artist Mim Robson and myself to run a special one day project in the grounds of Cannon Hall. We worked with the public to create a piece inspired by the ceramics of William DeMorgan. The final ambitious work was created using natural objects foraged from the grounds along with added freshly created ceramic flourishes. There were plenty of visitors around to help create the work… this was my first foray into creating this kind of land art and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was also very lovely to work with Mim on this project. Thanks to Barnsley Museums for bringing us together for this fun one day project.

 

 

EVENT - National Saturday Club Yearbook & Exhibition

Ah... I feel very privileged to be one of the National Saturday Club Trusts Masterclass Alumni, I'm in exceptional company! This yearbook is amazing to read through and to see all the amazing things that have gone on throughout the year with the National Saturday Clubs.  

AIM & CLICK - Scarborough Joke Shop

I just love this Joke Shop in Scarborough, as a youth I remember being transfixed by the Joke stall at Newcastle Quayside Market every Sunday, I would have loved a shop like this then...

EXHIBITION - Northbound

I'm back again for a second year at the NORTHBOUND Pop-Up Exhibition in Newcastle Central Station. This time I've brought along 4 of my A1 watercolour and ink portraits. I'll be here today until 4pm

OUT & ABOUT - Rachel Ara

I really love this self evaluating artwork by Rachel Ara, this is currently on display at the Whitechapel Gallery, I first met Rachael at the Aesthetica Symposium and what an inspirational artist she is 😀

Rachel Ara - This Much I'm Worth

EVENT - Presenting Certificates

What a lovely experience presenting Bradford College students with their National Saturday Club certificates with Sir John Sorrell. Really looking forward to the opening of the exhibition at Somerset House 😀 

Karen Thompson and Sir John Sorrell present Bradford College certificates.

STUDIO - Big Cat Little Cat

I had my little chum in the studio with me today... As I was cutting this tiger shape out of clay he decided to leave his imprint 😺

EVENT - Cracking Ceramics Display

Some of the work we produced during the ceramics workshops run inside Cannon Hall as part of the Cracking Ceramics funding have gone on display inside Cannon Hall. The work was selected and co-curated by myself and Barnsley Museums  

 

EVENT - An Apple for the Teacher

Was really chuffed to be presented with this gorgeous hand crafted wooden apple, this was given to me by the National Saturday Club Trust for the Masterclass I ran with the Bradford Club.

MASTERCLASS - National Saturday Club

I was invited to run a Masterclass for the National Saturday Club Trust at Bradford College of Art. What a lovely day. Bradford College had requested that I show them the techniques I use for my Paintings and illustrations. So after my Artists talk we got stuck in. A great group who were enthusiastic and talented. Thanks for inviting me…

Photo Credits: Rob Thompson / The Saturday Club Trust

NEWS - National Saturday Club Masterclass

I’ve been invited by Lady Frances Sorrell OBE to run a Masterclass for the prestigious National Saturday Club Trust. I’m very excited about this project and feel extremely honoured to be asked to take part.