MERTON ARTS TRAIL - PAULINA TAKES PART!

MERTON ARTS TRAIL, LONDON SW19 AND SW20, OPEN 10.30 AM TO 5.30 PM

PAULINA LITTLE'S OPEN STUDIOS IN OCTOBER FOR TWO WEEKENDS

Taking part in this Merton Arts Trail Open Studios event, 8/9 October and 15/16 October.

I will open up to show my oil paintings, prints and cards in Merton Park in South London, along with about 80 other local artists in other venues around the Borough. You can visit and see my small recent oil paintings at Poplar Road, Merton Park. 

Why not bring your children along to see these colourful and representational paintings and prints, many of them already framed?

Please contact me for more details if you need to know to how to get there. There is a link from the blog for COMMENTS which sends a message via email.

SPORTS ART

The oil paintings are all those made recently, most with a theme of sports-related events. Typical is the painting of Jamaican Beach Volleyball, and the small oil painting entitled 'Marathon Legs, Emmanuel Mutai' which is on show at the Bankside Gallery, London South Bank in the LONDON LIVES competition exhibition, until Sunday, 18 September.  

GREETINGS CARDS

I will also have some greetings cards for you to look at, from reproductions of my sports paintings.

Some of the paintings you can see are on the main page of my web site, here "http://sportsportraitartist.wordpress.com/"

MERTON ARTISTS

Details of the 80 artists taking part in this Open Studio event, the first to be held in the Borough of Merton, are listed in the catalogue, which I can send you, if you get in touch by email with your address.

This is the web site for Merton Arts Trail  . You can also print off a copy of the Merton map, showing studios that will be open, from this Merton Arts Trail website.

MEET ARTISTS IN THEIR STUDIOS

It is an exciting opportunity to meet artists in their studios, and I am is looking forward to your visit. 

 FREE PARKING

Please note that parking is free in the road at weekends. The nearest station is Morden, on the Northern Line, or Wimbledon on the District line and overhead rail, with links to Waterloo and Clapham Junction. After you have visited my studio there are a couple of other open studios within a few minutes walk.  

Other studios are spread out over the Borough, and in addition to Merton Park include Wimbledon, Cannizaro House,  Raynes Park, Phipps Bridge, Wimbledon Village, Southfields and Wimbledon Park.

This is the first time there has been an Open Studio event in the Borough of Merton, and it has been organised brilliantly by Wendy Bliss and Chrissie Craig, many thanks to them!  Sponsors include Fielders Bookshop and Artists' Suppliers in Wimbledon, Time & Leisure Media Group, Cannizaro House and the London Borough of Merton.

SUSAN WOOD TALK AT SOUTH LONDON WOMEN ARTISTS GROUP EXHIBITION, BANKSIDE GALLERY, LONDON

Susan Wood, an artist member of SLWA, gave a fascinating talk on Saturday, 1 May 2010.  She explained how the Exhibition Group, lead by Moira Jarvis, had worked so hard to put on this, the first group exhibition of the SLWA.
Susan likened our group to the artists' colonies, such as the ones at Newlyn and Pont-Aven, but said we were more a 'virtual' colony, as we participate with each other on the internet, since we do not all live in a small area of London.
Susan went on to talk about the exhibits, and set out to point to various groupings, the first one being 'colourists' such as Anne Lynch and Janet Tod. Next was a group of 4 works based on 'people', this included the portraits by Julie Bennett and Joley Goodman, the scene of the Smithfield Nocturne cycle race by me, and the painting of a bar front in Alburquerque by Carol Cooper.
I was pleased that Susan remarked on my vibrant colours, and remarked that my painting was not just of athletes, but of athletes in relation to their city surrounding, a city context.
Marnie Pitt has used egg tempera and oil for for her surreal image, Susan Short has a print, the only woodcut in the show and Leonie Cronin (founder member) was mentioned for her acrylic, of a mythological theme, with a background of women playing in a brass band (which her daughter does).
Jane Higginbottom has a small sculpture, stone on wood;  Jane has work in Burgess Park also.
Selina Jane Steele has a collection in a display cabinet, and is influenced by the 19th century idea of cabinets of curiosities.
City scapes are represented by Tory Wilkinson's Blue Skys, Moira Jarvis by Trees in Autumn in Cannizaro Park, Wimbledon Common and water reflections by Liz Charsley-Joley, a view from water level entitled 'Putney Pier'
The subject 'Layers' included Kim Thornton's vacuum cleaner 'Domestic Alchemist' and Sarah Willet's acrylic where circles are gouged out, creating visual ambiguity, and suggesting an interest in Aboriginal art. Finally Susan finished her talk mentioning the two blue Cyanotypes of Zoe Burt, made at Brixton Lido.

AT LONDON ART FAIR 2009

THE LONDON ART FAIR 2009, BUSINESS DESIGN CENTRE. ISLINGTON.
Saturday, January 17 YES, IT IS STILL GOING, DESPITE THE RECESSION!

Apparently there was a queue on the first day, Thursday, to buy some 'street art' at one of the stands. I think it was the one where an artist was sketching punters. He was still doing it when I was there - maybe I am wrong, but I think the charge was £250.
In case you dont know much about it, this art fair has been going for a long time now, and I have not attended for about 5 years. It remains much the same, the big posh galleries are all on the ground floor. Then upstairs they get smaller and smaller spaces, until you get to the outlying areas, where space is really restricted. There was a lot of photography now, which was not present on my last visit. It is a really big, fashionable movement. Maybe I should be enlarging my photos instead of struggling with oil paint and composition!

The food and drink are are real rip-off price wise, to do not go to any of these art shindigs feeling hungry or thirsty.

On Saturday morning it was not very busy, but the gallery owners (or as they seem to be called, galleryists) appeared fairly sanguine. At any rate, they were not interested in discussing how well they had been doing.

Some work good, of course. I always like to see the old names appearing, like Ann Redpath, Lowry, Bratby, Roger Hilton and the Cornish boys. This is where the big money is still clinging. There was a lot of pretty stuff, safe and saleable landscapes, flowers, nudes.

Unfortunately I do not paint landscapes and flowers, and usually keep my nude studies in a portfolio. I was interested in chatting to a few gallery owners about their attitude to seeing new artists.
I explained to some people I am interested in depicting sports events and muscular athletes, and one reply was it "does not bang our gong". Curses.

Of all the stand-holders I spoke to, only one kindly said, send me some stuff.


So I have send an email with attachments, and await response!