Drawn to the Valley ( Plymouth) came to the end of an era in August. For three years after the Covid restrictions Drawn to the Valley met once a month for their Creative Table event at Ocean Studios.
Members from all over the Tamar Valley met to create together, share information, and plan exhibitions.
The exhibitions were fabulous.
And the Private View parties were full of happy artists and their friends
So What Next?
For Ocean Studios, developers will be creating new homes. A beautiful artistic space, gone.
For Plymouth Drawn to the Valley, we have a new location.
Devonport Market Hall is our new location for our monthly meet ups.
Creative Table will be held at Devonport Market Hall. 10-12 every second Thursday of the Month in the Cafe at the Market Hall. All DTTV artists and makers are welcome as are non-member friends.
I had an accidental art day yesterday. Starting with a surprise print sale. I was already a bit guilty that my creative output had dropped to zero for a month or so and I had to admit that and felt like I was slacking somewhat, while visiting other artists in their studios this week.
The unexpected sale of a print made me get out a watercolour doodle from early July.
Woman with drapes.
I worked onto it with a biro and an ink pencil with no great plans beyond doing some digital tweakery along the way. Maybe it is the slow approach of autumn but my woman with drapes emerged as a woman perching on a pumpkin.
The original drapes had been inspired by Cyril Power, a Modernist artist. Best known for his posters. His use of curves in straight places has always fascinated me.
Which took me to digital tweakery yesterday.
Two photographs superimposed.
Which then led to a full Cyril Power moment
My Cyril Power moment.
And that should really have been the end of it. But the pumpkin was unplanned, so I wondered if I could tweak a bit more and move my serene woman into somewhere with more serenity than a pumpkin patch. A bit more tweaking and by adding a still reflective pool, the original serenity and calm are restored. The pumpkin is gone.
And now when I visit other artists in their studios I can say I am working on a study of serenity. That makes me feel super serene , and I can still see Cyril Power in this image. Just calmer and less frenetic.
theoldmortuary took a trip to The Old Morgue yesterday to see the work of Drawn to the Valley artist Mary Toon as part of the Open Studios Event. The Old Morgue is just off Plymouths famous Union Street, which gives visitors the chance to see Urban Street Art, something that flourishes in this historic part of Plymouth.
Mary’s feltwork is always vivid and fascinating.
I bought one of her felted bead necklaces. I have no idea what was in her mind when she created this but for me it sums up the magic of the creativity that the Tamar Valley and the borderlands of Devon and Cornwall inspire. For me it is about the sheep of Dartmoor and the higher reaches of the valley and the pebbles beneath my feet on my local beach. Mary and I had a serendipitous meeting at Tranquilty Bay a few years ago. Mary along with other talented singers were performing Sea Songs on the beach. Calling to the Sea as the tide came in. The sounds drifted towards us as we did our evening dog walk. The whole experience was ‘other worldly’ as the sea wall hid them from view until the last minute. It was easy to imagine the Oceanids were, somewhat implausibly singing in Stonehouse. These woolly baubles will keep that lovely moment in mind.
Hard at times to imagine, but bustling, urban and sea-facing Plymouth is a vital part of Drawn to the Valley. Home to a large concentration of members, who meet regularly and support and galvanise one another to be experimental and collaborative in their work and their group exhibitions.
Mary has chosen a fascinating place to invite art lovers and visitors to. A brilliant choice of venue for Drawn to the Valley to show how diverse and fascinating members are.
Sunday 8th of June, the last day of a fantastic exhibition.
The joys of stewarding with a group of artists from Drawn to the Valley. ( Other art groups are equally rewarding)
I am a big fan of Stewarding. I learned to love it in some truly iconic galleries in London, Tate Modern, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Slade School of Fine Art (UCL) , Brixton East and some of the many galleries in Spitalfields and Brick Lane. All with South London Women Artists.
Returning to the West Country finds me exhibiting with Drawn to the Valley. Stewarding with either group has been rewarding and so informative. Artists are solitary creatures. We tinker away in our studios. Doing our thing,sometimes with a flow of creativity and other times a little stuck. Maybe lost in our own thoughts. Stewarding gives us all the chance to talk to one another and talk to the public who attend our exhibitions. Really some of the most rewarding conversations that can be had between relative strangers. At Cotehele we exhibited in a gallery space that was built in 1485. Yes the floorboards creaked a bit and the shadows and shafts of light were tricksy for viewing works of art behind glass, but 1485! Henry VII was King. We the chance to show our art and natter in a room that has been used for 540 years. The art is fabulous, the location equally so and then in just one day the whole thing will be dismantled. Catch it while you can.
Once a month a craft and food market sets up on the route of our morning dog walk. In good weather on a large grassy square and in bad weather in disused buildings. Either location gives the market a buzzy lively feel. Yesterday was market day and we set off on our usual dog walk with the added quest for Fig and Fennel Sourdough. Both were achieved alongside a bit of nattering to neighbours and fellow dog walkers. Our afternoon dog walk took in a quick visit to the JMW Turner exhibition that I am involved in.
Also quite a buzzy feel and plenty of people to chat to, just no hunt for an obscure flavour of sourdough.
A good Sunday,I think. Even if my mind is popping with all the images and nattering.
It has been an arty kind of week getting ready to deliver art to Cotehele for the Turner Exhibition.
I hit the opposite of a ‘Sweet Spot’ on Wednesday.
I suppose the opposite of a sweet spot is a sour spot but that feels rather negative. But the spot, whatever it is called, where things need to be done but it is not possible, quite then, to do them.
I was at a point on Tuesday when everything was done for the Friday hand in, but my Giclee prints and cards were not due back from the printer until Wednesday at close of business. They would need packing, framing and mounting.
So rather than faff about I took myself off to a different art exhibition to meet some friends. Both friends in the real world, huggy kind of way, and friends meaning viewing other friends work that has been accepted for the exhibition at Delamore.
I am still processing all I saw and all that four of us talked about but it really was the most delicious combination of 2D and 3D art in a gorgeous setting.
I suppose visiting a completely different sort of exhibition rinsed my mind of the mundane tasks ahead that would need to be completed on Thursday.
Lola finding mundane tasks a bit of a bore.
They were achieved.
Not exactly without a hiccough though.
Two paintings were not as finished as I thought they were and a late substitution was considered ‘ unprofessional’ * and rejected.
So this little chap sailed home with me again. So maybe I did find a ‘Sour spot’ after all.
The painting is not unprofessional but me making a late substitution was apparently so despite emailing ahead of time. But you know you are on a loser when the same person barks “You’re late “
I handed my work in and made a tactical withdrawal to the gardens. Life is too short for such things.
A very long while ago I was gifted these fine art pastels. They had belonged to a friend’s mother who had been a well received flower artist. On her death the pastels found their way to me. I have had them nearly thirty years and she was very old when she moved on to the great studio in another realm, so these are probably more than 50 years old.I worked out yesterday that in my 30 years I have used about 20% of what I was given. After a sort out I had 5 empty drawers. For the first time ever I went into an art shop and bought some pastels. Some really bright pastels to create a specific image.
I really only needed red,orange, bright pink and black. But the local art shop didn’t sell single pastels. Although made by the same manufacturer as my old pastels these giddy contemporary pastels are a little more difficult to use, they are possibly a student version . A bit of research tells me that Rembrandt pastels were first introduced in 1924. There is every chance that some of my pastels are nearly that age. Some of them certainly lived through World War 2 in London with their previous owner.
Favourite tree on Mount Edgecumbe
Which is rather fabulous as I am creating a time warp landscape that features Devonport, formally Plymouth Dock, a favourite tree, duplicated.
Fireworks or Incendiary Devices over Devonport formally Plymouth Dock
Fireworks or incendiary bombs and of course, given the current project Mr JMW Turner.
Mr Turner under a tree.
I think the landscape, should it need a genre might be classified as Magical Realism.
Turner overlooking Plymouth Dock for 200 years. Inspired by Wallpaper.
And a direct Turner quote
My blacks are deliberately very black and the brights are either sombre or joyful. The Plymouth Blitz or Firework night.
All this from a box of old pastels and a few gaudy new ones.
Waking up to the last day of the Spring Exhibition at Ocean Studios in the Royal William Yard, Plymouth. Megan Hall’s Sea swimming print sets the tone for the last blog of the exhibition. Today we are chasing orange. From the bitter cold of a dip in the sea to the gentle warmth of a barn in the countryside. Maya Sturtridge makes a little orange go a long way.
A garden image leads us to the garden studio of the artist, who created the last image of orange and ends the last of these Exhibition inspired blogs.
Last but not least in any sense. All of the paperwork and record keeping admin for this exhibition was created by Lynne Saunders. It worked like a dream.
Lynne’s Studio is called Figtreeshedstudio. Set in the countryside of the Tamar Valley. Her orange abstract is The End.
With a gallery roof that looks like this and a sunbeam catching my glass of Prosecco.
The only possible colour to chase is Aqua, hard to define. Is it blue or is it green. Does it have to have a watery element or can it feel substantial?
Green is the Colour to Be by Ali Fife-Cook,our chairwoman, suggests the colour journey today at Drawn to the Valley, Spring Exhibition. Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard, Plymouth.
Followed swiftly on with Spy by Debra Parkinson the exhibition Co-ordinator.
The greens of Sally O’ Neill’s work brightly demonstrate the quirky nature of this gorgeous space. At different times of day the shadows are just a memory.
And then the garden at Aberglasney with Sarah Grace. ( A small detour to Carmarthen but when I need green, I need green . It was almost certainly framed in the Tamar Valley)
A green sweep of the Tamar Valley with the Artists of Drawn to the Valley. It took us a little longer to set up the exhibition than usual. 40 artists and the potential of 640 pieces of art arriving. Not everyone submitted their full quota, but it was close. A challenging two day hang completed by a diligent team. One of them wearing green.
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