Valerie Armstrong is showing some of her prints at The Cut Arts Centre, Halesworth, Suffolk, with a small group of textile artists and printmakers from the Suffolk Crafts Society.
The exhibition is a part of the Halesworth Arts Festival and runs from Saturday 11th to Sunday 26th October 2014.
The Cut, New Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk IP19 8BY
Today’s blog post comes courtesy of Artworks artist Valerie Armstrong, whose art is now taking a bold new direction after inheriting an idyllic house in southern France:
It all began in Spring ©Valerie Armstrong
Two years ago I inherited a house with a large studio in the mountains of the Alpes Maritimes in the south of France. It was hard won and the complicated French legal system meant I spent much of last year struggling to keep the house. Now however, my family and I are finally able to enjoy it, my husband and myself will work there for the summer. As a result my work is changing to larger scale abstracts in acrylic paint and mixed media.
The Light of Morning ©Valerie Armstrong
In France I work in a beautiful studio overlooking a medieval village and the mountains. I am surrounded by exuberant and colourful canvasses painted by my French relatives. The light is soft and the air pure; it is an inspiring place!
Alchemy ©Valerie Armstrong
I love to draw and have always expressed myself in a figurative or semi-figurative way. Now, perhaps because of France, I feel the need to let go of my old, comfortable ways of working and move into a less familiar, more abstract space. I need to push myself further to explore those dark, shadowy places lurking in the subconscious.
The Wisdom of Experience ©Valerie Armstrong
In my new work – on canvas and on paper – I build up with layers of translucent textures, forms and colour, using many applications of pigment and glaze. I add mixed media and collage, then scrape back and rebuild so that veiled layers and images applied in the process finally reappear in the finished piece as ghostly suggestions.
New to the Artworks group in 2102, the portrait painter John Glover has been paintings portraits in the current Artworks exhibition at Blackthorpe Barn, as part of our daily demonstrations programme.
The models for John’s two days in the gallery were also artists, two artists from Artworks, Valerie Armstrong and Liz Waugh-McManus.
Here is Valerie Armstrong sitting for her portrait, with John Glover at the easel.
Here is the finished portrait, which Valerie was very pleased with. Word has it that the sitters get to keep the painting.
On John’s second day of painting demonstrations in the Artworks exhibition, the sitter was artist Liz Waugh-McManus – and here is the result.
Read more about John Glover and his career as a professional portrait artist on our blog, John Glover : a new artist to Artworks.
Visit John Glover’s website for more information on commissioning a portrait or attending one of his art tuition classes.
A different Artworks artist sets up a temporary studio space in the Artworks exhibition each day. The artist is in residence from 10.30am to 4.30pm. You can drop in at any time during the day to watch the artist at work or ask questions about media and techniques as there is no structured timetable to the day.
See all Artworks artists daily demonstrations at a glance.
The 13th Annnual Artworks Exhibition
Blackthorpe Barn
Rougham
Suffolk
(Sat Nav IP30 9HZ)
8th to 30th September 2012
The 13th Annual Artworks exhibition is open daily, from 10am to 5pm. Free entry and a free catalogue, ample parking, full disabled access.
While at the Artworks exhibition check out the Artworks shop (& Cafe) for a range of smaller works from all the Artworks artists, some never seen before, straight from the artist’s studio. There are original handmade prints, small works on paper and canvas, small sculptures, glass, ceramics – and a fabulous range of artists cards. Click here for directions to Blackthorpe barn.
Artworks 