Basildon Art Trail 2012

I love drawing. For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed drawing, painting, cutting, sticking, gluing and so on and so forth. As part of this year’s art trail I wanted to go back and explore drawing and painting for my work.

I was invited to create some pieces of work inspired by The Green Centre at Wat Tyler Country park – or to be more precise with The Essex Field Club based at the centre for this year’s art trail.

Works unwrapped and ready to be hung

The Essex Field Club has an impressive range of resources that can be accessed by the public, this includes Internet files, specimens donated form the Natural History Museum and localised specimens that the field club collect and collate.

Cytherea, Acrylic on Canvas

Murex, Acrylic on canvas

From Within, Acrylic on Canvas

 

Orchidea, Acrylic on Canvas

I decided to create a series of paintings exploring natural form images such as shells, flowers, patterns in nature inspired form images seen at the centre. I liked the idea of created textured canvases with bold and beautiful colours that would jump out and grab the viewer.

You'll feel it in my kiss, water-soluble crayon on paper

Too late to go back to sleep, water-soluble crayon on paper

That's a real good looking boy, Water-soluble crayon on paper

And she's watching him with those eyes, water-soluble crayon on paper

She's got big brown eyes, Water-soluble crayon on paper

Somewhere only we know, Water-soluble crayon on paper

In the time we are here, Water-soluble crayon on paper

Installation view at The Green Centre

In contrast to this I was intrigued at the specimens of bugs, spiders and insects that the centre has. I for one have often fled like a small child from a spider, a wasp or unknown creepy crawlie. But when you look at them up close they are an engineering phenomenon. They have stunning structure, colours, detail and are...dare I say actually quite cute! Using water-soluble crayons I created a series of six drawings depicting these creatures up close. The bold and bright colours, fine lines and frottage compliment the paintings colours and textured surface.

These pieces will be displayed at the centre until mid November, so if you are in the area pop in to view the works, and don’t forget to take some time to explore the diverse range of resources exhibited at the centre.

For more information about any of the pieces pictured in this blog please contact lisamart@hotmail.co.uk

Introducing David Smith

As part of this year’s Basildon Art Trail, I managed to convince my husband to finally exhibit some of his amazing photographs. For over 20 years he has been taking pictures for me to use for drawings, paintings, reference etc; and as you can image he has quite a collection. He has an eye for capturing the essence of the day, the space the subject in his work. So here....for the first time are some of his glorious photographs.

Installing works at Gallery 2

Winter 2012, Greets you as you enter the venue

Installation view of David's pictures in the Green Centre

 David says

I have always been a keen photographer; wanting to capture that specific instance in time that would never be repeated.

It may have been a sunset, a summer’s day, an eagle in flight, or a field mouse gathering food. For me, it is nature that holds my attention; the shape and form that is so dramatic and beautiful.

                                          

I hope that my fascination with the natural world comes across in my work. I have no formal training and my Photos have not been digitally altered. What I photograph is what appears in the picture.

Winter 

The Lake 

Lake District Boats

The Needle

Honesty

Summer

Coughton Court

All pictures taken on a Canon Powershot S5 IS

A127 Art Trail Brochure

Welcome to the A127 Trail 2011. Following on from the success of the Basildon District Art Trail last year, the newly retitled A127 Trail was established and is now recognised as a community event of some magnitude to the borough, which aims to bring the arts and business together.

Over 60 artists are taking part in the Art Trail this year between the 9th - 18th September. I am lucky enough to be exhibiting my drawings and paper sculptures at Glass From the Past, based at Barleylands Craft Village and will be posting pictures of my work over the next week.

You can pick up a copy of the brochure from any of the art venues including Dean Smith art at Barleylands Craft Village, Basildon Eastgate Art Gallery, Starbucks, Gateway 97.8, Eastgate Shopping centre, Past Times, Basildon Library, Towngate Theatre, The Fold in Billericay and Summerhill Garden Centre.

Whether you are a serious art collector, or just enjoy browsing there is something to suite everyone's taste on this years trail from drawings, painting, illustrations, photography, contemporary sculpture, textile work, mosaic and much more.

 The glorious Brochure

 And here I am Number 12, based at Glass From the Past at Barleylands Craft Village. To find out more about Glass From the Past have a look at their website www.glassfromthepast.co.uk

 The Trail at Barleylands

The trail at Basildon, Make sure you take some time to look in the Basildon Eastgate Art Gallery to see artwork by amateurs, professional artists and local children. A fabulous venue that illustrates how important art is to the local community. Since opening a couple of months ago the gallery has had 12000 visitors!

For more information about the trail have a look on the website http://www.a127trail.com/ or follow on Facebook A127 Trail - 2011

Brandenburg Gate

In preparation for the Basildon Art Trail September 2011, I have been working on a series of drawings based on places I have visited. I have chosen to use pastels -  mainly oil pastels - as the medium for the drawings. I love the quality and marks that can be made with crayons and pastels, the lush colours, subtle blending and powerful contrasts.

In March my husband and I went to Berlin and visited the Brandenburg gate. I was inspired by the architecture and wanted to capture the mood and magnificence of the gate and atmosphere of the day in my drawing. As you can see I have used some artistic licence with my drawing `editing` the picture, removing all the buildings behind the gate and a few of the passerby's. This allows me to concentrate on capturing the form and line of in the architecture; playing with the negative space and using the signs and posts to lead the viewer around the picture. I enjoyed creating this drawing and hope that you find it interesting.

 Brandenburg Gate 2011, Oil Pastel

Photo of the Brandenburg Gate