Karen's blog

Sorry to say... but unfortunately, the Red Dot Sale art event at the Grand Hotel tonight has been canceled due to weather. We are planning to reschedule the event so keep it in mind.

Please pass this message on.

RED DOR

This post is a little late but I wanted to talk about the Red Dot Sale at The Grand Hotel on the 26th November. The art event was put together by a group of local artists including myself (Karen Le Roy Harris), Nick Romeril, Jason Butler, Ian Rolls, Theresa Robinson and keeping us on track and inspired our chairman Rod Bryans.

The event was a great way of meeting local artists and an opportunity for people to buy an original piece of good quality contemporary artwork. The group invited 10 other artists to take part and exhibit their work. In the end there was a really great mix of both well known and up and coming local artists and the work on show was diverse - from painting and drawing to sculpture, ceramics and illustration; each artist working with their own individual themes and influences, making this an interesting and exciting event. Also, on stage was a new band called The Mulburys playing an acoustic set. The room was mobbed and with good art and good music the buzz in the room was electric and everyone was in high spirits. The night was a real success and certaintly won’t be the last.

In Rod’s words: “Its no accident that when artists get together with a collective aim their successes are remembered long after they have gone. Even greater is how they have inspired other artists or groups to get together and create new collectives, new art. Everyone craves opportunity but it’s a sweeter deal if you can create your own. Ideas that challenge peoples perceptions, change their views about life or provoke open discourse are generally found in the hands of artists.”

As a group we want to continue to organize collaborative events that promote local practitioners and hopefully get practitioners working together and excited about future opportunities. This event being a success has only spurred us on to do more and we hope will inspire other artists to be pro-active and to keep positive about their practice. There was real sense of community amongst the artists involved with everyone helping out and having fun as a group, which was really great to be part of. Being an artist can be rather lonely and it’s great to be involved in group projects like this where you begin to feel part of something bigger.

A new artist profile on the CJA site. Check out Wayne Audrain's page...

http://www.contemporaryjerseyartists.com/artists/wayne-audrain

The Elms, headquarters of The National Trust for Jersey has been running an artist in residency scheme. Artist Sara Job (once my school Art teacher) has just finished her 6 months residency at the Elms. I went along to the Elms to catch up with Sara and to enjoy her exhibition that featured work she had undergone during her residency. Sara said she’d been quite emotional packing everything away but was happy to have had this experience and to have been part of the National Trust, which is doing something so worthwhile.

Sara’s work features local places, which are significant in many different ways. Sara’s work features aspects of The Elms as well as some of the less celebrated landmarks in Jersey, but which are still of great significance. Sara found people viewing the exhibition tended to look back to places of their childhood and were drawn to this. Sara’s intimate studies reflect her own personal meaning onto each piece and capture details of places that resonate in people’s memories and mean something different to each individual viewer. Sara sketched on location and then came back to the studio to create a painting which she could then make her own.

Sara joked that her work had become the ‘kiss of death’ as some of the places she had painted had either been knocked down or modified, where it’s original features that once attracted Sara had been destroyed. And so some of Sara’s paintings have already become part of Jersey’s history documenting our past.

Sara’s residency and exhibition finished the 22nd September, but the residency will continue with a new artist. Virginia Colback will be the next artist to feature at the Elms. Virginia’s residency will begin the 1st November 2009, for 6 months where you’ll be able to visit the studio every Friday. I look forward to seeing how Virginia’s work develops.

Studio space:

The Elms Pressoir, The Elms, La Cheve Rue, St Mary (top of St Peter’s Valley)

You can find out about more artists in their studio spaces at www.jerseyopenstudios.com

I had a run in with someone from school, not so long ago and proceeded to be offended by the conversation that followed. The person asked for advice about exhibiting work and how to promote yourself, reeling off lots of possibilities, it dawned on me how much as artists we do and just how proactive you must be; an entrepreneur in a sense. The conversation also revealed just how clueless some people can be.

We went on to talk about technique and university, in which she revealed that she didn’t feel the need to go
to university to study art as she had her own ‘unique’ strong sense of style and didn’t want others to interfere with it, but had wanted to continue with artwork in her spare time. I couldn’t believe my ears, for one did she not realise how offensive that may be to me, someone who has studied art for years and how can someone be that narrow minded that they feel there is nothing more to learn, when there’s always more to learn. As if she had perfected some great way of working. I resisted any nasty comments but continued to fume inside.

Listening, being open to new ideas,learning, changing and challenging what you know are are all important parts of being a good artist. If you reject this then how can you claim to have something ‘unique’ when all you have is something static and limited. University taught me things about my work that I couldn’t have predicted at school and helped me to grow as an artist. You begin to bring concepts to the work that make it interesting on many different levels. An improved sense of style and technique can be appreciated, but also the research undergone towards an idea that can be conveyed through the work is very important.

Continuing this infuriating conversation it led to her complaining about her ’soul destroying’ job. As artists most of can’t make a living and so we juggle lots of different things – part-time jobs, running workshops, teaching or full time jobs fitting everything else in between, working hard to continue to be part of something we’re passionate about. Yet this person had opportunities but wouldn’t accept a slight pay cut in order to do something interesting and rewarding.  All I could think was how lucky she was. You can’t complain about something you’re willing to do nothing about. I work hard to continue being an artist and I take the opportunities that come my way.

I recently filled out the hand written questions page in Gallery magazine, it was in Septembers issue. A fun quirky little page that stands out.

To all my budding artists - I’m going to be doing the art and culture section for gallery so make sure you email me with any exhibitions you’re doing. Have a look at October’s issue of Gallery; there are some new sections like ’speak out’ where you can voice your opinion and there are some other changes too, so email me if you want to voice something or if you want to do this questions page, I’ll send you one to fill out.

Karen x

Chris Lilly better known as Du Gary to me, is one my friends who is coming over from Bristol to have an exhibition at the Sir John Cheshire Gallery in Jersey. So make sure you pop along and see his work. He’ll be coming over this Saturday to set up. The exhibition starts Sunday 30th August and finishes the 13th September. Above is a JEP article about the exhibition.

Chris’ drawings are concerned with the intangible, fleeting nature of moments, and the defining effects they have on the individual’s psyche. Influenced by the photography of Jeff Wall, Diane Arbus and Sally Mann, this latest exhibition brings together a series of recent pastel drawings in which layers of torn paper have been built up before any colour is applied – the false notion of a ‘blank canvas’ is abandoned, and the reality of a complex, damaged history is evoked.

The subject matter is often ‘borrowed’ from lost or abandoned photo albums that the artist has amassed over the years, or in other cases is simply from imagination. The use of surreal colours gives the pictures a dreamlike, dusky quality, while long shadows, and a wide and high viewpoint, create ominous, thoughtful atmospheres.

An article about the Contemporary Jersey Artists website, that I’ve finally scanned in. The article talks about the launch of the site with the Street art exhibition in Hilgrove street. www.contemporaryjerseyartists.com

I seem to be putting together very last minute exhibitions as of late, a few weeks ago, a phone call from the Jersey Arts centre ended in an exhibition with Anna Shipley being rustled together the next day called ‘Romantic Gestures.’ Just yesterday a call from my old Art teacher Jacque ended in an exhibition being hung that day which I’ve named  ‘Transition.’ So everything is very much on the go. Stressful, I seem to never rest even in my week off work. But I’ve always felt that if you’re making then you should be showing as well.

The work I’ve selected are pieces from my earlier more abstract work to my more recent descent into figurative imagery. You’ll notice this transition and how the ideas have changed and developed but the underlying theme of the body remains.

The work explores abjection, disgust and attraction as well as ideas of power and sexuality.

The image here is one of my most recent drawings. The space is not large enough for the original but there’ll be prints on display and hopefully an opportunity at a later exhibtion to see the original. I’ll let you know.

The exhibition runs from Tuesday 11th August 2009 - 28th August 2009. At the Sir John Cheshire gallery, next to St. Thomas’ Church in the Welcome centre.

Opening times are: Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 4pm, Wednesday 10am - 6.30pm, Monday it’s closed