Last week I was invited by Peter Doel to visit St Anne's Chapel in Barnstaple.  

Peter is managing the restoration of The Chapel and it's his job to come up with a plan for sharing this wonderful historic place with residents and visitors in North Devon.

It is not surprising that with a constant search for public gallery space in the town there has been a significant interest from artists considering the space for exhibitions. North Devon's Art Trek are keen to use the Chapel next year and Barnstaple Fringe Theatrefest are also hoping to use the space in 2013.

The Chapel is a fascinating place.  When I visited, the carpenters were in, preparing for the experts to start renovating the interior walls.  Old wooden benches from the Chapel's Grammar School days lie around, carved with the initials of hundreds of years of daydreaming children.  Old paper darts are retrieved from the eaves; I could almost hear the chatter and hum of the old school days.  

Peter Doel is writing a great blog following the restoration of the Chapel on the Barnstaple Town Council website here where you can keep up to date with all his exciting finds.

Meanwhile, if you can think of a good use for the chapel, please complete the poll below:

What do you think about us creating an online gallery and shop for North Devon artists?

I had an interesting meeting today with Stella Levy who organises North Devon's Art Trek.  Mine and Stella's paths often cross as among the many hats she wears are those of Vice Chair of North Devon Theatres Trust and Events Officer for North Devon Arts. Stella came to me with an idea to help North Devon artists sell their work online.

We looked at several online art sales websites and have come to the conclusion that Arts and Entertainment North Devon could spread its wings a little further and offer an online gallery and shop for local artists to sell their work.

First of all though we need to know what you think.  We could offer:

• FREE self-managed gallery page in the 'shop'
• OR £100 one off fee to design your page for you
• 30% Commission on sales
• We manage the financial transactions
• The artist deals with delivery of work

Whether you are a visual artist in North Devon or a buyer of art please tick below to let us know your thoughts.: 

Flying Down to Rio is an exhibition of art work by David Cowper currently showing at the superb Goodwin Gallery at the Brannam's campus of Petroc in Barnstaple.

I loved the fact that these paintings are on flattened out cardboard boxes.  The cardboard is not just used as a base but an integral part of the work.  Cowper's pictures are a fabulous example of the more you look the more you see!

The artist says "The qualities of cardboard, it's warmth and fragility, the way it's underlying structure influences the painted surface, it can be punctured, bowed and worked it like an animal skin."

There will be an arts and crafts fair at Brannam's on Saturday 17 March 2012  and all income from table fees will go to support the exhibition programme at the Goodwin Gallery. 

I first came across Karly La Fontaine's work at the Petroc graduate show last Summer in the (then) new Brannams campus.  My husband and I (ooh I sound like the Queen) just loved Karly's unusual and beautiful trademark ceramic jugs.

I became a fan of Karly's Bideford based Pigeon Club Pottery on Facebook to keep up with news of the classes she teaches and take a sneaky peek at the beautiful work she produces.  A recent announcement that the Pigeon Club Pottery has now become La Di Dah Pottery in case Karly ever moves premises from those named Pigeon Club (forward thinking - I like that) or maybe, as she intimates on her Facebook notification, just an excuse to design some pretty new stationery!

Anyway, I was browsing through the photos on the Facebook page and the work is just so lovely I wanted to share it with you in my blog.  The photos below are of work produced at Karly's adults and children's classes, with some of Karly's' pretty as a picture' pitchers in there too.  For more info on pottery classes you can call Karly on 07966987144.

While doing my usual North Devon online social networking I 'bumped into' a local artist called Simon Groves.  Seeing that Simon is an artist I offered him a link from the Arts and Entertainment North Devon website.  I took a peek at Simon's website and just loved his digital art work especially these 'what if' images of North Devon.

These pictures speak for themselves so have a look, enjoy and ponder!

Born into a “Royal Navy Family” near Manchester in 1967 Simon Groves spent his early years moving from one port to another in Northern England and Scotland.  At seven years old Simon moved to  Barnstaple where his mother grew up.   He remained in North Devon until he graduated from North Devon College (now Petroc) in 1984 and left for Suffolk where he studied Graphic Design.  Simon worked in graphic design in London for two years until he gave up the deadline pace for six months of travelling abroad. On his return he taught A-level Art & Design at Southampton technical College and began working as an independent artist.  

Simon moved back to Barnstaple in 2000 where he has been inspired to produce works expressing his deep love of North Devon. 

Simon says "I don't see a particular style in my work, though there is probably I guess, I always feel it is better to leave no trace at all of the artist if I can help it....Although my oil painting leaves “foot prints” all over it I guess,  with the brush work.... I favour digital design over oils, but both disciplines alternate in my focus and favour all the time."

Simon charges the following prices for giclée prints on good quality heavy art paper: A4 - £35  A3 - £45  A2 - £55. He is also happy to teach this digital technique.  For further information contact Simon at simongroves13@btinternet.com and visit his website here.

Sunbeams and radio waves in the church of Bideford Pannier Market.

Beams of sunlight streamed through high windows onto the cool tiled floor of the Pannier Market where Janek Schaeffer's Local Radio Orchestra was tuning up as a welcome Indian Summer sizzled the streets of Bideford outside.  

The Orchestra is a sound art installation commissioned in part by Beaford Arts to mark the start of the year long project "Confluence" along the River Torridge.  It is an exploration into community and collaboration.

Award winning sonic artist, self confessed geek and former student of architecture Janek Schaefer uses the Orchestra to perform his compositions and "explore the spatial and architectural aspect that sound can evoke and the twisting of technology".

I contributed to the performance of "Unfolding" by tuning twelve classic Bush radios to receive Janek's transmissions from twelve iPods each connected to a pair of mini transmitters inside "the trunk".  The emerging soundscape surrounded me like the mellow vibrations of a church organ.  Shafts of autumn sun melting the half light of the vaulted market hall added a holy feel to the experience.

Earlier in the day a group of Appledore school children had come to take part in the work of art.  Schaefer asked them what they liked about the piece "They told me they liked the radios,"  he said  wryly "They enjoyed finding music on them."  In this town with no local radio the children managed to pick up transmissions of music stations and were quite excited by the discovery.  He added "When I asked who would like to take it home with them they all put their hands up."  and with a smile "I asked them if they had rich parents!"

 

To launch the third year of Bideford Bay Creatives' Culture Show I went for a mosy around the town guided by local artists Bert Bruins and Dave Green.

The guided art walk coincided with September's First Friday so Mill Street was buzzing more than you would normally find at 'Crackerjack time' (It's Friday, It's five o'clock - for those of you too young to get the reference!)  We wove our way around buskers and barbecues to peer in at art in non-gallery spaces.

We are quite used to seeing art in cafes these days but more unusual venues such as the greengrocer's, barber shop and book shop may come as more of a surprise to the shoppers of Bideford.  

In the back of Walter Henry's Bookshop on the High Street, Dave showed us his collection of Ghostcards; photographic works comprising merged images of local scenes 'then and now'.  Down in Bideford library Bert pointed out some of his 'rural scape' paintings.  One lovely scene of a grazing friesian cow was intended as a present for his mother who grew up on a cattle farm in the Netherlands.   After lugging it in his backpack across the continent he was rather deflated when she remarked that she couldn't possibly accept it as she had spent quite enough of her lifetime looking at cows!

Speaking at the Culture Show 2011 opening event in Gertie's Cafe, Chair of Bideford Bay Creatives Sadie Green thanked both the proprietors of the venues involved and the artists themselves for the "leap of faith" they have shown by taking part.  She said that the organisers try very hard to match up the art to the venue and cited the rather stunning ink painting of a black and white cat in a basket of apples we could see on Gerties' wall.  This was a piece of work by Westward Ho! resident Janet Jopson and was one of my favourites on the tour.  Janet has produced a body of work inspired by her allotment.  The result is a series of vibrant original pictures bursting with lush vegetation and garden produce.  I just loved Edward, the black and white cat staring out from a basket of green apples saying "just you try and get me out of here!"

Bideford's Culture Show 2011 runs until the end of October so if you are in town take the time to pop in to have a good look at the great variety of art on show - you don't have to buy anything, or get your hair cut - the art is there for looking at!

For profiles of all the artists visit the Bideford Bay Creatives' website.

A self indulgent blog from me today.  Well, if we can't brag about the achievements of our children  it's hardly worth all the time and effort we put into making them all we ever wanted to be!

My son Teddy is fourteen and consequently spends a lot of time alone in his room.  I'm not complaining though as when he does emerge it is more often than not to present us with an impressive work of art.  

Teddy first became interested in stencil art after we brought home a Banksy book from the library a couple of years ago.  He works mainly on board (cheap and easy to cut) with graffiti spray can paint (Monster Colours) and stencils cut from cartridge paper.  The Banksy influence is there but the ideas behind the pictures are all his own.  Ted's pictures are full of humour and often witty political comment.  I am constantly delighted by the images with their ever improving technical qualities and impressed by the maturity of the imagination behind them.

Teddy's bedroom is a forbidden land forever being 'improved' by his move into installation art.   Through a wall to wall curtain of coloured balloons one spies the master in his top hat, swivelling in a black leather chair and dreaming up new ways of entertaining us with his art.

YOU CAN SEE MORE OF TEDDY'S WORK ON HIS WEBSITE HERE ...

I recently sat with my Dad in Bideford Pannier Market Cafe watching him eat just one half of his bacon sandwich.  He's had a stroke and as well as a characteristic wandering off he seems to neglect the left hand side of everything.   

I looked around at the few sorry looking stalls and was not in the least surprised to hear The Specials 'Ghost Town' echoing around the hall from the market's sound system.

Take a few steps down to Butcher's Row however and it's a different world.  This lovely little avenue of trading units is fair buzzing!  There's John Butler carving his witty and beautiful wooden figures, gift shops, second hand records, books and a head shop for your 'natural highs'!  

One lovely little gallery I hadn't seen before caught my eye.  With its whitewashed walls and cobbled floor it is by nature and by name The Little Gallery and houses some fine work by local artists.

I loved John Hurford's vivid, almost photographic paintings like the Jersey Tiger Moth one pictured above (it's huge by the way).  John was one of the notable forces in the psychedelic art movement of the sixties and seventies in the UK and his pictures warrant much more than a cursory glance.

There were also some fabulous colourful paintings (all my favourite colours) by Dixie Appleton Wahl and I have to mention Bill Hudson who exhibits his glass work in the gallery: he let me help myself to his punnet of raspberries before I had to run off after my Dad who strode past the window on a mission to who knows where.