Sheep (Paintings) Herded South

A flock of my small sheep paintings and I are headed south for the weekend, to the SECC in Glasgow for the Country Living Christmas Fair (Thursday to Saturday). The painting that would have filled the row top right the in-house art critic liked so much it’s staying in my studio for now, and two festive red backgrounds have gone to Skyeworks. Which is your favourite?

Three other little ones, on A5 sized boards rather than canvas, are on their way to Patchings Art Centre near Nottingham for another festive exhibition. (My camera has blown out the colours somewhat, unfortunately) These were mostly done with acrylic inks, which on the absorbent boards gave watercolour-like results. I had great trouble stopping, not doing yet another little tweak on a cloud. Ultimately the need to get them in the post was what stopped me.

FREE TICKETS: I have 30 free tickets to give away for the Country Living Christmas Fair in Glasgow at the weekend. I haven’t checked how many are still left, but head to the online ticket office and try the promo code CLGLA012.

Photos: Spot My Paintings in the Time & Tide Charity Art Exhibition

A week in, about half of the paintings have been sold in Skyeworks Gallery’s “Time & Tide” 2017 charity exhibition, supporting Scottish Autism. A big thank you to everyone!

You can view all the paintings on Skyeworks’ website or on Facebook page, which has the advantage that you can add a like to your favourites and easily message the gallery if you’d like one of the still-available paintings.

The paintings are all the same size (10x10inches or 25x25cm) and same price (?85, of which the artist gets ?50 unless they choose to donate this). The exhibition is anonymous so you find out who the artist is only after you’ve bought it. There are paintings by full-time and part-time artists, occasional artists and first-time exhibitors. Last I looked, not all of my submissions had been sold yet, though you’ll have to guess which these are, I’m not telling. (In the photos, white dots are for favourite, red dot indicates sold.)

I’m particularly delighted that three paintings created by workshop participants have sold, including these two:
Paintings sold at 2017 Skyeworks Gallery charity exhibition by workshop participants

These are photos of my paintings that have sold.

Impasto seascape painting by Marion Boddy-Evans
A little different for me as it’s mostly wet-on-wet Impasto (thick paint). Applied with knife and brush. A bit of finer brushwork once it had dried, plus some inadvertent semi-opaque bubbles on the sea where I wiped off some white.
No, your eyes are not deceiving you, there is a shiny coppery undercolour to this seascape.

Yellow vase and sunflowers painting by Marion Boddy-Evans

And something rather different, that had its beginnings as a demo piece in a workshop and then took on a life of its own. It’s weird and wacky, but I like this. I very nearly kept it for myself.

weird sheep painting by Marion Boddy-Evans

Photos: My Colours of Spring Exhibition

Inchmore Colours of Spring Exhibition #9

My “Colours of Spring” solo exhibition has opened at Inchmore Gallery near Inverness, accompanied by new chainmaille jewellery by Alistair, and work by Shelagh J Ceramics and Namdoog Ceramics. Here are some snapshots I took yesterday (better photos of the larger paintings on my website here). If you’re interested in any painting, please contact Jane at Inchmore directly.

Inchmore Colours of Spring Exhibition Majestic Minch
This large seascape is also at Inchmore, plus a few of my flower paintings.

April Exhibition Alert: “Colours of Spring”

Next month, Saturday 8 April, sees the opening of my “Colours of Spring” paintings exhibition at Inchmore Gallery near Inverness (Google map). There’ll be an opening event in the afternoon and everyone’s invited!

Alongside my paintings there’ll be work by three other Skye makers: the intricate chainmaille jewellery by Alistair (my significant other), the stoneware of Namdoog Ceramics and the earthenware of Shelagh J Ceramics.

I’ve a couple of Shelagh’s coasters in her beautiful aqua glaze in my studio, and the patterns in them always make me think of waves and seaweed.

Paintings by Marion Boddy-Evans coaster by Shelagh J Ceramics Skye

I will have photos of my paintings on my website once the exhibition is open. Right now I’m finishing a few paintings, varnishing, painting edges, deciding on titles, taking photos, and all those other things that are essential but less fun than painting.

Photos: My Interlude Exhibition Paintings

Interlude Exhibition

Interlude ExhibitionI’ve finally got photos of the paintings in my Interlude exhibition up as a photo gallery on my paintings website here. And if you scroll down this page a bit, there’s a short video of the exhibition. Thoughts and feedback through the comments section at the bottom of this blog or by email) would be appreciated as florals are new territory for me.

A few notes: All these paintings are currently on show at Skyeworks Gallery; larger photos and/or details can be emailed on request. The gallery can ship paintings worldwide, either as is (flat) or taken off stretchers and rolled (cheaper posting, and a framer will be able to restretch it). The UK pound is at a 30-year low against the US dollar. The exhibition catalogue, which has most (not all) of the paintings in it, is ?9.50 from Skyeworks (plus postage). Contact Skyeworks Gallery.

Pausing for Bit

Artist Marion Boddy-EvansPaint brushes lie idle;
Paint tubes unopened.

The varnish is dry;
Strings have been strung.
Titles given;

Paintings hung.

The last decision:
which shirt
will distract the most from
the trousers
that have the least paint on them.

Today my Interlude exhibition opens at Skyeworks, the end of a chapter (the making thereof)? and beginning of a new (the response). I’m excited and trepidatious, energised and exhausted, keen to be painting again yet also to reflect on what I’ve just done.

I will still get photos of the paintings onto my website, I will still add the new cards and prints to my webshop, I will still write blogs with photos taken while working on my Interlude paintings, but come this evening, after the opening, I’m going to press pause for a few days. Thank you for your enthusiasm, support and help in making Interlude happen.

My wirework daisy chains against Skyeworks' natural-light roof.
My wirework daisy chains against Skyeworks’ natural-light roof.

Repeat How Many Times?

This is a week focused around the “admin” tasks of preparing for the hanging of my Interlude exhibition at Skyeworks on Sunday. It includes adding d-rings and wire to every painting, plus writing the details on the back, which means deciding on a name for each. Repeat more than 30 times and I’ve begun to question the wisdom of having so many small paintings. The solution is, of course, to do it as I declared a painting finished, but it’s too late now; maybe next time. (Yeah, in the same way I always paint the edges first.)

Good news is that my catalogue has arrived and I’m pleased with it (few minor typos aside) and my new greetings cards are due for delivery today. That means tomorrow’s task is bribing my Mum with frangipan tarts and scones from the Skye Baking Company to put the cards into polybags with an envelope (hardest part is dealing with the little tear-off strip on the glue which static-attaches itself to your fingers very determinedly).

After that is the pricelist and editing photos and … there’s still a lot to get done, but I’m very excited. I’ll send out a newsletter (subscribe here) when I get the photos added to my paintings website (after the opening on Monday).

Detail: Four Small Daffodil Paintings
Detail: Four Small Daffodil Paintings

Back of Small Daffodil Paintings

Detail: Four Small Tree Paintings
Detail: Four Small Tree Paintings
Back of Small Tree Paintings
Oops, either I strung the top left-hand one the wrong way up or I wrote the title on the wrong way up.

Setting Up My Stand at Patchings Art Festival 2016

I’m in Nottingham for the 2016 Patchings Art Festival, my stand is all set up and ready for tomorrow and the four days of festival. (And the answer to a question I’m sure will be asked several times: it’s about 500 miles.) Had a little wander around the paintings marquee, and looking forward to doing so again when everyone’s set up and exploring the other sections. Though whether going into the art materials section is wise or not remains to be seen, not least because Rosemary & Co have a stand. Wonderful to see paintings in real life rather than only photos on the internet, especially by artists whose blogs I read already.

On arrival, the bare tables and backing board. I opted for a wooden floor because I’ve stood in soggy grass at craft fairs before and it’s not pretty; though the problem with weather today was the opposite as it was sweltering.

The Beginning: Arriving at my Stand at Patchings Art Festival 2016

Three hours later and I’m all set up and ready for action, complete with sales assistant (my Mum, who fortunately thinks coming to an art festival is an interesting extra to her holiday). The canvas on my demonstrating easel has a composition of Coral Beach on it, with dried texture paste. On my stand I have a stash of the poster for my “Interlude” exhibition which opens at Skyeworks Gallery on 4th July), catalogues, my new “Painter’s Pocket Muse” book, small wirework sheep and a few wirework brooches, sheep paintings, coasters, tablemats, mugs, earring cards, prints and cards, plus three large Minch seascape paintings.

My Stand at Patchings Art Festival 2016

Stand all set up for Patchings festival 2016

Back of my Stand at Patchings Art Festival 2016
Back of my stand.

From the Entrance: My Stand at Patchings Art Festival 2016

I’m Heading to Patchings Art Festival!

Patchings Art Festival is a four-day event near Nottingham (see map) and I’m very excited to be participating! I’d enquired about having a stand next year only to be told there was one stand available for this year’s festival and was I interested. Of course I said yes, and am now trying to get my ducks in a row. I’ll be demonstrating on my stand, so there’s my easel to pack for starters.
Marion Boddy-Evans artist at Patchings art festival