Inspiring exhibitions: The First Cut, Manchester Art Gallery

Recently I visited Manchester Art Gallery for a mooch at their latest exhibition I had heard about...I bloody love it, and will be going again very soon for a thorough look round!

Impressive as soon as I walked in, I liked pretty much all of it.  Being a fan of paper art, silhouettes and cutting skills it was right up my street, especially as I am so bad with knives, scissors, and any sharp objects myself.

Not only this, but the themes were very similar to those in my own work.  Dream worlds, forest and skeleton ridden!!!

Here are ( very poor, sorry!) photos of my fave pieces:

 Silhouette layering swoons of Andrea Dezsö

Skeleton A4 paper cuts of Peter Callesen

Lovely lettering of Sarah Bridgeland (not my photo)

And finally, the biggest surprise of all was discovering at the end that one of my favourite Artists, Kara Walker, was exhibiting. I love everything about her work. 

For more information on The First Cut exhibition go to:

http://www.manchestergalleries.org/whats-on/exhibitions/index.php?itemID=92

GO AND SEE IT XX

Winter Arts Market this weekend at St George's Hall, Liverpool

I'll be on my ace stall here  on Saturday, that's good enough reason to come along isn't it?!! xx

Winter Arts Market 8 & 9 December 2012 St George's Hall, Liverpool 10am - 5pm £1.50 Entry /  Under 16's Free Join us this weekend at the largest arts and crafts market in  Merseyside and discover affordable creations from over 150 artists and makers. You can find perfect presents in the opulent surroundings of the famous St George’s Hall – one of the finest neo-classical buildings in the world. Choose from thousands of handmade gifts including:  paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture, textiles, knitwear,  cards, jewellery, glass, beauty products, accessories,  homeware and much more. It's a wonderful weekend for all ages and features: Children’s Christmas Workshop Two crafty reindeers need help from little deers to create their own magical antlers so they can help Father Christmas get his sleigh off the ground! Crown Court Concerts A special programme of musical performances in the stunning  Crown Courtroom hosted by Mellowtone Can Cook Café Shoppers can relax and enjoy food and drink from the pop up  Can Cook Café which will be offering their tasty winter  warmers menu including some scrumptiously seasonal  mulled wine and minced pies!

Christmas At The Mill

Just one week to go until the festivities begin and I'm excited!!!

Come see me here where we'll eat, drink and be merry!!! xx

Shop updated!

New things are now up and available in the shop yeay!

I have to say that they went down particularly well at the fair on Sunday, here are couple of pics of my little stall...

...tempted yet? YES? Head over to bearsandburrs.bigcartel.com and pick up some treats!

Buhbye xx

New wares!!!

Tomorrow is the Victoria Baths Art & Craft fair.  In this beautiful building I will be launching 3 new items for sale.

Firstly, my own zine that has been such a long time in the making ( too long!!!) For now you only get to see the cover!

Second is a set of badges...I have been toying with whether to do these or not for  a while, and then decided that I love badges, so why not?! These are very different to my wearable art brooches, as they are quite quick and simple to make, unlike the lengthy crafting of the brooches.  

Thirdly... I made a set of Christmas cards...

Excited that these will also be available on my stall at Christmas At Islington Mill, the end of this month...

Busy bee, out xx

Magical markets this winter

OOOOooohhhh excited to be taking part in three winter arts markets this year.

4th November - Art & Craft Fair, Victoria Baths Manchester
29th November - Christmas At The Mill, Islington Mill Salford
8th December - Winter Arts Market, St George's Hall Liverpool

I'll be selling my 'tickle trap' giclee prints, lino block prints, hand-crafted brooches, zines, postcards and christmas cards!!!

Here are some details about the Victoria Baths Arts & Craft Fair, more to come on the other two markets........

Open Day, Art & Craft Fair

4 Nov 2012 12:00 -16:00

Adults: £2.50 / gift aid £3.00, FREE for under 16's and Friends of VB

A great day out for all the family.  You can explore Victoria Baths, take an optional guided tour, view our history displays and complete the Soapy Sami Treasure trail.

This Open Day features an Art & Craft Fair - the chance to buy unique items from a range of stalls.  A great way to kick off your Christmas shopping!

The Art & Craft Fair is aimed at raising funds for our Stained Glass Appeal - we are aiming to restore the three large side windows in the Gala pool over the next few years.  Stalls cost £24 each and can be booked using the stall booking form below.

Guided tours will take place throughout the afternoon with the last tour starting at 3pm.  Tours cost £2.50 for adults (gift aid price £3.00).  Tours are free for Friends of Victoria Baths and for under 16's

http://www.victoriabaths.org.uk/visit/2012/open-day/

Some good words about my art

Oooh on the Manchester Confidential website there is an interesting well-written article about The Manchester Contemporary and Buy Art Fair, where my work has been listed as a highlight, yay!

Go take a look...

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Culture/Arts/Manchesters-Buy-Art-Fair

The Manchester Contemporary 2012 is this week...

...and I will be showing some new work there with The International 3 Gallery who will also be exhibiting work from Rachel Goodyear and Pat Flynn

The fair will run from 28th - 30th September, at Spinningfields alongside an invited selection of UK and international galleries, project spaces and organisations.
REGISTER NOW FOR FREE TICKETS!!!!!!!

It'll be a first outing for my 'shame pole', can't wait!

More information from: http://www.themanchestercontemporary.com/

Some new work...(Part 2)

More new pieces.   A wide diptych on solid wood, and a two-tiered painting on ply-wood.  Bottom two images by Simon Pantling.

Some new work..(Part 1)

Images of my finally completed Shame Pole ( front & back view) and a couple of other paintings at my studio.  Expect to see some of these at The Manchester Contemporary at the end of the month!

Learning to embrace modern technology (New Twitter and Instagram accounts)

I have moved with the times, in order to keep up with 'the young folk' and this social media malarky!

Now a proud owner of one Twitter account, please follow me

Follow @alisoneforde

Also getting to grips with Instagram! Follow me there too please

Follow @alisonerikaforde 

OR

http://followgram.me/putridpaints/

I'll be posting photos of new arts, works in progress and things inspiring me!

Thanks guys! x

BEARS AND BURRS - What's in the webstore?

AVAILABLE NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (click on product title to link to webstore)

"cranky cat" hand-finished wearable art brooch.  (photos by Simon Pantling)

"tickle trap" A3 signed and numbered giclee print

                                       

A6 postcard set

COMING SOON - alternative brooch designs and Putrid Paints zine issue 1

BEARS AND BURRS can be found here at http://bearsandburrs.bigcartel.com/ 

x

Putrid Paints zine

Sooo, I've been working on my own zine, Putrid Paints, which is a full colour illustrated zine with stories by guest writers.  Issue 1 with Seleena Laverne Daye is nearly ready!!!   Here is a sneak peak preview of what to expect...

I've really enjoyed cracking my good ol' typewriter out for the text pages, it does make it slightly better that my typewriter has my name on it (check the pic out!)  And I longed for more to type up! 

I am currently in the process of getting a first batch printed, will let you know when they're available for sale on my online store http://bearsandburrs.bigcartel.com/  

x

My secrets (somewhat) revealed!

In case anybody ever wondered, here are a couple of examples of how my paintings progress. 

The first example is a piece of work that  I created without having a complete idea of how I wanted the end composition in my head, which is how I usually work.  Sorry there are only two stages to this, the bits I'd thought out, then there was a break where I stared at it for a while and decided what to do, and next you see what that was, haha.

Secondly is a commission piece I made for a wedding gift.  This was quite thoroughly planned compositionally, although I hadn't fully planned the style I would paint it in.

There you have it, I hope it was at least of some interest! x

NEW WEBSTORE OFFICIALLY OPENNN!!!

Bears and Burrs is now open for business!

So I finally have a real shop, with special things to buy in it.  There are postcards, handmade brooches and limited edition giclée prints for sale, all with my work on. 

 As I am used to creating one off artworks, it's taken a long time picking the right designs, working with and sourcing through local businesses, hand finishing and deciding to produce limited numbers only, ensuring that the 'bears and burrs' treats are full of integrity!

Please go and take a look around, see if anything takes your fancy

http://bearsandburrs.bigcartel.com/

I will be creating and uploading new designs on a frequent basis, which I'll announce here on my newsfeed.   

Enjoy! Oh and please go tell all your friends!

xx

UPDATES!!!

Hello girls and boys!  Been keeping quite a low profile lately and working on secret projects that should be revealed soon!

Last weekend I made a couple of posters for an exhibition accompanying the soundtracks stage at Sounds From The Other City festival in Salford.  Mine were based on a film called La Jetée, 60s scifi photomontage brilliance!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056119/

I will post photos of the exhibition as soon as possible.

Another project that I can finally talk about is launching a new webstore!  Since having my website I've always had a webstore, but nothing has ever been for sale on it!  I've been working on some treats for a long time now, and finally they are ready, so stay tuned!

xx

Seleena Laverne Daye

It was my birthday at the end of last month and one of my extremely talented friends Seleena, baked me a fruit cake.  Here it is:

I love Love LOVEd it so much for it's 70s inspired homebake looks, the fact it's a bear, and that it tasted AMAZING.

Seleena has recently launched a website for her art, CHECK IT OUT: http://www.seleenalavernedaye.co.uk/

This girl makes the best felt art and all kinds of other crafts, I couldn't begin to tell you about all the handmade presents I've had and will always treasure.

She's one of my fave artists and people too ♥

Recent work...

ARCOmadrid 2012

I'm lucky enough to have a wall installation at this year's ARCOmadrid International Contemporary Art Fair including 6 brand new paintings!

It is taking place between 15th (today) and 19th February.  Anybody lucky enough to be attending the fair, please head over to the MasART Galeria booth to see my shiny new creations and all the exciting work being produced by MasART's other displaying artists.

Will upload installation pictures as soon as I can, but I've had a sneak peak and the wall looks smashing, even if I do say so myself!

http://www.ifema.es/ferias/arco/default_i.html