Open Up North

Hands, continuous line drawing

One of my aims this year is to make more time for my own artwork. As much as I love the work I do with other people it is sometimes frustrating as it can seem like I spend all my time helping other people use their creativity and express themselves but never get a chance to do so myself. One of the ways I've been trying to get to make more of my own work is by finding exhibitions and competitions to enter. Sometimes, having an end goal really helps as it makes it easier to justify taking the time out to make the art. So, with this in mind I entered two pieces into the Open Up North exhibition. I entered the first Open Up North show in 2011 and my piece got through the first round of selection but didn't make it into the final show.

This year I am very excited and pleased that one of my pieces has been selected for the show. The piece selected is one of my life drawings. I've liked this drawing since I did it, it was one of those very rare drawings that somehow just worked, I was really pleased when it made it through the first round of selections and to get into the exhibition is great. The drawing is a continuous line drawing of the models hands and I really like the composition and shaping of the drawing. The exhibition is on at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal from 31st May to 27th July.

The embroidery in the window

Detail

Detail

As well as the drawing of the hands I entered an embroidered drawing of hands knitting, which didn't make it through to the second round. As it turns out I'm really quite pleased it didn't get selected as I wasn't at all happy with how I'd mounted the work. The embroidery is in white on a white organza base and works really well (I think) when hanging in front of the light. However, in order to submit it for the exhibition I had to frame it which I did by stretching it over a deep frame in an effort to keep some of the light behind it. It didn't work very well and so, as I say, I'm glad it wasn't selected as I now have another idea of how to take it forward and develop it. A good lesson in when to compromise and when not to I think!

Experimenting with backgrounds

The embroidery mounted on a frame

Detail