Really pleased to hear I have two paintings selected for the Electric Open 2014 which opens on Friday 10th October and runs ’til Saturday 1st November at the Electric Picture House, Cross Street,  Congleton, Cheshire CW12 1HQ.

pen Mon – Sat 10 – 5pm.

Thrilled to hear that my piece ‘Gathering’ has been chosen to be exhibited in the Bankley Open. Private view 10th October 2014. More details to follow soon.

‘Gathering’ 2014  Bronze, brass chair, Papaver somniferum roots, bell jar

‘Gathering” 2014 – detail

I’m really pleased to have two paintings chosen for this exhibition.

The exhibition opens on Friday 3rd October, 6pm at Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, Bold St, Warrington WA1 1DR

www.warringtonartsfestival.co.uk

I’ve two pieces of work in this exhibition, ‘Universal Magic Tree’ and ‘Five Wands for Freyr’.

‘Universal Magic Tree’

Here I have used an upturned tree root and hung from it a collection of items of importance to humans from ancient to contemporary times.

My interest in amulets, charms and religious iconography and the importance they have in many peoples minds was first aroused by reading Sheila Paine’s book ‘Amulets’, AWorld of Secret Powers, Charms and Magic. On travelling in Eastern Turkey I discovered amulets and charms for sale and started to make a collection of them. This led me to extend my collection to include religious iconography and other items I thought to be of significance to people globally. Friends have also contributed items and to them I am very grateful.

‘Universal Magic Tree’ is by no means complete but it shows a representative number of items and I am still adding to it.

‘Five wands for Freyr’ in my studio at Cross Street Arts, Standish, Wigan.

‘Five wands for Freyr’ are my interpretation of the wands of the Volur, the wise women of Norse mythology, who carried their wands into battle to weave the fates of their warriors.

I imagine hundreds of women standing on a hillside above the battle ululating and calling out the names of their gods whilst waving their wands whose mirrors and  beads flashed in the light creating a fearsome image to frighten the enemy.

I have used fallen branches from ash trees and decorated them with fabrics, braids and plastic reptiles and hung with mirrors, beads and animal bones.( Ygrassil, the mighty ash is the world tree of Norse mythology.)

In 2013 I decided to embark upon a long term project based upon the Britain’s native oak tree Quercus robur, the pedunculate oak.

The oak is an important habitat and food source and supports more than 280 species of native insects alone, not to mention other flora and fauna.

I am now beginning to produce images of the insects that are supported by the oak in a range of media including  drawing, printing, embroidery, knitting, painting and photography. I anticipate that the project will take  me 3 to 5 years to complete.

During late summer and early autumn 2013 I went out most fine days to collect acorns from my local oak trees. Oak trees produce acorns in quantity every  5 to 7 years, these are known as mast years and last year was an excellent one for oak mast production. I collected and dried thousands as part of my Ecotopia Project and worked out that if all the acorns I collected grew as a woodland it would be the size of 325 football pitches….I’ll leave you to work out the equivalent in hectares! It’s a good sized woodland. Just think how many insects would inhabit such a woodland and provide a food source for many other creatures hence the title ‘Ecotopia’.

Araneus diadematus, European Garden Spider – embroidery on unbleached cotton (18 x 20 cm)

Apatura iris, Purple Emperor Butterfly – drawing

Dolycorus baccarum, Sloe Shield Bug, photograph