What do you usually use a pencil for? Writing, doodling, sketching, chewing on the end?
What if the pencil itself was art?
Take a look at these intricate, miniature sculptures carved by Dalton Ghetti onto the tips of pencils.
Pencil sculpture by Dalton Ghetti. Image from Best Design Tuts
Lead Boot by Dalton Ghetti. Image from Best Design Tuts
Who else creates unusual sculptures or uses unexpected materials?
Taking full advantage of yesterday being a lovely, sunny Sunday, my other half and I decided to venture into London for the afternoon. We enjoyed a delicious al fresco lunch and followed that up with a dessert of contemporary art at the Saatchi Gallery. Don’t worry, I didn’t miss out on a real dessert: a yummy French patisserie was consumed later in the afternoon. 
Anyway, I want to share with you an installation by John Wynne displayed in the Saatchi Gallery, which I found particularly intriguing: 300 speakers, progressing from random solo units seeming to form stepping stones towards the ceiling-high, obelisk-like pile in the corner of the gallery space. Speakers of varying shapes, sizes and vintage, some of which were conected to a pianola (and a vacuum cleaner!) nestled in amongst the pile, programmed to repeat an almost eerie series of notes at regularly spaced intervals.
As I stood gazing up to the top of the speaker spire, I wondered how long it took the artist to collect them all and how he went about it. I bet that some of those old speakers have a really interesting background story.
Installation for 300 speakers, Pianola and vacuum cleaner by John Wynne
Who else has seen this installation and what did you think?
I really love this innovative sculpture made from recycled skateboards, by Japanese wood sculptor Haroshi. He combines a much-loved hobby of skateboarding with recycling to create fun, colourful art – works for me!
'screaming my foot' | 2010 image © designboom
mad skull, 2009 | image © designboom
piles of skateboard decks in haroshi's studio | image courtesy of territory magazine
For more images of Haroshi’s fabulous sculpture, visit designboom
Happy to be blogging again!
Hi everyone! I’m back!
Sadly, it has been a while since I last posted on my blog. And it wasn’t due to lack of time or inclination on my part. No, all the blame for this lack of communication lies firmly at the door of Blogger!
Yes, this is another example of a provider changing the goalposts and leaving customers in the lurch. For those of us who used Blogger’s custom FTP service to upload content to blogs hosted on our own websites, Blogger decided that it was going to stop offering this functionality. Which left me with the choice of having a Blogspot-hosted blog and domain name (not an option when your blog forms part of your website), or of finding an alternative solution. Of course, I chose the latter, but it has taken me a while to research the options and get everything set-up.
But at last, although my new blog (self-hosted Wordpress) is a work in progress, at least I can get back to sharing artistic thoughts, ideas and work with you.
Oh, and if you’re thinking about setting up your own blog, I recommend that you give Blogger a miss and look at Wordpress instead. 
The first-ever Reading Contemporary Art Fair took place last weekend, 23-25 April 2010, and I was one of approximately 80 artists who exhibited. Although I have frequently exhibited my work over the past few years, it was the first time I had participated in a large art fair. And I had a fantastic time!
I think that the organisers, who also run the successful Windsor Contemporary Art Fair, now in its sixth year, did a great job on this first Reading Fair. There was a superbe variety of high quality art and the layout of the fair was spacious and looked very professional.
Actually, I think I could become addicted to doing art fairs! I already have four planned for this year, and am contemplating participating in a fifth (see my upcoming art exhibitions). These fairs are a great way to share my work with a wider audience of art lovers and collectors and to get feedback and reaction direct from them. And I am in the fortunate position of having sold several of my vibrant abstract paintings during the Reading Fair, with four commissions on the cards too. And who knows what will come during the aftermath of the fair…
I was quite overwhelmed by the amazing reaction to my work and the way that it mesmerised many visitors. This has given me even more motivation and excitement to create new paintings.
And I was delighted to meet Mr & Mrs Lees who quickly snapped up the canvas below that I had produced for The Princes Trust charity art sale.
Another bonus of doing this fair is that I met some lovely new artist friends and had some great moments and laughs with my neighbours on surrounding stands.
I want to finish this post by thanking everyone who: came to the event to support me; took the time to view my work and give me feedback; bought my paintings; plans to purchase my work in the future; gave me great advice; and made me laugh!
Here is a video with a few images from the Reading Contemporary Art Fair, which I hope you will enjoy:
Feel free to leave your comments below.
Time to share another painting with you.
This large diptych, called ‘Beyond’, continues my current interest in incorporating collage in my work.
In a gorgeous palette of burgandy, copper and gold, this finely detailed and textured painting offers many interesting paths for your eye to take…
Please share your thoughts and comments about my art.
Acrylics / mixed media on canvas
Diptych, total dimensions 102 x 80 x 3.8 cm
More information and purchase
For more information and to purchase my original art, please visit my online galleries
I absolutely loved creating this painting called Synergy.
Those who have been following my work for some time will know that I occasionally work with collage on paper. But here I have combined the collage with my signature texture and geometric detail over a much larger surface on canvas.
I will be showing this painting at the Reading Contemporary Art Fair on 24-25 April 2010.
Look out for more pieces in this theme coming soon.
As always, I would love to have your comments about my work.
Acrylics on canvas, 61 x 91 x 3.8 cm
More information and purchase
For more information and to purchase my original art, please visit my online galleries
The 22 March 2010 saw the Press Launch of the first ever Reading Contemporary Art Fair! And as one of the artists selected to exhibit at the fair, which will take place on 24 and 25 April 2010, I was delighted to be present at this launch event.
Reading’s new art fair is orgainised by the team behind the highly successful Windsor Contemporary Art Fair, now in its sixth year. The fair will offer a unique opportunity for new and experienced art collectors to view and buy direct from selected artists and galleries. Visitors will see work to suit all budgets, from £40 to £4,000, tastes and interiors.
Each artist at the press launch displayed a piece of their work and was available to be photographed and interviewed by the local press, and to discuss their work with invited guests.
Photo courtesy of David ClarkeCouncillor Fred Pugh, the Right Worshipful the Mayor of Reading, and his wife attended the event. They spent some time studying my very textured abstract painting, Éclat, and speaking with me. Although they admitted that ‘modern art’ is not their preference, they were both drawn by what they described as my painting’s ‘magnetic quality’ and the vibrancy of colour. The Mayor even went so far as to say that he felt that this was a contemporary painting that he could live with! I took this as high praise indeed!
The event was also great opportunity to meet some of the other artists who will be exhibiting, to make new friends, catch-up with some old ones, share ideas and feedback.
And the afternoon ended on a perfect note – a yummy piece of cake!
I am now making final preparations for next month’s Art Fair and I am really looking forward to exhibiting there. With a wealth of exciting art – painting, sculpture, prints, photography and ceramics – from over 80 exhibitors, as well as workshops and activities throughout the weekend, Reading Contemporary Art Fair will be a great day out for families and art lovers alike.
More information about Reading Contemporary Art Fair.
This painting is called Éclat, which in French, in this context, means ‘burst’. To me this French word fits the painting better than the English equivalent (possibly because I speak as much French as English each day!).
I showed this painting at the Press Launch of the Reading Contemporary Art Fair yesterday (more about that in my next blog post) and got lots of great feedback.
Several people at the launch asked me what had influenced this work. And the answer to that is something which is currently causing me considerable concern: the proposed development of all available land surrounding the area I live in. Not only will we lose further green spaces and countryside, but the local infrastructure is already over-stretched before this new construction even takes place. At what point will complete saturation occur? In my artwork an urban bursting-point is reached in abstract form!
I would love you to share your thoughts on this work with me below.
Acrylics on canvas, 44 x 60 x 3.8 cm
More information and purchase
For more information and to purchase my original art, please visit my online galleries
I am delighted to tell you that my vibrant abstract art and I feature in this month’s issue of SHEplc Business Buzz.
SHEplc Business Buzz is a great monthly online networking magazine for women, covering articles, events and business profiles, as well as useful tips and resources.
A big thank you to Mary Flavelle and Merrell Hardy at SHEplc for inviting me to be the first artist featured in their new section of Business Buzz called ‘The Gallery’.
See my art featured on pages 22 and 23:
Read the March issue of SHEplc Business Buzz
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