Back in July I had an extraordinary experience when I took part in Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2016! We were officially told to keep the outcome a secret until the screening, and I genuinely do not know what will make the final edit, but it should make for an entertaining show!

I was entered, along with 50 other artists, as a 'wildcard', with one person being chosen to proceed further in the contest. The location was Capability Brown's masterpiece at Stowe, Bucks, and we were asked to take our positions on a great sweep of lawn in front of the main house. Most of the four hours went well - I found a good position (for the cameras as well as the view) I met some lovely fellow artists and the judges (including Dame Joan Bakewell) came round for a chat - and then the heavens opened and the wind swept in! Chaos ensued!

I believe the Stowe episode is airing this Tuesday 25th at 8pm on Sky Arts. Tune in to see real drama!

So that's my first Herts Open Studios finished! My nice, light and airy studio space at Baldock Arts Centre is no more and the walls are once again bare - but my garage is once again full!

I've met some lovely people, held a successful workshop, sold some art and thoroughly enjoyed myself! Thanks again to everyone who came and to all of the volunteers at the Baldock Arts Centre who gave up their time to come along and support my open days.

No time to ponder the past though! In a month's time I'll be holding my first classes at The Letchworth Settlement. Places up till Christmas are fully booked, but there will be more in the New Year, so watch this space!

In the meantime, I can now announce that I took part over the summer in Sky Art's 'Landscape Artist of the Year 2016'! I had a great time at Stowe, Bucks with all the other contestants, battling against the elements and meeting the judges. Tune in on 11th October and see how far I got!

I'm chuffed that The Comet has published an article about my show, encouraging people to come in and see 'an artist at work'. Unlike my photo though, I do smile when people walk in!

Three weekends in and the Baldock Open Studios is still rockin' - mainly to the sounds of my 80's music. It's great to have a chat with visitors and I've been really pleased with the feedback - I just wish I could do this more often! Thanks to everyone who has popped in to see me and my work so far!

Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd are my last two days of Open Studios, so it's your last chance to catch me in action before I retreat, once again, to the confines of my garage.


As an aside, I've been told that my acrylic painting course is now fully booked at The Settlement. Watch this space as I'm adding more dates for workshops there in the New Year!

Cheers!

Two weekends in and I have to say I could get used to using the Baldock Arts Centre as a studio space! It's a lovely airy room with plenty of light and it really shows off my paintings to good effect. Best of all I get people walking in and engaging with me and my work, asking questions, making comments and giving me immediate feedback on what I've done, as well as actually buying some of my paintings, prints or cards!

It's all swings and roundabouts though, as they say. One elderly couple were on their way out having had a quiet look around and as they passed the windows I heard the lady say loudly, "Ooh, what beautiful curtains!"

I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks as I chat to more visitors and complete my latest cityscape of the Shard. I'm also taking bookings for my workshop on the morning of the 20th, so if you know of anyone who may be interested, please direct them to my website or contact me on rollinsart@gmail.com.

Cheers!




Thank you to Laura Valentine for the above photo!
 

I'm very excited to say that the paintings for my Open Studios exhibition are now hung and ready for the opening this Friday 2nd at Baldock Arts Centre!

I've chosen a selection of atmospheric landscapes and cityscapes together with a grouping that revolve around the theme of time - past and future. In all, 30 paintings to peruse.

I'll also be 'artist in residence' so I'll be there in person, happy to chat whilst I'm dabbing away at my canvas!

During the last week, on Tuesday 20th September, at 10.30am, I'll also be holding a one- off workshop on acrylic painting, where participants will produce their own artwork based on a 'Harvest Field'. Cost is £15.00. All materials are provided and refreshments will be available.
Bookings should be made through www.bahc.co.uk

In an earlier article I mentioned the generous donation by Tim Sayer of his entire art collection to the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. Whilst up in Yorkshire at the weekend I got the chance to visit the gallery for the first time and was blown away by the whole set up.

The building itself is perched on the edge of a series of weirs by a canal basin, and no doubt the gallery was intended to form part of a regeneration of the industrial area. The whole effect of this stark, modern, grey hulk rising out of the water and softened by trees is magical.

The gallery is everything you'd expect from a modern, professional, national space - well organised and roomy with several exhibitions on display. There was less works on show from Hepworth herself, but I'm sure that this will be addressed in future incarnations of the site.

What I was most impressed with though was how friendly some of the staff were and how much the gallery encouraged people to talk to one another. The reverential silence was broken by people asking questions and commenting on the displays - which is how it should be. My wife and I spent 10 minutes or more discussing the collection of Tim Sayer (100 hundred of his pieces are currently on display) with a very friendly and knowledgeable attendant, who pointed out her favourite pieces, told stories and was genuinely interested in what we felt about the works.

All in all very impressed - and they even sold nice cakes and coffee!

As part of the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle, The Hepworth is showing the rest of the country how art curation should be done.

I've just returned from an exhilarating trip to the Big Apple, my first experience of this mega- city. It lives up to all the hype and superlatives you may have heard. What I hadn't been prepared for however, was how strangely familiar the whole place was, given many years of exposure to films and TV based in the City!

I visited all of the must-see iconic sites with my family, and managed to squeeze in some trips to a few galleries along the way - MOMA, which houses a collection of 'modern' artworks and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which houses the entire collection of everything in the world........or so it seemed!

Of the two, the Met won out for sheer spectacle (entire Egyptian temples and re-assembled Stately Home interiors, etc). It also had a huge collection over several rooms of paintings by Degas, which were just beautiful.

My only gripe is that both venues suffered from a lack of obvious routes and planning. Apps could be downloaded - but only for Apple software. Even the simple leaflets, which had numbered rooms, had no information on content. This meant that I missed rooms that I wished I had seen, and stumbled across rooms that housed a classic (which was a pleasant surprise in most cases). Note to self - do more research on the venue next time I visit a large museum gallery in a new city.

One such pleasant surprise whilst meandering around the American Art collection at the Met was Madame X by Sargent. Wonderful to see it in the flesh, so to speak.

Madame X by John Singer Sargent

The sun is shining, Spring is in the air and Easter hols are still fresh in the mind. Everywhere there is potential and I'm reminded of this by a clutch of events that have landed almost at the same time and offer exciting times ahead.

First up is this year's Ayot St Lawrence Art Show (10- 13 June), which I'm showing in for the third year running. All money raised goes towards the upkeep of the lovely Palladian Church in which the art is shown.
www.ayotstlawrence.com

In September I'll be taking part for the first time in Herts Open Studios, in which artists all over the county show and demonstrate their works. I'll be showing in Baldock Arts Centre every Friday and Saturday throughout the month. I'll be there in person on each day getting busy with my brush, so please come along and say hello!
www.hvaf.org.uk

Come the end of October I'll be teaching a 5 week course on acrylic painting (Tuesday afternoons) at The Settlement in Letchworth Garden City. Details will be available for this at the beginning of summer on their website and in their new brochure.
www.letchworthsettlement.org.uk

Things are shaping up nicely, but it does mean that I have to get cracking and start painting!

I nipped into the National Portrait Gallery last week with an old friend to see the temporary exhibition about Charlotte Brontë, it being the 200th anniversary of her death. I thought it was a very well presented room full of iconic images and objects - so much so, I wonder what's been left at the parsonage?

Anyway, of all the items, the one that always sparks people's imaginations is the family portrait by Branwell Brontë, painted when he was just 17 years old. Famously, it contains images of the three sisters, but Branwell chose to paint out his own face by turning it into a pillar. Troubled soul, or was he just not happy with the likeness?

To me though, the most amazing thing about this painting is its condition. Time and again as artists we are encouraged to buy the best of everything, the latest fad, to ensure our paints don't fade and the paper doesn't deteriorate. Everything must be pristine. Branwell's portrait, however, was folded up and kept on top of a cupboard for years, slowly rotting away. When discovered and put on display the historians decided not to renovate the canvas, but instead to show all of its creases and missing paint. The state of the painting itself was just as important in its story.

So if there is any moral to this tale it is this - don't fret over buying the best of everything. Art can be made with anything and on anything. What matters is what you invest in the piece, through thought, passion and enjoyment. And if you're worried about it outliving you? Leave it in the capable hands of the conservators!

The Brontë Sisters, by Branwell Brontë

It’s been an exciting week full of potential!
 
I met up with some fellow artists to discuss how to promote Herts Visual Arts and its main event, Herts Open Studios, which I will be participating in for the first time this September!
 
I’ve also been in discussions with Letchworth Settlement and will now be holding a series of workshops on acrylic painting in their autumn programme. Details nearer the time.
 
I’ve also had an invite to this year’s Ayot St Lawrence Art Show appear in my inbox, so I look forward to dropping off a few of my paintings at their beautiful venue in June.
 
I suppose I’d better get back to painting... sharpish!

Ayot St Lawrence Art Show 2015