The Gloobah House is celebrating its 10th Artists Open House. Along with other artists and crafts people, I will be showing a selection of prints and gift items. Please do come along! The Gloobah House is part of the Dyke Road Trail and runs for the four weekends in May starting on Saturday 4th. Open 11am til 6pm.
Bonfire Night has always been hugely popular in Lewes. I have memories of going as a girl and wearing layers of clothing and hanging around with friends and family in the freezing cold. In recent years it’s certainly got alot warmer (and wetter) with more and more people visiting and taking part in the processions. If I can, I still love going along. It’s a great spectacle! Wonderful costumes, fireworks and atmosphere. A few years ago I shared a studio at Pastorale Antiques in the Cliffe. I was on the first floor so on November 5th I had a good view of Cliffe Bonfire Society assembling before joining the main procession. I missed Bonfire last year as I was in the Netherlands and was reminiscing a little and ended up doing a couple of sketches. Then thought one of the drawings could work well as a linocut. So here it is! It’s printed on beautiful japanese paper which has a warm tone to it so it’s in keeping with the theme.
The print will be included in ‘FIRE! Art inspired by Bonfire Night’ an exhibition at Keizer Frames, Lewes, East Sussex from 20th October until 5th November. Please do visit if you’re in the neighbourhood. The print is also available from my website. Please email: rachel@rachelclarkart.com if interested.
https://www.pictureframinglewes.co.uk/keizer-frames-art-gallery-lewes
The weather has been amazing and so like many people I’ve been spending my spare time sitting by the pool and going to the seaside. There can be draw backs to sitting on a crowded beach but there are advantages too – lots of people to draw! Dog walkers, people chatting and children playing to name a few. I travelled light and used colour pencils.
I have produced a new design ‘Fishing boat and gulls’ inspired by my drawings made on location at Hastings beach. My design has been hand screen printed in two colours onto 100% cotton tea towels. I’m really pleased with the quality of the cotton and the print. The tea towel measures 48cm x 78cm and there is also a handy loop for hanging.
If you’re interested in purchasing, please visit the Jerwood gallery shop in Hastings and/or The Avocet gallery in Rye.
Alternatively please follow the link here or email me.
https://rachelclarkart.bigcartel.com/product/fishing-boat-and-gulls-tea-towel
I will be exhibiting a selection of limited edition prints at Pelham House bar gallery, Lewes. There will be framed prints on show as well as unframed prints and cards in the reception area. You are very welcome to come along.
The exhibition runs from Monday 18th December 2017 until Tuesday 23rd January 2018
Open every day: 9am – 9pm
The exhibition is free and there is full disabled access.
Venue address and directions:
Pelham House, St Andrews Lane, Lewes BN7 1UW, UK
www.pelhamhouse.com/
Any queries, please don’t hesitate to get in touch:
Email: rachel@rachelclarkart.com
I’m taking part in Lewes Artwave this year. You’re very welcome to visit to see my limited edition prints, paintings and drawings. There will also be a selection of cards and new notebooks hot off the press! Tea, coffee and cake will be served in the garden (weather permitting). Lovely to get a mention on page 47 of the August edition of Viva Lewes. Artwave opens on Saturday (19th August) and takes place at the weekends until 3rd September.
For more information please follow this link:
https://www.artwavefestival.org/2017venues/2017/7/31/rachel-clark
Along with many local artists, I will also be taking part in Artist United at Fitzroy House, Lewes. Opens on Friday 18th August and runs until Sunday 20th with almost half of proceeds going to Lewes Football club.
Amsterdam is a city with so much to offer. Following a visit to the Jean Dubuffet exhibition at the Stedlijk museum I sat in the Rijks museum garden. The Rijks building is beautiful and houses an amazing collection of paintings including (my favourites) The Nightwatch by Rembrandt (1642) and The Little Street by Vermeer (1658). I enjoyed the sun and watched passersby and tried to capture the building and atmosphere in my A3 drawing pad.
I then walked around aimlessly on the look out for a good spot. I like to find places that have a good vantage point so I can look down and draw. I do ask bar/cafe owners/ security at buildings sometimes if I can draw. In the Netherlands people don’t mince their words so I have had a few unfriendly ‘no’s however I’ve met many very friendly people who are happy to let me draw. One such person gave me access to the university library on the first floor overlooking the Spui. I drew the buildings, trams and tourists below trying not to rustle my bag and hoped my ink pens didn’t squeak too much.
Afterwards followed the canal and sketched the distinctive gabled houses. My pens were running out. But I liked the effect.
I spent two weeks in Germany with family and had a wonderful time. The sun shone throughout the holiday (with the exception of one sudden downpour) We rented accommodation on campsites. The first was just outside Dresden so we travelled around the area. Highlights included Moritzburg with it’s beautiful fairytale castle. It was once a hunting lodge and there are many references. So many stags heads on the walls. I did a number of drawings changing view points and perspective. Initially I sketched in my small moleskin and then got bigger. I was using pastels and watercolour and marker pens.
2 km down the road is the stunning Pheasant House. When I arrived it was late afternoon and it was closed (hence the closed shutters). Still a very pretty pink castle and I really liked the sculptures in the gardens. The castle was named after the surrounding Little Pheasant Garden.
Nearby is Saxony’s only lighthouse. It’s tiny!
Spent some time relaxing on the campsite. I don’t think I’d ever drawn a caravan til now. So many different trees: Pines, spruces, beech and oak.
On another occasion we visited Domburg. In the blazing heat I sketched the gardens and pretty castles. Very picturesque and lots of amazing roses.
Also had a day trip to Prague which was a two hour drive from where we were staying. Always wanted to visit since I saw INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart video. Loved Michael Hutchence! Twenty years later I made it there. Clearly so much has changed since then. Spent most of the time walking around the city to get a feel for the city. So beautiful. Once we had a break and a beer I took the opportunity to do a couple of small sketches of Charles Bridge (Karelsbrug) which was heaving with tourists when we crossed it.
Really enjoyed illustrating and designing the new May edition of Viva Lewes. Always enjoy browsing through the magazine and it’s had many great covers over the years. I was asked to design a cover to coincide with the opening of the new Depot cinema in Lewes. I was slightly apprehensive as the cinema was a building site when I had last visited and I usually prefer drawing on location. However when Katie at Viva emailed me a few photos of the building site and a few architectural drawings I felt more confident and responded immediately with a couple of roughs. I then worked up our favourite and created linocuts for the main image an colour. I worked bigger than the magazine format which made it slightly easier to cut the image. Then scanned the linocut and made a few tweaks in Photoshop and hey presto the new cover!
