No York Open Studios in April, but all that art still needs a new home, so look here…DAY NINE

A screen-print collage by Kevin McNulty

YORK Open Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends, has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event, CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture and textiles skills.

Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.

Meanwhile, York Open Studios artists are finding their own way to respond to the shutdown by filling windows with their work instead.  Look for #openwindowsyork2020 to locate them. “If you see one in your area while taking your daily exercise, take a picture and let us know,” they urge.

Jill Ford: Her ceramics mirror the seasons

Jill Ford, ceramics

JILL began working as a potter in 2002, converting her garage into a studio and establishing her company Jill Ford Ceramics.

Her contemporary white porcelain encompasses innovative textural wall pieces, vases and bowls thrown on the wheel and a range of candlesticks, her work marked by richly textured decoration inspired by mountains and coastal rock formations.

Jill’s ceramics mirror the seasons, both in the processes she uses and the changing nature of her landscapes, with winter’s extreme temperatures making for a particularly impactful time of year.

Jill Ford at work in her studio

A year spent trekking and sketching in the Scottish Highlands has provided inspiration for a range of Mountain Edge pots that gives a sense of exposure and drama.

Jill, who is a member of the Northern Potters Association and East Riding Artists, exhibits widely in galleries and shops around Britain and abroad, including New York, and she shows work at ceramics and craft fairs too. She also delivers masterclasses to potters’ groups and teaches ceramics in workshop sessions. Find out more at jillford.com.

Cafe scene: a documentary-style photograph by Danny Knight

Danny Knight, photography

AFTER participating in York Open Studios in 2017 with works from Berlin, documentary-style photographer Danny was all set to feature his street photography collated from New York and his home city of York in the 2020 event.

“Old York/New York is a series of still images documenting the mundane events of the people who walk the streets of these two famous cities, while contrasting their similarities/differences.”

Danny Knight: “Capturing the everyday moments in two amazing cities”, York and New York

His work seeks to capture “the everyday moments in these two amazing cities that are quite often missed due to the pace of life we live”.

As well as being a photographer, Danny works for the creative film production company Hewitt & Walker and is a city leader for Sofar Sounds York, the monthly venture that “reimagines live events through curated secret performances in intimate York settings”. For more info, seek out info@dannyknightphotography.co.uk.

Honesty, linocut, by Carrie Lyall

Carrie Lyall, printmaking

CARRIE is a self-taught printmaker, based in Stamford Bridge, from where she runs her Rose & Hen business.

Her linocut prints, illustrations and handmade books are inspired by nature. Using botanical themes, she creates delicate silhouettes and patterns in contrasting colours, employing oil-based inks. 

“I connect with nature while out walking, taking photographs or collecting subject matter, to be sketched and transformed into design ideas at home,” she says.

Carrie Lyall: Connecting with nature in her art…and her clothes

“My favourite part of the process is cutting the designs, and I often get completely immersed in creating marks and lines.”

Carrie is a member of York Printmakers and a volunteer team leader for Etsy Team York. 2020 would have been her first year as a York Open Studios artist. Check her out at roseandhen.etsy.com

Between You And Me And The Gate Post, needle felting, by Alison Spaven

Alison Spaven, textiles

ALISON’S passion for needle felting started six years ago during a chance encounter with the craft.

“I’ve been painting and drawing for a lifetime, and even flirted briefly with ceramics, before a day out with friends to a felting workshop on a canal barge changed my creative drive forever,” she recalls.

“I was inspired to create and work with wet and needle felted wool by some great tuition from friends and professional tutors. Needle felting, in particular, rapidly became an obsession and the husband indoors insisted that new homes had to be found for things, as falling over yet another hare is not his favourite pastime!”

Alison Spaven: hare today, gone today, when her work sells!

Alison’s experience with sculpting in clay gave her the initial skills to work in 3D, before developing her own textural technique when painting with wool. Created with rare breed wool, using a single felting needle, Alison’s pictures consequently have a sculptural quality, a deliberate carry-over from her initial 3D work.

Alison, who trades as The Crafty Wytch from her Wytchwood Gallery and Studio, is a familiar face around Malton and beyond from her work as a stalwart of The Press and Gazette and Herald advertising team. Head to thecraftywytch.co.uk to discover more.

Compulsive printmaker Kevin McNulty

Kevin McNulty, printmaking

KEVIN describes himself as a compulsive printmaker, who explores themes such as identity and the human condition in his bold limited-edition printed collages, wherein he combines photography, arbitrary images, texture and abstract pattern.

“Experimenting with process and technique, I interweave modernity with the absurd to build complex and captivating designs,” he says. “I find inspiration in the everyday. I build layers for my prints using anything I can lay my hands on, including found items.” Even mobile phone parts and discarded teabags.

Millennium Bridge, York, by Kevin McNulty

Kevin’s working practice is underpinned by a desire to make “pure prints by pulling each image by hand and embracing the fortuitous accidents that evolve each design as it transitions from laptop to ink and paper”.

Those prints were to have featured for the first time in this month’s now cancelled York Open Studios. Find his work at kevinmcnultyprints.com.

TOMORROW: Gail Fox; Jane Atkin; Amy Stubbs; Emily Stubbs and Elliot Harrison.

Pocklington Arts Centre crowdfunding appeal passes halfway mark

“During this period, it is critical that we continue to support our staff, artists and creative partners,” says Pocklington Arts Centre director Janet Farmer

POCKLINGTON Arts Centre’s crowdfunding appeal has raised more than half its target already.

Launched in the immediate aftermath of the Market Place venue closing its doors to the public on March 17, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the crowdfunding page has accrued donations of £3,060 towards the £5,000 goal.

What’s more, Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC) has received £2,000 in ticket refund donations from customers for cancelled events.

Now PAC has thanked everyone for their support in helping the venue ride out the tempest and come back stronger than ever, with the hope of a good majority of shows being re-scheduled for the autumn and winter.

Director Janet Farmer said: “With the health and safety of our staff, visitors, artists and volunteers being of the utmost importance to us, Pocklington Arts Centre has temporarily closed its doors to the public while we weather this storm.

“During this period, it is critical that we continue to support our staff, artists and creative partners. We are working closely with our peers across the region, and indeed the country, and are determined that PAC will emerge from this challenge stronger and more vibrant than ever.”

Janet continued: “The crowdfunding appeal will play an important part in this re-emergence, so we want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has donated so far. Your support is greatly appreciated and we look forward to seeing you all again when we re-open.”
To make a donation, visit: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/pac.

CORONAVIRUS: Harrogate International Festivals cancel all the summer season

“Deep regret and sadness”: Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, announcing the cancellation of the 2020 summer season

THE Harrogate International Festivals summer season will not go ahead, a decision with “huge financial implications that place the future of the festivals at risk”.

The Coronavirus pandemic has put paid to the Harrogate Music Festival, Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Berwins Salon North, Spiegeltent and Children’s Festival, as well as several outdoor theatre and community events.

Announcing the cancellation with “deep regret and sadness”, chief executive Sharon Canavar said: “This difficult decision was made after carefully assessing several factors, but most importantly the health and safety of everyone involved: our audience, artists, suppliers, partners, volunteers, staff and the wider community.

“Many months of dedicated work went into planning this exceptional season and we share in the disappointment that will be felt by the many writers, musicians, thinkers, performers and festival-goers who were set to join us in Harrogate.”

Her statement continued: “As a not-for-profit arts charity, we are reliant on our events programme and ticket income, alongside sponsor support and donor philanthropy, and so the cancellation of our main season has huge financial implications that place the future of our festivals at risk.

“But despite the unprecedented challenge we now face, our mission to bring immersive and moving cultural experiences to as many people as possible remains unchanged.”

Harrogate International Festivals will continue “our unparalleled celebration” of crime fiction with the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020, alongside an extensive online programme of author interviews and more besides ahead of the award announcement in July.

In addition, the HIF Player will be launched to allow everyone a virtual festival experience at home. This free online hub will bring together archive event recordings, digital book clubs, learning resources for children and activities for little ones, and it will be updated regularly with new content to keep audiences entertained.

The chief executive’s statement continued: “Since 1966, we have proved an artistic force to be reckoned with and a key cultural provider for the North of England with a diverse year-round portfolio that celebrates world-class artists, champions new talent and plays a vital part in the community with education outreach and inspiring activities.

“Art and culture help us understand what it means to be human and how to make sense of life, and festivals are a vital part of this ecology. When this troubling time passes, we will need – more than ever – the transformative power of the arts to bring communities together, to inspire hope, to lift spirits and change lives. We thank you for your support.”

The festival website, harrogateinternationalfestivals.com, now carries the request Please Consider Making A Donation: “Support our arts charity in this challenging time”.

Slung Low theatre company to launch street art gallery on Leeds lamp posts

The Slung Low team outside The Holbeck Slung Low in Leeds

LEEDS theatre company Slung Low are to open a new art gallery with a difference this month.

Based in Holbeck, South Leeds, the company will be setting up the LS11 Art Gallery to showcase the best paintings, drawings and photographs created and chosen by the people of Holbeck and Beeston.

However, instead of displaying the images on gallery walls, they will be placed on lamp posts for all to see.   

Slung Low have asked people from the two Leeds areas to email their image to the theatre company. Slung Low will then arrange to come around and take a copy of it and then print the images on special plastic board for display on lamp posts around Holbeck and Beeston.

Artistic director Alan Lane says: “Our instinct at Slung Low is always to be useful and kind. For the last few weeks that has primarily been about delivering food-bank parcels and helping people get their prescription.

“We know that a hungry soul will find it hard to be creative, to find joy, so the first part of our response has to be making sure that people have their basic material needs met: and we will continue that work until this is all over.

“But as theatre makers we also understand the importance of storytelling and that there are different ways to be useful.”

Alan continues: “LS11 Art Gallery is us telling the story that this area – like all parts of this nation – is full of creativity; that in every house are people who are brilliant, creative and capable of profound beauty. We need to make sure we keep telling that story in these challenging times. 

“We’re going to open an art gallery on the lamp posts of LS11 and the people who live here will make what we exhibit. Let’s cheer ourselves up a bit.”

Founded in 2000, Slung Low specialises in making epic productions in non-theatre spaces, often with large community performance companies at their heart. 

The company has relocated to The Holbeck in South Leeds, the oldest working men’s club in Britain.

There, they run the bar as a traditional members’ bar and the rest of the building as an open development space for artists and a place where Slung Low invite other companies to present their work that otherwise might not be seen in Leeds. All work presented at The Holbeck is Pay What You Decide. 

In Autumn 2018, Slung Low launched a cultural community college based in Holbeck; a place where adults come to learn new cultural skills, from stargazing to South Indian cooking, from carpentry to singing in a choir. All workshops, supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, are provided on a Pay What You Decide basis.  

Slung Low are now volunteer guardians of the city wards of Beeston and Holbeck, taking referrals from the Leeds City Council Covid-19 helpline (0113 378 1877).

In turn, with help from the staff of other arts organisations in Leeds, including Opera North, they are delivering food and medicine to the vulnerable, elderly and those in isolation. 

How to take part in the LS11 Art Gallery: 

IF you live in the Holbeck or Beeston areas of Leeds and want your drawing, painting or photograph to be featured, please take a picture of it.

Then send it to Slung Low by email at theholbeck@slunglow.org or by text on 07704 582137. Slung Low will then arrange to come around to take a copy of it for you.

No York Open Studios in April, but all that art still needs a new home, so look here…DAY EIGHT

York Minster, by Russell Bailey

YORK Open Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends, has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event, CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture and textiles skills.

Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.

Toffee Tin, Elephant And Blue Glass, by Ruth Beloe

Ruth Beloe, painting

RUTH Beloe finds equal fulfilment in figurative sculpture and still life paintings in oil.

She trained for three years at Charles H Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy, a fine art school modelled on the ateliers of 19th-century Paris, where she studied portrait and figurative drawing, painting and sculpting, using the “sight-size” technique.

On opening her studio in Ely, she began accepting portrait commissions in both charcoal and clay and was appointed artist-in-residence at the King’s School, Ely. She then worked in an artists’ foundry to better understand the processes and practicalities of lost wax casting for bronze to inform her own work in bronze.

Ruth Beloe at work by the window in her studio

She returned to Florence in 2009 and 2010 to develop her oil-painting technique at Studio Santo Spirito. Now she works from a studio in York, taking inspiration from Chardin and William Nicholson as she explores the inherent beauty of everyday items and objects from nature. 

Note the reflective qualities of surfaces, the use of directed light to form appealing shadows and the play of refracted light in her paintings. Discover more at beloe.biz.

“My aim is to awaken the feeling of wonder and awe,” says printmaker Milena Dragic

Milena Dragic, printmaking

BORN in Zagreb, Croatia, and now living in York, polymath Milena is a printmaker, animator and performing artist.

She studied printmaking at Zagreb’s Academy of Fine Arts, from 1971 to 1973, and combined arts at Brighton Polytechnic’s faculty of art and design, from 1973 to 1976. Residencies and placements ensued, along with more than 20 solo shows in Britain, Croatia, Germany and Switzerland and participation in print exhibitions in Britain, Poland, Brazil, Spain and South Korea.

“I perceive my work as a dynamic representation of forces underlying physical reality and their manifestations within everyday life,” says Milena, who prints on hand-made paper. “My aim is to awaken the feeling of wonder and awe that I have experienced during the process of gathering ideas and executing them in the prints.

“My colour prints are all relief prints: woodcuts, wood-engravings and linocuts. I like the simplicity of the process. I print without a conventional press. My colour prints are done by a reduction method, which means that all the colours are printed from the same block. At the end of this process there is no lino left, so the edition is truly limited.”

Her contemporary, colourful abstract work combines relief prints, animation and mixed media. Wearing her other hats, she has worked as an art director and animator at Leeds Animation Workshop, now works for Artlink West Yorkshire and is part of the York Dance Collective. Paint the full picture at milena-dragic.co.uk.

Expressionist interpretation of York Minster, by Russell Bailey

Russell Bailey, mixed media

RUSSELL invited putative York Open Studios 2020 visitors to expect “a range of expressionistic interpretations of York Minster in mixed media”.

“The main work results from over 12 months’ work on cathedrals – York Minster in particular – involving many site visits, plein air and studio-based work,” he says.

Favouring charcoal and mixed media, Russell embraces experimental ways of working and gestural mark-making. “Working expressively with freedom of marks with more considered drawn elements is key to how I process my experiences artistically,” he says.

“The work I do is often experimental, often part destroyed and then re-created,” says Russell Bailey

“The work I do is often experimental, often part destroyed and then re-created to produce a very personal interpretation. In that respect, the work tends to reside in the hinterland between the literal and pure abstraction. Mixing media seems to have become a natural way through which I express myself.”

Russell has exhibited previously at York Open Studios, the Great North Art Show, Kunsthuis Gallery at The Dutch House, Crayke, and Blossom Street Gallery, York. His latest artwork also embraces small abstract pieces based on beliefs and others from art retreat locations. Take a look at russellbaileyfineart.co.uk.

Barcelona skyline, by Anthony Chappel-Ross

Anthony Chappel-Ross, photography

ANTHONY is a familiar face behind the camera around York and beyond for his photojournalism for The Press, York, where he was an outstanding staff photographer, and other print media outlets too.

Since leaving journalism college in Sheffield in 2002, he has been shortlisted for more than 20 regional and national press awards: testament to his truly eye-catching talent.

Anthony Chappel-Ross: A face more often to be found looking through a camera lens

For the past few years, he has started to work for himself, choosing his clients and commissions. “This freedom has allowed time for my own personal photographic interests to be explored,” says Anthony.

For his second York Open Studios exhibition, he had selected photographic images, predominantly in black and white, that explore the contrast, form and pattern of Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi’s Catalan Modernist architecture et al.

Check out anthonychappelross.co.uk…and snap to it.

Silver stone, by Helen Drye

Helen Rye, jewellery

JEWELLERY designer and maker Helen Drye works full time from her studio south of York, her designs inspired by nearby Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve.

Establishing her Silver and Stone Jewellery Design business in 2012, Yorkshire-born Helen’s collections have their roots in this woodland, especially the birds and hares, her favourite mushrooms and the moonlight.

While much of her work is made in sterling silver, some is designed and carved in silver clay, adding unusual features to the jewellery.

“My imagination is sparked by the woodland and common beyond my studio, wondering what the ancient Bronze Age people did, or the farmers grazing their sheep on the common land, or the Second World War pilots who trained here before going off to fight their battles in the sky,” says Helen. 

“My imagination is sparked by the woodland and common beyond my studio,” says Helen Drye

“I try to imagine those people walking between the trees, through that same mist, in the morning light or the moonlight many years ago. I reflect this as though looking through my windows; ‘windows’ that look through the woodland, the trees and the birds and make you wonder what else is through there.”

Helen, by the way, also runs jewellery-making workshops and wedding ring workshops. More info can be found at info@silver-stonejewellery.co.uk.

TOMORROW: Jill Ford; Danny Knight; Carrie Lyall; Alison Spaven and Kevin McNulty.

Easter activities stay at home as Scarborough museums put fun online

Easter activities organised by Scarborough Museums Trust are going online. Picture: Tony Bartholomew.

SCARBOROUGH Museums Trust is taking its fun Easter activities online.

Amid the Covid-19 lockdown, the trust has had to suspend its usual drop-in activities at the Rotunda Museum, Scarborough Art Gallery and Woodend, instead making them available via its website, scarboroughmuseumstrust.com, and on social media.

From Thursday, April 9, you can have a go at making your own “Roarsome” Easter bonnet to wear with pride.

The Rotunda Museum, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

From Wednesday, April 15, you can gain inspiration from the trust’s springtime artworks and make a flowery print to decorate your home.  

Scarborough Museums Trust’s learning officer, Christine Rostron, says: “All the activities are inspired by our collections and use everyday art materials. 

Scarborough Art Gallery. Picture: Tony Batholomew

“We hope you have fun making things at home and would love to find out how you’re getting on. Please share your creations with us on social media: @Scarboroughmuseums (Facebook), @scarboroughmuseums (Instagram) and @SMTrust (Twitter), using the hashtags #MuseumFromHome #loveScarborough.

“We’re really going to miss seeing all the families and children who normally visit our venues over the holidays. Sending us pictures is great way for us to keep in touch.”

No York Open Studios in April, but all that art still needs a new home, so look here…DAY SEVEN

Fox in the box, by Anna Cook

YORK Open Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends, has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event, CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture and textiles skills.

Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.

Academia, by Zosia Olenska

Zosia Olenska, painting

ZOSIA finds inspiration in everyday landscapes, looking to find beauty in our daily surroundings. This translates into “optimistic representational art” across the mediums of pen and ink and acrylic painting.

“Most of all, I would like people to come away from looking at my work feeling in some way uplifted,” says this self-taught artist. “Painting, for me, is a self-reinforcing cycle of noticing the beauty around us, then looking more to find it.”

Zosia Olenska: Likes her art to be uplifting

The daughter of two artists, Zosia came to work as an artist gradually through illustration, developing her practice by experimenting in different media. She has exhibited at the New Light Prize exhibition in North Yorkshire and with the Society of Women Artists at the Mall Galleries, London, in 2018 and 2019. Last year too, she was a heat artist in the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 competition.

In another string to her bow, Zosia designs hand-drawn pen-and-ink illustrations for the eco-friendly Niche Snowboards. Head this way for more info: zosiaolenska.com

Anna Cook: paper cut artist

Anna Cook, paper cuts

ANNA is a self-taught paper cutter with a background in design and printmaking, whose work captures the personalities of the natural world’s inhabitants.

Layering intricately cut sheets of paper that she folds and sculpts and presents in deep box frames, she continually challenges herself to achieve more detail with each piece.

When creating a new design, Anna seeks inspiration from contemporary surface and pattern design and old botanical illustrations, as well as “the magical world of nature”. Contact her via a.cook77@yahoo.co.uk.

Cloisonne enamel lotus bud earrings, by Leesa Rayton Design Plus

Leesa Rayton Design Plus, jewellery

AFTER many years of working in health research, Leesa has made the leap into becoming a full-time jewellery designer. Now a member of the Guild of Enamellers and British Society of Enamellers, she would have been participating in York Open Studios for the first time this month.

“I use time-honoured techniques to design and create unique pieces of jewellery from precious metals, vitreous enamels, gemstones and beads,” she says. “My designs are inspired by architecture and the natural world.”

Leesa Rayton: Inspired by architecture and the natural world

Leesa is always seeking to expand her knowledge and to learn new techniques at York School of Jewellery, where she has studied over the past 12 years.

She is also a director of the Beautiful Splint Company CIC, a Tadcaster business that makes orthotic splints for fingers. Check out leesaraytondesignplus.co.uk.

Blue topaz necklace, by Karen J Ward

Karen J Ward, jewellery

LOOKING to escape the world of finance and return to her passion for creating art, Karen finally found her calling six years ago, re-training with Nik Stanbury and Julie Moss at York School of Jewellery, where she is now based.

Jewellery designer Karen J Ward

Working with precious metals and gemstones and using traditional skills, she first takes elements from her drawings to then transform flat sheets of metal into “beautiful wearable art” inspired by nature’s textures, shapes and curves.

Like Leesa Rayton (see above), she produces orthotic splints for hands, wrists and fingers in her work as co-director of the Beautiful Splint Company.  Head to karenjward.co.uk to discover more.

Mark Azopardi at work in his studio space

Mark Azopardi, painting

MARK works mainly in pure watercolour, on occasion incorporating other media to produce highly detailed paintings and drawings.

His main inspiration comes from the colours and textures of all elements of the natural world, sometimes finding beauty in the simplest of things. Discover him via markazopardi@gmail.com.

A fleet of feathers, by Mark Azopardi

TOMORROW: Ruth Beloe; Milena Dragic; Russell Bailey; Anthony Chappel-Ross and Helen Drye.

No York Open Studios in April, but all that art still needs a new home, so look here…DAY SIX

Emma, photographic portrait, by Claire Cooper

YORK Open Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends, has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event, CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture and textiles skills.

Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.

Analogue photographer Claire Cooper

Claire Cooper, photography

CLAIRE’S work explores women represented through the medium of analogue photography, screen print and intaglio printmaking techniques.

“Portraits are special because, by definition, there are at least two people involved in their making: the artist and the sitter,” says Claire.

“Neither has complete control over the other; portraiture becomes a negotiation between parties, a dance of wills that results in a collaboration of sorts.”

Trudy, Hove, 2012, photographed by Claire Cooper

Claire, who completed an BA in Photography in 2000 and an MA in 2013, uses sitters both known and unknown in her experiments with different formats of photographic portraiture.

She has shown work in group shows across the country, and away from photography, she has a background in the community arts sector, predominantly with  DARTS in Doncaster. Find out more via missccooper@gmail.com.

Portrait Of A Friend, by Zoe Catherine Kendal

Zoe Catherine Kendal, painting

ZOE is a multi-disciplinary artist and jewellery maker from a family steeped in artistic pursuits.

Great-granddaughter of Bernard Leach, “the father of British studio pottery”, she  attained a BA in jewellery design from Central Saint Martins, in London, the city where she was raised before moving to York.

Her York Open Studios show would have focused on her paintings: works that combine experimental, abstract approaches with colourful, contemporary representations of portraiture, seascapes and cultural heritage, capturing feeling, narrative and identity across varied material and media. 

Zoe Catherine Kendal: Capturing feeling, narrative and identity

Overall, her experimental practice is material-led, combining pastel and paint on canvas, paper and wood; precious and non-precious metals, ceramics and beads with leather and yarns.

Zoe’s paintings have been exhibited at According To McGee, York, and Bils & Rye, Kirkbymoorside; her jewellery at CoCA at York Art Gallery, Lottie Inch Gallery, York, and Kabiri, Marylebone, London. Cast an eye over her work at zoekendall.com.

Flying Low, by Cathy Denford

Cathy Denford, painting

BROUGHT up with wild nature in New Zealand, Cathy trained and worked as a director in theatre and television in England.

Since settling in York in 1998, fine art has been her strong focus, shaped by initial study in printmaking with Peter Wray and painting with Jane Charlton at York St John University and later at Chelsea College of Arts and the Slade.

First exhibiting at York Open Studios in 2006, she creates oil and mixed-media paintings suggestive of movement, set against stillness, often of birds in landscape.

Cathy Denford: “Movement, set against stillness”

Combining figurative and abstract styles, with elements of Cubism, her work explores space and time passing.

Cathy’s paintings have been shown at galleries in Leeds, Scarborough and Leeds, Zillah Bell in Thirsk and the Norman Rea Gallery and music department at the University of York. More info at cathydenford.info.

Milet plate, by Hacer Ozturk

Hacer Ozturk, ceramics

HACER is a Turkish ceramics and iznik tiles artist from Istanbul, now settled in York, where 2020 would have marked her York Open Studios debut.

Her work combines traditional and contemporary free-style Turkish ceramics, both formed with the same techniques that were first applied thousands of years ago.

Hacer Ozturk: artist and researcher

Latterly, she has started painting, drawing on traditional iznik tile motifs. Aside from her ceramic creativity, she works as a researcher in Istanbul. Seek out hacer.yldiz@gmail.com.

Yorkshire, by Chrissie Dell

Chrissie Dell, printmaking

CHRISSIE is a printmaker inspired by the environment, making multi-layered monoprints, monotypes, collagraphs and Moku-Hanga (Japanese woodcuts).

She uses such techniques as collage, chine collé, viscosity, stencils, natural pigments and materials to create textural prints that interpret the forms, colours and textures of the natural world.  

Chrissie Dell at work in her studio

Growing up in Edinburgh and on the west coast of Scotland, Chrissie first studied printmaking in the early 1970s at the Froebel Institute, London, but only set up her studio in 2013 after further study at Leith School of Art and Edinburgh Printmakers, her studies taking in painting, drawing, artists’ books, printmaking and creative textiles.

Chrissie has exhibited in Edinburgh, as well as at Blossom Street Gallery and Pyramid Gallery in York, and she is a member of York Printmakers and York Art Workers’ Association.

2020 would have been her third participation in York Open Studios. Still in the diary, however, is the York Printmakers Autumn Print Fair at York Cemetery Chapel on September 26 and 27.

TOMORROW: Zosia Olenska; Anna Cook; Leesa Rayton Design; Karen J Ward and Mark Azopardi

RIP Bill Withers….

ALAS, Bill Withers has withered on the vine of time at 81. Truly, there Ain’t No Sunshine anymore when he’s gone.

Thank you, Bill, that was THE song for days of darkness. I know. I know. I know, I know. I know. I know.

Seriously Seventies’ sideburns too.

Your baritone-blue soul music always made for a lovelier day. RIP.

OFF. Kaiser Chiefs and Will Young/James Morrison gigs at Dalby Forest cancelled

I predict a quiet night: Kaiser Chiefs will not play Dalby Forest after all on June 26

DALBY Forest’s summer concerts, featuring Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs on June 26 and a double bill of Will Young and James Morrison the next night, are off.

Indeed, the entire Forest Live series presented by Forestry England nationwide, has been cancelled, yet another summer calendar regular chalked off by the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Ticket holders will be refunded automatically.

A Forestry England statement released today explains: “We are sorry to disappoint the Forest Live fans who were hoping to see bands in the nation’s forests this summer, but we have cancelled Forest Live 2020 to keep everyone safe, in line with recent Government guidance on the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak. 

“We really hope that everyone’s support to fight COVID-19 means the situation will have improved by the summer. However, as well as our valued customers, we work with a large number of volunteers, artists and contractors, to make these concerts happen and have taken this decision in the interest of safety for everyone involved.” 

Will Young: double bill with James Morrison

 The statement continues: “Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to reschedule our concerts. Ticket holders will be contacted by their point of purchase and will be automatically refunded. We ask for your patience and understanding at this busy time.

“We would like to send our deepest apologies to everyone who was hoping to see a Forest Live 2020 show. We were very excited to welcome you into forests across England to see some incredible live music.

 “Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to welcoming you back to Forest Live in 2021.”   

Nationwide,Forest Live 2020 would have featured headline performances by Madness, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Keane, Jack Savoretti and Rag’n’Bone Man, as well as Kaiser Chiefs, Morrison and Young.

James Morrison: No Forest Live return after June 27 cancellation

These June concerts would have been spread between Dalby Forest, near Pickering; Bedgebury Pinetum, Kent; Cannock Chase Forest, Staffordshire; Sherwood Pines Forest, Nottinghamshire; Thetford Forest, Suffolk, and Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire.

Income from Forest Live concerts helps to sustain Forestry England’s woodland for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and trees to grow.

Forestry England, an agency of the Forestry Commission, manages and cares for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests, welcoming 230 million visits every year and shaping landscapes as England’s largest land manager. For more information, visit forestryengland.uk; for further Forest Live details, go to forestryengland.uk/music.

Did you know?

KAISER Chiefs previously played Dalby Forest in 2016; Will Young in 2012 and James Morrison in 2007.