Leonardo Da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan at the National Gallery, London until February 5, 2012 provides the unique opportunity to look at some of his greatest paintings as works of art and to compare them directly. We have mostly in the past been restricted to drawings from his scientific curiosity but this is the real deal. There are so few paintings by him and each of them is held so precious by their owners that to get an exhibition of such magnitude is nothing short of a miracle. What makes Leonardo so great is his amazing powers of examination. He spent forever getting it right. He wanted to find out what the proportions of nature were, and laboured to produce an ideal beauty in his paintings. But that was his skill because the side that idealised the appearance of things and the side that struggled to observe with perfect accuracy and truth are infact in complete harmony. If you miss it you will regret it for the rest of your natural.
The Desired Collection by Clare Walton - To be admired and adored.
Who doesn't desire something? A beautiful, enticing painting that possesses the je ne sais quoi...that mysterious powerful allure that attracts everyones eye like a magnet. The ability to entice, intrigue and inspire. This new collection by Clare Walton encompasses ambition and inspiration by delivering an elegant yet sensual look at peoples wants in a modern age.
One advantage of living in the Peak District and indeed living in near Wirksworth is visiting the Wirksworth Festival without having to drive your car.
Wirksworth festival is an exciting annual event that offers sixteen days of contemporary visual art and performance across two un-missable highlight weekends. It has grown through the staging of an annual Arts Festival in September each year within the small historic market town of Wirksworth on the southern edge of the Derbyshire Peak District.
You can see inspirational work from international and national artists shown alongside the very best from the region. This year you’ll be able to explore even more of the town with work planned in churches, woodland, pubs, quarries and even in a railway carriage. It is a great invitation to see great art in some fascinating places.
The Festival includes a range of visual and performing arts, but is best known for the weekend Art Trails when local residents and businesses open their houses, shops, offices, churches and gardens for artists to display their work. 250 artists and 100 venues make a powerful body of exciting and rewarding art of every style and taste.
Highlights of the festival are:-
10-11 September: Trails Weekend
The fantastic opening weekend when art takes over the town.
The whole town becomes a gallery with more than 150 artists and makers showing their work in private homes, historic buildings, gardens, shop windows and churches. A great chance to buy affordable art, meet the artists and take a peek at some of Derbyshire’s best interiors!
17-18 September: Contemporary Focus
A weekend of inspirational performance events, artist film and video, exhibitions, workshops, guided tours and talks, exploring and debating contemporary practice and an opportunity to look at some of this year’s most exciting work.
25 September: Community Celebration
A spectacular finale event, where the towns creative community takes centre stage. A colourful procession will wind it’s way through the town followed by a spectacular finale of music, performance and light.
9 – 25 September: Performance Programme
World class performers to the very best home grown talent, over 2 packed weeks of exciting events, music, dance, drama and more.
Over the last couple of years Wirksworth Festival has clearly established itself as a key event in the East Midlands cultural calendar.
The Festival that has evolved today is a direct result of the creative energies and ambitions of the town, which is home to a range of innovative and talented companies and individuals. Wirksworth and the surrounding area has an unusually large creative community, particularly bearing in mind its rural location - around 5% of its population, or 8.8% of its workforce, is employed in the creative industries. The Festival remains part of this community, and will reflect and support new initiatives to encourage the development of the Creative Industries as a fundamental part of the economic life of the town.
Year on year audiences for the Festival have grown, with nearly 10,000 people taking part in 2010; at the opening ‘trails’ weekend, at one of the 30 performances, at one of the extensive programme of participatory workshops or at the fantastic Community Celebration finale.
Arts Council funding has enabled the Festival to develop an ambitious, high quality contemporary visual arts programme, that has helped the Festival grow in profile and now attracts applications from all over the world. Wirksworth Festival will receive £58,895 in 2008/2009, £60,485 in 2009/2010, £61,809 in 2010/2011 and £57,545 in 2011/2012. As a national portfolio organisation, Wirksworth Festival has been offered £58,000 in 2012/2013, £59,334 in 2013/2014 and £60,877 in 2014/2015. This is subject to a funding agreement being agreed.
Alongside this the Festival’s education and outreach programme has reached further into the local community and invigorated renewed interest from all sections of the community. We’re proud that in 2010 over 60% of local residents actively participated in the Festival.
And where did it all begin? The Festival’s historical roots are in an event called Church Clypping, which takes place at the town’s St Mary’s Church (founded in 653) on the Sunday following the Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 September. This ancient ceremony, which sees the congregation join hands in thanksgiving to completely encircle the Church, continues as a Festival event today.
The Festival’s current form dates from 1995, when a group of local artists opened their own homes to display their work, and this part of the Festival has now become one of the Festival’s highlights, the highly successful Art and Architecture Trail. Today’s Festival encompasses a broad-ranging programme of visual arts and performance spanning 17 days, over three weekends annually in September.
The Festival is now becoming an innovator and promoter to encourage a body of new work each year, commissioned from leading artists, to leave a lasting legacy of public art in the town.
·Paint in a limited number of standard sizes and keep a supply of canvases in these sizes on hand to be ready to paint when that spark of inspiration strikes.
·Keep a sketchbook and a camera in your car so you will not miss that once in a lifetime scene.
·Cut cardboard templates in the standard 2 x 3, 3 x 4, and 4 x 5 canvas proportions to trace their dimensions for your source drawings in your sketchbook.
·Frequently imagine the scene before your eyes as the subject for a painting. It will improve your artistic eye and hopefully it will enrich your life.
·For painterly brushwork put generous amounts of paint on your palette, load your brush with paint, and lay it on the canvas with a single bold stroke.
·Paint some very small and some very large paintings to extend your painting ability.
·Paint like a professional artist by painting every day.
Chris Sabian is an artist with http://www.kutefineart.com and co-owner of http://www.paragonprints.co.uk
Portrait and wildlife artist Clare Walton will be opening her studio and exhibiting paintings and prints during Derbyshire Open Arts Weekend 2011. Clare will also be launching a brand new cartoon collection.
Clare's studio is at Via Gellia Mill, Via Gellia, Bonsall, Near Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 2AJ and her studio will be open daily, 10am to 6pm, from 27th May to 30th May, Telephone: 01629 825305; www.kutefineart.com.
For a free illustrated brochure or further information about Derbyshire Open Arts Weekend go to www.derbyshireopenarts.co.uk
Also exhibiting at the same venue are High Stone Gallery (photography by Ian Daisley), Liz Linell (pastel and ink panels on chipboard) and Netty Reddish (homeware, puzzles, pictures and jewellery).
TOP: Clare Walton Satisfaction Pastel 20"(W) x 16"(H)
Spring Bank Holiday Weekend 28th to 30th May Via Gellia Mills, Bonsall, Derbyshire DE4 2AJ
Who can resist a peek into the life of an artist? From May 28th art lovers are invited to meet Pet and Wildlife artist Clare Walton of Kute Fine Art at Unit 309 Via Gellia Mill. See her in action, learn about her skills and experience the surroundings that nourish her imagination.
Take the opportunity to browse Original Artwork, Limited and Open Edition Prints and brand new Cartoon Releases. Why not have a go yourself? There will be a variety of artists materials to try including pastels and many types of pastel paper, pen and ink, graphite pencil and oil paints.
Now in its sixth year the Derbyshire Open Arts has established itself as a firm date in the cultural calendar and Via Gellia Mill as an art venue isn't standing still. One of the great strengths of this rural setting is the sense of place, drawing on the rich vein of talent in the area and exhibiting work that celebrates local distinctiveness.
Only in such a rural space can visitors explore such a diverse event with so much fun.
12" x 16" pastel painting on Fisher 400 paper. Molly the Boxer is a client commission completed and mounted and framed in record time. One very happy customer and that is what makes it all worth while!
My latest creation starts to take shape. The photo I have been working from is so bland and to coin a phrase "faceless". So I hope I can show the children in their true light.
