Had a great day making mono prints with an old friend from UCA days yesterday. We just did a load of prints on the kitchen table, clearing a space for lunch before getting into our stride in the afternoon. Making work with another artist can be so inspiring as well as fun.
I have been painting as intended, using collage with a history of printed marks on old pieces of work that I have torn up.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf drawing prize is off to Leicester Gallery, De Montfort University and will be there from 21 February to 18 April 2020.
I have a couple of pieces of work in a local show and am quite pleased to have a detail of my image used for the flyer.
The print club I started is going well and some real skills sharing is beginning to happen which is wonderful. More and more artists are coming to Dover and there is a demand for hard-to-find studio space.
The online exhibition of selected black and white drawings from my Beachtime Stories series, curated by Sue Crellin-McCarthy is now live. If you missed the exhibition at The Margate School’s Line gallery, here is a chance to see some of the drawings. The complete series is on my website. Some of the works are for sale (those that don’t say sold!!).
I have now met the new young curator at Brew Folkestone to discuss plans for the show in April. Brew serves locally sourced coffee and food, all freshly made to order and the venue has built a reputation for exhibitions curated by a changing sequence of curators. I’ll be showing a selection of my Hug those you love series of watercolour collages. I’m a bit worried about the expense for framing but am negotiating a discount for a bulk order for 15 or so works all the same size.
I have 3 works (at sale prices) in Art<100 in Ramsgate meaning all the work is on sale for less than £100. Apart from anything else, I need to make some space in the studio for new work.
Amongst other things plans this year are
and
On the exhibition front, I have an online exhibition coming up and an exhibition of work at Brew Folkestone in April/May.
I’ve also got an idea for a community embroidery project focusing on food as a marker of the culture people bring with them or grow up with.
Clare Smith's mixed English/Chinese heritage informs her perspective on issues of identity and categorisation. Her nomadic childhood and early adulthood have meant a somewhat ambivalent relationship to place, reinforced by the sense of ambiguity that comes from her mixed identity. Smith works with drawing, print media, collage and moving image to investigate this ambivalence, with references to craft, the importance of labour and the handmade. Through her choice of materials and approaches, she creates work which attempts to create a sense of unity, an interpretation of Homi Bhabha's "Third Space" - seen as a space in which different parts can come together to challenge dominant ideas of wholeness. Collaboration is part of Smith’s practice and she is also co-founder of Dover Arts Development (DAD) together with painter, Joanna Jones. This involves working with many different artists, curation, organisation, event management, creating networks across East Kent and influencing the public realm in Dover. Clare works from a studio in Dover. She has an MA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins and has exhibited nationally and internationally.
