<![CDATA[NORTHERN GIRLS - Blog]]>Tue, 17 Sep 2024 18:00:42 +0100Weebly<![CDATA[Ginny McDermott]]>Thu, 16 Nov 2023 19:29:59 GMThttp://northerngirls.co.uk/northern-girls-blog/ginny-mcdermottIntroducing Ginny McDermott fresh back from the RA where she had one of her paintings displayed and sold from the wall of the Summer Exhibition!

Q: How do you approach the creative process? Do you plan meticulously or embrace spontaneity?
A: I spend a fair amount of time planning. If I’m using oils I need to plan my time effectively as I paint wet-in-wet so need to complete a painting within about a 3 day period. Time is more flexible with acrylics. I tend to build up layers of colour in acrylics so spend the planning time on working out colour ways and layering ideas.

Q: What techniques or mediums do you use to create your artwork?
A: My semi abstract acrylic paintings tend to use a large variety of tools for mark making and are quite spontaneous once I get going. In oils I prefer to paint mostly with a palette knife and have a clear and ordered composition to work to.

Q: Are there any specific artists or art movements that have influenced your style?
A: I like the impressionist idea the best i.e. that you are creating an impression, an artist’s impression, of a place or a feeling or an idea rather than something which is entirely realistic. I love the work of the Glasgow Boys, the colour palettes used by Bonnard and the compositions and light of Hopper.

Q: Can you explain the concept or message behind your work?
A: My ‘people’ paintings are all about the beauty or intensity of an ordinary moment, whether it’s a lone individual or interactions within a group. My landscapes tend not to feature figures and are more about creating the atmosphere of a place, trying to capture the movement of the wind and the depth of the sky...quite tricky!

Q: What emotions or reactions do you hope to evoke in viewers through your art?
A: I want the viewer to feel drawn into the painting, to feel as though they can smell the grass, feel the breeze, marvel at the intensity of colour in nature, or in the case of my ‘people’ paintings, share the moment of the interaction between figures.

Featured Artwork: Cat and Fiddle Traverse

What inspired you to create this particular piece?
The Cat and Fiddle Inn is an iconic pub and sitting so high up on the moor it attracts walkers, cyclists, motorcyclists and motorists alike. It can be beautiful up here, but also bleak. The weather can change quickly and the route can become treacherous in winter. It has been the inspiration for a number of my works now.

Q: How does your artwork reflect your personal experiences or worldview?
A: I see interest and beauty in all sorts of places and feel the need to draw people’s attention to this, through my work. Over the years I’ve come to appreciate having the time to notice people and places I have had the fortune to meet. Life is so fast paced for so many today that the small, simple things of life get overlooked.
Q: Can you share any interesting or challenging moments you encountered while creating this piece?
A: While I was painting this a parcel was delivered featuring some interestingly patterned paper as packing material. It reminded me of tyre treads and so ended up being used to create the upward light grey streaks on the left hand side.

Q: How do you know when a piece is finished? Do you ever feel tempted to keep making changes?
A: When the production of a piece has been really intense, I usually reach a point where I just know that it’s pretty much finished, at which point I stop and let it sit on the easel for a day or so and adjust it if necessary. I try not to tinker unnecessarily, tempting though it is sometimes.

Q: Do you sell your work online?
A: Yes, I have a website which lists work for sale, though buyers need to contact me by email or social media in order to buy.

Where else can we see your work?
Northern Makes Gallery, Bollington and The Luxe Company, Coney Street, York

Do you accept commissions?
Yes, if the subject appeals to me

You can see more of Ginnys work here:
FACEBOOK: @ginnymcdermottartist
INSTAGRAM: @ginny.mcdermott
LINKED IN: www.linkedin.com/in/ginny-mcdermott-4134967/
WEBSITE : www.ginnymcdermott.co.uk
EMAIL: ginny@ginnymcdermott.co.uk

]]><![CDATA[Kate Fawcett]]>Thu, 16 Nov 2023 19:18:54 GMThttp://northerngirls.co.uk/northern-girls-blog/kate-fawcettMake yourself a cuppa and relax with our Q&A with Northern Girl Kate Fawcett.

Q: How do you approach the creative process? Do you plan meticulously or embrace spontaneity?
A: I embrace spontaneity but I prepare meticulously by collecting a great deal of source material using my sketchbook and camera.
Back in the studio these sketches and photographs are used as reference for further studies in bigger sketchbooks or on paper. It is only then that I approach the canvas or wooden panels on which I prefer to work. My subject matter is always rooted in the outdoors whether it be an image from the wider landscape, park or garden.

Q: What techniques or mediums do you use to create your artwork?
A: I work in an expressive and dynamic fashion building up many layers of paint, collage and mixed media, often sanding back or scraping though the layers until I am satisfied that the painting is finished. I like to use unusual tools to apply the paint including large decorating brushes, old credit cards, sponges and pieces of scrunched up paper. My aim is not to recreate a perfect copy of the original sketch or photograph but is more an emotional response to it.

Q: Are there any specific artists or art movements that have influenced your style?
A: The Expressionists and Abstract Expressionists.
I love the works of Matisse, Van Gogh, Joan Eardly, Tracy Emmin and Anselm Keifer to name but a few.

Q: Can you explain the concept or message behind your work?
A: To express the emotions that I feel from looking at and being out in the landscape.

Q: What emotions or reactions do you hope to evoke in viewers through your art?
A: I hope the viewer is drawn to my work because they can recognise in it something that is authentic,unique, colourful or joyful.
Featured Artwork: Rose Garden
Q: What inspired you to create this particular piece?
A: A bunch of beautiful peonies that I grew in my garden earlier this year.

Q: How does your artwork reflect your personal experiences or worldview?
A: I hope it reflects the joy that I experience from making and being in my garden, particularly the colours.

Q: Can you share any interesting or challenging moments you encountered while creating this piece?
A: As always in my process there were moments of elation and despair.
Q: How do you know when a piece is finished? Do you ever feel tempted to keep making changes?
A: I tend to spend too much time making changes but one just knows when it’s time to call it finished. There’s a sense of achievement.

Q: Do you sell your work online?
A: Not formally but I have sold a lot of paintings through receiving enquiries on social media.

Q: Where else can we see your work?
A: Most of my work is sold through exhibitions. As a member of The Northern Girls I am really looking forward to our upcoming exhibition at the beautiful Clonterbrook Gallery at the beginning of November

Q: Do you accept commissions?
A: Yes

You can see more of Kate's work at The Clonterbrook Gallery from 3-5th November
FACEBOOK: KateFawcettArtist
INSTAGRAM: artykatefawcett
WEBSITE www.northerngirls.co.uk
]]><![CDATA[Antoniela Ginourie]]>Wed, 18 Oct 2023 13:53:40 GMThttp://northerngirls.co.uk/northern-girls-blog/antoniela-ginourieMeet Antoniela Ginourie, one of the Northern Girls whose skills straddle ceramics and painting!

Q: How do you approach the creative process? Do you plan meticulously or embrace spontaneity?
A: As a painter and ceramic artist I do both. Nature is a constant inspiration for me and I always carry a sketchbook to record random visual elements. It is always good to have a feeling of the painting you going to create. Being in situ, making short sketches or feeling the atmosphere whether its calm, rough, storming, cold and hot. I take photos of texture on the rocks, of trees. All these things in nature are endless. I can spend days on long walks on the beach and country side. This “Sense of place”, its very important to me when I start a painting or create a piece of ceramic work.

Q: What techniques or mediums do you use to create your artwork?
A: I use acrylics and sometimes oils but prefer acrylics as it gives me the freedom to work with spontaneity.With ceramics I love to work with porcelain, crank or stoneware clay depending what I am making. Mylove for texture is present in most of my work, paintings or ceramics.

Q: Are there any specific artists or art movements that have influenced your style?
A: The Impressionist movement are a great influence in my work. Without this movement, we would not be where we are now in the “art world” but there are others like Turner, Picasso, and John knapp-Fisher, a Pembrokeshire artist, that I had the pleasure to meet and invited to see his studio. David Tress another great painter of today.

Q: Can you explain the concept or message behind your work?
A: My work is a balance between figurative and abstract representation

Q: What emotions or reactions do you hope to evoke in viewers through your art?
A: Picasso wrote “The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap piece of paper, from a passing shape from a spider web ...” The emotions or reactions from people can be extremely different. However, I think, for people to like it or to buy it, they must feel some sort of emotion or attraction that triggers a memory or a feeling.
Selected artwork: Lonely and Beautiful, Acrylic on canvas

Q: What inspired you to create this particular piece?
A: From a late afternoon walk on the Anglesey coast, there was no wind, no people, just very beautiful and lonely.

Q: How does your artwork reflect your personal experiences or worldview?
A: I am very lucky to be able to surrounded by beautiful places. In Portugal I live by the sea and forest. Here in England, living on the edge of the Peak District, close to the forest and countryside, Lake District and North wales not far. I just feel blessed and encourage others to explore their surroundings.

Q: Can you share any interesting or challenging moments you encountered while creating this piece?
A: There were no challenge on this one, just felt a sense of peace.
Q: How do you know when a piece is finished? Do you ever feel tempted to keep making changes?
A: My painting might take months, weeks or days to finish. When I am happy with it and it gives me that lovely feeling inside that I can’t explain ,then I know not to touch it again. With my ceramics, it’s different. I plan and sketch what I am going to make but many times I end up with a completely different piece of work.

Q: Do you sell your work online?
A: No I am not that clever or have interest with computers. I am lucky, that when people buy my work they always come back or recommends me to their friends.

Q: Where else can we see your work?
A: My work can be seen at different exhibitions throughout the year;
Two Doors Studios, Alsager; Emerging Artists at Pott Shrigley; Sandy lane Gallery & tearoom Macclesfield; The Northern Girls Exhibition.

Q: Do you accept commissions?
A: I have in the past. At the moment, I am doing one for a beach place in Portugal, depending on what the client wants.

You can see more of Antoniela's work at:
FACEBOOK: AntonielaGinourie
INSTAGRAM:@antonielaginourie
WEBSITE : www.antoniela.co.uk
]]><![CDATA[Alison Stafford]]>Wed, 18 Oct 2023 13:46:24 GMThttp://northerngirls.co.uk/northern-girls-blog/alison-staffordNext up in our highlighted artist feature is Alison Stafford!

Q: How do you approach the creative process? Do you plan meticulously or embrace spontaneity?
A: I love to experiment and my sketchbook is often my first touchpoint when planning a painting. I will spend as much time playing as I do creating a finished work. That said I rarely follow the same process and respond spontaneously to each mark that I make until I am satisfied that the finished work is balanced an conveys the story I am trying to tell. I always strive to say what I want to say and then ‘get out’!

Q: What techniques or mediums do you use to create your artwork?
A: Anything that makes an interesting mark and gives me the desired hue. My main concern is how to stop mediums falling off the canvas so I am sticking to tested methods, with acrylics, charcoal, pastels and oils outside of my sketchbook!

Q: Are there any specific artists or art movements that have influenced your style?
A: I am just exploring abstract expressionism with my landscapes and am really fascinated by the work of Mitchell Albala, Brian Rutenberg, Joan Fullerton, not forgetting the amazing Lesley Humphrey!

Q: What emotions or reactions do you hope to evoke in viewers through your art?
A: Hopefully positive ones! I want my work to uplift and inspire, to be a visual refuge, somewhere they can go on a journey and find hope and positivity.
Featured Artwork:
'A Walk On The Wild Side' : 60x60cm : Mixed Media

Q: What inspired you to create this particular piece?
A: I love walking with the dogs in the local hills at the weekends and this was painted after one such walk. It was VERY windy and just transitioning from Summer to Autumn. I played with colours and marks to create a landscape that was familiar to me, but using a ‘language’ which was ambiguous enough to allow room for the viewer to have their own narrative.

Q: How do you know when a piece is finished? Do you ever feel tempted to keep making changes?
I will work on several pieces at a time and keep going back to them until all the questions they ask me, are resolved to a point where I am happy to release them into the world.

Q: Do you sell your work online?
A: I sell on my own website and people can access this through my facebook and Instagram accounts
Where else can we see your work?
My collaboration with the Northern Girls is from the 3-5th Novembeer and I am excited to show my new paintings at Clonterbrook Gallery. Thereafter I am planning more exhibiting opportunities in 2024.
You can see more of Alisons work or contact her here:

www.alisonstafford.com
Facebook: Alison Stafford Art
Instagram: @alstaffordart
]]><![CDATA[Zelda Pickup]]>Wed, 18 Oct 2023 13:40:25 GMThttp://northerngirls.co.uk/northern-girls-blog/zelda-pickupQuestions you always wanted to ask a Northern Girl...next up, Zelda Pickup!

Q: How do you approach the creative process? Do you plan meticulously or embrace spontaneity?
A: I have a general idea before I start but the work develops in spontaneous directions as I paint. It becomes a compilation of ideas about colour, distorted perspective and form.

Q: What techniques or mediums do you use to create your artwork?
A: I always use oil paint and mostly paint on board as I like the resistance to the brush and the underlying surface.

Q: Are there any specific artists or art movements that have influenced your style?
A: I have been influenced by numerous artists over the years. For colour, probably Matisse and Van Gogh. For perspective distortion, Mary Fedden amongst many others.

Q: Can you explain the concept or message behind your work?
A: There isn’t really a message. Conceptually I’m trying to create something complex which looks deceptively simple.

Q: What emotions or reactions do you hope to evoke in viewers through your art?
A: I want the works to be joyous and positive in feeling, whilst also encouraging some curiosity about the painting and how it works.
Featured Painting: Autumn Harvest, Oil on Board

Q: Can you share any interesting or challenging moments you encountered while creating this piece?
A: This piece had many technical challenges including the positioning of the objects and the use of many different colours that had to harmonise as a whole. The introduction of a red can be particularly difficult.

Q: How do you know when a piece is finished? Do you ever feel tempted to keep making changes?
A: It takes me a long time to feel that a piece is finished and I do have to fight the tendency to keep changing things. I’m trying to train myself to walk away.

Q: Do you sell online?
A: I can be contacted through my website and I have sold works this way. (Link in bio)
 Q: Do you accept commissions? 
A: It depends on the subject matter. I am interested in painting objects, fabrics etc that have a personal resonance for someone but they will be distorted and not an exact reproduction.

To find out more about Zelda and her wonderful paintings you can come along to The Northern Girls Exhibition at Clonterbrook Gallery 3-5th November.

Can't make it?
Go to
www.zeldapickup.com
]]><![CDATA[Allie Pottinger]]>Fri, 13 Oct 2023 11:24:57 GMThttp://northerngirls.co.uk/northern-girls-blog/allie-pottingerWe asked each of the Northern Girls questions you may have but were too afraid to ask! First up is Allie Pottinger!

How do you approach the creative process? Do you plan meticulously or embrace spontaneity?
Plenty of ‘gathering’ is involved in my painting process. Whether sitting on a beach in the Outer Hebrides or on a hillside in the Peak District. Firstly, I just soak up the atmosphere of the chosen location and make lots of preliminary sketches; working out tone, colour palette, shapes, forms and of course a bit of texture. I’ll gather information and make notes which could be about the weather, or anything that takes my interest and return to the studio with my collection from the day; heather, moss, lichen encrusted twigs, feathers or small shells, grasses. I then use these as nuggets of inspiration to refer to for colour & texture reference.

What techniques or mediums do you use to create your artwork?
Watercolour is my go to medium.Depending on the piece, Ill add a touch of wax, graphite or chalk. Lifting out and using fluid wet in wet with a sprinkling of salt or pressing sponges, using a feather stem to ‘flick up’ grasses or other objects in for a bit of texture.

Are there any artists that have influenced your style?
My artist uncle Bill (William Neill) is a watercolour artist on South Usit. He works with the Society of Wildlife artists and captures the Outer Hebrides beautifully.

Can you explain the concept or message behind your work?
My work is mostly representational in style, I trained as an illustrator.

What emotions or reactions do you hope to evoke in viewers through your art?
A connection to something in the painting, maybe it evokes a memory of a happy place or time. I hope to give people a pleasing painting that gives them a bit of joy.

How does your artwork reflect your personal experiences or worldview?
I have definitely gone on a journey this year; physically, mentally and through my painting experiences. I was lucky enough to travel to the Outer Hebrides and also Renaissance Italy – the Amalfi & Adriatic coasts and an old favourite, Anglesey in North Wales. There is no doubt that travel really does expand your horizons. I often felt compelled to get up and paint in the middle of an evening meal! It was fabulous painting the deepest sunsets of Capri, or Straits of Messina, sharing my work, connecting with new people all the way, being immersed in the new cultures. Art is a generic language. My sketch book studies seemed to be appreciated and understood.
Featured Painting:
Morning Magic and Rocky point, Luskentyre

What inspired you to create this particular piece?
It was an emotional response to sitting on the rocks early one still morning on Luskentyre beach Isle of Harris and was created from my time sitting with five layers of warm clothes on, sitting on the rocks that are 3 billion years old, looking out to the Atlantic. It was a totally immersive experience and I was totally compelled to get a sense of place down on paper.

Can you share any challenging moments you encountered while creating this piece?
The wind! ...I had lots of elastic bands to hold down my preliminary sketch book pages and then I’d get sand in my paint palette and keep loosing my brushes.

How do you know when a piece is finished?
I just know! I always leave it. Less is more.

alliepottinger.com
facebook.com-@AlliePottingerwatercolours
instagram - @allie_pottinger
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