2022 in a few paragraphs

Well, my last blog in March was called 'on the road again' and I think I didn't get off the road this year! I love writing my blog but it has been the last thing in a long list of things this year so while I have a moment I will try and sumarise the year I've had.

After moving house and the pandemic things were very upside down along with working two jobs as well it was all a bit much but now, I've managed to just have one job and my art, but we are moving again!

This year started with me having time to create new works with a little bit of colour after spending a few years painting quite dark. Maybe we were all emerging from a dark time? I took part again in the Belper Art Trail, Derbyshire Open Arts, Haddon Hall and the Bonsal Trail and I was happy to be back at Cromford Mills Artisan Market again.

 After Easter I was excited to be approached to create nine commissions, eight of Ashbourne shop fronts and one personal. So, from then on, every week was taken up with those so it may seem I haven't painted many this year to those that are following me but I can assure you I have been super busy art-wise. Please visit Cafe Impromptu  Ashbourne where you can see all eight shop fronts on the wall as prints.

Cafe Impromptu Ashbourne, where you can see all eight commissioned paintings as prints.

Also, this year has been the welcome return of doing art demos at art groups it started off with everyone feeling nervous and wearing a mask but has ended with it being more like old times fingers are crossed it stays that way! 

Finished art demo painted at Hinkley Art Group

The year ends with me working on another commission, this time a house portrait, so I am very happy how my year has gone. It is nice to place a canvas on an easel and know you are working on something special.

Next year's plans are to exhibit with Peak District Artisans again as well as have my own exhibition of recent works at Banks Mill Studios. 

Oh yes we are moving house again! We left Belper a couple of years ago but we have missed being there so much so we are moving back on my website you will see I have painted the streets of Belper many times there is always something new to see so that is a very exciting thing to look forward to in the new year!

Please enjoy the Christmas period and hopefully, I will see you in the new year!
 

New work for 2022

 

Sunrise on the school run 40 x 40 cm acrylic on canvas.

How are you all doing? It seems the news gets crazier by the day to the point now where I'm listening to much more music to distract me from the buffoon in charge. Thankfully I'm of an age where I know that things come to pass and we come out the other side eventually it just seems to have been a bloody long decade!

We are lucky though if only we open our eyes and see the beauty that is all around every day, last week or maybe it was the week before who knows but each morning I was blinded on the way home from the school run by magnificent sunrises which alongside massive traffic jams meant I had plenty of time to absorb all the colours. This inspired me to get the paints out and put them all down at once onto the canvas with one of them being the above piece called Sunrise on the school run showing the view on the way to Kilburn.

My new job has sent me up some hills in Matlock Bath, and the surrounding area, here's one that I've just finished too.

Matlock Bath from the Jubilee Bridge.35 x 25 cm.

Along with the representational stuff I've just wanted to get the colour down so here's a few abstract studies, I love doing these very therapeutic.

30 x 24 cm

 10 x 8"

6 x 8"

30 x 24 cm

The colours all look better in real life so I hope you can come along and see me this year at the various events I will be doing around the area. See my website www.ruthgrayimages.com for details.

It was nice to see my painting in the background of this video the other day :) 

https://youtu.be/ZdEaLKpwzZ8 

The chip shop obsession continues

Well, I'm working on being able to touch my toes, and I'm nearly getting there! Who would have thought that me the queen of sitting would be jumping about in the living room trying to do keep fit! I will spare you the actual image of this it's a strictly curtains drawn event! But progress has been made I can sit down on the floor and get up unaided! Silver linings eh!
Apart from my contortions in front of the TV, I have been contemplating what it takes for something to become a national icon and no I don't mean myself I mean the chip shop of course!
Last year I embarked on this mammoth project for my MA studies and I'm finally getting round to writing it all up. From my research it seems to boil down to a lot of us having the same emotions and memories, Chip shops have a continuity that goes back 160 years run by individuals, family businesses that serve us something that is unique to this country. Each area of the country have their different takes on it but essentially you can go anywhere in the UK and get a bag of chips to cheer you up. I know my Australian friends will insist that they have chippies but I can honestly say after I landed back in Blighty the taste of a soggy chip was the best day ever followed by standing barefoot on grass knowing there was no deadly spider underfoot!

Is this serious research I hear you ask? What is she going to do with a dissertation about chip shops? Well, I take heritage very seriously and I can tell you there's nothing more central to the British than the fact we are an island nation surrounded by the sea and full of green fields. In these apocalyptic times be comforted to know that potatoes will grow and fish will be caught and they will be battered and fried and eaten :) My research has uncovered the secret to us all surviving! Hey, it's not as far fetched as a dose of bleach followed by a quick sun bed session!!!!

So is she painting at all?
Yes, I'm painting I've just finished a lovely commission and started a new work a theme seems to be emerging again little back street businesses the sort you walk past they've always been there until they aren't.

Maycock's Butchers Overlane 40 x 40 cm

Clayton Engineering Belper in progress. 

So there you go a little update on all things in my world, yes I'm going slightly insane but in a good way! Keep occupied and carry on! Thank you for the replies to my chippy questions if you have any more observations or thoughts about what they mean to you please reply Australian fans if you have found a local chip shop that can make soggy chips I apologise and send my congratulations to the owner ... how hard can it be?
Anyway bye, for now, stay safe
Love
Ruth

Best Chip Shop in the World.

Chip shops who knew they could be so interesting, I've just painted number 8 and it was one my husband took me to see in Chesterfield, it looks just like a house no signage or any hint its a chip shop but who needs signage when you are 'Margaret's Chippy best chip shop in the world' according to facebook reviews, I found the website and Margaret ran it for 52 years and is now enjoying just greeting old customers while its run by a new couple. Regulars return and are prepared to queue for as long as it takes.
An interesting thought if your product is good enough and you are consistent no need to shout and cover yourself in neon lights! 

Margaret's Chippy, Duke Street Chesterfield 20 x 20 cm acrylic on canvas

If you have any chip shops you love let me know!

See all my other chip shop paintings on my website: http://ruthgrayimages.com 

Ashbourne Workshop in the Rain.

A couple of weeks ago I ran my workshop at St John Street Gallery in Ashbourne, in my head I had the idea that March would be the perfect time to get outside and do a bit of sketching!
Well as you all know its been brutal weather in Derbyshire and standing outside in pouring rain was not ideal.
Although actually looking back you get some interesting results and memories.
I managed to find us shelter in a doorway and we actually got some decent sketches and funny looks as we tried to capture the scene in front of us.
 Today I revisited the painting I started and totally destoryed it and brought it back again I think this captures how blumin cold and wet and freezing we were!

A Late Winter in Ashbourne by Ruth Gray.

The next date for a street scene workshop is June 12th details here hopefully not pouring down but glorious sunshine.

Id love you to book on so we can have a great creative day together.  Any abilities are welcome.

While you are here I have a brand new mailing list be great if you could sign up no more than six a year! Subscribe Here

Guest Blog by David Walker of Yoxall Art Group.

The Art of Stylisation by David Walker, Yoxall Art Group.

Fresh from the detailed article on her painting “Christmas Eve at Castleton” in the journal “Paint” (The Magazine of the Society for All Artists) Ruth Gray entertained the members and guests of the Yoxall Art group on 8th November with an excellent demonstration of her stylish, abstracted painting techniques.

Demo at Yoxall Art Group picture by David Walker

The audience was immediately involved in the chosen image of the day, a view of George Street in Hastings, East Sussex.  Ruth had pre-prepared the canvass by sketching the outline in watercolour  marker pen.  That immediately drew gasps of disbelief from the audience, but Ruth did assure them that the water based marker would be washed away as she continued the work.  The original sketch was certainly robust, but as soon as the work began you could see how the method worked to achieve the expected result.  A key advantage of using the watercolour pen was, unlike charcoal or pencil, there was no shiny residue to contend with.

Ruth then discussed her choice of acrylic paints and her colour palette.  Having lived in Australia for a time she much preferred the Atelier brand which was developed, and is manufactured in that country. Atelier is much more forgiving in the drying problem which can make using acrylic paint difficult.  This development was probably because of higher temperatures in Australia meaning an even bigger problem of paint drying on the palette, especially when working “en plein air”.  In the more moderate UK the paint, when protected by a plastic bag, was still usable the next day.

Picture by David Walker 

She then started in earnest on the work, starting by brushing in the sky and foreground, with large, bold strokes.  This initial work was revisited later to add some of detail.  Then the emphasis immediately changed to the dark tones and immediately you could see the wisdom of her choice of the watercolour pen.  The outline of the people was also undertaken in the dark tones.

She then progressed through the mid tone colours and eventually on to the general highlight colours.  The spot and highlight colours were then added as part of the finishing process adding details to people, buildings, signs and flags to arrive at the final painting.

Within a couple of hours Ruth had produced a wonderful representation of George Street, that would not be out of place in any living room!  Of course, there was some finishing of detail still required, this would be added later after a period of drying.

Work in Progress. Picture by David Walker

All told an exciting and instructive demonstration by a very competent and respected artist.  Everyone took in new ideas and thoroughly enjoyed the day.  Ruth’s website http://ruthgrayimages.net  is well worth a visit!

Reflection,Workshop Cromford Canal on Birdswood

Yesterday I facilitated a workshop at Cromford.

 We set sail for a day of reflection on the historic canal boat Birdswood its fair to say we had four seasons in one day which perfectly illustrated the different effects the weather can have on reflections in water. 

We spent the 45 min trip up the canal sketching and observing, we then departed for half an hours walk in the rain noting ripple effects and had a leisurely trip back photographing and taking notes.

Once returned to the wharf after lunch we took our observations and used acrylic in a limited pallet to depict any part of our trip that we wanted to capture. It was very sunny and the acrylic paint struggled in the heat but we all came away with a painting and an awful lot of information to take forward for further work.

The photos explain better than I how wonderful this day was.

Anatomy of the Landscape Workshop

I've been privileged to have worked with Shottle Art Group these last two weeks as part of my Fleet Arts / Derwent Wise Project Anatomy of the Landscape. 

'In September 2013 the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) gave the go ahead for the Lower Derwent Valley Landscape Partnership – DerwentWISE.

This £2.5 million five year project aims to inspire people to learn about and take care of the landscape of the Lower Derwent Valley.

The framework of the DerwentWISE Landscape Partnership Scheme is formed on the Lower Derwent Valley Landscape Conservation Action Plan (LCAP).  This is an all embracing document which analyses the landscape, assesses the problems and makes a case for investing in an area which we all know as very special indeed.

The Partnership is led by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and includes Natural England; Derbyshire County Council; English Heritage; National Stone Centre; Fleet Arts; The Arkwright Society; Environment Agency; Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Partnership; Derbyshire Dales District Council; Forestry Commission; Derby City Council; Amber Valley CVS; University of Derby and Amber Valley Borough Council; supported by the National Farmers Union.

In total the Scheme is delivering over 60 projects which fall into the four HLF themes:

Conserving and restoring features of natural and cultural historic importance within the landscape

Increasing community participation in local heritage in the area

Increasing access to and learning about the landscape and its heritage

Increasing training opportunities in traditional heritage skills'

The first week we visited the National Stone Centre and sketched and learnt about the geology of the lower Derwent Valley and in between sessions I encouraged the group to find out more and work up those sketches in any way they felt comfortable and last night we met again and worked on the final pieces as you can see from the images below the outcomes are going to be amazing the thought each artist has given to this project is wonderful to see as the aim was to learn about and appreciate the local landscape and these artists certainly have done that. 

I loved the fact that we have collage, printing abstracts and representational work and all individual which is something I strongly encourage in my workshops nothing worse than a room full of the same thing we are all different!

Shottle Art group have an exhibition at Hazlewood St Johns Church in July please visit if you can.

Light Wood and Reservoir

Light Wood and Reservoir Buxton

Here is my Buxton Spa Prize entry for this year I had a great pleasure painting this one and again discovering a new part of the Buxton outskirts. this is my fourth year entering and I really love taking part.

I like that from this vantage point I could see the Corbar Cross and Solomons temple in the distance.

I am looking forward to viewing all the entries together when Purple and Grey have there networking event at The Green Man Gallery July 12th. I will miss the open night as I am delivering a workshop at the National Stone Centre. I wish all the entrants every success.

My next event is The Great Dome Art Fair Buxton July 21-23