Last week I …

This weekend I had some works hanging in an ‘Art Exhibition’ albeit on pegs and several lengths string.  It was a wonderful experience I will not forget it.  

Early in the new year I attended two sessions  of evening classes at Block Keep; a local art gallery where some of the resident artists run annual tutorials for students of mixed ability.

This year it was planned that the ‘artists’  might show their pieces at the end of term.  Nice idea, but for me a bit of a worry as I didn’t actually complete anything; each week I went along to learn a new skill and to practice later, or, not at home.  So at the end of the evening although I signed at dated each work they were not ready for public consumption; but it was too late, I was committed; signed up for the duration.  

So for 5 weeks we drew, with pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, pastel, even water colour and the next we got into printing, with wood and lino, learning about the paper, inks, rollers, the press; we laughed, cursed, cut our fingers, got messy, learned about clearing away and honed our precious printing skills.  Our prints were hung to dry with pegs on a piece of string; to collect the following week.  Some were selected for the show.

Here they are,  delightful and politely called ‘experimental’  maybe they appear unfinished, raw and even clumsy to the uninitiated … but to me, seeing these gave me hope that one day we will not be hanging on a washing line no matter how wonderful it seems now.