Last Week to Catch Ashley & Janie at the Shire Hall

Ashley & Janie McDonald have been enjoying their new studio space and working hard at the Shire Hall, Bodmin. During the first week of 'Open Studios', Ashley hosted a very well received workshop, 'Learn to Paint in Oils' and last week St Petroc's Primary School children enjoyed a visit and were fascinated with the exhibition and Ashley's oil painting demonstrations. Year 12 students at Bodmin College are looking forward to a 'Colour' workshop with him next week at the venue.

Ashley has been focusing on work for his 'City of Glass ' series which is now really taking shape and will be shown later on in the year at the prizewinning show at 'Canvas & Cream' in London. (Scroll down to view more images and info on Ashley's new work.) The 'Open Studios' exhibition runs until Sat 23rd June,  so come along for a last chance to preview the work and meet up with both artists.

Next Workshop -  'Colour & Coast' Sat 28 July & Sat 4 Aug

10am - 4.30pm, St Breward Village Hall

We are now taking bookings for our next workshop.

'Colour & Coast' is very much connected to Ashley's own art practice, his love of colour and inspiration from the coastal landscape.

Using the 'Coast' as our theme, students will explore the principles of colour- mixing and how to use colour effectively amd creatively. Ashley will be hands on demonstrating and sharing many tips and techniques. This workshop is suitable for all abilities and Ashley will introduce some new exercises and surprises for those of you who have taken part before.

Cost £30 for 1 Saturday or £55 for both Saturdays.

Limited space available , early booking recommended.

To Book: Contact denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk or call 01208 77656 

Honeycomb Studios Group Exhibition

Sat 23rd June Private View 11am- 5pm

Also open Sun 24th Jun 11am-5pm

Sara Bor who runs Honeycomb Studios is hosting an exhibition for students who have taken part in workshops she runs at her studios. There is an intersting mix of work on show, including several of Ashley's paintings from his Cornish series.

Honeycomb Studios can be found in a beautiful rural location in Devon.

The Hansons will be going along on Saturday, hope to see you there! See http://honeycombworkshops.blogspot.co.uk for more information.

The Gallery Exhibition,

Mon 25th- Sat 7th July 2012

The Old Threshers Shop

Fore Street

Bodmin

Local artists will once again be supporting 'The Friends of St Petroc's' in helping to raise money for St Petroc's Church and improve the facilities for the local community.

There will be a wide selection of paintings and ceramics on show at the exhibiton and Ashley will be supporting this event and exhibiting several pieces.

Come along and have a look and enjoy the delightful refreshments in the cafe during the exhibition. For more information see http://thegallerybodmin.yolasite.com/

We have been experiencing a few problems with our emails of late, which we hope to resolve very soon. However I would like to reassure you all, that we are able to send and receive emails, regardless of what message you might be receiving.

Please continue to use denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk and ashley@ashleyhanson.co.uk. We apologise for any confusion or inconvenience.

New painting- 'City of Glass 7'

A looser painting- at first the black building dominates, with Manhattan more hidden, then the purity of the blood-reds and the angle of left lower Manhattan and the straightness of the avenues come to the fore, which in turn connect to the softer straight edges on the right side of the painting. 

This painting is raw and exciting- its innards are exposed and it shows how my paintings are made. Below is a studio shot at the Shire Hall in Bodmin with City of Glass 2,7 & 6. I will be there until Saturday 23 June if you would like to see the paintings.  The Canvas & Cream show in November is coming together- hope these 3 paintings can hang together like this.

'City of Glass 2,7 & 6'   

New painting- 'City of Glass 6: Pages 106-112' finished during Open Studios

'City of Glass 6: Pages 106-112'    150x120cms


I'm enjoying working in the new (temporary) studio at the Shire Hall and the dialogue with Janie (M Mcdonald). 

In 'The New York Trilogy',  Auster's explores layers of reality and truth and identity and this painting is about the very first idea I had for the series. Just as Quinn, the writer of detective-stories, who becomes a detective, transcribes the movements of his quarry onto a New York street map, I too have been become a detective, extracting clues from the text and transcribing Quinn's walk from his home to his clients apartment, described on pages 106-112. In turn, the viewer too becomes a detective, following my clues with their eyes.

Paradoxically, the facts, and the truth of the detailed translation of the walk held back the truth of the painting;it was only when I allowed the line to be broken up and disguised that the painting came alive again. Like the letters of the Tower of Babel in the novel, invisibly written in the streets, my line is there but not there.

Below is the painting at at earlier stage, where my gut feeling was that Manhattan was too 'cut-out' and the blue too cold.  In the finished piece, the yellow is 'something' and flows through the island and the yellow splashes imply shipping and define scale. Within the order of the grid-pattern, the painting now pulsates with the energy and chaos of the city.  Underneath is the painting in the studio with some very special visitors, my children!



Ollie & Faye with 'City of Glass 6'

Come meet Ashley & Janie at 'Open Studios', Cornwall

2nd - 23rd June at the Shire Hall, Bodmin

(above the Visitors Information Centre)

Ashley is collaborating with textile artist Janie M McDonald and they will be transporting their studios to Bodmin's Shire Hall once again.   You will be able to see them both  working 'Live' alongside the backdrop of their work, over the 3 week period.  

Ashley is very excited about exhibiting his latest work, inspired by Paul Auster's book, New York Trilogy. 'City of Glass 1' (one of the prize winning paintings for the Canvas & Cream competition) will be on display along with a number of new pieces that have never been shown before.  Ashley is currently working towards his prizewinning exhibition, at Canvas & Cream in London in November and these paintings will be crucial to the series. (See recent posts with images and Ashley's thought process about the new work.) There will also be a good selection of paintings from his Cornish series on view.

Janie's work is very different:she uses a wide range of art materials and incorporates textile elements,colour and stitch into her work. Ashley and Janie first showed their work together at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in 2010.
  

During ‘Open Studios’, Ashley is runnning a family friendly workshop 'Learn to Paint in Oils' .Come along with your children (or on your own) for a fun and informative 2 hour workshop, where you will learn about colour and the basics of how to paint in oils. 

‘Learn to Paint in Oils' Workshop, Friday 8^th June, 10.30 - 12.30 at the Shire Hall, Bodmin. Fee £20 adults £15 children 10-16yrs including all materials.

TO BOOK: Contact denise@ashleyhanson.co.uk
or call 01208 77656.
Early booking recommended.  

Limited to 10 places only.
Booking essential. 

'City of Glass 5: Truthville, NY' (Finished day 3, p.m.)

Maybe....movement around the periphery and a still centre. The top of the painting/sky was too strong so has now lost its prominence and the top of the tower and the dot of Truthville are now the point of focus- the drawing has been strengthened there and the Hudson River, the state-lines and Lake Champlain all lead the eye. Even though the tower is cut into the paint, it appears further forward than the state-shapes -so their strong colours now work and are held by the drawing. Then the tower disapears behind the yellow-orange corner so now the painting has space and depth. There is an oddness about this painting that I really like - it's done.

Truthville (Day 3)

Too tired to work last night but might as well have - solutions for painting whizzing through my head. Getting there- the tower is a bit too graphic, I'll disguise it a bit. The ocean has real power and is overwhelming the southern tip of Manhattan. An apocalyptic feel to the painting now..The spot of Truthville balances now on top of the tower. Love how scale is undermined- a tower that big, a wave that big......Top of the painting next: it stops you seeing the tower.  Do I lose it and integrate it with colour into the rest of the painting or do I make it into a threatening sky? It's too horizontal- have to sort with a small block of angled colour  which should create a big diagonal.

Linked by the pinks, the states of  New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut on the right side have formed another mysterious tower-shape. Back to the studio to mix another grey for the sky using another blue. Lets see how what a difference Sennelier paints make to my colour- time to open the box as we get towards the end of the painting. If grey doesn't work I'll try a quieter pink. That yellow/orange corner still nags... might work better when I change the top.

'Truthville' (Day 2) 100x70cms oil on canvas

An OK day. I shrunk everything to move Truthville (orange dot) down a couple of inches, with a benefit of more space around the edges.  The dot is not as powerful yet as the blue dot in 'Hope Falls'.  I have discovered zinc-white which makes colours slightly more transparent. The right -side has been simplified and horizontals more subtle, now the angles are more prominent. Unsure about it though- the paint seems a bit samey and the colours too obvious,too known,too luscious.  Time for some serious looking and testing. The best thing is the curve at the bottom, following the curve of Long Island, doing a job for the painting and holding up Manhattan. Painting is starting to deflatten and space is becoming more interesting- the Tower is going in tonight to disturb the space even more and I'm going to take out take out the yellow/orange corner-it's one colour too many.