Category Archives: Galleries

Cut and Blow dry

These images would have been best posted in the last entry, so it’s post preview but these little men are still in the hair salon getting a cut and blow dry 🙂 Very much into the branding at the moment the men are out and about and so are the eggs, as we have now rolled into London Design week….(will write about that next time)

The brilliant thing about getting this exposure is then what comes from it. Finally the connections made and the networking are starting to pay off (not quite yet in the monetary terms but it’s not all about that at this stage)

‘Candy People’

'The keyhole Family'

People are a lot like Candy!

They’re all so different and dandy.

The way they look and what they do.

Which sweet am I? Which treat are you?

Skin like honey or milky fair,

or coco brown with chocolate hair.

Custard yellow or molasses dark,

or rusty dust of cinnamon bark!

Some friends stick around like toffee,

they’re lasting sticky and strong.

some friends are more like chewing gum:

Their fun and flavour won’t stay long.

Lean like liquorice or lollypop round,

all shapes and colours by the pound.

Small hazelnut or almond eyes,

our wrappers disguise such surprise.

some candy people that you meet,

are mushy and gooey and sweet.

Some come from life’s jawbreaker bin,

but time will melt to mint within.

People are a lot like candy!

Bonbons so different and dandy.

Step to the window, gaze and stop,

at God’s great goodie sugar shop.

People are a lot like Candy!

They’re all so different and dandy.

The way they look and what they do.

Which sweet am I? Which treat are you?

(Dawud Wharnsby 2011)

Windows of antiquity

'Pregnant, in the window at Rupert Cavendish, London'

It’s interesting how shop windows are designed to pull people in where as in our homes we put up blinds and curtains to stop people looking in. Understandably of course, we don’t want to attract people to peering into our windows. It makes me reflect on the beautiful Japanese homes I visited where the garden would be in the centre of the house and the walls would slide to let you open out into it. I don’t recall windows. Almost like little boxes with moving window walls.

I have often thought about the expression ”our eyes are windows to the soul”.  For a painter the eyes are symbolic of romance, passion, mystic. For a sculptor the eye is always dead, whatever the scale of the sculptor ‘s ability there is no way of creating it. Perhaps that is proof enough that our soul is visible through the eye.

To contrast from my last two blog entries, not so locally, in Kings Road London ‘Pregnant’ the piece by my husband has been positioned cleverly in the centre mirroring the geometric shapes in the painting behind (Andrew Burgess). Quite an impressive window display. Ralph Waldo Emerson so eloquently put that,” the eyes indicate the antiquity of the soul” this is so much more expressive. There is something, rich and fine about antique objects and to indicate the depth of soul in such away gives more meaning than simply a window.

The piece stands out within this antique setting as the modern colours are bold and vibrant against the classical soft browns and blues. With the universal rules of mathematical proportion but the quirky playful touch reminding us it is modern day.However, it is not lost here. Like some futuristic object that has found a home amongst fellow works of art, its antiquity resonates. A real masterpiece in the window. It stamps Egyptian style, drawing on the antiquities of the past.

Staying Local

‘Part of the Mill space'
‘Part of the mill space, Haworth’

On a Sunday we usually spend the day at home, after a busy 6 day week for my husband, Sunday becomes a day to mellow at home. Sometimes for the boys and I, that is also just what is needed, I have started to make Saturdays busy and with the school run during the week, actually it is nice to stay at home for the day. However, that said we went on a little adventure yesterday to Haworth. One of the contacts my husband made The Other Art Fair is a local furniture designer Anthony Hartley who happens to have a fantastic mill space. So last week, the works we have here in Yorkshire went along to join the show ready for the Haworth Festival this week. It’s an inspiring place. We met some lovely people and had delicious home-made cakes and tea. It was great to be able to see my husbands work in a space locally and take the boys. Haworth is really picturesque spot as we discovered on our way back taking a rather long route home.

I am having to stay local again today as the car is in the garage but we managed the long walk back from school up hill passing various breeds of sheep, cows and horses on the way. It made me think again about country living and how reliant we are on using the car. I am very aware that we could be a little ‘greener’ in the way we shop too. We do get milk delivered to our door by the local farmer, and I have been collecting eggs from local small holdings who leave their eggs in a large tub full of egg boxes at their door with an honesty box for your £1 (again using the car!). But there are other things that we could buy more locally – it is often just that little bit more expensive. Anyway I digress a little. If you are local and can get to Haworth…by car or public transport then do take the opportunity to call in on the open studio at Damside Mill.

Words and Pictures

‘Little man’ at BIB&SOLA
Little Man at BIB & SOLA
‘Mother & Child’ at Rupert Cavandish Antiques, Fundraising Exhibition and auction for the Young Master’s Prize
‘Pregnant’ at Rupert Cavandish Antiques, Fundraising Exhibition and auction for the Young Master’s Prize

I am guessing at these events it’s a lot about words spoken and pictures taken and then what follows. Words are not flowing from me right now but thought I would put up a few pictures which review last weeks events. There are also a few links which will take you to the photos taken at the events – BIB&SOLA event. and information about Young Masters.

For those of you who were wondering what my husband did wear in the end (see the B&S link)…I will leave it for you to spot, no hat ..but it was hot, well that is the excuse anyway 😉

Dress Code

‘Wordless, Part of the Keyhole Family collection’
‘Wordless’

I read something today that was stating that when it comes to fashion men either give credit to their wives picking it out for them or it happened by accident, they have no relationship with what they are wearing. In America if someone is well dressed they would say, is he gay or is he British? Apparently British Men are more dapper !?

Well, what about an Egyptian born British Sculptor, whose wife is certainly not dressing him. Last night he was in ‘atypical male fashion’ having a dilemma about what to take with him to London. Hope he won’t mind me for saying this, it resulted in, a ridiculously big bag, in my opinion being taken out of the cupboard so that all options could be taken. All this is quite absurd to me, who perhaps conversely is a untypical woman, but also spending most of my days bumbling around with children in Yorkshire. I am not overly offay with the fashion world (perhaps a little more so since being married to someone who is) however it is not a preoccupation of mine. I spent a very happy three years at University in rowing gear which for me was comfy but also carried the street cred without having to worry about it. I look back at my early twenties and half think, what was I thinking, why wasn’t I interested in shopping. However, it is very different for woman there is so much more wrapped up within the fabric of ‘dressing’ (That’s another blog). I am now learning there is a lot to dress code, in the sense that there does need to be a certain degree of dressing well. People do make judgements, rightly or wrongly. First impressions do count. There is no point in still throwing on the comfy jumper that has been washed endlessly it no longer has a shape…is there? You never know who you might bump into.

So in trying to get to the bottom of my husbands concerns about ‘what to wear’ I asked him what the dilemma was exactly.As I write, he is at BIB&SOLA (which I blogged about yesterday) upmarket event at Mayfair.

So, my husband said there was a need to be looking both smart for the collectors but without looking like a ‘banker’ and with a fashion edge to relate to the arty types. Then, tomorrow night he is at the young master’s auction in Kings Road, the space is tight and so it’s going to be hot, people need to be smart but cool, as there isn’t going to be the space people will be more face to face talking than physically observing. He was thinking of all the variations, scenarios, impressions…even down to the facial hair and the hats I may add. Shoes…well, trust me it is not just woman who like shoes.

It would appear ones dress code is an art itself. I began to see why he needed his wardrobe with him. If he wasn’t a Sculptor, he could be someone’s personal shopper. I don’t know whether it is the eye for what goes together in the 3D form or the eye for design but it’s great to take him shopping. Wonder what he is wearing….

IMBUE

I had to look this up: IMBUE I didn’t even think it was a word. It’s a great word. Imbue takes meaning from the word imbibe, which means “to absorb or to be filled with”.I was imbued with energy yesterday after spontaneously going on a beautiful walk alongside a fantastic river in the woods. The sun was radiant through the trees, shading us from its heat. I felt energised. Today I have reverted to my more usual mood of tiredness. Imbued by a little inspiration to write as this show is on from tomorrow and my husband is spending a few days in the ‘plusher’ part of London. I think his works in this setting will imbue those able to attend. I am going to merely imagine….

The Journey to The Other Art Fair

‘Sam Shendi Sculptures. The Other Art Fair. May 2012

I had been anxious about taking my two small boys on the train to London by myself. Armed with a number of activity books, crayons and pencils and a picnic lunch to feed the train I was more than prepared. Catching the train back was a little more dramatic with 55 minutes to get a bus ride to Brixton and then an 18 minute tube journey to Kings Cross. Needless to say, with large rucksack on my back, pushchair with toddler in front and small boy holding my hand, we ran like we have never run before. As we jumped on the train the doors shut behind us and pulled off from the station. My face was beetroot. Red (like my last blog entry).

As I took my eldest to school on Monday morning in the car, I contemplated how we would get to school without it. In rural yorkshire I am so dependant on my car. Public transport in London was an adventure all by itself. Journeys take us to the destination and we see it as a means to an end but the adventure is often as much in the travel. It made me reflect on my husbands long journey to get to the point he was at, at The Other Art Fair this weekend. It has taken him almost 12 years to get the body of work he now has together.

With the insistence on using high quality material and with no external funding the financial side has taken a while. Along side, the development in his practice has also been a journey. Starting mostly with clay he manipulated this material to form his pieces. It was always costly to cast them one night  many perished in an almighty crash when the table they were on collapsed under the weight and shattered probably near on 50 clay works. This prompted a move into wooden shapes with small figures ( see earlier blog entries) and took a direction that made his works larger. Looking back these works were precursors to the pieces we have now, which almost mould together abstract shape and figure into one. Linking both the clay work and larger work together. With the final splash of colour we have the body of work which was shown at The Other Art Fair, London. What a success. The journey still continues with lots of exciting propositions and projects ahead.

Like in life the adventure is the journey you just have to focus on the present to make the most of it.

Weekly Window

Weekly Window (click here to read)

I couldn’t put it better myself, so here is a link to Debut’s blog with admiration at Eva’s writing about this last Saturday’s event.

Three or Four P’s

Is planning and organisation better than spontaneity? I can never decide, in my indecisive nature, I don’t think I am much of a planner but having children requires you to have some sense of routine. I believe as humans we do require some order and daily rituals. The negative side is when things don’t go to plan. Expectation is a heavy load. Read ‘Outside Air‘ about expectation.. I think I tend to procrastinate a lot, which is not great for organisation. I recently read that procrastination is associated with perfectionism. Is that good or bad? As in all things, balance is key. My husband does everything in the moment, now. He doesn’t procrastinate but it most probably a perfectionist.

As an artist my husband has a dual personality towards planning. In making his sculptures there is a sort of plan. He sketches, almost constantly. Then revises and choses to develop a certain piece. After it’s made the colour is then chosen. We currently have two new pieces sitting in our hallway. One of which was designed to be something but has since become something else. So there is always room for manoeuvre. We are having to be a bit more organised at the moment with his regular trips to London. He is on his way down again today. Since being selected as an artist with Debut Contemporary (currently curator’s pick if you go through to the link) he has featured in Candid Magazine, also been selected for The Other Art Fair and is having his work showcased on a large board outside BOXPARK  in London. This Saturday he is back down in London again for his Debut and Debut with his workshop. So it is a busy time.

In preparation for his workshop it has been interesting seeing how he has approached the planning side of things. Various email exchanged have happened to organise the curatorial side of his sculptures in the gallery. When he was first thinking about organising it, the worrier in him kicked in, he really started planning, went out and bought all the various equipment for what he was thinking of doing, had some great ideas. Then it went on hold. Now the spontaneous artist has appeared and what will happen on Saturday, who knows. Why not plan a visit to Debut Contemporary to find out …..

Saturday 21st April 2012 12-6pm