Nine months…..doesn’t time fly?

Well I never….it’s been 9 months since I last blogged here on WordPress. Unbelievable. But true.

It’s funny how some things take a back seat, and sad to say blogging has definitely been relegated to the very back row of seats…..so I thought I would add a few short words just to get the ball rolling so to speak.

Sculpturewise things have definitely moved on with new galleries taking my work far and wide. Well, not that far really, but far enough. I can now say that I have work in Scotland, in the centre of Edinburgh to be exact, EDS Gallery, and as far south as Godalming in Surrey in the Wey Gallery. Both fabulous locations.

As far as the sculptures themselves are concerned, I’ve added a smattering of new designs to the range, notably quite a few ‘brolly’ pieces which are selling quite well.

My latest ‘venture’ might, or might not, be something of a breakthrough….I was delivering ten sculptures to the Artifex Gallery in Sutton Coldfield the other day (a sensational gallery) and director Nigel remarked that some of the pieces would make excellent ‘bronzes’. Now to be honest I’ve toyed with the idea of having at least one of my sculptures cast in bronze, perhaps a limited edition, just to test the market, but the cost has slightly put me off. It would be a substantial gamble at this stage…however, I have looked into another way around this….yes, still bronzes but……..well, I’ll say no more for now….you’ll just have to bear with me…..cheers…Ed

New Sculptures…..an old computer

(Above) Early 1950s computer….maybe. A slightly tongue in cheek mixed media sculpture I’ve played about with in the last few days….

Meanwhile, it’s been a busy week preparing new sculptures for the upcoming Beverley ‘Off The Wall’ event. It will be a new experience for yours truly, I’ve booked a stall in the Georgian Quarter up against St Mary’s wall and just don’t know what to expect. Let’s hope for good weather. Hope to see some of you there….

I’ll post a few snaps of the latest sculptures in the next few days. Cheers for now…Ed

 

OFF THE WALL – Art Event in Beverley

For those of you who haven’t yet heard about the ‘Off The Wall’ art event in Beverley town centre on Saturday 12th July here is a link to a page that will give you an idea of what’s involved in the day.

http://creationfinearts.co.uk/off-the-wall

I have booked a ‘stall/table’ (not sure which as yet) and will have a fair amount of my wire sculptures on show. I booked it through East Riding Artists (I’m a member). I’m still awaiting details of exactly where my stall/table will be as there are several indoor and outdoor spots up for grabs. Hopefully it will be a pleasant July day and I’m outside somewhere but I’ll post details nearer the event itself.

Hope to see you there. It should be a fun day…

Cheers….Ed

Sheila in York…..

(Above) Work in progress….bicycles (yes, even more) Kite Flyers and Dog Walking Man (Men)….

A big ‘Hello’ to ‘Sheila in York’ who has ticked me off for not blogging since March. Oops. Sorry Sheila.

Yes, I have to admit the blogging has been one of the casualties of being busy. Honestly, I’ve been snowed under making bicycles. Everybody wants them, and not just one or two, they want a whole flock of them to put in their Tour de France window displays. (What do you call a shedload of bicycles? A flock? A gaggle? Un shedload?) Answers on a five pound note please.

Actually, I shouldn’t complain about being busy. I’m not. I have thought about blogging from time to time but when all I can offer is yet another snapshot of ‘bicyclettes sur la window sill’ I tend not to bother.

So…..hopefully Sheila in York is satisfied for the time being. (Actually I’m bound to get a thick ear next time I see her, so I won’t make any more references to her, I promise).

Oh…almost forgot….if you’re in Beverley on Saturday 12th July I’ll hopefully see you there as I’ve booked a ‘stall’ in the big outdoor art event where I’ll be showing off some of the latest pieces, and hopefully selling a few too. More details here on the blog nearer the event itself…………Cheers for now……Ed

Bicycles…..on the way to Scotland?

(Above) One of six new bicycle and rider pieces bound for galleries here in the north of England…

The first batch of bike sculptures are now painted and varnished and ready for their new homes, and thoughts now turn to batch number 2…. I think I may well be busy with these chaps for some time to come, which I shouldn’t complain about as I do enjoy making them.

The interesting thing is this….I’ve had much appreciated feedback from north of the border and at least three galleries have asked if they can have some of the bikes….which is fab. So I need to plan a trip to Scotland asap….possibly a long weekend. That should be fun. Can’t wait. Better get wire twisting…….

Cyclists By The Back Door

(Above) Three undercoated cyclist sculptures sitting outside by the back door….drying off nicely.

It’s been a long day. Wide awake at five a.m. Up at six. Working by half past. Still, the good news is I’ve been able to crack on with the bicycle pieces that are going out to the galleries in the next week or so.

I’ve been working on eight today out of a total of eleven that were on order. The first three were delivered on Tuesday and the feedback seems promising…..

Okay, time to get back to work. More later. Cheers. Ed

Bicycle Sculptures – The first four roll off the production line….

(Above) The Cyclist…..one of several different versions…this one is bound for the Acorn Gallery in Pocklington, near York.

Phew….! It seems like months since I first began wiring up the first bicycle. It probably is. Anyway….the first of the cyclists is now fully painted and varnished and ready to go out into the world. As I type I have four finished pieces…two apiece for local galleries who have been patiently waiting for them.

In all there are eleven in various stages of completion…all of which are due to go on display in galleries here in the north. Fingers crossed they will do okay. Right…must get back to the wiring up….more later as and when.

Here is another snap for you….

Hope you like them…cheers….Ed.

Two Bicycles….

(Above) Two wired-up bicycles ready for a lick of paint…and someone to ride them.

Well, the bicycle design saga is thankfully nearing the end….after weeks of trial and error and many sleepless nights I have finally sussed out how to make the wire bicycles and I’m now happy that I can make them easily enough and reasonably quickly (without them having to cost an arm and a leg).

I’ve included a snap of the first two bikes. They are fully wired up and now in need of a lick of paint. The final job is to make two cyclists to ride them, and that should hopefully be the ‘fun’ part. I have a few ideas for how the figures could look animated and quirky and those should be ready in the next week or so…..then it’s into any gallery that would like them.

To be honest, despite the hair pulling out sessions and the frustration of not knowing how best to wire them up, I actually now enjoy making them. I’m hoping they will sell well, although as yet I haven’t really figured out what they should sell for…that I find is always the tricky part. I’m sure the galleries who regularly take my sculptures will have a good idea of what sort of retail price will work.

As soon as I have a couple of figures for the bikes I will upload another couple of snaps….and as always I do welcome feedback of any kind. Cheers for now…..Ed.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle….I Want To Ride My Bike….

(Above) Early stages of the new ‘bike’ sculptures….

I’ve been asked to produce a couple of ‘bicycle’ sculptures for galleries keen to exhibit artwork linked to the Tour de France, stages of which will take place here in Yorkshire this summer.

So….here’s a quick snap of the current design for the wire bike which will carry various wire figures. As yet it still needs supporting on a block of wood but hopefully by the weekend it will be sturdy enough to stand on its own. I’ve tried to keep the design simple and light, and most important of all ‘relatively quick to construct’….

The various thin, quirky, wire figures (and dogs) that will ride on the bike are still to be designed and I’ll post another snap when we get to that stage. As I say, this is just the working model, on which all the final sculptures will be based. I hope you like it. Cheers….Ed

I Wish I Could Be 24 Again

(Above) Ed and friend…in no particular order.

I was at a rather good ‘do’ last weekend, Saturday to be exact, near York….supporting friends of mine from The Acorn Gallery in Pocklington  (www.theacorngallery.co.uk) who had on show a splendid display of paintings and sculptures, some of which were mine, as part of the York Lifestyle exhibition.

Now that was all rather jolly, but the bonus was meeting a young artist called Edward Waite from Lincoln who was painting ‘live’….if you’ve never heard of Edward then you need to check out his work. It’s very good (www.edwardwaite.co.uk) and you can buy it from The Acorn Gallery too.

Edward is a really nice guy and he’s just 24…and he’s doing really well with his paintings. Extremely well to be honest. We chatted about this and that, and his time at Lincoln Uni where he studied fine art, and eventually about the ‘art business’. Now, the whole ‘business’ side of commercial art is completely new to me, but what amazed me was that Edward said that in all his time at Uni the subject of ‘business/art/commercial art markets’ had never been mentioned. Not once in three years.

Now, I find that really strange in this day and age. Surely ‘would be artists’ need to know how the commercial market operates? I’m sure if Edward went back to the Uni and offered to do a couple of lectures for the current crop of art students it would benefit them immensely. In fact Edward hinted that he might just do this in the future.

And to think, he’s just 24….blimey, what a future he has. Good for him. I just wish I was……………