In yet another answer to that question ‘what do artists do all day’, I spent part of the hottest day of the year (so far) making a 100 mile round trip into the heart of the North York Moors to deliver work for a new exhibition which opens this Saturday at the Danby Lodge National Park Centre. In the seven years I have had my car (aka The Brave Little Citigo) I don’t think I have ever used the hazard lights before, but I had to deploy them twice on this trip to alert following cars to the fact I had stopped dead on an apparently empty road. Most drivers familiar with the North York Moors will at this point say, “Ah yes…sheep”. Even when not actually coming to a complete stop because of stand-offs with particularly stubborn ovines, there was also a lot of indicating and braking over 12 miles or so as I negotiated the plethora of ewes and lambs who had never seen cars before and were surprised by their existence. (The lambs perhaps have an excuse, the adults not so much).
It was absolutely worth it though; the Moors, while frankly grim and forbidding for much of the year, come into their own in the summer when the heather starts emerging and the bright greens and purples are currently so vibrant they risk being unconvincing. The colours would surely have made me feel free and invigorated if I hadn’t been so hot and sweaty, which leads me to the theme of the exhibition.
The exhibition is in the Inspired by… gallery within the National Park Centre and invites you to ‘explore how colour can be used as a form of expression’ by printmakers.
Colours and Emotions
The Danby Lodge National Park Centre, Danby, YO21 2NB
5th July - 1st September
Open 10am-5pm every day
Free admission, Pay & Display car park
I am very flattered that one of my pieces (Morning Bluebells) has been used to illustrate the exhibition online…
…while another (Boardwalk) has been used in the printed programme.
And to round the day off my journey was made doubly worthwhile by finding this in the gift shop:
Free demonstration this weekend
Meanwhile back in York the York Printmakers Festival of Print continues at 22 High Petergate, just along from the Minster, and on Saturday 5th July I will be doing a demonstration of Japanese Watercolour Woodblock (mokuhanga) from 10.30am-12.30pm.
The Festival has another three weekends to run, ending on 20th July. Opening times are 10am-5pm on Fridays and Saturdays, 10am-4pm on Sundays. Free entry to the gallery and demonstrations.
That’s all for now. The next time I write I will be telling you about some nifty new press accessories I am trying; I think they could be a game-changer.
Thanks for reading
Jane
Believe it or not, we have been blocked by runaway sheep and goats in our Aptos hills. Guess who was leading and who was following.
You are such a fun penpal. I can travel to the Moors and see some inspirational prints from my armchair in No. California. Many thanks for sharing!