May Art in West Dorset

After organising a successful Business Forum with the Spirit of Bridport last week, I'm now back in my studio, busy working on new paintings for an exhibition in Edinburgh this coming August.


NEW PAINTINGS IN PROGRESS... !

You're welcome to see the development of my latest body of work. I open my studio to the public every Saturday from 11-4pm. I'm located at St Michael's Studios in the Art & Vintage Quarter of Bridport, on the St Michael's Trading Estate, DT6 3RR. Visit my website for more details.


BRIDPORT OPEN STUDIOS 21-30 MAY

I'm also preparing for our annual Bridport Open Studios event which is coming up at the end of this month. It's been brought forward from August this year, and extended in lengh, taking place over 9 days between Sat 21 to Mon 30 May 2011. You can see a couple of examples of my recent works on my BOS page.











ARTIST ROBIN RAE

I'm particularly looking forward to an exhibition of recent paintings by Bridport artist Robin Rae, at Sladers Yard Gallery, West Bay, starting May 14. Check out Robin's website here.







ARTIST WENDY POOLE

Another great artist to see is Bridport painter Wendy Poole, showing a mini-retrospective of her work at the Bridport Arts Centre next week, as part of the "2x2x2" exhibition. She is a remarkable talent, highly recommended!









TWO BY TWO BY TWO - FOUR ARTISTS OVER FOUR WEEKS AT BAC






"This May Bridport Arts Centre launches a new slot for emerging visual artists from Bridport and around the region. 2x2x2 will feature two artists sharing the Allsop Gallery, for two weeks, twice. Both exhibitions will offer audiences fresh, new ideas from artists who are exploring and developing their practice. For some this will be their first gallery show.

The first exhibition, from 10-21 May with a preview on Wednesday 11 from 6-8pm, will feature Alastair Barford and Wendy Poole.

The second exhibition, featuring Alice Jones and Jollyon Carter, will run from 24 May – 4 June, with a preview on Wednesday 25 May from 6-8pm."


PJ HARVEY LIVE VIDEO

Local girl PJ Harbey performed at Coachella a couple of weeks ago, watch the entire set here.







PICASSO & MARIE-TERESE

Here's an interview with Diana Widmaer Picasso, art historian and granddaughter of Pablo Picasso and Marie-Thérèse, and Picasso biographer John Richardson, discuss organizing the Gagosian Gallery’s new exhibition, Picasso and Marie-Thérèse: L’amour fou. It brings together the paintings, drawings, sculptures, and prints inspired by one of Picasso’s most ideal models and enduring passions. She became the catalyst for some of his most exceptional work, from groundbreaking paintings to an inspired return to sculpture in the 1930s, yet her true identity remained a secret from even Picasso’s closest friends.


JALOPY PIZZA UP FOR AWARD

Our local based Japolopy Pizza van has been shortlisted for the British Street Food Awards, and is also featured in the this article by the Guardian on "The 10 best budget food venues in West Dorset".

"A car park in a back-street trading estate doesn't sound too promising a venue, but Bridport's St Michael's estate is home to a community of artists' studios, a regular vintage market and, on Friday evenings, the roving Jalopy Pizza van. A quirky little Peugeot JZ, imported from the south of France complete with wood-fired oven and some 30 years of service, Chez Jalopy is usually manned by two Aussie cooks. In their cramped mobile kitchen, they roll out fresh dough, load the toppings ("special" tomato sauce and Italian mozzarella, plus all the classic extras – mushrooms, prosciutto, pepperoni), before whipping crisp-thin pizzas out of the oven and into cardboard takeaway boxes. On busy evenings, it has a reputation for operating on Dorset time (as in slow), but locals get into the spirit of the thing: take wine and company and just hang out. Jalopy, incidentally, has just been shortlisted for the British Street Food Awards and a second van is in the pipeline. "


IS DORSET THE NEW CORNWALL? LOL

Of course, there's also the usual press hyperbole about Dorset, by journalists who have suddenly discovered that there's more to life than London. This article in the FT is called "Is Dorset the new Cornwall?"




HOW GENIUS WORKS

Read what inspires artists in this project called 1st Drafts by the Atlantic

"Great art begins with an idea. "Sometimes a vague or even bad one. How does that spark of creativity find its way to the canvas, the page, the dinner plate, or the movie screen? How is inspiration refined into the forms that delight or provoke us? We enlisted some of America’s foremost artists to discuss the sometimes messy, frequently maddening, and almost always mysterious process of creating something new."

NY POSTMORDERNIST PAINTER

New York artist David Salle in an interview with Artnet magazine.







THE UNIVERSE

Inspiring - here's a new collection of 'out of this world' photos by NASA.









FUNNY!

And finally, get a daily dose of comedy from Jerry Seinfeld, his new website offers up 3 clips a cday from his entire back catalogue of tv appearances. Great!