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Newsletter 30th June ’10

Hello!
Well, I thought it was about time I emailed people with something a little more than just another notification of another exhibition, because I am rather aware that this email goes out to a lot of people who, on account of Geography, cannot make it to my exhibitions, or at least not yet! I do have an exhibition on the way, and I'll come to that in a minute. So this is kind of half a newsletter - a couple of pictures at least to keep you interested I hope!, and an invite to my latest exhibition too.

A little note about a great man

First of all I have a piece of sad news to relate. Last weekend Paul Barter died. He was my art teacher in school, many years ago, and has remained a great friend beyond that. If more people had had art teachers like Paul, there would be more artists in the world, and more independent thinkers, and a lot of other things. There are probably some people whom I send this newsletter out to who also knew Paul, so I thought it important to mention this sad news. And besides, it didn't seem right to be writing this newsletter on the eve of his funeral without mentioning him. He taught me how to draw , and how to see the world in many ways. Those of us whose lives he touched will not forget him.

If anyone would like to know more do email me and there is also a Facebook page now dedicated to him here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Barter-Artist-and-Teacher/130704856962011?ref=ts

Exhibition: 'Spring Farm Arts' is open again this Sunday...

If you haven't yet seen our 'Spring Farm Arts' open days, you have another chance to this Sunday. Once again we are open to the public, and visitors are welcome to come along and browse and chat to the artists, and you never know, you may even find something that you cannot live without! We will be open on Sunday 4th July from 11am - 5pm. I shall be there all day, professionally lurking. See below for details of other open days we have planned.

Venue:

Spring Farm Arts (at Moorlynch Vineyard) Spring Farm, Spring Lane, Moorlinch, Bridgwater, Somerset TA7 9BT (UK).  Tel: 01458 210393
For a map and more information about the Spring Farm Arts group have a look on our website where you will find photos of our artwork, the venue, and us: www.springfarmarts.co.uk
For more information about my own exhibitions have a look at the exhibitions page on my website here: http://www.nancyfarmer.net/exhibitions_future.html

About Spring Farm Arts:

The Spring Farm Arts group is currently 5 artists, all of whom live or work in Moorlynch. We decided that once a month we would open our studios / gallery spaces to the public and we are all happy to talk about our artwork with any visitors who might be interested. The artists are:

The open days we currently have planned are:

Summer exhibition at the 303 Gallery in Martock:

With a bit of luck the weather this weekend will not be as depicted in one of my latest pictures: 'Tea on the Lawn' (below), which will also be on display on Sunday, in the 303 gallery in Martock (Somerset, UK). This one was painted especially for the 303's summer re-hanging of its artwork, entitled 'Whatever the Weather', though I must admit the garden is in serious need of a bit of this sort of weather, and I can in part blame the time spent watering vegetables and the like on the somewhat low output of artwork lately... However don't despair, new pictures are on their way, whatever the weather!

The 303 Gallery:

The gallery houses a broad range of work from many local artists and makers, so there will be much to look at. As for my work there, besides the painting above, you can also see several of my etching prints, which I have started doing since last October.Exhibition runs 5th July - 29th August
At: The 303 Gallery, Yandles Woodcentre, Martock, Somerset, TA12 6JU.
Tel: 01935 825891   email: yandles303gallery@live.co.uk

Private View:

There is also a private view on the Sunday 4th July 4 - 6pm. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it as I will be at my own Spring Farm Arts venue, however people on my emailing list are very welcome to attend - see invite below.

New Painting: 'Better the Last Smile than the First Laughter'

In January I painted 'The Guilty Party', which seemed to go down rather well. One thing that was probably particularly eye-catching all the gold leaf I used. Having got tools for handling loose gold leaf for Christmas I went a bit over-the-top on the gilding and had quite a lot of fun gilding the entire background, for about 3 days, though I have to admit that as the time taken to do the gilding stretched on into four and a half days it did begin to get less amusing at the end! Well, that painting is now sold, so I wanted another shiny piece, and here it is. In this one, unlike 'The Guilty Party' I'm afraid you will find no murder weapons amongst the guests, but all the same I suspect they are up to something. They all have insanely smiling masks on. All but one, and he has three faces. But those masks could be hiding anything, and they, I'm sure are up to no more good than the guests at the Guilty Party.

Thank you for all the suggestions I got for the title of this one, upon which I was a little stuck for a while. In the end, though, I unearthed an old English proverb, now seemingly obsolete but the pre-cursor to such things as 'the last laugh', and 'he who laughs last...'. SO this painting is now: 'Better the Last Smile than the First Laughter', a nicely obscure proverb which explains nothing, just like the painting, which you can see below.

If you'd like to see the 'step-by-step' photos of the painting of it I have posted them on a Facebook album here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=225599&id=22600840729&l=e39541c962. And as I mention 'The Guilty Party' - which I won't post in its entirely here as I already used it for the Ilminster exhibition - here is also the link to the step-by-step photos of that one: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167404&id=22600840729&l=f8cf21958c. And here is a little sample:

I am currently planning what I hope to be a handful of paintings that I can show you at Somerset Arts Week in September / October and at the exhibition at the Quay Theatre in Sudbury (Suffolk, UK) in November of this year, and trying really hard to complete a few quicker, simpler paintings, that do not take a month or more each just for a change - so no gold leaf backgrounds for a few weeks! I have no finished images to show you yet, but here is a quick preview of me 'washing' the first of these paintings:

This is a process that usually takes place in the bathroom, with the shower on, but for the purposes of photography I took this one outside. And if you're interested in exactly why I am hosing down this painting have a look at this set of photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=115900&id=22600840729&l=8d34697e36, which will explain in more detail than might be quite suitable for a short newsletter...

Well, that's all the news I have time for just at the moment, but anything else you'd like to know, please drop me an email.

best wishes,

Nancy

All images © Nancy Farmer (unless otherwise stated), all rights reserved. Please email me if you wish to reproduce any of the images on this site

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