I've been offered an exhibition

On Friday I took a trip to Southmead Hospital in Bristol to meet up with the Arts Programme Manager, Ruth Sidgwick. Ruth had mailed me a few months ago after reading a blog post I had written about my paintings. In the post I had said that I didn't know what to do with the two painted panels that you can see below. Ruth came up with the idea that they would come to good use in the hospital to brighten up a drab space - what a fantastic idea!

Since that first mail the hospital have decided to convert a small box room into a relatives room which will be used when people are told the awful news that their loved one isn't going to make it through the night. At the moment the hospital doesn't have this facility.

 I feel honoured to have my work displayed in such a space. This is the room at the moment but with a lick of paint and a few soft furnishings it will become a comforting space.     

Ruth also showed me around the hospital pointing out other artworks as we went along. These pieces are by Mariette Voke. Both Ruth and myself are fans of Mariette's work and I think at one point we got a little gushy about it which was quite funny.

   

This large colourful art work was created by small children using D.I.Y tools! The artist that lead the project taught the little ones in the correct way to use the tools and this is what they came up with. On the neighbouring wall are photographs of the children wielding saws, hammers and screwdrivers all with creative determination on their faces - it's brilliant!

The other reason Ruth and I met up was to discuss the possibility of me creating work for my own exhibition. I am so excited at the prospect of showing my paintings. This is the area that the paintings will be displayed, it's a busy walkway where works are shown for three months at a time. I'm penciled in for December, January and February.

These are a few photographs of the work that is currently being shown. They are prints by Bristol based artist Adrian Sykes.

I would like to say a big thank you to Ruth who was lovely and welcoming. I have to say I was a little overwhelmed with excitement but brimming with ideas for paintings. It's lovely to be given this opportunity.

The next stop was Bath with it's glorious architecture, gardens and shops.

I love this vintage clothes shop. Everything is crammed in. I've found a few bits and bobs in here before but on the whole it's all too small as I'm a 5 foot 10 inch girl with size 8 feet! Everyone was so much smaller in days gone by.

And to finish the day off it had to be a celebratory meal at Beaujolais , bistro and bar.

This is what we had...oh I wish I was sitting down to that meal now. It was delicious. As always click on the pictures if you want a better look xx