Newsletter: August 22
I love the rhythm of dry stone walls, and big skies in Nidderdale.
I can’t believe I’m sitting down to write this already; August has flown by in a whirlwind of trying to do stuff to the house, keeping the new garden going and generally trying to get a bit organised. The new studio is working brilliantly but gets very hot in Summer…we’ve had quite a lot of days well over 30 degrees and a couple which made 40. I know that’s nothing compared with much of the World this year, but very hot for rural North Yorkshire.
Anyway, I ended up with a bit of an enforced break, as the paint was drying too fast and I was just expiring with the heat! Luckily the house is old with very thick walls and a stone floor in the hall-brilliant for sitting on with bare feet to cool down!
My exciting news is that I will be exhibiting a body of work as part of the wonderful Great North Art Show, which hasn’t been able to run for a couple of years due to the pandemic. It’s a special show in that it takes place against the stunning backdrop of Ripon Cathedral, and in this their 20th year they are showcasing around 50 artists each showing 6 works, selected from a wide field…it is a huge honour to be selected!
As you can see the exhibition runs from 10th September until 9th October, and is absolutely free to visit.
*It would be lovely if lots of my UK readers managed to get there-the Cathedral itself is well worth a visit and it sits as a brilliant jumping off point to see the North Yorkshire Moors and Dales, plus it is a couple of minutes from Fountains Abbey World Heritage Site.
How about planning a short break, with a wonderful show thrown in?
Follow the link to find out more about previous shows: Great North Art Show
*All artists take turns to help steward the show, so it is also a great opportunity to meet and chat with the people behind the work…I will post as soon as I know when I will be on duty and it would be lovely to see you there!
The show always gets around 15000 visitors over the duration, and if you would like to get a first look there is a wonderful Preview evening on the 9th September-you can book tickets in advance here: Buy Preview Evening tickets
The six paintings above are my collection for Great North Art Show, they range in size from 76cm square to a metre square- if anyone would like to know more in advance of the show, please let me know. If you’ve seen something you love but can’t attend the show in person, I can arrange for the purchase online and the work will be shipped after the show…I will also be paying commission to GNAS as they are a wonderful charity, and well worth supporting.
I get a lot of questions and feedback from the newsletter, which is lovely and massively appreciated. One of the things I get asked, is to talk a bit more about the specific materials I use, so I thought this month I would write a little bit about paint, which is after all pretty crucial!!
I mainly work in acrylics and oils, with some mixed media thrown into the mix. I have asthma which means I tend to use oils mainly in the summer when I can work outside or with the studio doors and windows wide open. I’ve also been experimenting with the newer professional grade water soluble oils which are a huge help….more about them another time.
Acrylics are really important to me as a medium; I love how flexible they are, and also how fast they dry which is a huge help for me as I love to build tons of layers. They are touch dry very quickly, in warm weather perhaps in 10 minutes, however they are still very green at this point and need to cure ideally before building up further layers-sometimes I’m feeling very impatient as I’m in the flow with my painting, and I use a hairdryer to speed things up, but ideally you want to leave a few hours or even a day to dry really properly.
People often ask about brands and colours. I don’t have a rigid palette that I build from, but do always try to build complex colours by mixing…a great tip is to decide on a colour palette, and mix as you go but adding a tiny touch of a contrasting colour to add subtlety. So I might mix a blue with a cerulean, maybe a touch of Phthalocyanine blue and a little buff titanium, then add a speck of burnt umber….it’s a really good way of unifying the colours you are using and creating very subtle effects.
Brand wise, I’ve noticed it has become more difficult to get some paint, canvas etc…since the Covid pandemic, and with all the other current disruptions in the World.
My absolute favourite paint is Golden heavy body, which has the buttery thick yumminess of oils-incidentally I would always start with heavy body, as you can always let a colour down (make it more liquid) using a glazing liquid ideally. Using a lot of water is not a great idea for finished work as it can cause adhesion problems and affect longevity. For acrylic mediums, I tend to use either Golden or Liquitex Professional.
I’ve been trying to more Uk sourced paint and I really love Winsor and Newton Professional, which has some of the very best pigments around and is a beautiful paint to handle, especially the Quinacridones.
Jacksons has a great range of artist quality acrylics which are also excellent to use…they are a little thinner than say Golden but the pigment quality is fantastic, and they are very competitive price wise.
I also use a lot of Amsterdam Expert and Liquitex Heavy Body-basically I shop around and tend to have favourite ranges for specific colours. There really is no standardisation from one range to another under the same colour label, so my advice is try the ones that appeal in small sizes, then make a note of the ones you love.
Below you can see that there is quite a pronounced difference between the two Ceruleans, with the Golden being milkier and the Liquitex a clearer brighter colour. The Ultramarines on the other hand have a very slight difference only, more pronounced by the naked eye than in a photo but really marginal. You can see my colour notebook below-I just swatch a small patch of pure colour from the tube, each time I get a new one, and record the manufacturer/ name etc…this makes it really easy to look through and decide which ones you prefer, and makes ordering speedier.
I should add that I use Professional grades almost all of the time, simply because the pigment load is higher, so you get stronger better colour, BUT if you are working large it makes sense to think about some of the slightly cheaper ranges for base coats and large areas.
Jacksons Studio range is great for this, as it’s very affordable and great quality. Daler Rowney System 3 is also good for this and I’ve used it a lot over the years especially for teaching and working with new artists.
*Incidentally I should say, absolutely no sponsorship or product placing here, just my favourites, no messing!
When I’ve been able to get into the studio this month, I’ve been prepping work for Great North Art, and getting ready to start on some new pieces, which means plenty of sketchbook experiments, colour sampling etc…
Above you can see some of the work I’ve been doing preparing for new paintings. These are abstracted from landscape shapes I’m seeing around me, and they also tap into the colours of the warm, even hot weather we’ve been having. They are loose and expressive, focussing on mark making, layering and juxtaposing colour, and creating an abstracted visual language for the landscape.
Hopefully there will be more on these next month!
I’m delighted to say that a bunch of literally just finished work is currently available from the lovely Bils and Rye Gallery, as part of their Abstract Blues Summer Show: https://contemporarysculpture.gallery/artist/jo-york
The whole show is available by visiting them in Harrogate, North Yorkshire if you’re in the area and online too, and includes the work I was talking about in last month’s blog…
Thank you so much for all the lovely messages and feedback which means a great deal!
Keep in touch and let me know if there’s anything particular you would like me to cover in the upcoming months,
Just finishing with some of the pieces heading for Great North Art Show…
Until next month take good care, and all very best,
Jo xx
All text and images copyright ©️Jo York 2022