The sun has blessedly been shining on the beautiful Isle of Man this last week and although it hasn’t managed to warm up yet, it certainly helps to lift the spirits and breathe some much needed vigour into winter weary souls. Along with the sunshine there is all sorts of activity going on in the Isle of Man Art world with new exhibitions being opened, the upcoming Isle of Man Art Festival next weekend and people gearing up for TT (excuse the pun).
Some photography news which many of you will have caught in the Courier this week is that Sue Blythe won the Best Digital Image and Best Natural History Image in the Isle of Man Photographic Society’s annual competition. It really is a fabulous picture so many congratulations.
Staying with photography, the Bebington Salon of Photography sponsored by the Isle of Man Photographic Society is the last official event in the Society’s calendar and is scheduled for this Wednesday, 27 April at 7.30pm. It is a ‘national’ standard’ exhibition of over 400 images and will be presented by Bob Dennis at Thie Ellyn (the Arts Society building in Withington Road). Chris Blythe reports that at least one of the Society’s members has had images accepted for the Salon and it is expected these images will be included in the evening’s presentation.
The images being shown are all of the highest quality, and will excite, inspire, stimulate, and intrigue anyone with an interest in the visual arts and of course, especially photography. To cover costs, there will be an entry charge to members and non-members of £2 each – a very modest cost for what will be an excellent and highly entertaining evening. It is an open event – members and non-members, family and friends – and all will be given a very warm welcome.
‘Drawn Steel’, the new Exhibition at The Sayle Gallery has had some fantastic reviews. So far I haven’t had a chance to get along and see it but intend to do so this week. Rob Smith kindly posted a great picture (shown below) which I hope will whet your appetite enough to go and see it in person. It will definitely be worth your while as you are in for a double treat – Julian Simmonds’ ‘Art of Darkness‘ exhibition is also on until 22 May. Click on the photographs to view them in the Lightbox.
Everyone is super-busy getting ready for the Isle of Man Art Festival next weekend. If you haven’t already got your wristbands and guide I do suggest getting them in advance so that you can plan out your route. I have two willing companions for Saturday and another two for Sunday. I’m hoping I can fit it all in over the two days so that I can have a day off on Monday before going back to the day job on Tuesday. In particular, do note that Eileen Schaer’s studio is only open on the Saturday, so if you would particularly like to visit her then plan accordingly.
Isle of Man Art Festival 2016 entry wristbands are available from the following locations:
Noa Bakehouse, Douglas
The Welcome Centre at the Sea Terminal, Douglas
The Sayle Gallery, Douglas
The House of Manannan, Peel
Thompson Travel, Port Erin
Studio 42, Port St Mary
presence of Mann, Laxey
Sally Black has published a new post on her Blog about preparations for the Art Festival and the series of miniatures she has produced for the weekend (which I am sure will be dry if she puts her paintbrush down) and also kindly gave the Directory a mention – thanks Sally! I for one am really looking forward to seeing her new work and I think it will be one of the ‘must see’s’ in a lot of people’s catalogues.
Katy Mitchell has posted up a few photographs of her lovely ceramics which I’m a bit reluctant to share with you in case you go and buy them all before I get a chance to get there on the Sunday, but hey-ho, I guess she will be making more! So here you go…. aren’t they gorgeous?
N.B. Do take along your cheque book and/or cash as many artists don’t have the facilities to take card payments.
The Art Reach ladies at The Isle Gallery have announced their new series of Adult Workshops. I’ve updated the calendar with all of the workshops that have dates and will update the the two events with dates yet to be fixed in due course. You can check out all of the options and book on The Isle Gallery Website. They look really great and cater for all abilities, so I am going to book one to see if I can expand my creative ability beyond drawing stick people. I just need to decide which one….. Here are a few of the options.
There have been a few new Artist pages added to the Directory over the past couple of weeks. The one’s to check out if you haven’t already had a look at them are: Hebe Atzori; Jelena Benson, Element.isle, Rebecca Odessa, Daniel Price, Henry Sayle, and Julia Ashby Smyth. A very warm welcome to them all.
On a personal note, I would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone I have met and talked to so far, interacted with and listed on the Directory. Everyone has been really welcoming, friendly and supportive and I’m extremely grateful to you all for your positive and helpful contributions, comments and suggestions. It’s my very great pleasure to work with you.
Finally, here is a round-up of some of the images posted on Social Media this week. Enjoy.
Keep up-to-date by ‘Liking’ the Facebook Page or by ‘Following’ me on Linkedin or Twitter @manxart.
Have a great week!
Jane
