Monday 30 May 2011
Arts and Crafts
If anyone would like to read up on the Arts and Crafts movement here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_Movement
Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition News
Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition News21-05-11
Hi everyone.
I know I promised you a regular monthly newsletter about matters relating to the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition, but several very exciting things have happened, and I feel I want to share them with you now.
Field trip to Charleston Farmhouse, Berwick Church and Brighton MuseumI have in my library a book entitled “Omega and After – Bloomsbury and the decorative arts” which features the residence of the “Bloomsbury set” in the Sussex countryside, near Lewes. The book contains many images of the decorated interior painted with a background of the artist’s immersion in post-impressionism. Their style and application in ceramics, fabrics, furniture and wall murals has fascinated me for years and has partly been the force behind the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition I will be curating in November at Rook Lane Arts.
I had also discovered that my intention to go to Brighton to enjoy some of the performances in the Brighton Festival coincided with an exhibition at the Brighton Museum of some of the work of the Bloomsbury artists. So the course was set.
The Charleston Farmhouse was easy to find - off the A237 and just past the Lewes turnoff. Once packed and inside the shop crammed with many tempting items of books, lamps, paintings, and merchandise (also available on-line via their website) I was lured into the conducted tour to take place at 4. Half an hour between arrival and the tour gave me the opportunity to head for the café and grab some coffee and cake (after the long drive) and watch two videos about the artists and the farmhouse. The tour guide knew each room, each piece of art, each square inch of hand-made wallpaper, as well as the artists, their connections and their intimate lives. And was quite capable of answering many questions that the group bombarded her with. Having read my book “Omega and after” many, many times as well as scrutinised the plates I was at last in contact with the art and history itself. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time I was there. Each room displayed a delight of painted furniture, art and decoration until finally, after an hour we were brought into the studio to realise that this was probably where all the inspiration had poured into and from. Next I went on a small self-conducted tour around the gardens.
Photography was not permitted anywhere inside the building, but I was free to photograph as much as I wished outside. If you go to the new website devoted to the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition you will see many of these images, as well as a copy of this report. (And also on my Facebook entry – Mel Sewell.)
Charleston Farmhouse also provided a hundred brochures, which I have agreed to promote on their behalf - as they were kind enough to also provide me with some images for the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition website.www.charleston.org.uk
www.fromedecorativeartsexhibition.co.uk
St Michael & All Angels Church, BerwickWhile at Charleston I was asked if I had been to the Berwick Church. Curiously I had a leaflet of Charleston from 1993 and someone had scribbled a note on it to see the church - so it was one of my objectives. Having only finished the farmhouse tour at 5pm I was concerned that I would miss the church, but was re-assured that ‘they stayed open to almost sunset.’ Casually I arrived at the church at a few minutes to six only to be told that it was closing at six, no exceptions. I thus had to try and view the marvellous decorations in just a few minutes. Cistine Chapel – eat your heart out!!! This work needs some serious study, but I did walk away with the leaflet and a vow to return.www.berwickchurch.org.uk
If any artists would like to take a day trip to visit Charleston Farmhouse, Berwick Church and Brighton Museum I would be quite happy to organise a mini-bus and drive you there (then I get to see everything again).Brighton Museum and Art GalleryThe exhibition “Bloomsbury – the art of Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell 1905-1925”is an absolute MUST. Although the gallery space at the Museum is not big enough to contain all of the artists’ work, it was enough to give a strong flavour of the amazing talent on show. Talks and lectures are also available - on until 9 Oct 2011.www.brighton-hove-museums.org.uk
Meeting Madeleine BradburyThat evening I had an appointment with Madeleine Bradbury who is a dynamic, living, present day artist, resident in Brighton and paints in the style of the Omega artists to produce furniture which is sold internationally, from her website and at the Charleston farmhouse. I had taken the opportunity of seeing her work on her website, which you can too at http://bloomsburyinteriors.wordpress.com/
After an amusing evening talking about a range of artistic and social issues Madeleine agreed to exhibit some of her beautiful work at the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition – an agreement which will expand her sales potential, but will also help link Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition, the Charleston Farmhouse and the Omega artists in a way which will be meaningful, cohesive and visible. And will help drive the awareness of the artists and the project.
Colour DiscoveryTheresa Sundt has agreed to help our cause of promoting Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition by giving a talk and then a one day workshop on colour psychology (as I reported last month).http://color-discovery.com/
MarketingMy original intention to produce the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition came about as the result of a small study I did of the artists in and around Frome and the marketing efforts that were being made.
I was very impressed with the work being carried out by fromecreativenetwork on the website and subsequently with the ‘Brown Bag Lunches’ and was similarly interested in the work carried out at Rook Lane Arts, the Black Swan and the Silk Mill, as well as that being sweated over by the artists individual promotions and exhibitions.
However I came to the conclusion that the perhaps the target audience was not fully understood and that the area in which they lived was being repeatedly spoken to, while more specifically the target audience was largely Frome and Bath.
I came to the conclusion that if Frome artists wanted to capture a wider audience they would have to look further and approach it in a different way.
So, guys and girls let me say, before I continue that I think the standard of work being produced is of a very high quality. I have looked at artists work in SAW, in the Wylye ValleyTrail, at galleries in Bath, Bristol, London, Exeter and Brighton. And I think that your work can proudly stand alongside a lot of the competition.
So what seemed to be needed was a bold step forward that looks beyond current boundaries and with a positive, confident stance, while fully understanding the target audience. (You may remember my original marketing document – if you don’t it is still posted at www.fromedecorativeartssociety.blogspot.com)
That’s where the idea of the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition came along. It is a platform, which will enable artists and craftsfolk to enter the home of potential customers heart and soul. It is a platform, which says “You like art, but can you justify it on its own? So look at arts and crafts as an integral part of you home and décor.“
The idea of generating publicity is to help move Frome artists along to a wider target audience and will include the use of a broader band of media, higher profile galleries, more savvy target audience and will even include other practitioners in decorative arts from outside Frome to generate a larger image and shove things along.
Frome CollegeIn principle they are very interested in getting students involved. Awaiting meeting to discuss with Marcus Gee.
New Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition website
Yes the new website is up and running, but only as a trial. The content is there to test useability and relevance, so please have a look and let me have your comments.www.fromedecorativeartsexhibition.co.uk
Other NewsYes I did invite Kevin McCloud to come and open the exhibition, but sadly he will be away. However he did say he would try and see the exhibition!! (Maybe a chance for ‘photo-opp’ of him alongside you and your work?)
BooksIf you would like to catch up on reading about the Omega Workshop and the Bloomsbury artists there are books available on Amazon. I recently purchased a very good, second hand copy of “Bloomsbury” edited by Gillian Naylor for £12. The other worthwhile book is “Omega and after” by Isabelle Anscombe.
Anything else?If anyone has any suggestions about the website, promotion and marketing, musicians, celebrities (to open the exhibition) please e-me at mel_sewell@yahoo.co.uk.
Thanks
Mel
SORRY, SORRY, Damned web hosters still haven’t made the www.fromedecorativeartsexhibition.co.uk site go live. Am bugging them as hard as I can. Will update you.
Hi everyone.
I know I promised you a regular monthly newsletter about matters relating to the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition, but several very exciting things have happened, and I feel I want to share them with you now.
Field trip to Charleston Farmhouse, Berwick Church and Brighton MuseumI have in my library a book entitled “Omega and After – Bloomsbury and the decorative arts” which features the residence of the “Bloomsbury set” in the Sussex countryside, near Lewes. The book contains many images of the decorated interior painted with a background of the artist’s immersion in post-impressionism. Their style and application in ceramics, fabrics, furniture and wall murals has fascinated me for years and has partly been the force behind the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition I will be curating in November at Rook Lane Arts.
I had also discovered that my intention to go to Brighton to enjoy some of the performances in the Brighton Festival coincided with an exhibition at the Brighton Museum of some of the work of the Bloomsbury artists. So the course was set.
The Charleston Farmhouse was easy to find - off the A237 and just past the Lewes turnoff. Once packed and inside the shop crammed with many tempting items of books, lamps, paintings, and merchandise (also available on-line via their website) I was lured into the conducted tour to take place at 4. Half an hour between arrival and the tour gave me the opportunity to head for the café and grab some coffee and cake (after the long drive) and watch two videos about the artists and the farmhouse. The tour guide knew each room, each piece of art, each square inch of hand-made wallpaper, as well as the artists, their connections and their intimate lives. And was quite capable of answering many questions that the group bombarded her with. Having read my book “Omega and after” many, many times as well as scrutinised the plates I was at last in contact with the art and history itself. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time I was there. Each room displayed a delight of painted furniture, art and decoration until finally, after an hour we were brought into the studio to realise that this was probably where all the inspiration had poured into and from. Next I went on a small self-conducted tour around the gardens.
Photography was not permitted anywhere inside the building, but I was free to photograph as much as I wished outside. If you go to the new website devoted to the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition you will see many of these images, as well as a copy of this report. (And also on my Facebook entry – Mel Sewell.)
Charleston Farmhouse also provided a hundred brochures, which I have agreed to promote on their behalf - as they were kind enough to also provide me with some images for the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition website.www.charleston.org.uk
www.fromedecorativeartsexhibition.co.uk
St Michael & All Angels Church, BerwickWhile at Charleston I was asked if I had been to the Berwick Church. Curiously I had a leaflet of Charleston from 1993 and someone had scribbled a note on it to see the church - so it was one of my objectives. Having only finished the farmhouse tour at 5pm I was concerned that I would miss the church, but was re-assured that ‘they stayed open to almost sunset.’ Casually I arrived at the church at a few minutes to six only to be told that it was closing at six, no exceptions. I thus had to try and view the marvellous decorations in just a few minutes. Cistine Chapel – eat your heart out!!! This work needs some serious study, but I did walk away with the leaflet and a vow to return.www.berwickchurch.org.uk
If any artists would like to take a day trip to visit Charleston Farmhouse, Berwick Church and Brighton Museum I would be quite happy to organise a mini-bus and drive you there (then I get to see everything again).Brighton Museum and Art GalleryThe exhibition “Bloomsbury – the art of Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell 1905-1925”is an absolute MUST. Although the gallery space at the Museum is not big enough to contain all of the artists’ work, it was enough to give a strong flavour of the amazing talent on show. Talks and lectures are also available - on until 9 Oct 2011.www.brighton-hove-museums.org.uk
Meeting Madeleine BradburyThat evening I had an appointment with Madeleine Bradbury who is a dynamic, living, present day artist, resident in Brighton and paints in the style of the Omega artists to produce furniture which is sold internationally, from her website and at the Charleston farmhouse. I had taken the opportunity of seeing her work on her website, which you can too at http://bloomsburyinteriors.wordpress.com/
After an amusing evening talking about a range of artistic and social issues Madeleine agreed to exhibit some of her beautiful work at the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition – an agreement which will expand her sales potential, but will also help link Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition, the Charleston Farmhouse and the Omega artists in a way which will be meaningful, cohesive and visible. And will help drive the awareness of the artists and the project.
Colour DiscoveryTheresa Sundt has agreed to help our cause of promoting Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition by giving a talk and then a one day workshop on colour psychology (as I reported last month).http://color-discovery.com/
MarketingMy original intention to produce the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition came about as the result of a small study I did of the artists in and around Frome and the marketing efforts that were being made.
I was very impressed with the work being carried out by fromecreativenetwork on the website and subsequently with the ‘Brown Bag Lunches’ and was similarly interested in the work carried out at Rook Lane Arts, the Black Swan and the Silk Mill, as well as that being sweated over by the artists individual promotions and exhibitions.
However I came to the conclusion that the perhaps the target audience was not fully understood and that the area in which they lived was being repeatedly spoken to, while more specifically the target audience was largely Frome and Bath.
I came to the conclusion that if Frome artists wanted to capture a wider audience they would have to look further and approach it in a different way.
So, guys and girls let me say, before I continue that I think the standard of work being produced is of a very high quality. I have looked at artists work in SAW, in the Wylye ValleyTrail, at galleries in Bath, Bristol, London, Exeter and Brighton. And I think that your work can proudly stand alongside a lot of the competition.
So what seemed to be needed was a bold step forward that looks beyond current boundaries and with a positive, confident stance, while fully understanding the target audience. (You may remember my original marketing document – if you don’t it is still posted at www.fromedecorativeartssociety.blogspot.com)
That’s where the idea of the Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition came along. It is a platform, which will enable artists and craftsfolk to enter the home of potential customers heart and soul. It is a platform, which says “You like art, but can you justify it on its own? So look at arts and crafts as an integral part of you home and décor.“
The idea of generating publicity is to help move Frome artists along to a wider target audience and will include the use of a broader band of media, higher profile galleries, more savvy target audience and will even include other practitioners in decorative arts from outside Frome to generate a larger image and shove things along.
Frome CollegeIn principle they are very interested in getting students involved. Awaiting meeting to discuss with Marcus Gee.
New Frome Decorative Arts Exhibition website
Yes the new website is up and running, but only as a trial. The content is there to test useability and relevance, so please have a look and let me have your comments.www.fromedecorativeartsexhibition.co.uk
Other NewsYes I did invite Kevin McCloud to come and open the exhibition, but sadly he will be away. However he did say he would try and see the exhibition!! (Maybe a chance for ‘photo-opp’ of him alongside you and your work?)
BooksIf you would like to catch up on reading about the Omega Workshop and the Bloomsbury artists there are books available on Amazon. I recently purchased a very good, second hand copy of “Bloomsbury” edited by Gillian Naylor for £12. The other worthwhile book is “Omega and after” by Isabelle Anscombe.
Anything else?If anyone has any suggestions about the website, promotion and marketing, musicians, celebrities (to open the exhibition) please e-me at mel_sewell@yahoo.co.uk.
Thanks
Mel
SORRY, SORRY, Damned web hosters still haven’t made the www.fromedecorativeartsexhibition.co.uk site go live. Am bugging them as hard as I can. Will update you.
Wednesday 4 May 2011
See the fantastic Charleston Farmhouse
Yes folks this is a trip.
The Charleston Farmhouse is where many of the Omega Workshop artists spent time and also contributed to the interior design of the dwelling with their art. Today you can take a walk around the house and its gardens, or you can partake in one of the courses available.
http://www.charleston.org.uk/
The Charleston Farmhouse is where many of the Omega Workshop artists spent time and also contributed to the interior design of the dwelling with their art. Today you can take a walk around the house and its gardens, or you can partake in one of the courses available.
http://www.charleston.org.uk/
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