Revolution preview night at the Electric Picture House

This Friday night, 16th December, is the first chance for people to see work in progress at the Electric Picture House Artists Co-operative in Congleton. The woodburning stove is being installed today (care of our sponsors Shuff & Co) and we will be hanging the work for the Revolution exhibition tomorrow including these pieces. I will be showing a series of new figurative monoprints, entitled 'who are you?' and we will have two or three sculptures on show too. The exhibition continues until 23rd December, please call in and take a look.

Electric Picture House Artists Co-operative

The Electric Picture House is a new Artists' Cooperative based in Congleton, Cheshire.

We have ten members who have been working hard over the last few months to create studios/workshop and exhibition/gallery spaces, which will also be used for community projects.

As its opening event the Electric Picture House Artists’ Cooperative is presenting 'Revolution' an exhibition exploring the theme both literally and metaphorically.

Preview Night and opportunity to see development work in progress:
Friday 16th December, 7pm - 9pm.

Exhibition continues 17th December to 23rd December 2011. 10 - 5pm.

When is Revolution is justified, what means should be used and at what point do revolutionaries become terrorists, a convenient term used by government to denigrate political struggle. Is it justified to kill civilians in order to eventually save lives and improve humanity’s situation? Can there ever be a peaceful revolution? Does change always work? How much oppression must a society suffer before it will endure no more?

During the exhibition there will be old films on show to celebrate 100 years since the Electric Picture House opened as a cinema and new media to show how we have a reached our goals. This will include a documentary by Sam Astbury and Tom Singleton, and videos by Chris Godber.

We are also very proud to announce that Michael Davis the bassist from the American proto-punk band MC5 will be taking part in the exhibition. As a member of the White Panthers, the far left anti-racist White American political collective, Michael has been supporting a cultural revolution for many years and his input is very much appreciated.

www.electricpicturehouse.com
Cross Street, Congleton CW12 4HS
01260 270908

Cupola Gallery: Artificial Light exhibition

Light is the inspiration or feature of the work in Cupola Gallery's current exhibition ‘Artificial Light’ which encourages artists to respond to the theme in any way; literally, figuratively or conceptually. Several of our pieces have been selected by owner Karen Sherwood who is this year celebrating Cupola's 20th Anniversary. The exhibition runs from Friday 7th October until Sunday 13th November.

solaris (top left) and three from still here series (above centre)

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens: Art in the Garden

Sir Harold Hillier Gardens is the stunning setting for 100 sculptures as part of the exhibition of Art in the Garden 2011. The beautiful backdrop of the 180 acre garden provides an inspiring outdoor art gallery. On what seemed like the hottest day of the year we travelled down to Romsey in Hampshire to install 'Above us the Trees' and 'Sprite' for the last month of this exhibition. They will then be transferred to The Hawk Conservancy near Andover for the Flights of Fantasy exhibition for the rest of the year. Both exhibitions are curated by Elizabeth Hodgson of Underground Art & Design.

Cheshire Open Studios

This weekend (24 & 25th September) Victoria Mill Arts Centre, Congleton will be open from 10 - 5pm as part of Cheshire Artists Network Open Studios. We will have work on display in the exhibition space at the Mill.
For more details about all of the Chesire Open Studios see www.artistsatwork.org.uk.
However we have moved studio space to the new Electric Picture House artists co-operative on Cross Street, Congleton. This is very much work in progress at the moment! It is an interesting old building that was originally a Cinema, known at the time as an Electric Picture Theatre, although none of the interior remains. We are aiming for an official launch in December but visitors can see what we are upto on the 24 & 25th.

we have moved into one of the first floor spaces, a new staircase and the rest of the first floor to be completed soon!

Wirksworth Festival 2011

Wirksworth Festival is leading rural arts festival where everyone can enjoy great art in a unique and inspiring setting.

For three weeks in September the historic Derbyshire market town of Wirksworth throws open its doors and invites you in to see some great art in some fascinating places.  Inspirational work from international and national artists is shown alongside the very best local and regional artists.  This year your'll be able to explore even more of the town with work planned in churches, woodland, pubs, quarries and amazing houses.  Highlights include:

Trails Weekend: 10th - 11th September

Contemporary Visual Art : 10th - 25th September

Community Celebration: 25th September

Performance Programme: 9th - 25th September

Festival Fringe: 9th-25th September

We are pleased to have had both paintings and sculpture selected for the Trails Weekend that runs on 10th & 11th September. Details of all the artists can be found on the festival website www.wirksworthfestival.co.uk

A Different View

I was pleased to be invited to take part in this exhibition at the Barefoot Gallery in Boston Spa, near Leeds. It features seven landscape artists curated by artist Paul Stone and is the first in a series of exhibitions launching the galleries new approach.
A Different View runs from 1st to 24th September and also shows the work of Paul Denham, Matt Forster, Emerson Mayes, Rob Miller, James Naughton and Mark Thompson.

No.1 Paint at BLANKSPACE

"If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint."
Edward Hopper

No.1: Paint is the first in an exciting series of medium-specific exhibitions to be held at BLANKSPACE. Celebrating the unique nature of paint, this exhibition will showcase work from 24 varied and distinctive emerging artists from throughout the UK.
Encompassing a wide variety of styles and forms, from impressionistic to abstract, sculpture to installation, the core subject of this diverse collection is: paint.
The selected artists individually push the fundamental boundaries of paint, investigating the numerous angles available within the selected art form.

No.1: Paint is about artists exploring the medium of paint in different and innovative ways, with their ideas and concepts being communicated through purely visual means. The work we have selected encompasses everything from more traditional painting to sculptural pieces and installation work - all coming together to create a unique and exciting show.
Jamie Hyde, Curator.

I'm pleased to have five of my plywood paintings selected for this group show curated by the Blank Media Collective.

8 - 25 September 2011, BLANKSPACE, Hulme St, Manchester.

NO.1: PAINT PUBLIC PREVIEW & LIVE MURAL PAINTING: Thursday 8 September, 6-9pm

EXHIBITION CONTINUES: Friday 9 - Sunday 25 September 2011

OPEN DAY & BBQ: Sunday 18 September (1- 4pm)
Free Entry to all Events

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Bartosz Beda | Dominic Bradnum | Jack Brindley | Cara Campbell | Neill Clements | Lisa Denyer | Jane Evans | Liz Gaunt | Alastair Gordon | Lesley Guy | Caroline Hall | Andrew Hardy | Melissa Henderson | Katarzyna Jablonska | Catherine Knight | Ladoza | Susan Laughton | Scott McCracken | Luci Metcalfe | Emily Musgrave | Georgina Parkins | Maggie Royle | Georgina Vinsun | Rebecca Wild


ASSOCIATED EVENTS:
NO.1: PAINT PUBLIC PREVIEW & LIVE MURAL PAINTING:
Thursday 8 September 2011, 6-9pm

No.1: Paint launches with a public preview to celebrate the works of these 24 talented artists. Sheffield-based artist Ladoza will be creating a site-specific mural on the side of the BLANKSPACE building on the launch and following days.
www.blankmediacollective.org

windows III: susan laughton

Sprite and Sundance at Savill Gardens

The sculptures are now on display until the end of August on the large brick wall that runs along the new Rose Garden.

The gardens have a contemporary visitors centre that has won several RIBA Awards and was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize in 2007, as well as lots of fantastic plant forms to study, such as sempervivum, tree ferns and echinops.

The Savill Garden Sculpture Exhibition

We are delighted that two of our sculptures, Sprite and Sundance, have been selected for a new sculpture exhibition in the Savill Gardens. The gardens are part of The Royal Landscape in Windsor Great Park. May be we can now say we are by 'Royal Appointment' !? 

Savill Gardens is a contemporary and classically designed garden and the exhibition will feature sculptures inspired by natural forms on show from 1st to 31st August.

Stockport Contemporary Open Art Exhibition

One of my series of paintings 'Still Here' has been selected for the new Stockport Contemporary. The exhibition runs from 25th June to 14th August at Stockport Art Gallery.

Barnaby Festival Macclesfield

We've been away in Brittany for a couple of weeks which we really enjoyed. Really sunny most of the time, fabulous coastline and lovely old towns and villages.
Back at home it's the Barnaby Festival this weekend and Susan has work in the Amuse Cafe on Chestergate selected by Fiona Bailey of the white gallery in Bollington. The exhibition will continue after the Festival until 17th July. Also over the Barnaby weekend we will have a piece of sculpture in the Lost & Found exhibition staged by Victoria Mill Artists at the Resources for Business Centre on South Park Road.
This is only the second year of the new Festival but it looks set to be a growing and well supported event.

One House Garden Sculpture Trail 2011

We are exhibiting in the One House Garden Sculpture Trail near Macclesfield again and hoping this glorious weather will continue (well, with perhaps rain at night to help the plants!) The trail is open daily 10 - 5pm from Saturday 7 May to Saturday 22 May (£3 entry, children free) with tea and homemade cakes available. The trail covers 7 acres of garden, meadow and woodland with a walled Victorian vegetable garden and restored greenhouse. There will be felt making demonstrations on Sunday afternoons. For more information see the trail website.

Northern Lines exhibition

The Artisan Art Gallery in Bolton, run by painter Rob Miller, has a new exhibition showing nine Northern artists on until the end of June with work by Pete Marsh, Ruth Moilliet, Paula Velarde, Norman Long, Janet Samson, Michael Ashcroft, Rob Miller, Joan Bradley and myself.

Metal Sky I : Susan Laughton
Gallery photos : Rob Miller (see more photos here)

Desktop

People keep admiring the well used surface of my studio desk so here is a little bits of it - about six years of built up paint here! I suppose it also gives away the limited colour palette I work with too.

Printmaking Workshop

Went to an alternative printing making workshop at the weekend where artist Kate Lynch showed interesting ways of using a home inkjet printer to print onto fabric and different papers. They have to be taped to a standard sheet of paper and it does have the potential jam the printer...but interesting results if brave enough! This was a little postcard painting I did last year scanned in and printed onto cotton with some text added from an old-school style text stamp.

gold and silver

These grasses in the garden look quite drab in the winter but shimmer gold and silver as soon as they dry out with a bit of early spring sunshine...

greenroom exhibition: still here

The Blank Media Collective is curating an exhibition of Susan's work at the greenroom in Manchester.  The greenroom is an alternative performance theatre and bar near the Cornerhouse in the city centre. The exhibition will feature the still here series made last year plus a few other, yet to be decided, pieces.
There will be a public preview on Wednesday 16th February, 6 - 9pm and then the exhibition continues until 16th April.

Celebrating Imbolc

On 2nd of February the gallery at Duckett & Jeffreys was illuminated by colour from Maria Silmon's VJ set celebrating the solar festival of Imbolc.

Imbolc is one of the ancient solar festivals and heralds the return of the light. The growing power of the sun brings a 'quickening' of life force in seeds beneath the frozen earth and the sap rising in the trees after their winter dormancy heralds the return of Spring. The images were projected on to our sculptures, shown here: sundance, as part of the Quickening exhibition.
photos: maria silmon and stef mitchell

Landmarks...or maybe not?

Walking round one of the sand quarries near here we were struck by the brightness this orange bag brought to a very wet and gloomy January day. Waste plastic a strange choice for enhancing the landscape I know! This led to a few more photos of less obvious 'landmarks'...

Sculptures in residence at The Midland Hotel

We went to Manchester yesterday to see how our sculptures look displayed in the grand lobby of the Midland Hotel. The four pieces: Spindrift, Sprite, Solaris and Flight  are on loan through Visual run by Arts & Business, who aim to create partnerships between commerce and culture. The work will be on show until 14th April.

Quickening: now on at Duckett & Jeffreys

Thank you to every body who came to the Private View for Quickening on Wednesday night. It was great to feel the buzz of conversation in the gallery after a busy couple of days setting up.

Quickening: a new exhibition for the New Year.

Best wishes for 2011!
We have an exhibition in collaboration with digital artist and VJ Maria Silmon starting next week at Duckett & Jeffreys Gallery in Malton, North Yorkshire. Quickening is inspired by the time of Imbolc solar festival, the moment in the year when the sun, after the stillness and dormancy of winter, begins to noticeably rise higher on the horizon towards it’s zenith at mid-summer. It’s rays stimulate the earth into the new energy of spring, quickening it’s life-force and bringing the first stirrings of action to the seeds beneath the earth. We will be showing sculptures along side Maria's sound and video work and are really excited to be collaborating in this way. The exhibition is on until the 19th February.