From Factory to Bakehouse

Posted on Monday, July 21st, 2014 at 8:46 pm

By the time you read this we (Sonia, Karen and I) will have moved – after just three years in our studio in the old Pye electronics factory.

It’s a metaphor for London. The Parkhall Industrial Estate has changed its spots. The old building, once full of framers, artists, veneer & print workshops, and people who could make anything for you, has vanished. It’s now the Parkhall Business Centre. Out go the artisans, in with the suits and the coffee shop. Laminated flooring replaces ye olde concrete.

Oh – and they also refurbished the rents. Ours just doubled overnight (plus 5% annual increases – and we have a ‘service charge’ of £3k – for emptying the bins). It’s too rich for us – and almost all the artists in the building. It’s been gentrified: that’s what happens to London property – and the artists get kicked out . . . Soho, Hackney, West Norwood??

However . . .  we have been blessed.
One of our colleagues in Half Moon Studio – thank you Gail – heard that a local artist had recently died and his studio might be available. The long and the short of it is that we’ve gained possession of a very ‘characterful’ old Victorian bakehouse in a) the heart of West Dulwich b) a certain state of dilapidation.  Now de-cluttered (two big skips), painted white, roof propped and repaired, velux window in, insulation added and all our stuff installed, we’re ready for business. It’s a lovely work space and we have recruited more people (Virginia, Diana & Kate) who are delighted to be here.  There’s even a courtyard for lunch outside on days like we are having – just right for Private Views . . .

On a practical note :

–  We’ll have a open studio as soon as we can organise it.
–  Only our physical address has changed – emails and phone are as before.  See Contact tab above to refresh your memory.
–  Come and visit.  It’s close to the Dulwich Picture Gallery and Dulwich Park. Make a day of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joining the You Tube Gang

Posted on Friday, March 28th, 2014 at 3:46 pm

 

Well – everyone is doing it now, showing how they work that is.
You can look up videos for brain surgery, making cappuccino, funny cats and many subjects not suitable for mention here.

Anyway, many of my colleagues have been doing it: explaining printmaking is lengthy and technical, whereas seeing is understanding.
Here’s my contribution to the billions of videos out there:  here’s the link – enjoy!

And once again, thanks to my lovely and gifted daughter in law Seeta for making the film for me.

 

Art Trails . . . in Salisbury

Posted on Monday, September 9th, 2013 at 5:42 pm

Art Trails have grown rapidly all around the country over the last few years. They represent a simple way for artists to get the benefit of mass marketing, by linking up with tens if not hundreds of colleagues in the same geographical area.  The art lover gets to see lots of local work and  a guide to where to go. Interactions between artist and buyer are informal and rewarding for both parties.

As a result of the great sales of my ‘In The Shallows’ print at the RA (thank you if you bought one), I was invited to show some prints at a private view in Salisbury. They are a group of really interesting sculptors, who are showing in an old barn, now restored as a beautiful home (see pictures).  Their work is naturally free-standing, so they just needed someone to cover the walls . . . . . !

This show is part of the Great Plains Art Trail run by the local arts group and has a highly professional and exciting brochure.
Download it from the site by clicking this link to see:  Great Plains Art Trail 

Salisbury Art Trail takes place from 5th to 13th October and you are very welcome to come to the private view on the 4th October. Just print out the image below (drag to your picture editor) and bring it with you – and collect a Great Plains brochure when you come!

Invading Yorkshire . . .

Posted on Saturday, June 29th, 2013 at 9:40 am

Yorkshire seems to be full of people who like buying art  – and going to festivals!
And I am very lucky to have no less than three shows up there this summer – and another one for Christmas!

There’s a two person show at Leeds City Art Gallery called Splash! with my fishy prints from 6th July – 26th October . . .
. . . then there’s the first Harrogate Art Fair : 6th July – 27th July – coinciding with the Harrogate Festival (guess where) and then . .
. . . the Great Northern Art show in Ripon Cathedral from 31st August to 22nd September.

Finally from 30th November to 12th January 2014 I am showing with my London Printmakers group in The Station at Richmond.
It’s a wonderful venue – a converted railway station – that is a local cultural centre (gallery, cinema and restaurant) with 350,000 visitors a year.

Details of all venues and links in the exhibitions section.
If you live up there, I  do hope you can make it to one of them.  The festival programmes look really good and Richmond is a great touring centre.

Winning The Lottery

Posted on Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 at 1:54 pm

Every year, almost all of the artists I know submit one or two works (two is the maximum nowadays) for the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition. Almost  11,000 works were entered last year, and there is only room on the walls for around 1,100 of them.

Now the Academicians get first dibs on the space (up to six works each as of right) and so take around one third of the space, leaving around 700 for the rest of us. So – merit aside –  the statistics say each work has only a 16:1 chance of being hung – pretty much a lottery.

But this year the Gods smiled on me. Both of my entries passed the initial vetting by a panel of RAs and went upstairs for the hang in the main galleries. Up there another team worked on the hanging and my bigger work was weeded out – possibly on space grounds.
(In the old days this was called ‘Doubtful – Not Hung’.)

But the little one got through!  It’s called In The Shallows. I am pleased with the Japanese style woodcut effect.  Now all I need is for lots of you to come along and snap it up! Enjoy the show, which opens on 10th June and runs to mid-August.  Details in Exhibitions.

Affordable Art Fair – Well, I Hope So!

Posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2012 at 5:57 pm

Every year we set great store by this show in Battersea, as it pulls in loads of people and it can get – pleasantly – crowded.
Getting ready is always a rush even when you know it’s coming!

This year, the show organisers are making a big thing of ‘Art under £500’ because of the recession.
Well that’s us to a T – just about everything on the stand comes under that heading – and it’s framed.
Check out my new web site – www.susieperring.com – then come along and see the show!

I will be on our Half Moon Printmakers stand E4.
This year, I have decided not to post invitations, but I’m sending friends and clients e-invites for daytime visits giving half price entry for two.

If you’ve not received one and would like to visit, email me and I’ll send you one.
If you want an invitation for evening openings, email me with your name, postal address and session you want.
I’ll happily post you a ticket: – see below:

Wednesday evening is a charity preview (normally £25)
Thursday evening is a late show (normally £20)
Friday daytime is quieter and I have tickets for these.
Please come to the session you chose if you request these – they are on limited issue!

I very much hope to see you there!

 

PS Link to AAF show details in Exhibitions section

“Where’s The Original?”

Posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2012 at 5:29 pm

Where’s the Original?

I have a new show opening  soon at the Bankside Gallery – along with eleven  other professional printmakers.

It’s called “Where’s the Original?” – the cry of buyers at print shows: many assume prints are ‘just’ a copy of a (painted) original.

So we decided to do something about this – and not just show our work.
Instead, we are trying to de-mystify print by showing how prints are made.
We don’t focus on the technical process – rather the creative one – and we think the results are really interesting.

Visitors can see all this ‘thinking and making’ laid out alongside the finished work.  See the example below.
Sketches, Drawings, paintings and proofs and plates from 12 artists are all there – and a big range of print styles.

The show is at the Bankside Gallery on the South Bank from 3rd to 30th September, so I’m sure you can find time to pop in.
For details see and location click on ‘Exhibitions’ above.

Meet the artist

I’ll be in the Gallery talking to people on Friday  21st and Saturday 22nd September from 1-4 pm.
Hope to see you there!


One of several working drawings for ‘Gold’. See here for final result.

My New Website

Posted on Monday, July 30th, 2012 at 3:00 pm

After far too many years, I have a new – and hopefully much improved – web site.

The aims have been to make it easier:
–    for the casual visitor to look round the site and find things
–    for galleries to see what’s new, check prices and see stuff that they may not have known about.
–    for people to decide to buy and pick up the phone to me!

To do this, I have been finding out what people do when they visit, and why people buy – or don’t.
I found that people get confident when they see how the print will look in a room.

So we have put a clickable ‘VIEW FRAMED’ button so they can see the print they like ‘framed’ in a living room.
For smaller prints, we show you two framed prints in a typical grouping in a smaller scale photo.
Have a look and let us know what you think.

Other things I have added:
–    A bit more on my working methods. Thanks to my colleague Jazmin Velasco for her lovely piece on this in ABOUT.
–    You can sort by size.  People are often clearer about the space they want to fill, than the image that might fill it!

I would be really grateful for any comments you have when you have looked around the site.

Just email me at susie@susieperring.com