Meet the Artist - Ruth Brown

Name: Ruth Brown

Nickname: Struth, Ruthie and Dorey (due to my lack of memory!)

Occupation: Artist

About you: 

I am a very proud Mum of my 3 wonderful grown up children. I have a fabulous husband called Dave and the most ugly cute dog called Sweep.

I am a true enthusiast for V.W beetles and camper vans, as you will see in some of my work. This was triggered after watching the film Herbie. I like to think that my Beetle has a mind of his own.

I absolutely love painting and have begun to spend a lot of my time advancing with my art work. I also like to keep fit and enjoy precious time spent with family and friends.

I am a Christian and since I began my art classes I have really looked at Gods amazing creation. To attempt to capture any part of it in a painting is both a privilege and daunting. 

I love walking my dog and Dave and I often take him on longer walks at weekends, when we can. Sweep is my most constant companion and very precious as I am often at home alone now that the children have grown up and Dave works away from home a lot. You may see sweep in some of my paintings.

My favourite times are when all the family are together and we play crazy games, chat, watch films and there's usually a few tricks played on people!

I am a fun loving, far too open, caring love bug and enjoy a party. I also love the sun and regularly get my batteries charged by going to our beloved North Cyprus, with friends and/or family. The sun and bright skies renew my energy and I do love a tan.

Funniest Moment:

My life is full of funny things, often involving my children who are now all grown up and married.

I have a problem remembering things as I have M.S. It is frustrating but sometimes useful. I am going to tell you my most recent ridiculous performance. I was on holiday with my husband, which is very relaxing, each night we were lucky enough to go out for a meal. On one particular night, as I walked to our first floor apartment, I noticed that the lady who lives beneath us had changed the things she had by her door. Then as I passed her balcony, I saw a lot of people were gathered there. This was strange as she doesn't really have people gather at hers. I started to go up the stairs, when I realised the steps were yellow and ours are blue… I then realised that my lovely husband had parked in a different place to usual without me realising. When I got into our apartment I asked Dave why he didn't say anything, he just said "I wanted to know how far you'd go before you realised”.

Scariest Moment:

One of my scariest moments was when the children were young and we were holidaying in North Wales. On one day we decided we would go to visit a castle. There was lots of excitement as we climbed up one of the towers. Luke, aged 4, was leading the way as we twisted round the spiral staircase. Suddenly light appeared and Dave, fortunately, grabbed Luke as he almost walked straight off the top of the tower! In those good old days, health and safety wasn't what it is today. We have been since, and there are safety barriers everywhere.

Favourite Artist:

I have always liked Monet and wanted to be learn how to water colour paint, so that I could attempt something similar to his work. I soon discovered that I am far too much of a control freak for water colour.

I also like some of Van Gogh and Picasso's work.

I was inspired by Susan Entwistle after seeing some of her work displayed in a garden centre. Her work is all done in pointillism, which is a style I have used in some of my work. I found this was an easier way of finding what works for me and gave me the confidence to then attempt more complex work such as animals and figures. For some reason, I found it easier to paint in dots, than painting brush stokes. Mind you, this is when the tremor that comes with M.S. helps!

How did you get into art?:

I enjoyed art at school but hadn’t really done anything since then, other than with children through my family and work.

I became unwell 10 years ago and had to stop working. I began to rekindle my love of sewing and knitting.

Becky Newell (artist and director of Origin Arts) is a very dear friend and talked to me frequently about the benefits of painting. I eventually gave in and, with her positive encouragement, sometimes blunt in a way that only friends can, I began to love it!

It is beneficial to me to spend some time being still, which is something I am not at all good at. When I sit down with my paints and go into my imagination time just disappears.

I often embellish my art, partly because I think it adds a different dimension to my work, but also because I often have tremors in my hands which makes painting details difficult. The embellishments are a way of adding detail without quite as much precision required.

I have a lovely studio in our garden built by Dave, which even has electricity and a wine fridge! It's a lovely, peaceful place to be and hours slip away when I'm in there.

        

10 Things that Make You an Artist

Many artists do things different ways but we believe that this list of 10 things are quite common amongst many artists we've met. Please comment if you have any other suggestions.

• 1. You often look at household objects with far too much interest as you can see a creative use for it. For example, whilst cleaning your teeth you seriously consider whether you could get away with using it to paint and then put it back into the bathroom to use again (or maybe steal a partners/house mate's toothbrush).

• 2. You only know when dinner is ready because you smell something burning and the fire alarm goes off whilst you're creating a master piece.

• 3. It always seems impossible to find a pen when you need one so often important notes or documents are signed in extravagantly coloured pastels, or whatever else is to hand.

• 4. You have a stash of jam jars just-in-case. God forbid using your favourite mug. Ever. Again.

• 5. Just about every item of your clothing has some sort of unexplained paint mark on it. Which also brings us to an extra point...

• 5.5. You try to keep 'art' clothes and 'nice' clothes separate but you still manage to get paint on your best clothes. Often because you just need to touch up a painting as you're leaving the house...

• 6. You love what you do and think you're so lucky to be able to do what you love but people never believe you because all they see is the trauma during the creation of your artwork.

• 7. You think that people who say they 'appreciate' your work should realise how rude their comment is and be forced to apologise at least once. Whilst on their knees. And beg for forgiveness.

•  8. You believe all rules in art should be broken, except the ones you make. Of course.

•  9. Your partner often leaves for work with bits of paint or whatever else on them. Oh well, at least they won't forget you whilst they're gone.

• 10. Finally, you try your best but you will always find it really hard to be bothered to wash your paint brushes and you have been known to sacrifice a brush to the bin just to save yourself from washing it.

We hope you like this different type of post!

         

We do not own all of the images shown above and do not claim to own them, they were found on Google Images as they were appropriate for the blog post.

Meet the Artist - Cherrie Mansfield

Name: Cherrie Mansfield

Nickname: Ches, Chesonator, Chief.  At school it was Plum and Prune.

Occupation: Strategy and Performance Manager at Wychavon District Council and artist.  I’ve not got the balance right between the two yet. 

What makes you laugh?

The antics of our two cats, Sid (short for Obsidian) and Sweet Pea.  They’re adorable and mischievous - nibbling at the parmesan as soon as our backs are turned, trying to liberate crisps from their hiding place, climbing into kitchen cupboards and the washing machine, swiping my husband on the head when he’s loading the dishwasher and sitting on anything we’re trying to give more attention to than them.

Sid and Sweet Pea

Scariest situation you’ve been in:

It was September 1996, in Chiapas state, Southern Mexico.  I was travelling with four friends.   Two of them were due to fly home that day, the rest of us were staying on for another week.  Having set off early and driven for several hours in our hired car along winding roads, up through steep jungle-covered slopes, we decided to take a break to stretch our legs and change driver.  

The ideal spot was a lay-by just off the main highway at a place called La Silva Negra (the black jungle) overlooking the valley below.  Whilst we took photos of the view, one of the guys went off for a pee.  The next thing we saw was him walking gingerly backwards up the path facing two masked men.  Dressed in camouflage clothing and black balaclavas, they were carrying three guns: two rifles and a revolver.

They backed us up to the wall and gestured to us to put our hands up.  They were clearly young and nervous which did nothing to ease the tension we all felt.  I was envisaging newspaper headlines at home: “Five murdered in Mexican jungle”.  At least they could only shoot three of us at once!

As armed robbers go, they were relatively polite, returning our passports and leaving us with some money.  They dragged my boyfriend’s backpack out of the car first.   They were about to turn back for another when they realised it would take both of them to lift the first one. They dragged it off to the forest leaving my boyfriend wondering what he was going to wear for the rest of the trip.  A quick hand movement was all the encouragement we needed to get back into the car and onto the road.

Just as we were leaving the small town about 15 minutes down the road, the brakes on the car failed.  We limped back to the garage we had just filled up at and explained we had problem with ‘los frenos’.  It didn’t take long to figure out that we didn’t have any brake pads.

Two near death experiences in half an hour were quite enough for us all, so we abandoned our hired vehicle in favour of two taxis.  None of us wanted to hang around so close to the scene of the incident, besides there was a plane to catch and some of us had to go in search of pants for my boyfriend!

Phobias:

Snakes.  Not just the nasty poisonous real live ones.  My phobia extends to pretty much every form of snake you can think of – stuffed, toy, photographs, on TV and in films.  I can just about cope with cartoon snakes in kids’ books if they’re not too life-like.  And the weird thing is that if there’s even a hint of a snake in a shop window, magazine or on the TV I’ll be the first to see it.  

Favourite Artist:

In my Studio

There are quite a few.  I’m particularly excited by some of the artists who were part of the ‘St Ives School’ in the 1950s, among them Sir Terry Frost, Patrick Heron and Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.  Barns-Graham’s silk screen prints are magnificent.  Frost was prolific, producing such exuberant and joyful paintings, collages and prints.  If he was still alive I’d do my level best to meet him.  I recently met his grandson Luke who led a course I took at Newlyn School of Art.  

Then there’s John Hoyland.  Author Andrew Lambirth describes his work far better than I can: “pictures which inspire the spirit, which liberate and fire the imagination. He describes imaginary worlds ... and encourages us by the beauty and effervescence of his colours to respond to them and contemplate their meaning.”

Henri Matisse must get a mention too.  I like his paper cut-outs the most.  He developed the technique further, using it to design the unique Chapelle du Rosaire de Vence, in response to the gratitude he felt towards his nurse Monique Bourgeois in the final years of his life. It is a profound space, combining the artistic and the spiritual.

Ooh, and I nearly forgot Jackson Pollock.  In terms of living artists, then it’d be Neil Canning, Barbara Rae, Tom Hughes, Antony Gormley and sculptor Edward Baldwin, who I shared an exhibition space with a couple of years ago.  

About you:

Partly Cloudy 20x20cm, acrylic on canvas board.
Photo credit: Jade Edwards

I grew up in Horsham in West Sussex, where my parents still live.  On my first day at primary school I expressed my creativity by scribbling on another child’s piece of paper!  There was also a sweet stealing incident, but we won’t say any more about that except that I am still a sweet lover and get very excited by old-fashioned sweet shops.

I studied geology and environmental biogeochemistry at universities in the north east of England.  When my first job after university proved to be uninspiring, I threw myself into campaigning with my local Friends of the Earth group and then left to go travelling in South America.  I’ve been back there since because my brother, Paul, now lives in Chile.  I’ve also travelled in Europe, Central America, Nambia and Vietnam.  In 1998 I was awarded a Millennium Fellowship to participate in an Earthwatch project in Sri Lanka, studying the social behaviour of toque macaque monkeys.

I live in Worcester with my husband, Peter and the aforementioned cats.  Peter’s an excellent cook so I am very spoilt.  He’s also an occasional collaborator in my artwork – cutting, sticking and framing, otherwise everything would be crooked!  He also claims he’s my agent, but let’s just say he’s not really doing much to earn any fees.  

I volunteer for St Paul’s Hostel in Worcester and I’m passionate about social justice issues like climate change, fair-trade, homelessness and human trafficking.

Cadmium is Bad Stuff 23.5x17.5cm,
acrylic on board. Photo credit: Jade Edwards

How did you get into art?

Looking back, I think the roots lie in my childhood, which was both creative and colour-filled.  Despite growing up in the ‘70s I don’t remember much brown, beige or avocado in our home.  But I do still clearly recall many of the colours from my early years: 

• At aged two and a bit, the bright yellow peeler my Mum was using to peel an orange not long after my brother was born.
• The little red painted wooden wheelbarrow I helped my Dad to transport manure from our front drive up the path to the back garden. 
• A pair of purple flared trousers I often wore to Sunday School
• The emerald green pedal racing car my brother and I played with. 

I showed an early flair for drawing.  One of my first pictures that attracted praise was a heron drawn in felt tip pen on shiny paper that Dad had brought home from work.  We didn’t have a TV when we were growing up so had to find other ways to entertain ourselves.   Whether it was colouring, copying Sad Sam pictures, painting by numbers with those ridiculously small pots of oil paint, making candles or performing home-grown plays with my friends in our front room, I usually had some sort of creative project on the go.

I studied art at school and created several unusual pieces.  There was ‘Pollution’, a painting and collage featuring computers, bits of litter and cigarette butts I’d picked up from the street.  ‘Metamorphosis’ was a somewhat lurid construction made out of an old sock and ‘Rise and fall’ was a snakes(!) and ladders board created with paint and PVA glue mixes.  Alas, I received little encouragement from my art teacher and after leaving school didn’t pursue art any further.

After university, frequent holidays to Cornwall reawakened my interest and inspired me to start painting so I went to evening classes at the local college.  It grew from there really.  I’ve continue to do short courses at the St Ives School of Painting and Newlyn School of Art.

My paintings are typically characterised by rich colours and strong textures, sometimes I find composition a little more challenging!  I enjoy the freedom that comes with painting and the exciting possibilities that a blank canvas or board presents when I embark on a new painting.  Sometimes I begin a new piece with a clear idea in mind, at other times colour is the starting point, and everything else flows from there. There are strong references to geology and the natural environment in some of my work.

I'm currently working on an ambitious project to create a series of 92 paintings, each one inspired by one of the naturally occurring elements in the periodic table. From hydrogen to uranium, that's a lot of elements to get to grips with, especially as my knowledge of chemistry is quite limited.   So I've invited friends and family to contribute to the project by choosing an element and telling me what it means to them to give me some inspiration. So far I’ve completed the five halogens and made a start on the lanthanides, so there’s still a long way to go!

Any art secrets or wisdom to share?

Turquoise and Feldspar 50x50cm,
mixed media on canvas board

I think creating art is as much about having the confidence to just give it a go than necessarily having all the technical skills or a formal art education.  People often tell me they could never paint and that I’m really clever to be able to create what I do.  I disagree and challenge them to give it a try.  What’s the worst that can happen?  They don’t like what they paint, throw it away and never pick up a paint brush again.  On the other hand, they may feel the excitement that I felt as a child when opening a new tin of beautiful crayons or a bumper pack of felt tip pens in every colour, and end up becoming an accomplished artist.

When I first started painting I expected to create work I was pleased with every time and was disheartened when I didn’t.  I soon realised that it’s as much about the creative process, or perhaps more, than it is about the end result.  For every painting I’m happy to frame and put on the wall or share with others, there are several in the discard pile.  

I’ve also learnt that knowing when to stop is vital.  In many respects I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but that doesn’t sit comfortably with my style of artwork. It’s so very easy to overwork a painting and I often do.  Frequent cups of tea are essential, providing a moment to take a breath, step away from the canvas and reassess.  

Finally, I try to apply the principle that something is usually better than nothing.  I often tell myself this when I don’t feel like going to the gym to motivate myself to go and do a short session.  It is particularly important when time is limited and I don’t have the luxury of several hours or more to paint and it’s a principle I need to apply even more than I currently do.

Anything else:

My work has been exhibited at venues in Bromsgrove, Evesham, Pershore and Worcester and has been promoted by Arthouse galleries, Surbiton. In 2013, one of my paintings was short-listed for the prestigious Cork Street Open and some of my work is due to appear in the 101 Abstract Artworks Art Has No Borders iArtBook.  

In 2015, I helped organise the successful inaugural Worcestershire Open Studios, which saw the work of 70 artists displayed at 27 venues over three days.  

Keep in touch with my work by subscribing to magenta and malachite, my monthly newsletter here.

www.cherriemansfield.com

        

Meet the Artist - Chris Jennings

Name: Chris Jennings

Artist challenges:

Being organised!  Something that is regularly heard by me "I'm just going to... Oh no! Where are my paints, pens, paper, etc?"...

First painting in oils

Favourite artist:

I find that difficult to answer as there are so many whose work I greatly admire, contemporary ones such as Kurt Jackson, Claire Wiltshire, Amanda Hoskins, Maurice Sappiro and Ken Knight. Going back through time, though, I can't ignore Turner, Constable, Van Gogh, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Gwen John, Klimt and numerous others.

How did you get into art?:

From childhood, I have always loved art: drawing, painting and just looking at it. I like to be outdoors, enjoying timeless, unspoilt scenery and vast skies. I appreciate the way that light changes the atmosphere and mood of a place. If you can manage to capture just a little bit of what you are trying for, painting can be really exciting. As an artist, I aim to continue to improve my skills, but I also want my paintings to say something.

When I was a little girl I would play with my crayons and paints. I'm still playing today and I think that's important, there's no point in art if it is a laboured chore. As well as my childhood play, I was influenced by watching Adrian Hill and Tony Hart on TV, often trying out projects for myself.

Moving on to secondary school, I was fortunate in having an amazing art teacher, a gifted teacher of painting and drawing who really taught and art became my favourite lesson.

It wasn’t until many years later that I returned to art, taking mainly local classes in oils, watercolour, acrylics, drawing and composition over the years.  I am extremely grateful for the encouragement and insights given to me by the different tutors of those classes. I started to attend the St Martins art class led by Becky Newell and this has become an important time for me where I can take time out and indulge in making art in an atmosphere of encouragement and (always) constructive criticism.

I love to try something new, be it a new medium or technique and I get very absorbed in looking at art, studying the work of many different artists.

Doing art changes the way you look at things, I could spend hours studying trees or clouds, thinking about colours, shapes and the ways that the objects in a scene relate to each other and continuously have a painting in my head to work out. I am inspired by many different things but always seem to return to the sky and sea, and their different moods, hoping to bring those feelings to my paintings and I think that somehow, whatever you're feeling comes across if you are truly involved with the subject.

Education:

I recently took part in an Art School held at MAC, Birmingham along with many other artists. I decided to paint on the theme or 'Peace' and what it means to me. As a person who sees letters in colours I choose to take the colours that I see the letters of the word 'peace' as and do a painting for each letter. Based on one of the most peaceful places I know, the Norfolk coast. When I see a letter in isolation it always has a colour.

'P' is blue - 'Blue Beach'

'E' is yellow - 'Yellow Reeds'

'A' is green - 'Green Alexanders'

'C' is blue - 'Blue Rockpool'

'E' is yellow - 'Yellow Beach'

These prints have been in an exhibition in Cambridge for a month and I have been chuffed to have sold some.
Some of my 'Cat Portraits' were in the same exhibition, these were painted for charity, to help a project in Egypt which cares for children who have to live and work in Cairo Brick Factories. These are quite different to my usual work and fun to do.

Anything Else:
Recently I have started to help Becky in the St. Peter's Origin Arts class and have begun to lead a small art club in central Worcester, it's great to be able to encourage others and pass on some of the things that I have learnt.

Favourite luxury - Strawberries

I am constantly wanting to explore different mediums and techniques, art is so interesting! I've used pencils, charcoal, graphite, watercolour, gouache, oils, acrylics and felting.

Recently done a Batik workshop and can't wait to get started on working in at home.

I started oils many years ago by joining an evening class having a little exhibition in the local library. I find art where the classes were held and that was the beginning of my addiction.

        

Meet the Artist - Jo Keeley

Name: Jo Keeley 

Nickname: Jo

Occupation:

Job 1) Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Technician

Job 2) Receptionist in the Physio Dept at Worcester Hospital

Job 3) Artist

  

Funniest Moment:

Usually with Emma, my daughter! Or with George the dog…  The last funny moment was when I dropped Emma off near to 6th Form on her first week and just drove off to work. Didn't look back... And she had fallen over on her face! People stopped and asked if she was okay, not quite believing that I just drove off and left her with a red face and sore knee! When she told me I couldn't help myself but laugh, it was hysterically funny to me but possibly not to others!

Scariest Moment:

Starting a new job of which I had to be trained to become competent at, as well as starting an MA in Fine Art at the same time!

Biggest Fear:

Failure, I absolutely hate failing. Failure has affected my career; being unable to gain a GCSE in Maths has stopped me going forward in any career, I failed 5 times… So that is my all-consuming fear.

Favourite Artist:

Not the easiest of questions because favourite artist is dependent on different aspects. Frida Kahlo is an incredible painter of suffering and survival, but Jenny Saville’s application of paint is sublime! There’s Francis Bacon’s work of aggression and sexual angst and excess, and Grayson Perry’s take on humanity. Sorry, for me ‘favourite artist’ has to be fractured into different aspects!

About you:

Single Mum and dog owner. I work in two jobs that add up to full time hours. I paint in mismatched pyjamas in the evening in my studio/office/bedroom! There is paint stains all over the house. I enjoy wine and food.

I am short and dumpy and dream of being 5 foot 4 inches and a size 8. Being short is frustrating as it’s difficult to tell your child that you are the adult when they are looking down on you. Growth has tended to be outwards not upwards! Have I mentioned that I enjoy wine? Which adds to the weight gain… so the dream of a size 8 is realistically staying a dream!

I attempt to walk the dog once a day, but Friday is the one day of the week where George is denied a walk as that is my one night without Emma and George. I race home from work, grab the wine from the local store, grab some food and then race to studio/office/bedroom to throw off the shackles of the working week and tumble into the mismatched pyjamas and get the paints out for a really lengthy painting session!

My attempts of being a parent are haphazard at best. No instructions popped out at the same time as the baby did, this is where God didn’t think the parenting thing through properly. I enjoy Emma’s teenage years as her way of dealing with any issues is to be quiet and withdrawn… until about 10.30 at night and then she comes into my bedroom and throws herself on my bed and vents. These interactions are on the whole very entertaining and once she has vented she is usually fine. I am exhausted, but content in the knowledge that she is feeling happier. Here is an example of one of Emma’s rants… on this particular day she had burst into tears at dinner and sprayed food everywhere! So I did think that that evening I would not have another trauma… I was so wrong

Conversation regarding Career choices:

Emma: OMG!! My life is over! I am just going to have to become a prostitute, there is no choice!!

Me: Sooo...No University? Just prostitution... Ummmm..

Emma: OMG!! Is there nothing you want to say!!!

Me: I have always said I would support in your choices in life, always! Therefore if you feel that your career path is prostitution... well... I can buy your first Red Bulb!!!

Emma: You are no support!!! And no parent would say that only you!!!

2 Hours later...

Emma: I have been looking at Universities!! 

Me: Oh... So no prostitution!?! Well weighing right side Prostitution... Left side University....No contest Love!! Uni it is!!!!!!!!

This is just one of many examples.

I will be so so glad when these exams are over.

I also suffer from depression. This is frustrating as I struggle to function and at the darker moments I struggle to paint, but depression doesn’t define me. I hate being middle-aged and having to wear glasses; not being able to read anything without having to put the blasted things on drives me nuts! When you get to your forties having to wear makeup everyday just to look vaguely alive is just plain unfair.

I am also a drama queen. I hate meeting new people as I don’t have any confidence, and my home is rarely tidy. I do try, but I think I have seriously pissed off the housework fairies because they never ever visit… actually I think George (Dog) has eaten them all!

How did you get into art?:

I failed my Art GCSE and when I attempted to go to Art College I got turned down 3 times. Due to this, it wasn’t until I was 28 years old that I decided to try again properly. I had always dabbled but never succeeded to go further. Husband had left me with a gorgeous 14 month old baby. I did a 2 day life study course and I loved it! Once again I applied to College… And I got in to do a BTEC in Art and Design, which was hard to juggle. During this time I meet an artist called Bill Talbot. The first time I met him he was involved in a community exhibition in Ticehurst and I went to meet this amazing artist. As I walked into the hall, I realised my period had started (whilst wearing white trousers!). I rushed over to this chap and introduced myself, waffled at him at 90mph, escaped within 20 mins and left him stunned by this mad, red faced woman who sounded like she had taken speed! It took me another month to pluck up the courage to go over to his studio. Luckily, we became great friends. He taught me to paint in oils and then love of painting really blossomed for me.

I used to go over to Bill’s studio whenever I could. He just let me use his paints and brushes and canvases. He also lent me books, this was a wonderful haven for me. One day I went into his studio and there was this huge pot of brushes. Bill explained to me that the formal way, or rather proper way, of using brushes was something I could not grasp at all. So, he had gone out and bought me a huge set of brushes! I have never been allowed to touch any of his brushes again. The way I apply the paint goes against all the laws of painting, so all brushes are ruined within minutes of me using them.

Anything else:

I originally lived in Heathfield, East Sussex. I moved to Worcester about 10 years ago to make a fresh start. I was lucky enough to be accepted to do a degree at Worcester University of which I gained a 2.1. I was then accepted to do a MA in Fine Art through the Open College of the Arts, an online correspondence course, which took 4 years to complete and that finished in November 2014.

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