Vlog 78: It's Exhibition Time!

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Hello. Thanks ever so much for joining me on this vlog.

[00:00:03]This one's about the exhibition. So, my work's in a group exhibition at the Sarah Wiseman Gallery. And the exhibition's called the figure the face.

[00:00:13]I think in the last vlog I was talking about the face the figure, but it's actually the figure the face. Or is it? No, I'm pretty sure it's the figure the face.

[00:00:23]And it's only on for about another week or so. I'll put the details up here now.

[00:00:30]So, if you're in Oxford, it would be fantastic if you could pop in and have a look, please.

[00:00:36]Um but I wanted to just kind of show you a little film showing you around the exhibition if you can't make it to Oxford. And also I wanted to talk to you about some of the paintings because the paintings are all based on folklore. Um some of them are little snippets of folklore that I've remembered. It's a bit like the shapeshifter painting that in the last vlog I go into in a lot more detail and you show you see the whole process of me painting it and I tell you what it's all about. Um these other paintings are based on North Lincolnshire folklore uh which is very local to me or folklore style stories that have popped into my head. Well, I like to say I've come up with them myself, but it's actually the painting that's come up with them.

[00:01:27]Um I never I can never think of a story unless I've painted or drawn a picture.

[00:01:35]And then the kind of picture it can take weeks or months. The picture can tell me its story. Not always, but sometimes it shares its story with me.

[00:01:46]So, I wanted to tell you about that because the exhibition isn't on for much longer.

[00:01:51]I think it's about a week or so now.

[00:01:54]Um and I just wanted to talk to you about it and and share it before it's gone. So, I hope you enjoy it. And uh yeah, see you on the other side.

[00:02:05]So, here I am in the Sarah Wiseman Gallery. Um here's two of the abstracts, Catching the Moon and Cradle the Moon.

[00:02:14]And its place next to Crow Mother.

[00:02:17]Now, Crow Mother is a really large painting. It's kind of three paintings in one because there's the figure.

[00:02:24]There's the background landscape which has got more detail in than I usually put in my backgrounds. And the bodice of the dress itself is like a miniature landscape uh abstract painting.

[00:02:35]Um the Sarah Wiseman Gallery is just such a beautiful space. There is so many inspiring pieces of art, ceramics, sculpture, just so many lovely things to go and have a look.

[00:02:49]Um this is the work by Erin Thomas. This is a stunning charcoal drawing.

[00:02:54]And this is actually a monoprint.

[00:02:58]And well, the technical skills to produce a monoprint to me is just absolutely mind-blowing. And another stunning realistic charcoal drawing.

[00:03:07]Um and then you can see here is Shapeshifter. And in the last vlog you saw me step by step painting this.

[00:03:16]And that's inspired by um fisherman's folklore.

[00:03:21]And next to it is Maiden Moon Ascending next to a beautiful sculpture by Carol Peace. And I just think they both complement each other so well. And that is something that I absolutely love about visiting the exhibitions at the Sarah Wiseman Gallery because the care that is put into placing the artworks together, the curation is well, it's just stunning. And it's such a wonderful place to go and visit. And here we're approaching work by Richard Twose who was the third artist in the group show.

[00:03:58]Now we're in a separate part of the gallery and here you can see Dawn Chorus.

[00:04:05]And next to it is Ghost Rat.

[00:04:09]And I just couldn't I couldn't resist having a closer look to the beautiful dog sculptures of Gemma Rees and two more beautiful paintings by Erin Thomas.

[00:04:20]Um so yeah, we're coming back here. You can see Aurora.

[00:04:25]And next to Aurora is Ghost Rat.

[00:04:30]And as an artist it's fantastic when you deliver your paintings to a gallery and then you come back and you see how it's been displayed and interpreted and placed with other pieces. So, thank you so much Sarah and Erin. So, I thought I'd share some of the stories of the other paintings that are in the exhibition. So, there's Crow Mother. Uh here's a picture.

[00:04:54]And uh the Crow Mother had beautiful raven black hair. It would swirl in the winds.

[00:05:01]And whenever a midnight painted strand loosened itself from her scalp it would fly into the air and turn into a crow.

[00:05:10]And Dawn Chorus this one.

[00:05:15]Um when the morning air turns a little warmer after the harsh winter and the earth begins to stir when the birds begin to wait in wonder and huddle in silence for her gentle arrival the Dawn Chorus sings her morning song and the birds breathe in the melody.

[00:05:37]I must admit laying in bed in the morning with the window a bit open listening to the birds and the Dawn Chorus is one of my all-time favorite things.

[00:05:47]Um right, so the next one is Ghost Rat, this one.

[00:05:52]Um [snorts] there once was a rich farmer who would tire tirelessly work the land and took every inch for himself.

[00:06:00]Mother Nature watched as the creatures were driven driven out of his large estate until she could watch no more.

[00:06:08]So, one still autumn evening as the farmer was shutting the barn door, he heard a scuttling sound.

[00:06:17]This surprised him because it was usually so still and quiet.

[00:06:22]He saw a faint glow in the back of the barn. And to his surprise there was a ghostly rat floating in front of his eyes.

[00:06:32]Let us sing and scurry and play.

[00:06:35]Let us bring life back into your land.

[00:06:39]We only need a little from you and we would give so much back.

[00:06:45]The farmer was at first dumbstruck with fear, but he quickly realized that the ghostly rat was speaking the truth.

[00:06:53]And as the creatures slowly returned, Mother Nature smiled and the land bloomed with joy.

[00:07:01]And then we've got Aurora.

[00:07:05]Aurora was the beloved daughter of the night sky.

[00:07:09]She gazed down upon the earth and sighed longingly to herself.

[00:07:13]How she wished to dance at the grand ball if only for just one night.

[00:07:19]Her father could not refuse her heartfelt plea.

[00:07:23]And as she took her earthly form, she asked if he could make her a beautiful gown.

[00:07:30]So, the night sky bedecked her with the northern lights as she descended from the heavens.

[00:07:38]And then I've got two abstract pieces. So, there's this one.

[00:07:44]Catching the Moon.

[00:07:46]And then there's this one.

[00:07:49]Cradling the Moon.

[00:07:51]And they're both based on a North Lincolnshire folk tale called The Dead Moon.

[00:07:57]And that tale is about the beautiful moon that came down from the night sky to see let me see if I get this right.

[00:08:11]Yeah, so she came down to earth to see what kind of evil and strange goings-on in the Lincolnshire marshlands had been happening. As the moon, she often lit the path so that travelers could safely go through these kind of lands that were filled with with boggarts and sprites and all sorts of other nightly creatures.

[00:08:37]Um but as she went down to further investigate she slipped. And she got trapped.

[00:08:45]And these night creatures slid a big stone over the top of her.

[00:08:51]And so the night sky wasn't lit up for days well, nights on end. And that meant these creatures just ran riot and it became a really dangerous place at night time.

[00:09:05]But then a wise woman told some of the locals and a brave gang of people traveled across and saved the moon. And just as they opened up the big stone lid and looked down just for a flash, just for an instant they saw this most beautiful glowing face.

[00:09:29]And then in the blink of an eye she was back up in the night sky smiling down on them again.

[00:09:37]And that's one of my favorite folklores.

[00:09:39]Um I've read quite a few different versions of it. And and that directly inspired those two abstract um pieces. And also inspired this piece here.

[00:09:53]And that is Maiden Moon Ascending.

[00:09:56]So, yeah, I hope you enjoyed listening to that. Um sorry for having to read it off the laptop. Thank you so much for watching and I really hope you enjoyed having a look around the exhibition and I hope you enjoyed some of the stories about the pieces of artwork. And thanks ever so much for joining me again. Um I'd love to hear comment if if you particularly enjoyed a certain story or a painting. I'd love a bit of feedback or if you didn't and I'd like something that you know, I'd really appreciate your comments. That would be really nice.

[00:10:30]And uh hope to see you again soon.

[00:10:32]Thanks ever so much for watching, Chuck.

[00:10:34]Oh, nearly forgot. I need to serve one of these.

[00:10:39]So, see you again soon. Cheers. Bye.