Nearly Christmas

I am starting this blog with my big news. I have been selected to take part in the Milano Biennale, which will be held in March next year. And I have been given an award  - "For her artistic excellence, creativity, and commitment, confirming her talent that illuminates the contemporary art scene”. and a Special Mention  - “ In recognition of her creative flair and exceptional contribution to the art world”

I must say this has made my year.

At the end of my last blog I said I was itching to get back in the studio, having spent a lot of time organising exhibitions, well that was delayed again because in August we took in a rescue dog from kennels and she needed a lot of loving care - and lots of walks. She is of course beautiful - a cross breed but mostly an Italian shepherd - a maremmano.

She has made quite a change to our lives but I did eventually get back into the studio and at last started on my Sicilian paintings making my own paint from the pigments I bought in Roussillon in France a few years ago now. I have to admit I have been struggling with them - but that is nothing new so I am carrying on with them but at this stage I don’t have anything to post here.

The summer months brought many tourists to Cocconato and a lot of customers for us in the gallery. Paintings, ceramics, jewellery and textiles all found new homes. This last weekend saw the annual Christmas fair (yes I know it was only November!) and now we are gearing up for the Christmas period.

Exhibitions continue to keep me busy. The Essence of Water exhibition in the castle at Casale finished at the end of August. I was asked by some visitors to participate in a joint art and music project to take place in the spring in a number of deconsecrated churches - which are increasingly being used here for artistic ventures.

My solo exhibition at the Gufo Bianco restaurant finished in September and I at last got round to having dinner there beforehand

The Artaporter group in Turin held an exhibition dedicated to landscape and used one of my paintings for the poster.

I will also be taking part in their Christmas Exhibition with these three paintings

I am currently exhibiting in a group show “Sulle Tracce del Tempo” (In the footsteps of time) at the villa Salino at Cavaglia, Biella with four of my mountain paintings

This coming weekend the Christmas exhibition of gallery artists starts at the Maison Bleue gallery in the Forte di Bard. The theme of the exhibition is  "Ombre e Luce" - Dark and Light.  Ombre addresses the state of the world today with wars, climate change, poverty and suffering. On the other hand Luce speaks of the human spirit with its eternal concept of hope, ability and creativity to overcome  adversity. I have entered two paintings of vineyards in the winter. The posts particularly remind me of people wandering, lost in a dark landscape but they are walking on the ground where in Spring new shoots of life will grow. My work is not political but I am participating in this exhibition because I feel strongly about the theme.

During the summer and autumn a goodly number of my works have found new homes with new and existing customers. here are  a few of them.

In November I took a trip to Florence to see an amazing exhibition of Fra Angelica a 15th century Florentine painter. I have always loved early Italian renaissance art since I first discovered it in the National Gallery in London - a lifetime ago, and I have visited the San Marco Monastery in Florence which houses Fra Angelica’s famous frescoes and many altar paintings, many times. So I was really excited that the Strozzi Gallery and the San Marco Monastery have put on a huge exhibition of Fra Angelica’s works which have been borrowed from collections around the world and are not likely to ever be seen together again. It is a stunning and interesting exhibition and my favourite painting remains this one of the Deposition - which I am happy to say is housed at San Marco where I can see it many more times.

(Sorry about the wonkiness of the photo and that I couldn't get all of the decorative panelling in- it was difficult to find a decent angle for a photo and I had to return to it countless times to avoid the crowds around it - obviously it is the best painting!)

So on that note I wish you all a very happy Christmas and may the New Year bring all that you wish for yourselves.

Thank you for taking time to read this and as always I welcome any feedback.