MO's 'Bad Painting'

Artist MO primarily paints her immediate surroundings, focusing on domestic interiors and everyday objects to communicate her feelings and emotions. Through the use of intense, discordant colours, distorted perspective and an energetic application of paint, MO seeks to convey the intensity of her moods and feelings. Gayle Drive is a typical example of MO's subject matter and style. She depicts her 1950's council house interior, the bright custard yellow walls, heavily patterned curtains and blue floorboards contrast with the often austere and bare interiors of the times. Talking about her work MO says"I am inspired by the work of the artsit Martin Maloney who practises deliberately "bad" painting where images are achieved with apparently inept draughtsmanship and crude painting ". Bad painting or not, art fusion is pleased to be working with MO.
I

Following her move to England in 1990, Evelyne Glyne has been working from her home based studio as a freelance artist.

Originally from Togo, Evelyne was educated at both the Beaux-Arts Lille and École Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et du Textile (ESAAT), Roubaix in France. Following her graduation she actively developed her work from drawing and textiles - towards the medium of painting. Her distinctive and accomplished work has been exhibited locally and nationally including Istanbul, Paris, Lille and London

Evelyne is currently working with artfusion on the design and content of her website which will illustrate her professional background and showcase some of her varied works.

Mr and Mrs Taylor

Mr and Mrs Taylor is a painting by Oxfordshire artist and friend of artfusion,Roger Shapley. Painted this year it was inspired by Hockney's Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy which depicts the fashion designer Ossie Clark and the textile designer Celia Birtwell.

Roger, who has recently returned to the figure, says of his new work "I not only strive to capture the likeness of my subject but more importantly the elusive qualities of spirit, mood and emotion".

The work is in acrylic on canvas, and measures 47 x 45 inches. and has been aquired by the sitters.

The case for black and white

If you wanted to make comparisons between black & white painting vs. colored painting, one can find no better example than the restored frescos of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. The ceiling had been shrouded in residue from clouds of dust and smoke for hundreds of years. As a result, his murals were "studies" of form in graduated and muted tones. Scholars and visitors looking at the frescos today have an entirely different reaction than those looking previous to the restoration.

Artist Holly Winterborn, who has recently commissioned Artfusion to produce some 2 metre square prints based on her series of black and white paintings, says "I feel that black and white paintings engage the viewer more and inspire more imagination from the viewer. Our brains instantly recognise colours and associations made from colour, ie: an apple is red, a sky is blue. When black and white is viewed, the observer is forced to study the image more and fill-in-the-blanks, using their imagination and building a personal relationship with the image.

However, many paintings that are black and white, are rarely black and white. The blacks are brown, yellow, blue or other shades of black; the whites cream, amber, rose or other pastel or off white. Holly says "Most important is the light. My series of paintings is about the light. Light is used to create contrast, model 3 dimensions, add mood and feeling."

Artfusion agree that painting in black and white is not the absence of colour, but the restricted use of colour with emphasis on other aspects of the image.

GARDEN CITY

Based in Wythenshawe, Manchester - one of the largest 'garden cities' in Europe – and in close proximity to Tatton Park and the Styal Estate, artist Hilda Mitchell paints beautiful floral and landscape paintings.

Talking to Artfusion about her work Hilda says “Wythenshawe was designed in the 1920s as a ‘garden suburb’ and I see my work as a kind of ‘regeneration plan’ that maintains that vision”. She paints intuitively using a variety of mediums including pastel, oil and acrylic. But it is her natural affinity for watercolour - with its essence of transparency, luminosity and fluidity - that so expresses her creative painting style.

You Can take a walk through Hilda’s Garden City by visiting her website at www.hildamitchell.com

Soho artist and poet..

The Colony Room Club has been a haunt for hard-drinking artists since the formidable Muriel Belcher founded the club in two small rooms up a staircase in Soho, and paid the young Francis Bacon £10 a week and free drinks to bring in the clientele. He did, and Lucien Freud, Frank Auerbach, Michael Andrews, Patrick Caulfield and Barry Flanagan were among the Colony's regulars - as well as Bacon himself for whom the Colony was a second home.

The Colony's emerald green, nicotine-stained rooms also plays host to
Soho artist and poet Alyson Hunter. Alyson was born in New Zealand in 1948 and studied Fine Art at Auckland University before leaving for London to study at Chelsea College of Art and the Royal College of Art. Later working with her husband Hugh Stoneman, she promoted the use of photography in printmaking, and her photo etchings were bought by many public and private collections.

Artfusion is pleased to be collaborating with Alyson to produce a series of limited edition prints based on an earlier project the ‘changing face of Soho’. The series will include one her most iconic images ‘The Colony Room Club’ which depicts Michael Wojas looking out into Dean Street as the club opens at 3 o'clock on a summer afternoon in 1994.The barstools are worn with the whiling away of the hours by Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach, and Dan Farson.

We look forward to posting more on this exciting project very soon.

You can find out more about Alyson and her work by visiting her site at www.alysonhunter.com

JOYRIDE

Urban Art is one of London's biggest annual art events, presenting an electric range of work in a bustling outdoor fair.
Art fans can browse for something new from a selection of UK artists, with everything including paintings, photography and prints on offer This years event, featured works from over 90 UK artists on display in Brixton’s picturesque Josephine Avenue.

Artfusion is no stranger to this event or indeed Brixton. Steve Taylor lived in the area during the 80's, and created a small series of mixed media pieces inspired by photographs he had taken of the area during that time. Talking about the event Steve said "It is great fun and a joy to visit. I would highy recommend any new artist to give it a ride"

PEMBROKSHIRE'S LITTLE GEM

Where have we been you may be asking?

Well, ArtFusion are back from their well deserved summer break. We had a fantastic time in the heart of Pembrokeshire and found time to visit the studios of many of the regions established artists including that of John Knapp-Fisher.

John Knapp-Fisher was born in London in 1931 and studied graphic design at Maidstone College of Art. He painted and exhibited from his seagoing vessel for five years before moving to West Wales in 1965 to become one of the regions foremost landscape artists. He works in water-colour, ink, and oil colour on paper. His paintings mostly relate to the coastal area of the Pembrokeshire peninsula and can be found in many important public and private collections.

Art-Fusion is pleased to be promoting copies of John's fantastic open edition book 'John Knapp-Fisher's Pembrokeshire' which we believe is a little gem.

A MARRIAGE OF FINE ART AND POETRY

Inspired by her own experiences of life and the artists she admires Gill Gilroy produces fascinating and engaging images. Like meticulous renderings of her dreams, often haunting and sometimes whimsical, ArtFusion was keen to invite Gill to interpret a body of shortly to be published limited edition poems. Talking about the venture Gill said "This is a great vehicle for artistic expression and is an exciting marriage of image and text" she continues "the process of illustrating a poetry book is most akin to directing a film, with the artist also taking responsibility for storyboarding, set design and character casting".

If you would like to know more about this collaboration please drop us an email using the contact form on our website at www.art-fusion.org.uk

Enthusiastic Encouragement

Last week, the Studio welcomed its first 'Photoshop for Artists' workshop participants into our new digital training suite. Sited directly above the main studio each was assigned their own PC or Mac work station connected via the network to a large format scanner and printer. This unique course . described by one participant as a kind of 'boot camp" for anybody looking to update their practice or refresh their photoshop skills, covered scanning, sending images by email and saving files to CD. A must do for artists looking to promote, store or develop their work into digital print. During the day participants took a break, taking advantage of the tea and coffee facilities before being turned loose in the studio to make prints with our enthusiastic encouragement,

What we failed to do was to take any photographs. Oh dear.

ARTISTIC MATTERS

Originally trained as an architect, Margaret Jones has turned her skills to painting local scenes. It comes as no surprise that buildings, figure in much of her work, and it is their setting in the Oxfordshire village of Deddington and its surrounding landscape and countryside that in general provides inspiration for various watercolours. When talking to Artfusion about her work Margaret said " I have found that since becoming more interested in artistic matters, that there are many visual experiences which inspire and motivate me to paint. Often the topics are buildings, but also landscapes. However, ornamental and historic gardens, and other subjects can all get me painting".
Following her recent visit to the Studio Margaret is now planning to deconstruct and experiment with a number of her images, producing them on a larger scale and using a variety of media. We look forward to working with her.

A Voyage of Discovery

Intrepid artist Sue Templeman recently attended a 'Mixed Media' workshop at the studio home of Cotswold artist
Anuk Naumann. Exploring different themes from still life to landscape Sue and other students embarked upon an exciting voyage of discovery,experimenting with a range of media. Inspired by her journey Sue immediately set about creating a number of pieces of work some of which she has now selected to be produced as limited edition Giclee prints.

If you would like to know more about the work of Anuk Naumann, or indeed her workshops you can visit : www.anuknaumann.co.uk

London's Calling

During 1979's hothouse summer, London Calling was to prove to be the magnus opus for punk legend The Clash. For London based artist Carlo Antonio Zenone it is surely his series of charcoal and ink drawings of St Paul's Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge. Adopting a calligraphic technique and using Chinese brushes Carlo's work relies on being immediate, spontaneous, and uncluttered. When Carlo phoned the Studio from his London home inviting them to produce a series of limited edition prints we were more than pleased to respond to his calling.

INTERNET ACCESS

Artfusion deals with a wide range of artists both young and old (our oldest artist is 86 yrs of age) and they all want to promote and sell their work. What they are all aware of is how things have changed in the art world. Colleges of art and design, galleries, art agents, print publishers and the buying public are all increasingly seeking information about artists online.

However, despite the plethora of 'self build' web sites and associated low entry level costs many of our clients are still daunted by the thought of setting up their own site. Many are not web or computer savvy, others have time or financial considerations. In recognition of this fact and in order to provide an extended service to our artist community we began to utilise self build services to develop and maintain sites on their behalf. As a not-for-profit organisation our rates are extremely attractive and more importantly affordable - making the Internet accessible to all.

MATCHMAKER

Artfusion's role extends beyond simply being a digital print studio. We are often required to act as an art consultant which involves matchmaking between artists and their clients needs especially in a time when people are increasingly aware of the look of their homes, colours and furnishings.
We recently acted in such a role with the artist Dianna Homer. Dianna who divides her artistic talents between producing fine art and decorative art visited the studio last week to discuss a client brief. The client had expressed an interest in two of Dianna's ink drawings depicting leaves. However the client wanted the drawings to be reproduced on a much larger scale and placed on a coloured background that matched a specific Farrow & Ball manufactured shade of white. Utilising the Studio's spectrometer and
regulated colour workflow we were able to produce a perfect match.

BIRDS-EYE-VIEW

Many modern and contemporary artists have produced work inspired by aerial views of landscapes, including Georgia O'Keeffe, Susan Crile, Jane Frank, Richard Diebenkorn, Yvonne Jacquette, and Nancy Graves. So it was a suprise and great delight when the Studio visited the home of Oxfordshire based artist Andrea Eyre who also identifies with the aerial landscape.

Andrea has created a fantastic series of abstract paintings consisting of linear non-representational shapes that resemble a birds-eye-view of the regions fields and meadows. Andrea says" There is a natural kinship between aerial landscape painting and abstract painting, not only because familiar objects are sometimes difficult to recognize when viewed aerially, but because there is no natural "up" or "down" orientation in the painting"

Andrea will be working with Artfusion to explore the possibilities of extending this work. We will initially reproduce the images on a large scale, printing onto specially prepared raw cotton canvas. Andrea will then paint back into the images. It is an exciting project and we will report the results on the BLOG.

Great Talent

Untitled is the UK's Largest Artists Fair currently Exhibiting approximately 170 Artists all selling direct and commission Free. Some of artfusion's clients who were exhibiting were keen to use our service's so if was up at the crack on Thursday to load the van with works of art and away we went to London. After a long day of driving, unpacking and hanging it was a delight to return on Friday to the VIP showing and a chance to mingle, talk and drink with some great talent.

BILL FOR BEN

Student illustrator, simply known as 'Ben' has recently produced a series of striking A2 posters for his end of year show. The work titled "England 012 Be Part of It' reflects our times and embraces satirical observations and inward musings. For Ben it was important to get his work professionally printed but, cost was also an important consideration. When Artfusion delivered the finished work to Ben's home he was not only pleased with the results but also with the bill.

EYE CATCHING

The detailed and exquisite drawings of Brighton based artist Gemma Challenger are a true labour of love. Drawn from her imagination, pictures and found objects each is a reaction to day to day life and personal feelings. The Studio has been working on producing a number of artist proofs for Gemma which are certain to be very eye catching.

You can view Gemma's work by visiting her web site at www.gemmachallenger.com

Youth Work

Working closely with art colleges and their students gives me a great buzz. The breadth of ideas and creativity I get to see embraces art and design, fine art, graphics and photography - it's brilliant. This weekend I have been working with student Sam Spinks who is studying for a BTEC Foundation Diploma in Art and Design. Sam's multi-layered piece of work deals with people's preconceived notions based on visual prejudices. Using the medium of the poster he consulted with Art Fusion to see how he could best visually represent his work. No stranger to graphics software, Sam and the studio quickly got to work on font and design layout options. The resulting series of posters are great and we wish him every success.

Former Glory

I get almost as much pleasure from saving someone's cherished photographs as from capturing and printing an artist's painting. So the studio was pleased to be given the job of restoring and reproducing a large collection of family portraits and documents.

Recovered and restored to their former glory, five copies of each photograph will be placed in a bespoke gift box and shipped to relatives as far away as Australia and Canada.

BACK TO SCHOOL

It's back to school for Art Fusion and the artist Roger Shapley. Together, we hope to work collaboratively on an exciting project with Ashfold School. Owners of the historic Dorton House in Buckinghamshire, the school is currently considering our proposal to create a series of inspiring scenes using many of the buildings listed features as inspiration.

Roger whose paintings have already captured the interior rooms and architecture of Broughton Castle, the home of Lord & Lady Saye and Sele (Fiennes) proposes to exhibit the work at the school later this year and will include both original pieces and limited edition prints.

One of the first paintings to be completed by Roger and recorded by Art Fusion is of the schools listed Jacobean Staircase.

SHELL SHOCK

Just a short entry today as my ears are ringing with the sound of the studio's Mimaki JV22 large format printer. It has been thundering away all day printing a series of A1 shell images. These exquisite graphite and pencil drawings by artist Crabby Taylor have translated really well , with the captured detailed crosshatching ensuring the prints maintain the timeless quality of the originals.

PRIVATE VIEW

Artist Marie Robinson will be exhibiting a fantastic series of paintings this summer at the Sarah Wiseman Gallery, Summertown, Oxford. This new series like many of her previous paintings deal with the history and associations inherent in ordinary objects and materials, with everyday items from the domestic environment being a particular source of inspiration. We were privileged to see the paintings in adavance of the exhibition when Marie asked Art Fusion to photograph the work using our scan back technology. It was a long, hot, shoot but both the artist and the Studio are pleased with the results.

You can view Marie's work by visiting her website. www.marie-robinson.com/.

DIGITAL MIXED MEDIA

For some, a digital print that comes out of the printer is not the end point of the process but only the beginning. As a practising digital artist myself I am always excited when working in collaboration with fellow artists who are seeking to push the digital edge. They provide the image and Art Fusion provides the experience helping the artist best achieve his or her vision.
The results are one of a kind paintings, collages, image transfers and prints on all kinds of surfaces as diverse as plywood, silk, rusty metal, and hand made substrates. They are a unique combination of digital and traditional printmaking that when viewed people don't think digital. In between running the studio I am actively working on my own body of work details and images of which I will feature on the site prior to my planned London exhibition later this year.

The Sky's The Limit

The sky is the limit for young artist Holly Winterborn. Her recent body of work has been inspired by the effect of light upon the landscape and includes a number of dramatic and atmospheric sky paintings. Holly and Art Fusion have worked together to create a series of signed limited edition prints to accompany her forthcoming exhibition. Printed on Woodstock Felt Finnish 310gsm and displayed in high quality conservation mounts, they should certainly catch the eye of the viewer. For full details of Holly's exhibition and to view her work please visit www.hollywinterborn.com.

VARIATIONS ON A THEME

"Great fun and really exciting" said artist Sue Templeman about her recent Art Fusion workshop. Sue brought along a series of watercolours depicting landscapes and vistas she had visited and studied. In addition, to making preliminary sketches, Sue also takes photographs of the scenes she is going to paint. The idea of the workshop was to combine Sue's original paintings with the corresponding photograph, print the blended image, then rework the printed image with pastels and also acrylic medium. We also, printed the image onto wood with interesting results which was then photographed and printed on Woodstock Felt Finnish paper (310gsm).

ARTWEEKS 2008

It is that time of year again! The Studio has been busy producing prints and under-paintings for a number of artists who will be exhibiting their work during The Oxfordshire Artist's Festival. One such artist is Rita Wheatley. She has worked in collaboration with Art Fusion to produce a number of works that combine the techniques of inkjet printing with traditional art materials.The work challenges our traditional understanding of how prints can and should be made.

During the festival Art Fusion will be operating an Open Studio allowing both artists and the public to see the process of blending new and old technologies to create stunning pieces of work.

We look forward to seeing you.

A Trick of the Light

The past few weeks have been busy in the Art Fusion Studio. We have been privileged to work with Oxfordshire based artist Tim Watt in the production of a series of limited edition Giclee prints. Tim, winner of the 'public vote' during this years Oxford Open at the Museum of Modern Art Oxford, is actively exhibiting and promoting his work. His most recent exhibition' A Trick of the Light' can be viewed at The Theatre, Chipping Norton until 16 May. For more information please visit Tim's website at www.timwatt.co.uk