Painting in between Open Studios this week. This one started off as another in my current Saltmarsh series…
tide coming in. Ink & acrylic on canvas. Mari French 2015
… but then the tide came in.
rising tide …
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Tag Archives: Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios
meanwhile back at the easel …
Untitled, Mari French 2015
It was good to be back in the studio painting last couple of days, after nearly three weeks of a horrible chest infection picked up on holiday in Venice.
These are two small works in acrylic and Inktense stick on canvas board I finished today. I’m hoping to produce a few more before Norfolk Open Studios in 10 days, so I’ll have a few affordable pieces available aside from recently framed collagraph prints. I admit I’ve been panicking a bit wondering if I’d be well enough to prepare in time!
As with much of my recent work, these are inspired by Norfolk’s Saltmarsh Coast and I’ve deliberately kept to a limited palette of two acrylic colours plus my favourite Inktense colour, which I think adds to their atmosphere. I love the way the Inktense works with the canvas grain when I use it with lots of water.
Still thinking up titles.
Untitled, Mari French 2015
an open success…
SOLD. Moorland light. Watercolour/ink on board. Mari French.
The first weekend of Open Studios was held in my studio in a rustic hayloft in Harpley, Norfolk, and was a great success! This is the first time I’ve actually had the studio open to the public and the interesting centuries-old building drew a lot of attention. It was really busy and I was delighted to sell four paintings as well as quite a few cards.
It was really enjoyable chatting to the flurries of visitors – friends, neighbours, fellow artists, and other art enthusiasts, some from quite far afield – thanks to you all for making the effort, your support is greatly appreciated!
I’d lined myself up a few magazines etc for the quiet spells… but there was hardly time to read them; and my cat Cobweb provided entertainment for both myself and visitors alike.
Visitor to Open Studio, May 2014.
I was also surprised, and pleased, to see the enthusiasm many visitors had for my Cornish mining abstracts, produced on my art residency in Cornwall back in March – I’d thought they’d only be of interest in Cornwall. It was good to be proven wrong, a valuable lesson, and a boost to my confidence!
Oh, and note the great storage facility I have in the form of a large Canadian canoe (not mine, it belongs to the owner of the building).
There’s still an opportunity to visit my fascinating rustic studio – I’m open the last Norfolk Open Studios weekend 7/8 June. Follow this link for further details address and directions.
The studio cat, Cobweb.
SOLD. From Ninevah to Levant. Acrylic on board. Mari French.
Ready for the Open Studio first weekend.
Mari French RI : contemporary artworks 