The Hastings Arts Forum is a members organisation with two galleries on the seafront in St Leonards. an interesting organisation which i would certainly join if i lived locally. Debbie’s and Mary’s work sit very well together resulting in a cohesive exhibition with several pieces sold by the time i visited

Hastings Museum had  a recommended exhibition but i just ran out of time . There is certainly a lot going on in Hastings, including a series of sat night open air concerts beside the Jerwood, amd a really good bus service to negotiate the very long seafront. now  if i would only win the lottery i could buy a bolt hole for more weekends away ….

We spent a couple of happy hours with most of the population in the David Hockney exhibition at the Royal Academy, wow,

A staggering body of work. not only was the work incredibly colourful and optimistic, but the mood seemed to be transferred to the audience who chattered excitedly throughout. When the subject was his Yorkshire, the paintings really shone from the canvas which for me were more successful than those from other walks, and the energy from the site painted works in contrast to the studio painted was marked. Hockney has developed a refined skill with his Ipad. i have had a short ‘play’ with an Ipad and it is not straightforward to get such results. Finally two fascinating rooms, the first two nine screen videos, where the cameras were fixed to the bonnet of a landrover, travelling slowly through this landscape which was such a calming experience in the midst of all the bustle. Last and certainly not least, Hockney’s generosity in displaying his sketchbooks was the highlight for me, they are so personal and revealing, they were a delight.

Then to Tate Britain for the Picasso Exhibition which was pleasantly calm, an interesting sequence of rooms pairing his work with a number of British artists, notably Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore and David Hockney

Our last Adventure of the day was to the small but delighful exhibition at Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery in Percy Street showing Matthew Harris’s work alongside the mosaics of his partner Cleo Mussi. This is a must see body of textile work and I am still toying with buying one of his small pieces, I know I will regret it if I let the opportunity pass

Many thanks to Christine for a wonderful, if exhausting day!

this is Artvango’s stand

Viv fetched the icecreams!

and my two favourite fellas in the show, Kev from Artvango,

and Walter from Oliver Twists x x

Claire Higgott was there with her Thermofax Screens, www.thermofaxscreens.co.uk

and Kim Thittichai with her Hot Textiles

supplies, they will be in the car park til about 4pm

exciting times indeed.  we are well on the way through our first year with the foundation degree having all three student year groups; in october we enrolled fourteen new students giving us thirty students in total.

i am thrilled that the course is working out to be just as i hoped. there is lots of interaction between the different year groups because the students all attend college on the same day, wednesday, each week. the tutors are kept on their toes of course but i think we are all thoroughly enkoying the challenge.

we are looking forward to our first graduates this summer and the final year students are busy developing their final body of work    as well as planning their exhibition … it will be a great exhibition this year with the addition of a space dedicated to traders.. watch this space!

the final show for all four of us will take place in Artone, the art faculty at chichester university. it opens on monday 5th sept until thursday 15th sept. the private view takes place from 6-8pm on wed 7th sept.

i have nearly finished the work!