Monday 18 November 2013

Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery Christmas Show!!!

I am very excited to announce that I will be exhibiting in this wonderful gallery in London in December. I got the little brochure through the post this morning and it made me sooo excited, it is my first showing with them and Alice and Jonathan have filled me with enthusiasm and encouragement for which I am very grateful.
You can see all the work on their online catalogue which if I was able I would post the link but I have not got that far in my computing skills!
Open Studio is finished now and Daisy and I had amazing support, we where quite overwhelmed by the number of visitors and I would like to thank each and everyone. I am now getting the house and studio back to working order because you know what they say…..'there is no rest for the wicked'!!!
Here are a couple of the pieces in the show….
Christmas Exhibition
New Contemporaries
Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery
4-21st December
view online catalogue at
jonathancooper.co.uk


' Billy Boy'
Mixed media on canvas
30x41cm
'He's on his way'
Mixed media on canvas
51x41cm

Saturday 26 October 2013

Lee Green Open Studios 2013 & an Exhibition in Cambridge at Byard Art

Daisy (my daughter) and I are again opening our home as part of Lee Green Open Studios. It is a time when the house gets a good spruce up and we get to show our wares. Its an opportunity for me to show other things that I have done. I am especially looking forward to showing some of my fabric designs and seeing what you think. I am also part of a lovely exhibition in Cambridge at Byard Art this month and part of November.............
'Waiting for the sun'
showing at Byard Art Cambridge

Tuesday 1 October 2013

My paintings are in Stockholm and I wish I was!

I am hoping this one was chosen to go off to Stockholm for the Affordable Art Fair..I am not sure what the gallery decided to take but this week a clutch of my paintings will be visiting ....and hopefully repatriating. I think I have something wrong...I want to be in Stockholm this week!!!
I am however working on a show in December with my head still by the sea, I have to make eight paintings for their selection of six and I am establishing a new relationship with this gallery which is exciting and fills my stomach with butterflies....this is a crazy way to earn a living and I now truly believe I have elements of insanity.....there I've said it!!!!
'Nana's Shelf'
For selection at Jonatathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery...will they or won't they................

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Home Sweet Home

I have been thinking today about working at home, technically my studio is not in the house so I do go out of the back door to work but it is so very close and at times difficult to separate the two. Work and home are so intertwined for me because of the domestic nature of my subject and also my maternal nature and although my offspring are by no means dependant my urge to gather my family together and feed them is still very strong.
I found myself today when deciding to come in and make a cuppa getting distracted by the debris in the kitchen and spending at least half an hour sorting it out.
I used to be able to leave the house stuff and get on with my work but now I just cannot do it...Why.
I need order to be able to have a clear mind to get out into that studio and sometimes it drives me crazy trying to keep this balance.
I think a busy Autumn has bought this to my attention and I have moments that I would like to go into my studio and not come out for hours and have my meals and refreshments delivered with the care and love I give every offering to my loved ones....Angry...me??

Home Sweet Home

Thursday 22 August 2013

Thank You my friend

Today I want to mention my friend Jo and publicly thank her for her endless support for over twenty years!!!. She has bought work from me from the very beginning and this kind of support is so valuable to me not only from a financial point of view but the belief she has in me. It is not too often you find these friendships in life. For nearly two years now we have managed to encourage each other to get up on Blackheath and run! whatever the weather we do it and it has now become an integral part of our lives...the walk,the talk and run keep both of us healthy and focused.
Jo Will probably not see this unless I show her but if you come across it thank you girl!
I took a few took a few snaps this morning at her house after our very soggy run this morning...I made the mosaic in the kitchen too...




Tuesday 9 July 2013

It's all in a name.......

I have been dreaming lately about my maiden name and becoming Jo Johnson again. I have been unmarried for a while now but because of my work have kept my married name without really giving it that much thought because I married young took my husbands name and had Oakley children and became an Oakley artist.
But now I want to reclaim my name, why.........Children have grown into adults and ex husband is re-marrying.......maybe?
I am getting myself ready for Urban Art in Brixton (details in last post) and whilst signing some of my screen prints I decided to start the process and signed JOJ and it felt strangely good so I will start talking to galleries about this. There must be other women out there who know what I am talking about and I would love to hear from you.........

Monday 1 July 2013

Don't mention the weather.......An invite


SUMMER IN THE CITY………….

Hello everybody, I would like to invite you to Urban Art in Brixton. I will be there for the weekend and would love to see you. Lots to see and a chance to enjoy London at its very best!!

Stand 33j
13th & 14th July
Josephine Avenue
Brixton 

Monday 17 June 2013

Blog Block and other Stories......

It feels like a really long time since I got down to writing a blog, I think I have avoided it quite blatantly. I have been working though so that is the most important thing and reacquainting myself with the lovely Whitstable and have had a visit from a great friend with her baby. We had a glorious afternoon in the garden catching up with each other and cooing over her beautiful baby. I am working on a project that I will reveal all later in the year and this has bought a new energy to my work, I can't quite put my finger on it but maybe its just because I'm excited by it...not sure.
Screen printing has been fun too and I am becoming more confident with this new skill....Oh and not forgetting my ma and pa have been married fifty years this month and that is an incredible accomplishment!!!!Here are some pictures which tell all.......






Monday 20 May 2013

Campari & Soda

Luckily this weekend we took no notice of the weather forecast and got out of town to our retreat in Whitstable. It was such a surprise to experience some beautiful delicate sunshine and see some glass like sea.
The spring flowers are everywhere and bursts of colour are such a welcome sight after the grey skies. Walking in the harbour in a search for baclava I saw this plant clinging to the harbour wall and it took me back to my school playground where I discovered it for the first time 'Shepherds purse' the name fuelled my imagination and I am looking forward to doing some drawing this week of this delicate little plant.
We had lunch in the deli and they had some take-away bottles of Campari and Soda which make great flower pots....not sure about the drink though?


Shepherds Purse


Campari & Soda bottle

Monday 29 April 2013

Day Dreaming

I have had a nasty virus which stopped me in my tracks and now on the other side of it I can find some positives to be had from a forced halt to my creativity. I really do not actually stop thinking about work it is with me constantly, whether making it or thinking about making it I do not really get any rest from it.
My head hurt so much there was no place to go except to try and get some sleep, a few days of that has given me a break from thinking and I realise that I need to do it without getting ill to do so.
I have some exciting new ventures on the horizon this year and I want to make some space for new ideas and so thats what I am working on achieving.
I have had some beautiful new canvas's made which I picked up this weekend and I am surrounded by the presence of a blank space so this is definitely a theme which I am not going to ignore!
I am going to take my time and day dream a little.

'Day Dreaming'
80x80cm

Monday 15 April 2013

Artists House For Sale

I seem to have lots on my mind this month and selling my house is at the top at the moment and although I have trouble with the popular belief that painting is relaxing Grrrrr at the moment it is taking me away from myself which is a great relief!!
 I have had to deliver my little painting to Royal Academy for the Summer Exhibition and then had a meeting at a gallery which I will not name until I have something to report but was really positive and gave me lots to think about.
Images for new work are just constantly running around but I think selling my house really unsettles something very deep because I really really want to move and I know where I want to move to and when I want something I really cant seem to let it go  which sometimes works for me but other times does me no good at all!!
'He is Coming Home'

Thursday 28 March 2013

The Beautiful Thames Estuary

This week has been a challenging one in one way or another so I have tackled it by painting through whatever the distraction. I did not want to mention the weather but it has been truly disgusting so I seem to have  been taking myself back to memories of cool still mornings  where the sea is barely moving.The tide creeping over the cockle beds and the sky and sea join in a beautiful warm grey. These mornings are my very favourite they are full of promise. I can smell the sea and hear the distant calls of the sea birds and in the midst of this cold dank prolonged winter we are having I am grateful to be able to re visit this memory with such clarity.
'A day in September'
60x50cm

''HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE''

Thursday 14 March 2013

Is there anybody out there!!!

Screen print on Khadi paper

In the last few months I have been going to a screen printing class every Wednesday morning in the local adult education centre. At first my mind was running away with me and I was totally confused by the numerous process's available although combining them seemed the way to go.
I am now at last able to understand it and it has opened a whole new world to me.
'Chrysanth' detail
I absolutely love it and my mind is exploring so many possibilities. I have for many years been interested in the cross over many artistes in the past have had between their main body of work and fabric design. Henry Moore for example has designed some beautiful fabric so too have Ben Nicholson and Barbara Hepworth it was in the  1940's that they were commissioned by various fashion houses.
This cross over seems to make sense to me and I am on the look out for someone to help me carry this concept forward with my own work.......Is Anybody Out There???

Screen print on canvas

Wednesday 27 February 2013

'Home Sweet Home'

'Home Sweet Home' is going off on Monday to the big tent in Battersea park for the Spring Affordable Art Fair. Stark Gallery Stand is the host for my new paintings. I do not want to even mention the cold dank conditions of the past few weeks with the lowest light levels!
I have painted myself into sunnier climbs, transporting my mind to another realm has been a form of salvation....Thank heavens for the opportunity.

Sunday 17 February 2013

Taking on a new task

I have had a website for a long time and a friend and fellow artist Tina Mammoser has worked on it for me. She is now sending me off into the world wide web alone with a site I can manage myself, I am really happy about this because as new work is made I can show it which means the site will be so much more current. I have got much to learn and Tina is going to help me to get it looking like I want it before I am left alone with it.
I want to be able to show other things that I am doing more immediately so it can flow which is how the different aspects of my work appear. This aspect of this task really excites me and I want to use it as more of a tool of expression rather than just a showcase........In the meantime I have of course been painting and it has been cold so I have been escaping to a warmer place in the imagery. 
'Sweet Peas'
100x100cm

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Oh Yes Its January alright...........

'Through her eyes'

Im really not sure about January, I think when I was young it was a time of year I got an illness of some kind or another. Now I try and fill it with wishes and dreams and I try and think of ways of reaching out to them.
The days are getting longer at last and although the light is still a challenge there is hope of crisp clear days...I am dreaming of them.
A new painting has emerged over the holiday which was really inspired by my visit to Kettles Yard at the beginning of December and I also have a new camera to play with as I want to take some really good quality pictures to create a range of greetings cards.
I am enjoying taking shots of my house and as you can see how inextricably linked work is to home, I don't know why but each time I realise this I am so surprised!