Holidaying at Home and Abroad

Over the Easter holidays I had the good fortune to have a week away with my daughters to Lanzarote. 
We all had never visited this Island so we decided to break up the week staying at two different venues and this proved to be be a great idea as it varied our perspective. Lanzarote Retreats was our first destination which is close to the beach and a self catering eco establishment. We had Yoga and Pilates in the mornings and then headed out to explore. We discovered an artist called Ceasar Manrique who has a huge influence on the Island which he defended from developers with true passion. His legacy is breathtaking from the architecture of the tourist destinations including a Cactus garden and the longest lava tube in the world to his sculpture and paintings. Visiting his house and studio was eerie as he died in a car crash and so it is as if he could return at any minute especially in his studio where work was in progress and it has been left as it was.

   
 The second place was  surrounded by lava fields and volcanoes, I loved it here. El Jallo is a boutique hotel run by a lovely couple who couldn't have been kinder.
I highly recommend a visit!

Going away is lovely but then so is coming home, having a bit of distance is so valuable. I came home with a new found energy and am going with it.
Plans to use the house for airbnb has been my plan for a while now and now I am going to include 'Rosie' in the listing. She will reside at the end of the garden and once she is settled in I will start taking bookings....it is all very exciting......

Artist Retreats and other Ramblings

This is the first blog of the New Year and I feel like I have so much to say, it is very nearly a year since I on reflection put a hand grenade into my life and moved to Herne Bay. The changes that have taken place have been felt in ripples and as I sit here now making plans for the future I am feeling happy.
I have had the idea of inviting like minded creative and hopefully people that have doubt in their creative thoughts to come explore their ideas here.
I have since moving here met some very generous souls and this was truly unexpected but has help nourish the ideas as they have developed.
One of the things I had anticipated was the strong need to be closer to nature and to be able to experience this every day and feel the impact of that.
My ideas have truly felt like ramblings and I have found it really difficult to formalise them so I am just going to continue to ramble but not just in my mind.
I would like to make the house available at weekends to either practicing painters or printmakers who would like come and work here and make use of studio space and printmaking room with a great press. Have time to walk and think and work enjoying an evening meal at home and or eat out in Herne Bay or Whitstable.
I have space here but have b&b available.... need to reserve early as its very popular.
The other idea is to have weekend courses focusing on various interests I will be teaching in a student led style. We will enjoy what the season offers us as each one really has its delights as the layers of greys to the brightest blue sky, the wildest of windiest days and the delicate space of a breathless sea.
All of this putting it simply inspires me and I really want to share it
I have some dates for the guided weekends with some ideas of what could be expected and achieved
the first is.....
The weekend of the Friday 12th May-Sunday 14th May
Arriving Friday night for an evening meal and a sit round the table to discus ideas, the focus will be on using a sketch book. Gathering information and images is so useful in bringing ideas together, images and words can sit together in a sketchbook/journal.
After breakfast on Saturday we will walk out with this in mind and if the weather is kind we can spend tome looking and recording what we see. After lunch we can start to work on the image that starts to form.
We will be using paint on Sunday and will use most of the day to bring an image together.....
Thats it in a nutshell, it will be tweaked to fit applicants as I really know one size does not fit all.
The second structured course is about the flora and fauna found on coastal walks and a visit to Grosvenor House to see their garden. Frances and I are going to collaborate on this as she has extensive knowledge in this field and is a very talented gardener and all round creative human being.
We are going to use both our houses to accommodate our guests and we are very excited about the prospect of sharing the experience. This will take place in June 17th & 18th with meeting and greeting and sharing a meal on Friday 16th.
Weekends will be an introductory price of £250 for full board food and tuition.
Partners are welcome and may want to take advantage of great cycling routes and places of interest dotted all along the East Kent Coast. £95.00
A course only option is also available for locals.......
Well thats about it to start and if you need anymore info please do not hesitate to contact me at jooakleyartist@yahoo.com
Here is a little taste......

A New Home

After months of having to negotiate the ridiculous way we have to buy and sell houses it happened and I am here. It has been a real revelation to me ....letting go. Letting go of the familiar, letting go of the things you believe you can't live without. Now I don't want to live without the sea, the space and the sky. Taking in the landscape every day whatever the weather is making my mind full of visuals for work and it has started, slowly but surely.
And then theres the house, there is lots to do but I love it. My studio has a view its small but the window is floor to ceiling.... and then theres the birds, so many of them......

I look forward to seeing how my work unfolds from this point....I feel braver and my head feels clearer.....watch this space!!

Water,Heath&Home

My new show Water, Heath & Home opens at the beginning of February, I am showing a new body of work that I think shows a real fluidity that having a year to produce created for me. I am showing with ceramic artist Jacqueline Leighton Boyce her work draws inspiration from the landscape which surrounds her. Although the medium is different the approach has real similarities to my own and I think our work sits very well together.

'The Demure Dandelion'

Terracotta  

'Sitting,waiting'

Mixed media on canvas

The show runs from 4th-27th February

Private View Wednesday 3rd February 6.00-8.30pm

Studio Sale.. A January clear out!

Part of me feels reluctant to start the clear out because the tentative business of buying and selling a house. I have not exchanged contracts yet but it feels close so I am making a positive move, I am making space for it so here goes a Studio Sale!!!!!!
Here are the paintings that need to go to a new home........Please contact me at jooakleyartist@yahoo.com I will take reasonable offers.....dont be shy.

'Bedroom Chair'

50x100cm

Mixed media on canvas

SOLD

'He is coming home'

50x100cm

Mixed media on canvas

'Lillies Vase'

100x120cm

Mixed media on canvas

                                                                   

SOLD

'Sunday morning'

20x20

Mixed media on board

'Cockles'

60x46

Mixed media on canvas

'Home sweet home'

80x100cm

Mixed media on canvas

'Rosemary'

42x77cm

Mixed media on board

SOLD

'Mary's Cup'

18x18cm

Mixed media on board

'Matching Set I'

61x61cm

Mixed Media on board

'Golden Hours be yours'

28x28cm

Mixed media on board

"Two Cups'

20x20cm

Mixed media on canvas

'A pea souper'

There has been thick fog in London for the last couple of days which has mirrored my mood some how not having much clarity. Lots of change is on the horizon and I have to be patient. I thought patience was one of my qualities but how wrong can I be, infact I am feeling inpatient and it doesn't work. 
On a lighter note as the nights draw in one has the urge to snuggle in....hanker down and as the world gets a bit smaller it's the little things that have the biggest impact and this simplifies life which for now is valuable.
The cosy studio, blankets on the bed and soup....the soup season.
This month also brings the 16th Lee Green Open Studios which is unbelievable, it feels like a celebration because if all goes to plan this will be the last here at Stable Cottage....the end of an era for me. Sarah Gursoy-Heuser is joining me again this year with her beautiful prints and other wares so it will be good fun and am really looking forward to it.......

A little corner of West Wales.........

Have a look at www.coldatnight.co.uk and I defy you not to want to visit in one way or another, I have been looking at their instagram feed for quite a while. Instagram enables you to get the flavour of a person or place which is totally different to the Face Book kind of way. Images and very few words leave much more scope for your own mind to wander and get an idea of a persons vision, passion.....thats if their ego isn't getting in the way!
Not a bit of it here and I chose my camp as there are two and a place to lay my head and cook with my man and my dog and this was it, home for the week....

We were really lucky with the weather and we walked and walked....the coastal path is just spectacular and I have legs of steel and a free head. We all slept like logs, here is a little taster.........

Back to work now but with a little bit of West Wales securely fixed within my head which feels really good.........