Excited Exhibitor at the SALON DES BEAUX ARTS, LOUVRE 2018!

Last week I was in Paris for the Private View of the Salon des Beaux Arts which was held at the Caroussel du Louvre. I was so happy to fly over to France to see my painting, 'Autumnal Seascape' (blue painting to my right) in this highly prestigious annual exhibition. As I flew down across pretty fields and houses, I kept thinking of my mother who lived in Paris for a year while studying the piano at the Paris music school. She loved living in Paris but sadly did not live to see my painting selected for this exhibition - she died in February. I felt rather sad that she did not know that currently I had work both in Paris and China.

My painting is the blue one, second row down, fourth canvas along from left

A crowded Private View

I was selected by an international curator, Lena Kelekian, for her collective exhibition within the Salon exhibition and we had a large wall for 48 paintings by artists from 37 countries. The exhibition was from 13th to 16th December and was held in the lovely area below the pyramid and next to the beautiful underground shopping area.

One of the entrances to the Louvre

I arrived early in Paris on the 13th December, having flown to Charles de Gaulle airport and taken the train to Chatelet Les Halles. I had thoroughly researched the journey in the preceding days and it was not especially simple but for the future I will know what to do! Most difficult was finding my way up from the station below the shopping mall at Chatelet Les Halles and out onto the correct street! Then it was a short walk to my hotel, shorter than the map conveyed.  My little hotel was less than 5 minutes walk from the huge buildings of the Louvre, and surrounded by many gorgeous cafes and restaurants. 

Catalogues

For this post I am going to attach just a few photos of the event and of Paris. The Private View was a case of bumper to bumper elbows and there was a grand piano in the centre of the largest room (where my painting was) with a changing pianist all evening. There were many artworks and I'm going to write a review of the exhibition which was incredibly varied in style and theme. Personally, The sculptures impressed me the most with such innovation and creativity though I spoke with several painters and there were many paintings to admire.

The above photo shows the two catalogues my painting was reproduced in. On the left is the catalogue of my collective, Meadows, with my artist page, and on the right is the official Salon catalogue. 

Selfie with the pyramid behind

It was a long time since I had been to Paris and I simply loved being there! I would have liked to stay longer than 2 days but commitments meant I could not. I spent time on the second day back in the exhibition meeting artists and taking photos, and also had a chance to walk around a little in the surrounding area. I was lucky in that the weather was sunny both days but it was also icy!

The Eiffel Tower in the distance at dusk

Under the pyramid!

The shopping area near the exhibition rooms

My Paris Invitation and the Long Awaited China Catalogue

For this post I am including some pictures relating to current and impending exhibitions. On Wednesday night I will be going to Gatwick airport as I have an early morning flight to Paris for the Salon des Beaux Arts exhibition Private View. Above is the invitation. I'm really excited about this exhibition! It will coincidentally be in the same week that the vote on the Brexit deal will be happening in London (11th December). I will be staying one night in Paris. Photos will follow!

Above is the exterior of the catalogue of the Dafen 1st International Oil Painting Biennale. I will probably receive my copy in the next few months and a friend on Facebook who was able to attend the Opening Ceremony sent me the photos of the catalogue.

This is my painting reproduced in the catalogue. I feel really pleased that it has its own page. 

Two Current Exhibitions, London and China

'Landscape Poem,' acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm (2016)

On Thursday 22nd November I went to Gordon Dadds solicitors in Covent Garden, London, to attend a Private View of a group exhibition I was in. Though I have already mentioned this exhibition in my previous post, I'd like to write a little more.

Curated by Diane Soames, the exhibition displayed a wide variety of artwork from completely abstract to figurative. The building itself was amazing and the whole of the fifth floor was laid out like a gallery, with four rooms each containing artwork by an artist and the corridor and main conference room also displaying paintings. My paintings had very good feedback. It is always a surprise to see your paintings away from the studio and I take the opportunity to assess my direction and to consider where I would like to go from here. (Though it is never possible to say exactly where I want to proceed to, at least I can get an over-view of where I think are the most interesting, creative elements to pursue.)

'Mutianyu Valley Waterfalls,' acrylic and ink on canvas, 80 x 40 cm

I'm posting the two paintings exhibited and a view of the room they were in. I was unable to photograph the large exhibition areas because the PV was very crowded and you could hardly move! There was a beautiful catalogue, wine and canapes and I found myself chatting to company directors from major organisations in London. What was really refreshing was being able to discuss art with people who had a wide view of what art can be. They wanted to discuss things such as the meaning of colour and brush strokes, and some mentioned certain calligraphic aspects of my work that I had not noticed. I had a lot to say about my painting inspiration and how I want to translate my ideas into paint. (This is where writing a blog is such a positive thing to do - you get the chance to compose sentences about your painting practice and process and to constantly redefine where your interests lie, at that moment.)

My paintings

It was also really great to meet artists I did not know and to instantly connect with them via phone on social media! Three hours of chatting passed very quickly and then I had the train journey home.

The other artists were: Belinda Nathan, Polly Bennett, Leisha Jane Yaz, Jo Watters Pawlowski, Linda Pocock, Venetia Berry, Julia Stockwell Hamid, Hannah Luxton, Gill Bustamine, Gabriella Cynasi Willis, Rouhangeze Baichoo, Antonina Adamou.

Covent Garden

For those of you who live outside the UK, I am posting some photos of Covent Garden looking very pretty with Christmas decorations.

Covent Garden

As it is nearing the end of what has been a really hard year for me, full of ups and downs and my mother's death, I'm getting ready to start to create a whole new body of work in the next few weeks. First though, I'm off to Paris on the 13th December for the Salon des Beaux Arts.

Inside Covent Garden

Meanwhile, the 1st Dafen International Oil Painting Biennale (in the Red Cube Public Museum, Shenzhen) opened on Friday 30th November, at 10am. I was of course asleep as it was only 2.am UK time, but I felt so disappointed to miss the Opening. I had been invited to go but with several exhibitions coming at the same time it was too difficult to co-ordinate everything, (visa, ticket, etc). I am hoping that I will get some photos of my painting in the exhibition from artists who were able to go.

Covent Garden

On the way back to Charing Cross station