2016 - a good year for art

If you don’t know me already this is a little about me and the year that has nearly finished. It’s been a whirlwind, very busy but very happy-making!!

Clare Wassermann lives and works in Wolverhampton. Originally gaining an honours degree in Music with Education, then teaching and playing saxophone and clarinet in London and Nottingham, she re-qualified as a Registered Homeopath and returned to Wolverhampton in 2001. For fourteen years she happily combined teaching and homeopathy but then her artwork suddenly began to take off.

“I have always enjoyed painting, drawing and stitching since childhood, encouraged by my father who was a long-standing member of Wolverhampton Society of Artists, but suddenly my work really began to sell in 2014”

She had started to paint larger paintings which were very vibrant and uplifting and buyers were inspired by their optimistic and health giving properties. “I love the idea of layer upon layer in paint, memories and experience. Some paintings have ten or even twenty layers built up and most are in response to my meditation and yoga practice. All are a pure celebration of my external and internal landscape. Juxtaposition of edges and colour combinations excite me.

I use recurring symbols, meaningful to me and sometimes words in my layers, building up and letting go of images as I work.

Sometimes I work in fabric and stitch for even more texture.

I use my intuition, as far as possible, to take me on the journey towards a final balance point. This art practice becomes a metaphor for life”.

In January 2016, after a successful exhibition, she took the plunge and rented a studio at Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton and since then things have moved apace.

An American Author, Kathy Walsh, admired her work on Instagram and asked her if she would illustrate her next children’s book. “I looked at her previous books on Amazon and saw that she was writing with an aim to promote peace and mindfulness for children”, Clare commented, “so I decided to accept this opportunity and embrace a new genre for me”.

The first two books, “Today An Elephant I Will Be” and “My Mindfulness ABC”are now available and I’m working on the third which will be out in the early part of next year. Kathy and she are planning some events in the U.S.A. next year.

Another unexpected development has been teaching art workshops in the studio space. I work with small groups to open up creative ideas and build confidence in expression in paint and mixed media. Artists who are experiencing block and adults who feel that they would like to paint creatively but lack confidence have all enjoyed these unusual and enjoyable days.

Details on the Workshop page

Some items are in my SHOP (always being updated)- otherwise contact me

A big THANK YOU to all those who have supported me and encouraged along the way. You know who you are, and I couldn’t have kept it up without you.

“Gentle Rain” Acrylic on box canvas 30″ x 30″

For more information please visit www.clarewassermannart.com
Facebook Clare Wassermann Art and Stitch
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Paintings 2014

'Flights Of Fancy'

acrylic on canvas

SOLD

More work in progress. Watch this space.

Meanwhile Smartie is snoozing at the top of the stairs!

Cornish Cream

Up and out this morning early. Brush on paper by 7am. Everyone still in bed in holiday mode. It's the best thing for me, always up with the lark.

This is Germoe churchyard in Cornwall - not far from Penzance.

The early morning light was in need of capturing.

Here is a little scene from the garden. I love the brick paved stonework and the little picket fences.

Some beautiful Cornish cottages on the Helford River. Not enough time to paint everything unfortunately!

In Godolphin House there was an old collection of carts to be restored. I wish they would leave them like this really.

My daughter below celebrating the beach at the wonderful Kynance Cove.

We are staying in this lovely thatched cottage and I'm wondering if I can claim "squatters rights"?

A Walk and a Bike Ride

Early early light is a beauty. On Sunday morning I was out on my new bicycle - all sit up and beg and girlie basket - in the misty low light of a damp but sunny spring morn.

This photo, unbelievably taken with my iphone and unadulterated, is probably my favourite image of any I've captured.

The bike is my new trusty steed with which I will discover some trackways amongst the urban sprawl where I live in Middle England.

The canal ways are calling for more sketching so there are some lovely tow path scenes to unearth this summer for me.

Today I walked on Highgate Common near Kinver Edge with my good friend Fiona Mill.

We hit upon a little pond, a haven for wildlife, quite un disturbed and amongst the peeping of jay birds and some rather less inspiring mosquitos, we sketched and painted. So peaceful. The time flew.

The light was poor and flat and it was a struggle to find where it was really coming from but a yellow wash background provided luminosity where it may have hidden.

Green woodpeckers and many pond insects were unaware of two women becoming at one with their surroundings. Some even tried to feature in the sketchbook - very arty!

Devon Cottage and Cottage Industry

So, it's been a while.

The children are now back to school and I can have just a bit more headspace...oh yes, and my son isn't attached by an umbilical cord to this computer all the time. So there may be a few more regular posts from me!

This little piece of stitching I did last week whilst we were having a short break in Noss Mayo in Devon. 

I prepared some cotton fabric to take some paint dye (Koh-I-Noor) by painting it with some watered down gesso and then drew the cottage opposite our window with Pigma pen. The painting dyes are the ones I often use in my sketchbook as they are quite vibrant and very easy to transport. I don't think they are colour fast though, so this little piece will remain in a book maybe.

I then added some stitch with embroidery floss. I think this is a nice way to work and will explore it further. The finished item measures 4" x 4"

This is a picture of the creek that is Noss Mayo. We stayed in the wooden bungalow to the right absolutely on the water's edge. The lapping of the water against the wall below was very soothing at night if the tide was in.
I thought these bright gig boats would be a good subject for a further piece of stitchery or a painting.

Last week I visited the Emma Bridgwater factory in Stoke-On-Trent. For anyone who doesn't know - there are now only two full time producing factories making hand made pottery in Stoke I think, which used to be Britain's centre for china until fairly recently. The tour was superb and showed how skilled the makers are at the individual phases of making the finished pieces, many of which have become collector's items. They are really up against the clock, too. I learned a lot about piecemeal work.

As you can imagine there is  a lot of lively banter on this shop floor where the men work with the castings.

The women's area is where the sponged designs are applied and is quieter - most listen to personal headphones. Speed and accuracy are vital to their pay. They don't compramise quality but they have to work each piece in a given number of seconds to get full pay, otherwise it's a percentage. The men on the top photo have a quota to get through on their shift otherwise they have to stay on to get the job done.

These items await glazing. Everything is hand dipped and hand painted. There isn't a conveyor belt or a piece of computerised or automated manufacture anywhere.
And still the Stoke sense of humour shines through me duck!

What's more...lunch in the cafe was gorgeous!!

Marathon Sketchbooking

The more I watch the Olympics and see all these active people, the more I want to sit on my bottom and play in my sketchbook!
 I have only a week or so left of my year of my Creative Sketchbook course and I need to get to finishing Module 4. I've had many a week where creativity has been at a low ebb as my mum moves toward the end of her life, but this past two weeks I realised how much art can be a therapy in these situations. It buys time to ponder and time to refocus.

I have decided to make a journal quilt each month pointing out where I have found peace. I am working on this in the sketchbook and as this white dove descended into the garden last week I resolved to begin the work this month,

Pockets from a photo are handy for collecting ephemera - in this case some feathers which I might use as printing inspiration.
See the end of this post for August's quilt.

This little pottery dove sits by my front door and the stars, so reminiscent of quilt blocks are on the floor all the way down the hall of my Victorian home.

Various cut pages.

Roll on Autumn - I love pumpkins!

I pressed this Bleeding Heart stem earlier in the year and have just taken it from the flower press.

A pencil rubbing of a lino block....

THE RESULTING QUILT

It was all ace. It was a part of my peace.

Time to paint

'Birches 1'

(watercolour, gesso and charcoal pencil)

Winter Painting and a new addition to the family...

The snow has melted unfortunately, leaving the usual slush and blackened hedgerows along the roads. The memory of this tree across the fields in the sterile snowy landscape is still with me and I keep having to look at the photo I took at minus 12 degrees last week.
The very cold still air had quite a pronounced effect on colour. When it was about between minus 5 and minus 10 there was a bluish tinge to everything, but this became suffused with pinks when the temperature was even lower. I think the breathless air had something to do with it.
My new Moleskine watercolour book has been calling to me to put brush to paper and I have started a new small journal in it which will probably have mostly paintings. This one is 3.5" square. A new, smaller format which I think I am comfortable with.

And here is the new addition to our family. We lost our dear little "delicat", Daisy just before Christmas and we have adopted this big boy, Smartie. He's 9 and needed a home. Unfortunately he spent the first 24 hours here hiding under the woodburning stove and so became very grey, but he has been cleaning himself up to reveal his full ginger and white glory.

He's very loving and very greedy - so he'll fit in well here!!

Painting the New Year, Zentangles and a Starting Point

New Year's Eve was so special for a number of reasons. Firstly we were in Cornwall near the sea with good friends and the children. Secondly there was a fabulous full moon (a Blue Moon) over the sea and thirdly the children lit paper lanterns and sent them sailing to the heavens with their secret wishes.
The frost still lay upon the ground and the moon lit the grassy mounds. It was rare and beautiful.




Today I played with paper, colour and monotone. I have been interested to read in "Cloth Paper Scissors" about the art of "Zentangle".
It's very therapeutic, works nicely in a journal and allows freedom and play. Here is my first. There is no need for words at all, there are no rules but the guidelines can be found at http://www.zentangle.com/  the size of pattern is generally 3.5" square - small enough for one a day.

Here I have been preparing a background for some creative stitching ... more to come. I'm glad I've started because the ideas keep me awake at night until I begin!

I love the way the frost has played on these parchment like hydrangea flowers today. The grass is so hard under foot it is like walking on eggshells! The night is clear again and we are expected to wake to -7 degrees tomorrow.