Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Focus On Kirsty Hopkins at King Street Workshops

 This is a focus piece on one of the King Street Workshops, something we plan to do for all the artists/designers. It will give you a little insight into their techniques and how they work. 
Kirsty Hopkins is in studio 10 and has been there for 18months now. Previously she worked in a converted barn and did shows up and down the UK as well as in Seoul, South Korea.
She works mainly in mixed media but has on display screen prints for this current exhibition...although the textile influence can be seen in these as there is so much texture conveyed within the prints.



"Screen Printing is a technique that I have recently really come to love. The ability to overlay images, colours, textures to create a unique piece of art has a compelling appeal.
When I screen print I like to use stencils, that I have previously created, and work at a piece until I am satisfied it is completed. One reason that I have so much texture in my prints is that I did not wait for the paint to dry, instead I keep printing so the colours meet and melt together. By using this technique I can create both deeply complex images with hints at silhouettes and also strikingly minimal pictures, where colour and form are the focus."

 "I absolutely love this screen print (left). It does not have as many layers as the others in the series, but I instantly knew it was finished. It is often a question I get asked...how do you know when a picture is finished...the answer is you just know ."  
























 "The piece seen below, ‘The Tea Party’, is
 perhaps my favourite work.  The ’tea’ pots were actually based on Moroccan coffee pots. This was the first large picture I worked on, so that may explain some of the significance and importance I place on it. I have had it up in my own home for a long period as I have not been able to part with it, but now feel the time is right.
I love the strength of the colours and the way in which they interact with each other. The shocking pink with the blue of the large coffee pot brings out both colours to their full extent.
I used a range of fabrics, threads and beads in this piece and I believe my love of
various textures to form a picture was
ignited by the creation of this piece."

Kirsty Hopkins work can be viewed on:


  

Tuesday, 14 June 2011

Summer Spark is Shining

So we didn't get the blog up and running in time for the preview but on June the 19th we are serving afternoon teas and have a Cuban band! See details below and come and do the salsa around our courtyard!..

......If you like exciting and original design, don’t miss this event at the King Street Workshops, Pateley Bridge.

Now in it’s 5th year, the annual “Summer Spark” covers ten days and is an opportunity to view work by North Yorkshire’s finest designer-makers. This year, painter Maureen Little exhibits as part of the North Yorkshire Open Studios and resident designer-makers show sculpture, glass, paintings & prints, textiles, jewellery and millinery, all displayed in the studios where the work is produced.

The Spark goes out with a bang on Sunday 19th June, with a Weaving Workshop held by acclaimed Japanese Textile Artist, Sieko Kinoshita and toe-tapping Latin American music, provided by the accomplished musicians of “Cuban Lift”, rounding off the event.

Preview: Friday June 10th 5.00-9.00pm
Open: Friday June 10th – Sunday 19th June 10am – 5.30pm



King Street Workshops, The Old Workhouse, Pateley Bridge, HG3 5LE

As you can see we have created some fabulous bunting that is now unknotted and up around the workshops complex!