3 Days To Go!

Over the past few days the Mushroom Works has been home to artists and designers rushing around, touching up paintings, last minute framing and hanging up pieces around the gallery space.

...But it’s finally here! The much anticipated Ouseburn Open Studios has arrived and here at the Mushroom Works we could not be more ready to start our Christmas shopping!

This weekend Joanne’s studio at the Mushroom Works Studios will be opening its doors to the public. Joanne will be in her studio over the weekend and is looking forward to showing visitors some of her new pieces as well as works in progress. This is your chance to view all of Joanne’s new work from this year for the very first time. Her tiles, greeting cards and jewellery collections will also be displayed and available to buy.

People are welcome to come and have a nose around all the studios at Mushroom Works, talk to the artists, find out how the artworks are created and what happens in the life of an artist. Also for one weekend only the 20x20 exhibition will be open with all artworks exhibited costing just £20! This is the perfect opportunity to pick up some original and unique presents for those Christmas stockings.

So why not do something a little different this weekend. The preview evening will be 25th November from 6-8pm. Then the Mushroom Works Studios will keep its doors open over the weekend from 10am-5pm. Hope to see you all there!

£20 for one weekend only...

It’s all go here at the Mushroom Works! Joanne seems to be stuck for space in her studio at the moment, we are literally surrounded by 20x20s!

The Ouseburn Open Studios is just around the corner, and many of the artists at the Mushroom Works are busy making their 20x20s ready for the opening night.

Joanne has been busy in her studio and has been experimenting with lots of different materials. Building on designs of her old favourites such as puffins, donkeys and hares, she has also created many new designs such as the classic Volkswagen camper vans, beach huts and, my personal favourites, the weekender caravan.

Joanne's 20x20s

There also seems to be a bit of rivalry in the studio. Joanne shares her studio space with illustrator Bethan Laker. I’m pretty sure there have been some sneaky glances by the two artists to see how many each other have produced! Every time I come in I have to spend a good ten minutes admiring all the new 20x20s.

Bethan's 20x20s

The Ouseburn Open Studios will be open at the Mushroom Works on Friday 25th November from 6-8pm for the opening night. The studios will then be open over the weekend from 10am-5pm. And if the pictures below aren’t enough to tempt you, I’ve just heard on the grapevine that Lottie McPhee will be taking charge of the cafe this year. Surely no one can turn down a scrumptious cupcake or two?!

Events Update.... 

Find us at the following events in the lead up until Christmas:-)

Brocksbushes Christmas Fayre this weekend !

A chance to view, taste and buy their exclusive range of Christmas delicacies. A Christmas gift and craft market will also be opened to buy all those essential Christmas gifts. The Tea Room will be open all day as well as a Christmas Cabin full of nibbles and drinks!
 
10^th– 13^thNovember 2011 Brocksbushes Fayre, 10am – 4:30pm

Gibside Markets

This is a National Trust event supporting local food, farmers and crafts. Enjoy tasty seasonal produce and high quality crafts from local farmers and producers first and third Saturday every month. The market includes a range of food, drink and craft stalls, plus tasting and cooking demos.

Saturday  19^th November 2011 Gibside Craft Fair, 11am – 4pm
Saturday  3^rd  December 2011 Gibside Craft Fair, 11am – 4pm
Saturday 17^thDecember 2011 Gibside Craft Fair, 11am – 4pm

 
Tynemouth Station Markets

We hope to be at Tynemouth Station Markets on the following dates but bookings can only be made on a weekly basis so check out my Facebook fan page for up to the minute details.

Sunday  20^thNovember 2011 Tynemouth Market, 9am – 3pm
Sunday  4^thDecember 2011 Tynemouth Market, 9am – 3pm
Sunday  18^thDecember 2011 Tynemouth Market, 9am – 3pm

 
Ouseburn Open Studios

Time to welcome back the much loved 20x20 Open Studios exhibition! If this one’s new to you, the concept is simple. Artists from the Mushroom Works studios have created their own individual artwork on a surface 20cm by 20cm. And the price? Just £20 a piece. An original artwork at such a great price, this one’s not to be missed! I’ve been working hard experimenting with different materials and have loved making my 20x 20s.  Keep an eye on my blog at www.joannewishart.blogspot.com

 to have a sneak peak of some of my works in progress. This event has always been such a success in the past and this year is set to be even bigger. We hope to see you there!

25^thNovember 2011 Ouseburn Open Studios, 6 – 8pm (Private View)
26^thand 27^thNovember 2011 Ouseburn Open Studios, 10am – 5pm


Monument Christmas Craft Market

Enjoy the cosy feeling of handmade foods, or browse and buy special one-off gifts for family and friends. This is your opportunity to stock up on those local Christmas goodies which truly make the season special – including handcrafted gifts, handmade bags, local photos as well as jams, puddings, game, stuffing, luxury sweets and boozy Christmas cakes.

7^thand 8^thDecember 2011 Monument Craft Market, 9am – 6pm
10^thand 11^thDecember 2011 Monument Craft market, 9am – 6pm

Hope to see you there :-)

Edinburgh Art Fair

Joanne has been working on three new paintings that will be showcased in the Edinburgh Art Fair. The ‘Design Room’ Gallery, owned by Joanne’s brother, Jason Gallagher, will be exhibiting them on her behalf. The Edinburgh Art Fair will take place at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange and is open to the public from Friday 18th to Sunday 20th November. Attracting galleries from as far afield as Canada, Czech Republic and Ireland and showing artists from all 4 corners of the globe the international feel of the event is set to continue again in 2011. Joanne has never had any work in this fair before so we’re hoping it’s going to be a great success.

The three new originals are based on the seaside villages of East Neuk of Fife, including Pittenweem and Crail. Of course they are work in progress, but will be finished in time for the fair!

 

Joanne has kept a few promotional tickets for the Edinburgh Art Fair. We have 3 pairs of tickets to give away, so if anyone would like to go and see Joanne’s work up close and personal while also getting to see all the other exciting artwork on offer then do not hesitate to get in contact with Joanne via info@joannewishart.co.uk. Remember, first come, first served!

Fresh Start, New Designs

After receiving such positive feedback on three of her coastal cards, Seal, Seaside Donkeys and Beach Huts, Joanne decided that it was time she added to the collection. After all, who can resist a trip to the seaside for some inspiration?!

The final designs she has chosen are deckchairs, VW campervans, the beach and all that entails. Joanne has wanted to incorporate campervans into some of her designs for a while now as they are such an iconic image. The same goes for the deckchairs. I know that Joanne has tried to take advantage of our, admittedly very short, British summer sitting back, relaxing on the beach, watching the world go by. The possibility of being able to design her own deckchair fabric at some point in the future has definitely brought a new and exciting aspect to her work.

The three new designs for the greeting cards are still a work in progress but I already love them! The colours really remind me of what a good old fashioned trip to the seaside should be. I’ve managed to take a few photographs of her work in progress to give you an idea of what to expect. They will be released next year to trade outlets at the Spring Fair, Birmingham NEC. Then they will be available to buy in various outlets and through Joanne’s very own web shop.

Hope you like them as much as I do!

Seaside Holiday

It's been a long first year since the arrival of our boys so it was lovely to spend a weeks holiday with the Wishart family in North Yorkshire.  Who could believe the weather! We had a wonderful day in Scarborough with 27oc sunshine. A walk round the harbour, fish and chips for lunch followed by some sand castle building and a Mr Whippy :-) 

I got some wonderful inspiration for new work. There were 5 georgeous and fluffy donkeys working hard on the beach.  It is such a shame that there are so few working donkeys left. It is a wonderful British tradition!

The Studio Is Calling!

Well I think it is safe to say we have definitely left summer well and truly behind us. Time to look forward to all the exciting events coming up in the near future!

Eleven months after the arrival of her twin boys, Joanne is back in her studio painting again. I have returned to my role as Joanne’s intern. New ideas are in the making and deadlines have been set, we are definitely back in business!

Picking up where she left off, Joanne has started work on some coastal scenes, including a large canvas of Craster. She also has plans to start work on a new collection of greeting cards for the winter season. And in between all that, Joanne is also having fun exploring new ideas on 20 x 20cm canvases for the Ouseburn Open Studios exhibition! The 20 x 20s are always really popular with visitors and after having a peek round all the studios here at Mushroom Works it looks like this year’s exhibition is set to be bigger, brighter and more diverse than ever.

Craster

We’ve both loved being back in the studio again and we hope you enjoy all the future blogs to come. We’ll keep you up to date with Joanne’s progress, upcoming events and general happenings here at Mushroom Works.

It feels good to be back!

New space and new faces.....

The builders have finish!! It has been a long time in the planning stage but we have finally got a new space for our card business. A small but functioning garage conversion is the now home for our stock with a space for our new team of card makers. Helping us out over the summer months we have two young ladies joining the business. Welcome to Jenny and Lindsey.

 

Jenny Alderson is creative 16 year old who has just sat her GCSE's. Jenny is a brilliant artist herself and enjoys painting,  visiting exhibitions, listening to music and is a talented musician herself playing the violin in the North Tyneside Youth Chamber Orchestra. Jenny's favourite gallery is the Salt Mills in Bradford. I've just checked out their website and they have a great David Hockney exhibition on at the moment called Fresh Flowers, it looks worth a visit.  

Lindsey Small has also just finished her GCSE's and is progressing onto A Level Art next year with ambitions to progress to be a high school art teacher. She is a fabulous artist, with a very individual style. She is deeply inspired by surrealist paintings and altered reality. Some of her favourite artists include Ben Tour and Mark Ryden. Musical Lindsey plays the guitar and violin and loves to go to gigs and festivals. She is heading off to Leeds festival at the end of the Summer to see bands 30 seconds to Mars and Frank Turner. Ross and I are being educated on music and its great to have something new to listen to while we work!! 

You are never too young to get creative!

My own creativity has been on the back burner lately since the birth of my baby boys but I decided enough was enough. It was time to get the paints out again! It's never too early to introduce children to a bit of mess and creativity. As you can see Fraser has a  more expressive style where as Finley took his painting more seriously. 

I am planning to get back to some real painting in the Autumn with a bit of helpful babysitting from their grandparents:-)



Time for tea.

Awaiting us at the studio last week was our delivery of new mugs from Dunoon Ceramics. Last year I worked on three new coastal village paintings for Dunoon and it is great to see the finished products!

The mugs are now available to buy online through our webshop, through Dunoon stockists nationwide or find us at a craft fair this summer.

Spring in our step.......

Spring Fair 2011 at the NEC Birmingham is upon us again. Ross and my brother Jason travelled down yesterday to set up our stand in the Greetings Card hall. Ross is going it alone this year as I am at home on maternity leave looking after our boys who were recently discharged from the special care baby unit. I love the work they have done on my stand and thanks to Jason for making the new "Wishart" sign!

It has been a busy time lately but we are looking forward to the year ahead and hope to gain lots of orders at the show. 

New designs on our stand this year include our garden bird collection.

For trade orders contact Ross or Joanne through the contacts page of the website. Thanks