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!!