‘Sprezzatura’ – an exhibition

Art, Contemporary Women Artists, Events, exhibitions, painting

It’s action stations!

This week has been a full on one but it’s exciting. Two other artists in the studios have teamed up with me and we are going forward as a collective called ‘The Working Painters’. It’s a great boost to have a collaboration, and whereas I have generally worked a solitary bod I have really seen the power of working together this last few weeks. In the past we have loosely critted (is this a nice new word?) our work and thoughts together and now it’s time for a show of this year’s outputs.

Why now?

You know what? …. it’s hard to get gallery representation, or even work shown in the city art gallery where we work, and it’s sooooo easy to moan about that. So we decided to up the energy and organise a pop-up, renting the community hub which is a massive white ex-shop in the Mander Centre our city shopping mall here in Wolverhampton, England. The town is really down on its uppers, struggling to stay alive and the only thing we can do is to contribute to it with colour and hopefully inspiration for others to do the same. We want to buck the system!

Can we inspire?

We hope so – we want to show a way to beautifully curate on a limited budget to encourage others – individuals or groups – to have a go at doing the same. We are not having a catered Private View – but we are having one (!), and we are hanging in a way that others could replicate easily …. you’ll have to come to find out how.

‘Om Kara’ – Clare Wassermann – acrylic on paper – 73 x 73cm

About the title ‘Sprezzatura’

The exhibition title Sprezzatura typically means an appearance or style which assumes to be effortless but hides the endeavour involved in its creation. Many of the paintings exhibited here have been re-worked, painted back, painted over, scrubbed, rubbed, tonked, scratched, smudged, printed on, wrestled with and agonised over, and in fact the paintings often leave traces of these tussles. Some of the paintings came into being with less of a creative struggle as if not made by the artists at all. Nonetheless, the work of painting is always work, a matter of turning up and loading a brush.

The artists

In a series of new work, Rachel Magdeburg has painted objects that have a personal resonance, and obliquely reference the practice, material techniques and processes of painting. Some of the pictorial imagery reveals a semantic playfulness, which is reinforced by the painting’s titles. Other paintings explore formal relationships within a work itself, and in relation to the motifs of other paintings. Rachel has just completed a doctorate in Fine Art and she is glad to be back to painting!

‘UnPalatable’ – Rachel Magdeburg – oil on board – 61 x 51cm.

Julia Burns’s recent large scale paintings employ a continuous dialogue, both intuitive and directed, with the very messy process of painting, along with a playful reference to a “mixtape” of Modernist and contemporary abstract painting, to create works that allude to the Urban landscape as an experience and an idea.

Julia Burns’s studio.

Clare Wassermann has been working with the symbolism of birds in her paintings as part of an ongoing investigation into the concept of liberation and alchemical transformation towards internal freedom as part of her PhD work.

‘River Swimming, Dolanog,’ Clare Wassermann – acrylic on paper, 120 x 79cm.

I you would like to purchase one of Clare’s pieces but can’t get to the exhibition

There is an online catalogue here. Please get in touch to reserve your work – the beauty is there are no gallery fees so the work is affordable (subjective term I know!).
The work can be purchased online and posted at cost. Framing advice is available of course.

Please get in touch if you would like to purchase work by Julia or Rachel. Better still, come and meet us and see it in person. A catalogue will also be available online soon.

You can make quite a night of it!

You can go straight on to this if you come at the end of FridayEvery last Friday of the month, the doors of Wolverhampton Art Gallery will be opening after hours to welcome you in.

Each event will be inspired by current exhibitions. Expect live performances, music, workshops and curators talks throughout the gallery spaces.

Plus, the Glaze Café will be opening late to ensure you don’t go hungry or thirsty as you see your way into the night. Lates are adults-only, after-hours theme nights.

This Friday Lates is a double feature! Friday 27th & Saturday 28th October 6-9pm.

Friday 27th: there will be screening a documentary about the life and work of Derek Boshier.

Join British-Jamaican Artist and Educator, Exodus Crooks for an ink and collage workshop inspired by Derek Boshier’s Smile (1968). Throughout the workshop, participants will be invited to recreate an image they have on their phone, using found images, magazines and newspaper cut outs.

Info and booking here

How can we help you as an artist?

We are happy to work to mentor artists who would like to buck the system and put on their own show. We can offer advice and encouragement. Do get in touch with me if you think you would benefit from this service in the future.

And please do subscribe to my newsletter on Substack – I will be adding to it most weeks and I’d love your comments if you like!

Art Manifesto and exhibition details

Art, Events

An art ma nifesto is a public declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of an artist or artistic movement. Many arts groups have made manifestos creating new movements often rejecting previous movements and political views in the process. A group of four artist friends of mine decided to investigate more about this subject and in turn created their own personal manifestos. Here is mine which I can see is also a reflection of my Self and how my self wishes to be:

My Art Manifesto – September 2023

There is no space for the divided self, the divided people, the divided planet.

We must adopt a friendliness to the idea of the unity of all to understand that we are an ecological system of each other and to ever come to peace.

My heArt entangles with your heArt.

My heArt heals yours if I will only let it, if you will only allow.

Your heArt can heal mine.

My Art can be a painting or a form made from my hands and mind and might evoke something in you, or something beyond you, which you might want to explore with you heart and mind.

My symbols will not be yours but they could live in you for a while whilst you entertain them and breathe some of your breath into them.

You could be willing to see if your thoughts become less turbulent and settle in some place restful but inspiring, to a still point from where action could benefit you, someone else or other beings.

My art may generate new and helpful myths for the future and work upon the re-enchantment of human beings and human doings.

I am a process.

I discover my Self by making art.

I work on my Self through making art.

I save my Self from my self through making art.

My process affects others.

I am.

I renounce expectations

I leave hyper capitalism to others

I nurture the growth of my soul and those of others through curiosity, stillness and the wisdom of those who have been to useful places on their journeys.

I create with the intention of disrupting the status quo, of challenging the dominant narratives that keep us trapped in old ways of thinking and being. My art is a call to action, an invitation to join me in exploring new possibilities for ourselves and our world. It is my hope that we can create a more just, equitable, and sustainable future for all, meanwhile acknowledging the beauty we can behold in creation.

I create

because

I Am

by Clare Wassermann (18 x 29.5cm)

Exhibition

The ‘Working Painters’ group consists of Julia Burns, Rachel Magdeburg and Clare Wassermann.
We have an exhibition from October 28th-29th. It’s at the Community Hub which is a lovely large space in the Mander Centre, Wolverhampton – nearest entrance opposite Beatties.

There is a Private View from 4pm-6pm on 27th and the show is open from 10am – 4pm on the Saturday and Sunday.

There will be large and small works available to buy but we would love to see you to show what we have been working on this last year. Please do come.

by Clare Wassermann (71 x 120cm)

Please subscribe to find out more:

Open Studios Event in Wolverhampton

Art, Contemporary Women Artists, Events, painting

Just a quick post to say my studio at Makers Dozen Studios at the rear of Wolverhampton Art Gallery is open as part of the city wide open studios on October 8th and 9th from 11am – 3pm. If you miss it I can be there by arrangement the week after too – just email me clare.wassermann@gmail.com. The gallery has a new and very lovely cafe ‘Glaze’ on the ground floor overlooking St. Peter’s Gardens which could be a welcome pit stop.

Julia Burns and I have opened next door to each other at Wolverhampton Art Gallery.

Details of more places to visit on the art trail in Wolverhampton can be found here care of Wolverhampton Society of Artists. All venues are free to visit.

Anyway do come and see what I have been busy with this year. I will have cards and paintings for sale but do come and just say hi in our new more normal world.

Julia Burns is opening in the little gallery space next to mine. More of her work can be seen here – she is a wonderful Urban Abstract artist.

Meditation for Your Creativity and Peace.

meditation, philosophy

Happy New Year to all. It is a difficult start to 2020 globally.

I’m offering an opportunity to tune out briefly.

Meditation has certainly helped to release the creative side of my brain. I use it to reduce anxiety and to create courage in my life. Here is an opportunity for you to do the same.

Meditation is the perfect balance between alertness and relaxation. It doesn’t matter if you practice in a chair or sitting cross-legged on the floor; it’s all about quieting the mind and stilling the body. It is about finding a still point from which you can look at the world in a different way and discover a fresh new perspective on your life. I am teaching a session to introduce people to meditation on Sunday January 12th. It will involve gentle relaxation and movements all designed to still the mind and to give you the chance to take some of these skills away with you. If you are interested it will be at my studio at 10:30. We will be finished by lunchtime and the link is here

Please book in advance if you’d like a place.

Continue reading →

Japanese Exhibition etc.

Art, exhibitions, sales, workshops

Notoriously bad at keeping up this blog….must try harder (usual end of term report)!

Anyway here is a bit of news about my solo exhibition at Café 86’d in Ironbridge. It opens on August 7th and as I am away then we are holding a meet the artist evening on September 6th so do come if you can.

The café is my fave place to eat in the area…fresh and healthy food. All home cooked and mostly local ingredients. Well worth a visit any day. All the work is available to purchase and depicts peaceful memories of temples and still places in Japan on my travels. I hope the feeling of calm is transmitted through these works which are multilayered, stitched and drawn or painted.

Here are just a few examples:

If you miss this I am open as part of Wolverhampton Open Studios on the weekend of October 12/13 2019 at my studio at Newhampton Arts Centre, Dunkley Street, Wolverhampton UK

For YOU

there are all sorts of opportunities to MAKE ART at the studio

Friday 2nd August – all day 10am – 4pm. Like our Sunday club but longer! More time for chat, working and supping. Bring your own lunch – this session is to be booked in advance here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/clare-wassermanns-sketchbook-and-art-making-day-tickets-64466336548 Currently 9 places left. You can pay me direct instead but place is only held on payment. Cost £10
Thursday 15th August Women’s Wellness Circle: 7 – 8.30pm not art but a lovely way of staying healthy of mind £5 – let me know if you are coming – pay on the night.
Friday 16th August – Nature Inspired Sketchbooks (SOLD OUT)
Sunday 16th August – 2.30 – 5pm – Self Care Sunday – Yoga and Intention Setting – let me know if you want to book via Marie who runs this lovely session. £20
Sunday 8th September – Sketchbook and Art Club 11.30 – 1.30 please let me know if you are coming. £5 Bring your own work as usual.
Thursday 19th September 10.30 – 3.30 Oil Painting with Wayne Attwood – President RBSA – details and booking here £34 Beginners or experienced painters welcome.
Sunday 22nd September – Sketchbook and Art Club 11.30 – 1.30 please let me know if you are coming. £5. Bring your own work as usual.
Saturday 28th September – Travel Journal and Sketchbooks Workshop with Clare 10.30 – 4 £35 details and bookings here
Thursday 10th October – 10.30 – 3.30 Oil Painting with Wayne Attwood – President RBSA – details and booking here. £34 Beginners or experienced painters welcome.
Saturday and Sunday 12th & 13th October – Clare Wassermann Open Studios – Studio Sale. Paintings, Textiles, etc. plus Jeweller Mojo and The Maker sharing my studio – lots of other artists exhibiting at the NAC this weekend – and all round Wolverhampton. Xmas gift ideas?!
Saturday November 9th – Travel Journal and Sketchbooks Workshop with Clare 10.30 – 4pm £35 details and bookings here.
Sunday November 10th – Sketchbook and Art Club 11.30 – 1.30 please let me know if you are coming. £5. Bring your own work as usual.
Looking forward to inviting Helen Hallows to come and run a workshop early next year – look her up!

Lotus Sanctuary

This is a small charity in Wolverhampton providing housing and a route into a better life and work for women in the city who have suffered trauma and homelessness.

Lotus Sanctuary is a community interest company with the pure and simple intention of housing and empowering vulnerable women suffering a range of complex issues; from rough sleepers to domestic violence victims, sexually exploited women and those seeking to get free from drug and alcohol addictions.

I have really enjoyed starting fortnightly art sessions for residents recently and am pleased to be continuing in this rewarding work. Some of their pieces will feature in an exhibition called ‘Recovery’ at The Lighthouse in September. More info another time, but this is how art can heal. You can donate to them here

Summer Sunshine

Art, exhibitions, Outdoor life, workshops

At last it is truly here! The British Summer. Time to throw the studio windows open and get out and about in the garden and plein air sketching.

I have just had an enjoyable time in Wales discovering the area between Cwmtydu and Cardigan. Unspoilt and rugged, the cliffs inspired some sketching and the beaches and hedgerows inspired some walking. Waterfalls on beaches and quiet roads have made this place a new favourite for me.

Japan Work

This year has mostly been taken up with a consolidation of two visits to Japan. I cannot begin to describe how this country appeals to me so much. The people, the countryside, the efficiency and ethos captivate and of course the temples are an utter sanctuary. In these tranquil places every angle seems to be a perfectly framed view.

I kept several travel sketchbooks whilst there and have been invited to make an exhibition on the theme this summer. Here is a glimpse but there are about twenty works in total. The date is to be confirmed but it will be at Cafe 86’d in Ironbridge, Shropshire for a couple of months. This is one of my very favourite eating establishments in the UK – my go to for lunch when in the vicinity.

These pieces feature many, many layers of collected papers, stitch, pencil and ink. Others are painted but layered in the same way. It has been a definite labour of total love.

Events in the Studio

As ever there are plenty of things going on in my lovely studio at Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton. Tonight there is a Women’s Circle which will also happen on July 2nd, the next New Moon. Only £5 – a chance to connect in peace. Let me know if you would like to come. Info here although the second date is wrong – it should read Tuesday 2nd July
https://www.facebook.com/events/673197123130651/

Otherwise there are more events on the Workshops page

Boundary Way

Boundary Way Allotments Project has had a new round of funding and this year some of the focus is on the role of fungi in nature. We had a superb visit from Rich Wright of Kew Gardens. He is a Mycologist and told us so many interesting facts about mushrooms and the amazing mycelium layer below the ground connecting plants and trees that we were all really inspired.

Hannah Boyd and myself had a lovely afternoon sketching fungi and making folding books from abstracted mushroom related art with a group of Bpoundary Way artists. More events are to come for the public in the Summer. One is here but I think it is sold out – watch this space for more.

Wolverhampton Society of Artists

I have recently joined this Society which is 100 years old this year. There has recently been an exhibition for new members to exhibit in. I was pleased to have sold these two pieces and look forward to spending more time with the society.

Holcome Pink Foot – oil on canvas 12″x12″

In The Womb Of The Earth – Hare – oil on canvas 20″ x 12″

There is one other available in the series:

*In The Womb Of The Earth – Foxes- oil on canvas 20″ x 12″*

and a sketch for a badgers piece is waiting!

I am sure there is a lot more to say – but it is time to go and enjoy the sunshine! See you soon.

Clare xxx

Open Studios and Other News

Art, exhibitions, workshops

“Blackberry Hare” above celebrates the Autumn Equinox – greetings cards available at Open Studios

I’m not very good at keeping up with my blog so I think it’s about time I filled you in with what’s happening with exhibitions and workshops as the Autumn progresses and we look to the bright colours of art to cheer us through the Winter.

I had a wonderful start to the year preparing for a solo exhibition which was really successful in terms of footfall, scores of lovely comments in the visitors book and sales. It took a huge amount of dedication and hard work to fill the space with thirty-two paintings for an exhibition spanning nearly two months but it certainly paid off. Thank you so much to The Museum of Cannock Chase and all who attended to support me. Thank you too to everyone who cheered me on along the way!

So now to the future:
Wolverhampton Open Studios are nearly upon us
October 13/14^th
This weekend sees many artists fling open the doors of their workspaces and homes to display their work and for you to see behind the scenes. This has been organised by Wolverhampton Society of Artists and there is a beautiful website here for information www.wolverhamptonopenstudios.co.uk
I will be open along with several artists exhibiting at Newhampton Arts Centre from 10am-3pm both days that weekend. Come and see my lovely Victorian room and see what’s in the studio sale. I also have my lovely friend and jeweller Sarah-Jane Whittaker with me with some of her beautiful work. We will probably be giggling and possibly eating cake.

Breathe 50 x 40 inches Clare Wassermann copyright 2018

Exhibition News
Wolverhampton is currently having a surge ahead with art. There have been some fabulous exhibitions at Wolverhampton Art Gallery recently. Smaller venues are also showing art. The Lighthouse really need our support to stay open and there is an exhibition called “Transformation” on at the moment, so please think about attending – much of the proceeds of sales are going to the venue to help it to stay open. The exhibition runs until October 30^th. I have three pieces in this exhibition.

At Boundary Way Allotments there will be a lovely exhibition in the polytunnel on October 13^th as part of the Open Studios and I have some textile work here along with some books made on a workshop I ran as part of the Arts Council and Heritage Lottery Fund project that I have been part of. Do go and have a look – it is quite an extraordinary site with lots of things going on for the public throughout the year. More details in the Open Studios website and on the wonderful Boundary Way website.

Workshops
Plenty of lovely workshops happening in my studio into the new year both hosted by myself and other visiting artists – it’s always good to make art together. Here are the dates so far – but do keep checking back as I update often.

Other
Otherwise I am still out and about sketching in nature when I can, preparing for more exhibitions and hanging offers (more exciting news on that another time), painting and learning and enjoying a Yoga and Meditation two year teacher training course. I’m always looking to develop and learn – that is for me the joy of life.

You can follow some of my travels this year in my sketchbook blog here.

I hope you feel the same about whatever you are doing. Do come and have a cup of tea with me some time or better still see us over at Open Studios.

That’s all for now

Clare xx

PS Did I mention I love hares and birds?

A brief early 2018 overview…..Upcoming Workshops and Exhibitions

Uncategorized

Workshops for you to participate in at my studio in central Wolverhampton

Lots of lovely creative workshops planned for early next year. Please contact me to book – more details on the Workshops Page.

Sunday 4th February

11.15am – 1.15pm

Sketchbook / Art drop in club £5

Thursday 8th February

8pm – 9.15pm

Relaxing Soundbath with Liz Pritchard £8

Friday 16th February

10.30am – 4pm

Creative Sketchbook Day with Clare Wassermann

Tap into your creativity £35

Monday 26th February

10am – 3.30pm

Simple Stitch with Elise Stewart £25

Thursday 1st March

10.30am – 3.30pm

Art Jewellery with Linda Alton £35

Saturday 10th March

11am – 3pm

Hellebore Brooches – Needle Felting with Kanj Nicholas

£35

Thursday 8th March

10.30am – 3.30pm

Oil Painting with Wayne Attwood £25/£30

Thursday 15th March

7-9pm

Social Media for Creatives a workshop you shouldn’t miss by Tosca Lahiri

£10

Sunday 18th March

11.15-1.15pm

Sketchbook / Art drop in club £5

Thursday 22nd March

8pm – 9.15pm

Relaxing Soundbath with Liz Pritchard £8

Thursday 22nd March

10.30am – 4pm

Abstraction Day with Clare Wassermann

£35

“Crow” Clare Wassermann Oil on paper

I do hope to see you at one or more of these lovely days.

Upcoming Exhibitions

I currently have some work up at The Lighthouse in an exhibition alongside other local artists so if you are off to the cinema please do have a look in the gallery downstairs.

In 2018 I have a solo exhibition at The Museum of Cannock Chase Gallery from April 28th – June 17th

It’s free to come and there is a lovely museum to take a look around plus a cafe and wonderful walks on the Heathlands on this part of Cannock Chase adjascent.

“Forest Bathing” Clare Wassermann – acrylic on canvas

Clare Wassermann Art

Contemporary British Painter

wolverhampton