What Occurred at this is where it's Art? - Brittany Coxon's Event Report

This is where it's Art happened on the 8th, 9th and 10th of June in the Spennymoor Town Hall and Spennymoor Leisure Centre. We encourage all visitors and exhibitors to get in touch with their own write-ups, reports, photos and thoughts on the event, so that we can share them (with your permission).

You can email us at thisiswhereitsart@gmail.com or message us on Facebook or Twitter with your stories. Please do tag us in your Facebook photos if you took any during the event, we'd love to see.


This is a little run down of my personal (Brittany's) highlights for the festival, accompanied by photos.

Friday

It was great to meet everybody on Friday, the variety and quality of work was excellent. I spent a good part of the day getting to know the other exhibitors and learning my way around the Town Hall in preparation for the busier day that would be Saturday. There was a wonderful atmosphere as the exhibitors greeted one another, shared stories and swapped knowledge. The atmosphere generated in those first few hours lasted throughout the entire festival.

Saturday

We had a bit of bad weather but the folk of Spennymoor were not put off and the Town Hall was full of curious visitors. Curious in a good way, everybody was genuinely interested, both in the art and the people behind it. At noon there was a flash-mob in the market square, a street dance performance by Kdanz, which unfortunately I missed, though the kids involved enjoy it, commenting that dancing in the rain made it all the more dramatic. Paul picked up some honey from the bee man (South Durham Honey), who had an observation hive set up in the Town Hall bar, they were fascinating to watch, I took far too many photos of the bees and learned a great deal about them while doing it.

Sunday

The weather cleared up a bit on Sunday and the Town Hall was filled with visitors, some of which had come along on the previous day and returned, this time with their entire family. There were plenty of activities for all ages, including a comic book workshop over in the leisure centre, stained glass fusing workshops in the Town Hall and weaving, which happened in the exhibition space. I mention the weaving specifically as it managed to keep several children occupied all weekend, each going away determined to continue this new hobby.

I'm looking forward to the next one already, it was such an enjoyable festival, full of lovely, friendly people. I even found a new favourite food place in Spennymoor, Bistro Fifty3, which kept Paul and I very well fed during the weekend. 

Thank you to everybody who came, everybody who helped spread the word and the people of Spennymoor for being so lovely. 

Brittany Coxon.

You can view all of Brittany's photos from the event on her Flickr page. 

Setting Up

 The exhibitors have arrived and are setting up their displays ready for our grand opening tomorrow.

Here's a little peek behind the scenes. 

I'm so impressed by the quality and variety of the displays, excellent work everybody. Can't wait for tomorrow. 

Meet the Exhibitors - Wreckonize

Who are you?
We're Chris and Joe aka Wreckonize, part of a larger crew called WHK

What do you do?
We dance, eat, teach, stretch, dance...that's pretty much it!

Why do you do it?
Because we love it! Its never boring, every day we're teaching or dancing in a different place. Also watching our students improve and grow as people, and seeing what they come up with on their own inspires us and teaches us things we might not have thought of. What's the most exciting thing you've done recently? Mastering a new move is pretty exciting, it brings the possibility of new combinations and ways to link what you already have. Chris has been getting some nice flares lately and I'm starting to get 90's after trying for a long time.

Further Info:


http://www.wreckonize.co.uk/breakdance/
Wreckonize on Facebook

Meet the Exhibitors - Paul Thompson

Who are you?
Paul Thompson. I’m an artist and writer, working in digital art, photography and comics.

What do you do?
I write and draw comics, Tales of the Hollow Earth is now in its third issue: Dark goings on in a coastal city of peculiar institutions, origami, weird tales, dangerous catering and unreliable narrators. As well as comics, I've had several exhibitions of digital artworks and photography, and I occasionally write and draw comics with other people and contribute to comics anthologies with the Newcastle based Paper Jam Comics Collective and others.

What's the most exciting thing you've done recently?
I’m working on two comics projects right now – one is called Interchange-V, a sci-fi comedy collaboration hopefully in the spirit of Douglas Adams, low budget british sci-fi and claustrophobic 80’s and 90’s sit-coms. The second project will have SCIENCE in it, but is otherwise absolutely top secret.

Why do you do it?
Why comics? Comics are a massively accessible and flexible medium for telling stories and communication of all kinds. Placing pictures in sequence will build a story, whether it was intended or not. Putting words too close to an otherwise unrelated picture will set a world in motion. Most of it happens in the viewer’s head, and it’s much greater than the sum of its parts. The comics creators I admire have a supernatural control over this, and from this unstable chemistry are able to wield extremely evocative storytelling.

Further info:


http://www.hollowearth.co.uk
Twitter: @paulxthompson
Email: paulxthompson@gmail.com



Comics: Words + Pictures where Time = Space
At midday on the Sunday of the This is Where it’s Art festival, I’ll be doing a 35-40 minute talk on the subject of storytelling and design on a comics page. The talk is aimed at people of age ten and above, interested in making comics, reading comics and knowing a little more about how comics work - for example: how to use the shapes of the panels to control the pacing and drama, the different approaches taken by American, European, Japanese comics, and how the less you draw, the more people see. I’ll provide a comprehensive list of what I think are the very best comics of the last few years and the very best books about making comics.

Meet the Exhibitors - Stables Art

Who are you?
I'm Collette Lau, originally from the Isle of Islay, situated in the west coast of Scotland. I'm now living in County Durham and have been here for 12 years. I live on a small holding with my family, and keep all types of animals, including horses and sheep. I have always liked living in rural and semi rural locations as doing so gives me the opportunity to explore all aspects of country life from the natural beauty from Mother Nature, and our spring lambs being born, to the darker side of death from wild animals hunting prey, road kill, to taking our lambs to the slaughter house. Therefore, enabling me to produce art work which is bright and happy - for display in the home, as well as dark art which is possibly better suited to being displayed in offices, night clubs, and other business premises. Sometimes my work is a mix of being both vibrant & bright, with dark undertones.

What do you do?
I experiment with and create pieces from all types of media, from acrylic and oil paint on canvas, to motor oil, coffee, dog fur, sheep fleece and textured paint, on dried animal pelts. I create animal characters, mostly of horses, sheep and cows. As well as modern works - both lively & vibrant, and dark & twisted. I have developed my own style of painting, and undertake both private and commercial commissions.

What's the most exciting thing you've done recently?
The most exciting piece I have recently finished is titled Pony Love. A loving, harmless looking pony character. Media: textured acrylic on box canvas. I created texture by layering the paint, and used silver metallic paint in the background which adds depth and feeling of coldness against the non metallic pony of red and orange tones. Painted in a semi expressionist style, due to the method of painting and the pony having a twisted head and face. This piece shows the happy, loving, loyal side of the pony - mixed cos with the darker side of the character - symbolised by the twisted head and face, and wild oversized eye. I really love this painting because of the dark undertones. To me the piece gives a feeling that there is more to this pony!

Why do you do it?
I paint and create unusual pieces, usually with underlying dark tones, and a dark meaning because this is the 'category' I feel most comfortable in. I feel we are all dying day by day - whether we are a super cute furry bunny, or hard faced domineering human - along with my thoughts of 'art is an expression of self'. Mixed together these trains of thought lead to my twisted, deep and dark works. I enjoy expressing myself through art. I display some work in Talkabout in Spennymoor, and in Laus in Wolsingham Market Place. However I’m mainly based in my art studio at home which has a very basic and rustic feel, being a loosely converted horse stable. Here I am happiest. Here I enjoy my own company. Here I can lose myself in my creations.

Further info:


http://stablesart.co.uk/

Meet the Exhibitors - Jennifer Wyse

Who are you?
Jennifer Wyse

What do you do?
My work is predominantly an interpretation and response to both the places I have been and objects and scenes from my everyday life which I hold close to me. I don’t think my concern is to produce an exact visual representation of what I see but more a sense of time and being in that place. Light and colour combine to portray form and shape in a timelessness outside of the daily hubbub of our modern life. I try to explore and make sense of these thoughts within my paintings, through colour and pattern and in choice of scene. I like to think my paintings take the voyeur on their own journey of discovery and have been told they have a quality of peace and calm. Painted in oil or acrylic on canvas or board, I work from sketches made on-site and photographs taken for reference.

What's the most exciting thing you've done recently?
I think probably entering the Spennymoor Art Festival, as it is my first arts festival! I am really looking forward to meeting other artists and being involved in the whole thing.

Why do you do it?
My father was a graphic designer so I always wanted to be an artist when I grew up; it's just taken rather a long time! I love learning about colour and the whole physical process of painting. I like to celebrate my love of nature and the countryside and hope that people can see this in my painting.

Further Info:


http://www.wix.com/wyse_jennifer/fine-art

http://www.redbubble.com/people/jenwyse

Meet the Exhibitors - Brittany Coxon

Who are you?
Hello, my name is Britt.


What do you do?
I'm a designer, illustrator and photographer based in Newcastle.

I design and make stationery such as greetings cards, notebooks, business cards and wedding invitations. My work is created using recycled and sustainably sourced paper and card (local, when possible). One of my aims is to be as unique as possible, I don't use any kits or pre-made embellishments in my work, preferring to draw out any elements myself. As a result, my designs are often influenced by illustration styles. My own illustrations include comics and event handouts. My comic work has appeared in local comic anthologies and I'm currently working on my first solo project, a detective story with a bit of a supernatural flavour. I also specialise in website design for the creative community.

My photography is best described as serendipitous. From an early age I found it important to document anything I found interesting, holiday photos were mixed with abandoned shoes, clouds, signs. I like not knowing what the final result will be, often pointing my camera at the subject without glancing at the view finder.


What's the most exciting thing you've done recently?
It would have to be making the website for This is where it's Art, to be involved in a project like this is great. I've seen it grow from an idea into what I'm sure will be a great weekend for the whole family. It's fantastic, getting to know all the exhibitors and I'm looking forward to meeting everybody during the event.


Why do you do it?
One of my earliest memories is of trying to make a robot out of cardboard boxes, loo roll insides and string. Combining that enjoyment of making something with my love of well designed paper goods seemed like the obvious thing to do.


Further Info:
http://britthub.co.uk/

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Britt7094

http://britt7094.blogspot.co.uk/