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 - Art Heroes

Who are you?
Art Heroes is Daniel Clifford, writer, and Lee Robinson, artist.

What do you do? 

Art Heroes publishes all-ages comic books, and facilitates workshops that use comic books to engage young people in reading, writing and creativity. Art Heroes can also be commissioned to create material for other publishers and businesses.

What's the most exciting thing you've done recently?

Halcyon & Tenderfoot issue 1 was launched at Newcastle City Library on March 31st. We ran a Quick Comics workshop and held an talk about putting the comic together, which were both well attended. But the best part was receiving fantastic feedback from readers and the parents of young readers/workshop attendees. Some young people aren't interested in prose and our comics are designed to engage those people - seeing that working out is heartwarming.

Why do you do it?
The comic book industry has been shrinking for many years. Young people don't spend as much money on comics as 20-40 year old men, so the industry has stopped catering to them. We're making comics suitable for young people so that there are still comic book readers in ten years.

The workshops come from Daniel's struggles with reading as a youngster. Prose wasn't interesting to him - it's only through reading comics that Daniel developed his linguistic skills and graduated with 1st Class Honours from Northumbria University. Art Heroes aims to capture the imagination of similar young people through comic books and workshops.

Further Info:

ArtHeroes.co.uk is the place to go for further information, comic book preview pages and the Art Heroes online shop.

Meet the Exhibitors - Eric Thompson

Who are you?
Eric Thompson

What do you do?
Since 1980 I have been exhibiting my watercolours all over England, Scotland and Dublin, as well as travelling to The Channel Islands to show my work for 20 of those years. Its these exhibitions that help develop your work as you get to meet more and more people who let you know what they like (and dislike) about your paintings. I built up quite a following of customers who collect my work especially in Jersey and Guernsey as well as making some good friends. I now exhibit my art through Bondgate Gallery in Bishop Auckland and sell Giclee prints from the originals all over the world. I run 3 watercolour classes which I really enjoy as the people who attend are very enthusiastic and great company. Its great when they see the finished result all framed up and realise what they can achieve.

What's the most exciting thing you've done recently? 
I've just had a one man show at the new Spennymoor Gallery which was very successful. Part of the exhibition featured 40 little watercolours of scenes from my childhood and these were well appreciated. I think the best part of the exhibition was when some of the local school children attended and I demonstrated some of my paintings and chatted to them about my childhood. They were full of enthusiasm and even brought their parents along later.

Why do you do it? 
I'm approaching an age where I should consider retiring but that's never going to happen. What with the gallery the art classes, and helping Lynn with the upcoming festival I've no time to retire. Besides I love painting watercolours, its my passion and I'm still learning.

 Further info:
http://www.ukwatercolours.com/

Meet the Exhibitors - ARTventurers

Who are you?
I'm Fiona, I own and run ARTventurers. We run art and craft classes, parties and events for children of all ages, starting from as young as 18 months!

What do you do?
I run weekly art and craft classes for pre school age children (age 18 months - 4 years) - a chance for the children to explore and create with different mediums, materials and techniques in an environment where they and their parents/carers don't need to worry about the mess! I run weekend sessions and holiday classes for older children and also host creative birthday parties!

What's the most exciting thing you've done recently?
This month ARTventurers has been nominated for a national award which is great news and very exciting, especially as the nominations have come from the parents/carers and children who attend my sessions! We're nominated for Best Local Activity for Under 5s in the What's On 4 Little Ones Awards 2012. I was also recently asked to write a guest blog post about one of my childrens art projects for the Tate Kids website (a Hirst-inspired spin painting activity using salad spinners!)

Why do you do it?
Why do I do it? The ARTventurers "tagline" is "Laugh, Explore, Create" and that sums it up really - I love working with children and encouraging them to explore, create and use their imaginations while having lots and lots of fun and simply enjoying the whole creative process. It's also very rewarding to see the pride on the childrens faces when they show off their creations at the end of a session and to hear that they've then extended the creative process back at home. Plus playing with paint, glue and glitter is great fun!

Further info:
I have a website  http://www.artventurers.co.uk/  which has a lot more information about what we do, where we run our classes and some lovely colourful pictures of the sessions and artwork!
There's also a Facebook page where you can keep up to date with where we are and what we're doing  http://www.facebook.com/ARTventurers.
Finally you can follow me on Twitter @artventurers.