Studio Friday: Look who I found

This week's topic for Friday January 26th suggested by Janet: LOOK WHO I FOUND... !

"I love to discover new artists and often find them through other peoples mentions of them. So, introduce us, in words and/or pictures, to an artist, craftsperson, or writer you admire and that we might not have heard of before (i.e. not a famous one). What do you like about their work? How does it inspire your own work?"

~ Janet.


I know i'm going to find this hard to pick just one or two people, so i'm going to have to start off with one of my best friends, Alys Paterson.

I first met Alys a few years ago, while she was working in a bookshop with another friend of mine. My memory of our first meeting is that she was incredibly giggly, wore a fantastic home made skirt, and was busy stitching together a miniture sausage dog brooch while downstairs the Hawney Troof were playing in a cellar. Later Alys was kind enough to do some artwork for my website, share many a craft fair stall with me, and also many a late night talking about boys.

One of the prettiest shows we ever had at the gallery was her show last year:

'A Little Bird told me' featured paintings, screenprints and the very popular vintage postcards with paintings on (I literally had to stop a fight between people over one of these). I'm lucky to have lots of bits of Alys' work around my house- little notes to make up for the times she is late to meet me, or forgets my birthday! Alys also makes some of the nicest felt brooches i've seen- see for yourself at her website : Handmade by Alys

Another favourite of mine, is another friend i'm afraid! Bjorn Rune Lie. Bjorn called into the shop one day with a handful of cards he'd made and asked me if we'd be interested in selling them. I took one look and said yes (the fact he is tall and Norwegian had nothing to do with it).

In 2005 I curated a show featuring Bjorn's work alongside that of Amanda Kindregan

I was really pleased the way Bjorn's screenprints and paintings worked with Amanda's woodcuts of Lumberjack Lolitas and whilst I couldn't afford to actually buy any of the work, I was, once again, lucky enough to be given a painting by Bjorn (and Lindsey his partner) for my birthday that year.

Being involved with curating shows has introduced me to a whole heap of amazing artists, i'm always scouring the internet for new people to show. Unlike lots of curators I rarely see the work in real life before agreeing a show- i'd say 80% of the shows i've put on have been based on websites i've seen. (So kids- make sure your website rules!) As I said at the start, it was always going to be hard to limit myself, so here's some links to a few other people whose work i've show at the gallery- none of them mega famous, each of them well worth a look.

Emma Caton- resin and tiny dead animals are amongst her tricks.
Lillith Travaglini- tape drawings, installations and multiple personalities
Gunilla Jähnichen- creepy oil paintings and super cute drawings

See other people's finds here