Sorry for not writing for a while – things have been somewhat hectic. I think the last time I was here, my Solo exhibition had just opened in Singapore at Collectors Contemporary gallery. I was lucky enough to be flown out there for the opening which was just fantastic, and was really looked after out there. The opening for ‘Quiet World’ was absolutely brilliant and was hung beautifully thanks to everyone at the gallery. The rest of the days there were filled with talks and interviews. It was pretty exciting reading all about my exhibition in the magazines and newspapers whilst I was out there too. All in all it was a really successful trip, and I hope it won’t be too long before I am showing out there again.
Once back I took a bit of time out as it was a big Solo I had prepared for through a fierce winter and needed a bit of time to recover. That next month or so was so needed. I still worked at home on new imagery etc… but in the warmth of my house and with fluffy slippers and a mug of tea. You can’t beat it, and Florence was certainly a lot happy – being free to roam in the garden all day instead of my studio! Its always the way that I seem to have a show just the other side of the new year – meaning that I have the most intense times over the coldest bits! Well – hopefully that won’t be forever. I hope to have my own studio soon with … heating.
So, when I was just venturing back into the studio, I got a phone call from the German TV company – DW-World.de, who saw an article on my work in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin (http://sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/35776 – for those that can read German), asking if they could shoot a short documentary on my work. I figured it wouldn’t be for a while so casually said yes. The next phone call from them asked if they could come next week – nothing like getting something done pronto! It was great fun actually. We shot it over a couple of days due to the weather, and unfortunately, when it came to me jumping into Hampstead heath Lido to demonstrate how the water shots were taken…it was flipping freezing! I don’t think anyone realises quite how hard it is to do an interview, treading water, in freezing water, after you’ve been in for 45 minutes! So when you check out the following link, you can have some idea of the conditions of that particular bit!
http://mediacenter.dw-world.de/english/video/#!/204501/Swimming_Pool_Paintings_by_Sarah_Harvey
It was really good fun though, and the film crew were brilliant.
Shortly after this, I got a call asking me if I could be part of ‘Jungle City’.
If you remember ‘Elephant Parade’ in London last year, it is the same organisation but this time it is being held in Edinburgh and including Tigers, Orangutans, Elephants and Hornbills. So, it was an Orangutan I was asked to do and I jumped at the chance to paint a giant fibre glass Animal! Come June, this huge animal was delivered to my studio and I began to paint (Intensely – as time wasn’t something I was given a lot of!), but it all worked out great and I turned the Orangutan ‘Against the Tide’ into a pool of water.
A month later I was then called to say they wanted to make replicas of the beast and could I paint a miniature to be displayed in Harvey Nichols. I was really flattered by this as there were only a few that were selected. (they are going to be for sale by the way for £225 I think – with a limited edition of 100).
Actually, you can now Bid on this along with all the other animals at http://www.jungle-city.org/17shop.php to help raise money of the charity. “Each animal is a unique work of art and will be auctioned by Sotheyby’s at the National Museum of Scotland at the close of the exhibition.”
Mean while, I had been busy preparing lots of large white canvases ready for painting. It was frustrating as they were staring at me, willing me to paint on them, but I hadn’t quite worked out what I wanted to paint on them yet. Anyway, after a few weeks, I finally had everything worked out, and off to the studio I trotted to begin my next set of paintings – all very exciting if a little daunting. White canvases are inviting, but at the same time, so scary sometimes!
And just to finish off with some good news, just a couple of days ago, I was notified that I had been made a winner in the LICC London International Creative Competition with works from my recent SOLO exhibition ‘Quiet World’. There’s nothing like a little confidence boosting to start a new lot of work so thank you very much!
Right, back to the studio with my scruffy dog Florence I go.
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