A Labour of Love II

Hello everyone

Do you remember this?

and this.......

'The Hunt' by Hannah Haworth.

And the bees knees......

All created by the extremely talented sculptor and knitting giant (although she's tiny), Hannah Haworth.
Last Christmas we displayed Hannah's spellbinding and large scale installation, 'The Hunt' and it thrilled all who viewed it. This year we are lucky enough to have 2 beautiful knitted doves from Hannah which again are proving to be a big hit.

'Doves', handy dyed silk yarn and merino wool by Hannah Haworth.

Hannah knitted each feather (of which there's over 100) individually and then seamed them together to create the tail and wings. That's a lot of knitting and sewing people! The doves bodies were then wired to create a sense of movement and flight.
When The Hunt was here last year I practically lived in the gallery. I couldn't get enough of them.
This year, on the arrival of the 'doves from above', I couldn't resist the chance of getting some cuddles (they are super soft) in early, and so took them home for a night before the Christmas opening.
Here they are:

I had to be extremely careful of UG hounds Tommy and Harry who were more than a little interested. Eek, perish the thought!
Naughty doggies:

The Doves, at £120 each, would make an ideal and very beautiful present for someone special this Christmas, as would many of the superb paintings on display. We are open until the 23rd so you have plenty time to come in and pick your favourite.

Speak soon x

Plight of the Bumblebees from NYC

Hello everyone,

Some of you will remember the amazing installation 'The Hunt' by Hannah Haworth that we were lucky enough to have in the gallery last December.  A magnificent knitted work of life-size dogs pulling a sledge.

Such is Hannah's love of the natural world, and such is her talent as an artist, she was one of the very first people we approached to contribute to the current exhibition, Plight of the Bumblebee. And, in her usual manner, she set about creating something special for us.  Here is the result:

A stunning army of life-size knitted bumblebees, 50 in total, which currently adorn our window sill.  They are made from merino wool, kindly donated by suppliers Malabrigo, and are perfect in every way.  Just have a look at this:

Hannah became a little obsessed with accuracy, and we are hugely grateful for all the work she put into this project.

Sadly for those of you who fancy a perfect little knitted bee, they are not for sale.  When you buy an artwork from this exhibition to support the bees, we are happy to give you one as a thank you.  Numbers are dwindling already.....

Hannah  also produced a limited run of 5 Honeybee Woodcuts that are also showing this month.  Each is numbered and unique, as well as being beautifully formed:

'Bee IV' by Hannah Haworth.

More bee news very soon.....

A Dog's Life

Hello eveyone

I recently posted a blog as a nod to all the studio cats out there - past and present.
As promised, now it's time for the hounds. They say that dogs age 7 years in comparison to us humans, so for the purposes of this blog, I've tried to narrow it down to 7 lucky pooches.  I apologise in advance to any 4 legged friends I have not included....I may have let an extra one or two slip in.
As with the pussy blog, I will start with my own:

Spring Hippo! Many of you will already be familiar with Tommy ('Tickles') the boxer. He's a loving and loyal companion who is aprroaching his twilight years. Everyday with Tommy is a blessing now. He's getting a bit older and has a touch of arthritis, so he needs some extra TLC.  At Union Gallery we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a bespoke knitted jumper c/o artist Hannah Haworth. Thanks Hannah!
Tommy is from Boxer Welfare Scotland. If you want to give a squishy face a new home then take a look:

http://www.boxerwelfarescotland.co.uk/

Next:

Hmm. This is Harry the insane Dalmation. Harry is also 'recycled'. Indeed, we are Harry's 4th owners at the tender age of 3. Although it's been hard work and realistically Harry is not allowed a single spot inside my studio, I love him dearly for his madness. Remember the golden rule; "a dog is for life not just for Christmas". All that's spotty is not all fairytales and 102 Dalmations!
All the way from NYC:

This is Cocoa, studio companion and (sometimes) model to artist, sculptor and knitting genius Hannah Haworth. Here she is modeling that coveted jumper. Cocoa is also a rescue dog and I think she has landed on her paws being taken in by someone like Hannah.
Introducing:

Lovely Leda, compadre of deadly talented artist Dylan Lisle. I had the honour of having my face licked off by Leda just the other night whilst discussing Dylan's next exhibition in 2012. HINT....it's going to be incredible!
Next up:

The back ends of Pip & Oscar! These 2 beautiful pointers are a continuing source of inspiration (and exasperation) to award winning artist Janet Melrose. This photo was taken on a recent studion visit in preperation for Janet's solo exhibition "A Still Life", in May. HINT....it's also going to be stunning and some wise early birds are already pecking around.
Nearly ending on this fella:

This is Rufus, sporting his winter coat. Another model, companion and inpiration to award winning sculptor Barabara Franc. HINT....Barbara Franc's first solo exhibition in Scotland, "Diversity", opens on Thursday 14th April, interest is high and I can guarantee that you won't see another exhibition like this. A huge thanks in advance to Barbara for all her hard work.

Ending with this fella:

This is Humphrey. I have a soft spot for 'Humfs' as I affectionatley call him.....and his master. He is constant studio companion to figurative artist Frank McNab, who I visited recently to have a look at his compelling work. You can take a closer look at Frank's work here:

http://frankmcnab.com/index

Incidentally, if you don't come in and see the excellent work in the current exhibition "Making Waves" then you'd be barking mad!

Signing off......Cruella De Vil.....

Sea of Souls

Hello everyone

And a warm welcome to our latest follower. Nice to have you with us.
It's also nice to break the 80 following barrier. Hip hip hurrah!

So I promised to show you some footage from the "Making Waves" opening. I am ashamed to report that I failed miserably. I am not ashamed to admit that it was because I was having too nice a time, chatting with the artists and visitors to the gallery, and generally enjoying the work on the walls....an absolute perk of the job, and by jingo the work is good!
I did however manage this wee snap:

I wanted to capture the gentle ambiance of multi media artist, Marcela Trova's installation, "Sea of Souls". A captivating and enchanting piece of work that is both relaxing and thought provoking to be around. I would urge you to come and spend some time with it and the breathtaking paintings on display while you still can.
This is Czech artist Mracela Trsova installing "Sea of Souls":

I have to praise Marcela. She spent a whole day up on UG's wobbly ladders (I remained calm!), installing the work. It was a painstaking process with no way to hurry it up. Getting the work to flow right depended on the placement of each fish in relation to the others. Every time one was adjusted Marcela had to be patient until it stopped moving. Much like Hannah Haworth's installation "The Hunt" which we exhibited at Christmas, "Sea of Souls" is another labour of love. There are 13 individual fish here and it took Marcela an average of 3 days to perfect each one. Many a cut finger too!
Have a shifty over this to learn more about the work:

http://www.uniongallery.co.uk/index.php/Artists/Artist/marcela_trsova/

I did manage one other photo from the opening:

It's a photo of seascape expert Hazel Cashmore's rather fabulous shoe.
Hazel does of course have 2 feet....for some reason I only thought to photo one.
I would quite like a pair of these shoes for myself!
Leaving you with this:

Ladies and gentlemen....introducing the one and only Ullysses!
I am enjoying having Jon Dawkins and Anne Rhodes staying with us in our now tidy house. (YES it's TRUE...the house is actually clean!) Largely thanks to the best cleaning co in town:
turboclean@live.co.uk
Jon was most taken by the previous pussy blog and kindly showed me this excellent photo.
I think it's fair to say Ullysses is quite simply Top Cat.


Have a great weekend x

Ending with...

Hello everyone

Firstly, I want to say a huge thanks to all 20 of the artists that made "Small and Perfectly Crafted" so, well, perfect! As there were so many different styles on show it made for a really visually stimulating exhibition. Just the thing to kick-start a new year.
So it was lovely, on the last weeknd of the exhibition, to have an unexpected visit from the lovely artist Cathy Campbell:

Cathy Campbell's still life paintings are truly delicious.
Earlier in the week:

Plotting and planning with artist and partner in crime Stewart Bremner. I was treated to a very tasty supper with home made bread, also delicious.
All the way from NYC:

My father is having a cultural vacation in the Big Apple. I thought it would be nice if he visited Hannah Haworth, creator of "The Hunt", to see her first solo exhibition in New York. Unfortunately, he arrived on a Sunday and the gallery was closed. Thanks for your efforts though Dad, and for sending photographic evidence that you did actually make the trip! This photo is of Auldjo family friend Ian Ferguson. Looks like they're having a good time.
Leaving you with this:

Brave Forsythia is always a welcome blast of colour in February. I think it will also be the perfect floral accompaniment for the next, powerful exhibition:

and....

Being Human opens this Thursday and is definitely an exhibition not to be missed.

Labour of Love

Hello everyone

Sore hands from moulding the wire bodies, six months of solid knitting, countless balls of wool later, and 'The Hunt' was born.

'The Hunt' by Hannah Haworth.

I kid you not, the amount of painstaking work that has gone into this installation is mind-boggling. Hannah even made the sledge herself from found green oak. A true labour of love. It reminds me of a really gorgeous Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, 'The Wild Swans'. Read it here if you're not familiar with it:

http://hca.gilead.org.il/wild_swa.html

I'm not sure if you can tell from the images (look at Hannah's page on the website), that this is a large scale work.

However, its not just that it's visually impressive and satisfying to look at. The concept behind the work is equally beautiful and thought provoking; based on an old Inuit Folktale. All this from such a young artist (Hannah's only 21). I think Hannah's work is very special indeed and I intend to enjoy the precious time I will have with 'The Hunt'.

If you are passing you simply must come in to see and learn more about 'The Hunt'....it's not something you will see everyday! Then, once you've recovered from the excitement you will get an eyeful of some particularly fine paintings.

 Not sure it gets much better!

THE ANIMALS ARE COMING........

"One day she did not return from her fishing and so she was searched for, he reached her spot but it was deserted. And so he began looking for her tracks – they led directly away into the vast interior. It began to get dark as he ventured inland more and more. As night fell, he became sure that her feet were bare. They became smaller and smaller the further he tracked her. As he continued, one of her feet became wolf while the other remained human. As she was like that, he turned back"
"The Hunt" by Hannah Haworth.

Old Inuit folktale