Horses for Courses of Alice and Paint, Embroidery, Sculpture, Photography with Coffee and Cake!

Well then, it must be time for the Holy Trinity 2012  Art Exhibit! This is my favourite event in the church social calendar. Each year the quality of the work on display amazes me. This year we had work exhibited from one very promising 7 year-old artist to another very successful local artist in his 90's!  By the time the exhibit is mounted there are usually around 300 works displayed.  For the first time we also included photographs.

The weather on Friday was the worst it could possibly be as rain and wind lashed and battered everything the ventured outside. No one in England and Wales escaped the onslaught. I feared being blown away off the steps as I forced myself through the tempest to the waiting  cab -- indeed I had no wish to go at all -- no one in his or her right mind wanted to venture out that day. However, I was committed and off I went...

The first artist has arrived and is  handing over his paintings

Mounting an art exhibit is a complicated business -- even one that lasts for such a short time -- from 10.00 a.m. 6.00 p.m. Saturday from 12.00 Noon until 4.30 p.m. Sunday. Several months before forms are sent out and requests are made for exhibitors. We charge a fee of 2.50 to hang each picture, but if the we do not take any commission if the artist's work should sell. From the first paintings, it is only a few hours before 280 entries have been hung and we are ready for things to begin! 

This is all thanks to the very hard work of many volunteers. I was of absolutely no use at all when a picture I had decided to move slipped out of my hand and tumbled resolutely to the floor. The frame had broken apart but the glass and photograph were not harmed. Fortunately it was repairable and able to be re-hung the next day. As a result, I decided no more hanging for me and skulked back to escorting artists to where they could deposit their work. This meant I didn't have to touch anything!

It an important part of our ethos to encourage all artists young and old! This artist is 7 years old and shows a lot of promise and we were verypleased to have as our youngest exhibitor...

The handmade pieces above were all done by a local girl while recovering from an illness. We were very pleased to learn that two of her pieces sold!

Fortunately the weather on Saturday and Sunday was perfect: the sun shone, but it wasn't so warm that people would be heading for a day at the beach. We had a good number of people through the door and at by the end were very happy with the number of paintings that sold. And, yes, I bought one!

Each year we have a special exhibit of a local artisan and this year was a wonderful display of rocking horses. In addition to the amazing horses were other handmade wooden pieces including teddy bears, 3 dimensional scenes from Alice in Wonderland,  jewellery and clocks. Woodlove and Lovewood make all of their hand-crafted  pieces in solid wood. Did you know that the rocking horse is not a creation of the Victorian era, but that many models have been found in ancient tombs?

According to their literature:

The distinguising features are the heads which are all hand carved and have different expressions. The body and head are constructed of Julutong, the legs of Beech, for strength and the stand of Mahogany. These horses are then hand painted and have full leather tack and real horse hair is used for mane and tail.

Some of the woods  used in the clocks are not available from timber merchants, being now very rare, and have been culled from old buildings and furniture, making them well over one-hundred years old. If you want a clock made from Granny's old kitchen table, we will advise.

The idea is for the artisan to show how he accomplishes his work, and it was very interesting and even amazing to see the many steps in this labour of love, it takes to make each rocking horse.

The manes and tails are made of real horse hair... 

I love these table top horses! 

I meant to go back and buy a couple of these adorable bears... :-(

Hidden to the left is our youngest artist!

(Neither the church nor I are benefiting in any way from writing about Woodlove and Lovewood...)