Jo Burton Sculptor and teacher of woodcarving
Exhibiting at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, WA6 6SE : 8.11.24 – 21.12.24
I am delighted to be exhibiting 3 pieces at the Castle Park Arts Open Exhibition from 8th November – 21st December 2024. Its a lovely exhibition, well worth a visit with some great artists, both established and up and coming.
I will be at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum with Oxton Art Fair on 16th and 17th November this year I am really looking forwards to it. A lovely event, lots of fabulous artists and plenty of potential Christmas presents.
I have some new work that I will be taking. Drop in and join us on Saturday or Sunday.
More information can be found at www.oxtonartfair.co.uk
For many years my workshop has been located in the conservatory at the back of my house. It has had the advantages of having great light, a good even temperature as it is north facing and being conveniently near to the kettle.
After many years I decided to have a new workshop and spent a great deal of time selecting a large shed. I wanted to keep the advantages, so large windows were a must for the light, large enough for my workbench, storage and for moving around, plenty of head space and for an airy feeling, good ventilation to help on hot days, insulation to help on cold days and large door for easy access.
I chose a 8ft x 10ft shed with height 7ft from Axis Sheds. It was made over a 6 week period. I asked for an extra window heavy duty frame to allow for insulation, a breathable membrane an an air vent. It was delivered and assembled and I love the quality. It is light and airy and the double doors make access easy. Before moving in I insulated the walls and the ceiling and then cladded the interior with pine cladding and plywood. I have not had electricity installed as I only tend to carved in natural day light and do not use electrical tools often – but we will see!!
I then started to move my bench and tools in.
The space has developed and improved with the addition of another worksurface, more tools and shelving to take plastercine models, books, magazines and yet more tools.
It is now just great for carving in, the light is great and I have not missed electricity as yet this summer. I have created a curtain that can be hung outside the windows from greenhouse shading netting to use on sunny hot days, but have not needed to use it much this summer!! The temperature has been fine, although we still have to see how winter goes. I am thinking about either a solar panel on the roof or an electricity supply to provide the power to run a small unit to take the chill off in winter and keep the damp out if it is necessary.
I store wood and sculptures in the house where temperature and humidity are easier to control.
So happy with my new space.
This Summer I am taking part in Wirral MakeFest on 1st June at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum and Wirral Open Studio Tour on 8th-9th June from my workshop in Heswall. The exciting news is that I have a new studio arriving this Wednesday and hope to have it set up intime for WOST, so I am really busy with preparations. I would love you to call by and see the studio and new pieces of work. Details of locations can be found in the WOST brochure or online at wirralarts.com and for Make Fest at wirralmakefest.org
I have carved a number of pieces this year including Gaia, a swirling form of interacting shapes creating balance and harmony, and my ‘Seaweed Ladies’, abstracted human forms that give every appearance of communicating with one another. I have continued my experiments with mobius strips in spalted beech.
I have also submitted work to exhibit at the Liverpool Art Fair, as part of Affordable Art and am approaching a couple of new shops to stock my work – exciting times. More to follow on this soon.
To start the residency of the five artists taking part have displayed their work so that students and staff start to get to know a bit about us and our work. This should lead nicely into working with groups of students to share experiences and a bit about our practice.
Much to my delight I have been selected to be an Artist in Residence at Chester University in the Department of Art and Design as part of the Artists into Art Colleges programme for 2022-23. There are 6 artists taking part this year.
It will involve working in the department both with students and with other artists. I hope to do some carving in the department and enable students to experience it if they are interested. As a group of artists we will talk to students about our experiences of being working artists.
I will also be working with the other artists, possibly independently or collaboratively to produce work for a final exhibition which will take place in Chester in February (more details to follow). Initially we will have a small exhibition of our existing work in the department as a means to introduce ourselves to the students and staff. Then start to work on our ideas and start to make art! I suspect my next few posts will look at how this developes.
I have been invited to take part in an exhibition at Oakmere in Cheshire this year and so I am preparing some new carvings for this and other exhibitions. Here are the first two. More to follow soon.
‘Ocean Wave’ is now completed and has been selected to take part in the open exhibition at the Williamson Art Gallery from 5th-29th April.
I have nearly completed a piece in tulip wood called ‘Reawakening’. It just needs its final coat of wax and the plinth finishing.
My last few posts have been about carving a wave form from the start of an idea, making it in plastercine, carving it in lime and applying oil and wax to finish. I have called the piece Ocean Wave. I guess it will evoke different memories for different people. For me the Mobius strip at the centre reminds me of the welling strength of the sea when we went surfing as children, and sitting listening to the rhythmic sound of the waves on the shore.
Once the Wave Form had been smoothed I used an old T shirt to apply a coat of Danish oil and turps. The turps thins the oil so that it sinks into the surface of the wood, nourishing it and sealing it as it dries. It takes 2-3 days to dry depending on the temperature. Then a second coat was applied. a thin coat that completed sealing the work, but not so thick that it becomes shiny. Again this is left for 2-3 days to dry. Finally I applied a coat of bees wax (not a synthetic wax) and buff it up to give a silky smooth tactile finish.
Only when oil and wax have been applied can you see the depth of colour and the grain which are enhanced by the oil.
Now what to call it?
Exhibiting my work is an exciting part of producing and selling it. It gives me the chance to chat to people who are genuinely interested in art and sculpture about what inspires my work and how it is produced.
The first stage is to choose the type of event and the location that will be most suitable to showcase your work introduce not to the public. This can be anything from craft fairs, arts fairs, open studio tours, exhibitions, online events or art shops. This decision matters. Different people will visit each of these venues and they will have different expectations of the type of work they wish to see and perhaps buy. I have found open studio tours and art fairs to suit my work better than craft fairs. I also like showing my work in shops and at exhibitions. Generally I enjoy events where I can meet and chat to the public.
Once the decision is made and events identified I try to get onto the mailing list so that I am notified when the event is inviting applications. This is often months in before the event. Application forms vary greatly, but generally ask for photographs of work, dimensions, prices and information about the artist and their work. I am nearly always developing and making new pieces and try to have new work available for exhibition so that people always have something they have not seen before.
If accepted I always spend sometime updating my website with event information, new works and images. My next exhibition is with the Tate Aisle Gallery at Birkenhead Park Visitors Center 6th-20th August 2022.
As the event approaches it will advertise itself, but I always share information on Facebook, distribute flyers and let as many people as I can know about the event. The events I attend are usually exhibiting the work of a number of artists, so it benefits everyone if it is well publicised.
During the last couple of days before the event I check that all my work is ready to exhibit, labelled, priced and packed ready to go. I then deliver it and either set up or oversee the display of my work. If there is an event launch I make every effort to attend because it is fun, a chance to chat to other artists and to the public.
At some events you need to be present throughout, at others you may be asked to be there a couple of times to greet and chat to visitors. Sometimes there is an opportunity to run a workshop or give a presentation. These a great opportunities as people love to have a go and love to see how work is produced. This can lead to commissions and to people asking for tuition in my workshop at a later date.
At the end of course unsold work needs to be collected and safely taken home. Generally I find the experience very positive and really enjoy being involved as fully as possible.