Exhibitions opening

Tomorrow is the opening of the 19th Annual Miniature Show at the Seaside Gallery in USA, and above are my three paintings on show there. Its not a very good photo but the only one I have of them framed. There are over 550 miniatures included from artists all over the world. You can also view the whole show online . I was delighted to hear that the Chimpanzee has already found a new home! The exhibition runs until June 5th.

The 18th Annual Miniature Show at Parklane Gallery in the US also opens this week (May 4th to June 6th) but I don't yet know if my work has even arrived there unfortunately. Hoping they have, here they are framed: (Update - now I know they arrived as the entire exhibition is now available to view online.)

Although it doesn't open until May 24th, the Wildlife Artist of the Year exhibition organised by the David Shepherd Foundation is also now available to view online - and even though my gorilla painting is only 3.25" x 2.25" I was rather amazed to see they have blown it up to fill the whole screen! No need for a magnifying glass then :)

lambs and swallows!

We enjoyed the fine weather on sunday with a visit to a friends farm where lambing is well under way. Saw the first swallows of the year as well! Could spring have arrived?
The swallow painting below was done for The Orkney Book of Birds which came out at the end of 2008. We have just released signed prints of the illustrations from the book - they are available in two sizes and for more information or to order please click here.

Swallows © Tracy Hall 2008

Kittens in the garden

'Stepping Out' © Tracy Hall 2010

20" x 28" watercolour on board

Finished up the painting of the cat family in the garden this morning and scanned it to send off. Haven't had a chance to colour proof it yet though, but it looks pretty close on my monitor. This one is a combination of lots of references and some made up bits - the steps have appeared in at least three of my paintings in various guises and gate colours, the flowers are all from the garden and the cottage in the background is about five miles away and very pretty in the summer. But in reply to an email no, this place doesn't exist in real life :) Now back to the Dolls House.

In progress, sba and disruptions

Work in progress (detail photo above and on the easel below) © Tracy Hall 2010

Currently working on the above painting of kittens in a cottage garden and should be finished soon. In the planning stages is another larger piece of a dolls house and am still working on the miniature of a komodo dragon in between.

The Society of Botanical Artists Silver Jubilee Exhibition opens today at Westminster Central Hall in London and will be well worth a visit if you are in or near London over the coming week. It ends on Sunday 25th and Katherine Tyrrell has a preview on Making a Mark.

We were planting an acre of tatties yesterday with the distinctly unpleasant sulphur smell hanging over the islands but there is not much ash here, just a thin dusting on the car. Had to alter a flight south this morning in the hope that airports might be reopening sometime soon (and looking forward to getting some post again as well) but do feel for all the poor souls affected by the volcano right across Europe. Didn't honestly expect to ever be referring to a volcano in a blog post from Orkney.

Le nichoir wild bird rehab center

'Look Out' © Tracy Hall 2010

7" x 5" Pencil on board

Lindsay D'Aoust runs a beautiful Peony nursery, La Pivoinerie D'Aoust, in Canada and has been kind enough to help me when I have needed to a paint particular specimen in the past. It turns out she also helps to run Le Nichoir Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center and is coordinating a 'Wildcard' event to raise funds for a new Conservation Centre.

Artists from all over Canada (and beyond!) donate a 5" x 7" piece of artwork which is sold for a fixed price of $65 at a special gala cocktail in Montreal in August - a fast paced sale and with the added fun of not knowing whose work they have bought beforehand as they are only signed on the reverse. All works will be available to preview online prior to the event.

Digital Economy Bill

I have been very busy lately and somehow managed to miss much of the furore surrounding this new bill, with particular regard to Section 43 concerning changes to the existing copyright laws. This bill is being rushed through parliament at breakneck speed so it can pass into law before the upcoming election - without proper debate or time for scrutiny. The bill was given a second reading yesterday and will be hurried through its final stages today.

Worryingly, even the government themselves don't seem to grasp how it all works as the recent poster campaign debacle proved. As Jeremy Nicoll observes, you couldn't make it up...

© stop43.org.uk

I struggled to make sense of the rather vague wording of the bill, but this does all seem eerily similar to the recent Orphan Works Bill in the US. Whilst no doubt money will be made and palms are being greased, why do you get the sinking feeling they almost certainly don't belong to the artists and creators?

Contact your MP and express your concern - template emails and advice can be found here.

Links:
STOP43.org.uk
The Royal Photographic Society
Article in the Guardian
Digital Economy Bill ( the relevant part is here given as 'Section 42')

UPDATE - Sanity prevailed! Clause 43 was removed from the bill.