Blog News, Views, Events & Inspiration...

It's May again, and time for two weekends of open studios in the 'Select Trail' Saturday 11th - Sunday 12th 11am - 6pm Saturday 18th - Sunday 19th 11am - 6pm -see the Select trail 'on line' catalogue filled with detailed images of exhibitions, lectures and events. At Frogmarsh Mill we will be exhibiting: mosaics, baskets, ceramics, paintings, jewellery including precious metals & stones & enamelware, also knitwear and finally hand bound books made from vintage and hand made papers by guest exhibiter Ursula Jeakins. If you would like to see inside my studio, and the garden, you will be able to do so when you visit Matthew Harris's studio.- see page 14 for details.

I have just created a range of A5 sketch book/note books with mosaic images on the front and backs . A complete assorted range for artists, poets, gardeners , private thoughts or recipes - images for all ages and interests with a lovely quality cartridge inside. £12.00 inc postage with paypal . I can also make A4 sketchbooks which would be great for photographs and cost £22.00 inc postage. e mail me for details

This exhibition was inspired by a trip to Japan, taken by two artists, husband and wife, Matthew Harris and Cleo Mussi in 2009. This Journey mirrors that of the Gallery’s Founders, Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes In 1884. For this exhibition, Matthew and Cleo have also selected and responded to the artefacts brought back by Merton and Annie almost 130 years ago which they have incorporated alongside the contemporary objects that they have collected and the work that they have created.

I have installed an exciting commission for the newly built: Vale Community Hospital in Dursley, Gloucestershire. This new building is on the site of an old railway track which ran a light goods and passenger train service for the local community. The Dursley Donkey will now be resurrected in the waiting area, so there will be lots of interesting details of china and memories stirred to distract you whilst you wait for your appointments. With much thanks to Prema Arts Uley for organising this commission.

A~Z a Face Book. Following on from “A~Z a Hand Book” show, Cleo Mussi’s mosaics put faces through their paces. From D for ‘Dolly Bird and’ Dandiprat’ to Q for ‘Queer as a Fish’ this compact show explores simple expressions of love in a ‘Kiss’ to more complex studies of Phrenological Heads and Xrays. There is also a good sprinkling of humour to keep you thinking.

The Lansdown Gallery, Lansdown, Stroud, GL5 1BN. Back for our 4th year and presenting another fantastic mix of contemporary crafts -working to support communities and the environment. Lots of gorgeous things for every one from £5- £500 with mosaics, jewellery, hand made books, basketry, drawings, small sculptures made from found objects inc. paper and fabric, as well as creatures from Little Wren House Factory. Friday November 16th - Sat 17th from 10am -5pm, Sunday 18th from 11am - 4pm. On Saturday, Stroud's multi award winning Farmers' market is just two minutes up the road.

This magazine has come out in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore this week.

This is a lovely day out with lots of makers work to see, demonstrations and workshops as well as yummy lunches too - also a very affordable plant stall ! I will have a broad range of work on my stand as well as pieces from my recent 50/50 show in Bath

Although I am exhibiting at Frogmarsh Mill , it will also possible to peek inside my Studio and see the garden as Matthew Harris www.matthewharriscloth.co.uk will be opening his studio as part of the Textile Trail .

Pharma’s Market is a mosaic installation, the culmination of a two-year research project exploring the contrasting imagery of historical and contemporary farming. It connects traditional ideas about food, agriculture and animal husbandry with modern developments in stem cell research and genetic modification. Although the setting of the exhibition is a traditional agricultural fair, visitors will experience an exhibition with a distinctly contemporary twist. I have an engaging story to tell, and my characters, from life-sized ‘robo-rabbits’ to ‘space scientists’ and ‘bucolic’ farmers, all jostle for their part in the plot. My stories are derived from the real world of science and medicine, albeit reconstructed through the process of my own particular visual imagination. Using recycled china to make the extraordinary figures, the surreal sense of humour is where I have made my mark. It’s as if the pieces of china I painstakingly chip at become fragments of DNA in my own genetic rearrangements of nature.