Jill Blakey Art

I am so excited to be doing this event! I feel like I have such an affinity with Cornwall Place Kitchen. They, like Jill Blakey Art, began their life during the lockdown chaos of 2020, taking the bold and brave step to open this fabulous place despite the obvious challenges of that time period. They have since made an incredible, thriving business which supports lots of local businesses.

At this event, you will be welcomed with a yummy cocktail or mocktail (included) and following some demonstrations by yours truly, they will set about creating their very own abstract masterpiece. Everything you need will be provided: good quality acrylic paints and deep edge cotton canvases plus a variety of palatte knives, brushes and tools, so that everyone can have a really good play around. I will provide guidance and tips along the way, but ultimately I want you to let out your creative energy and really experience the freedom of abstract art. I am sure that everyone will go home with a piece of art you are excited to hang straight on their wall. During the evening there will be plenty of time to enjoy a sweet treat from Pure Patisserie (included) and Cornwall Place’s bar will be open for other food and drinks as well.

So, what are you waiting for, grab a friend, or come on your own and let your creative juices flow onto your very own canvas! Just make sure you aren’t wearing any clothes you don’t want to end up looking like an abstract masterpiece themselves!

Contact Cornwall Place Kitchen directly to secure your ticket. Places are limited.

I had a lovely visit last summer from Teresa at Obsidian Art Gallery during Bucks Art Weeks. She fell in love with my artwork but as a Gallery they weren’t sure they had an audience for my work. Non-the-less we agreed they would take a few pieces this January as a trial.

Fast forward to now, you can imagine my joy at receiving a call to tell me that, only 4 days after delivering the artwork to Obsidian Art Gallery, 3 out of the 6 pieces on display had already sold! 

The Shape of Style, a framed Movement of Moments piece and a framed Twists of Fashion piece had captured the imagination of a couple who’d come into the gallery over the weekend.  

Pieces now on display in Obsidian are: Twists of Life #3, Twists of Life #6 , Movement of Light, The Shape of Movement, The Shape of My Love, Movement of Moments and another framed paper piece which is not currently available on my website.  

I’m delighted to have my artwork on display in such a lovely space alongside some incredible artists like Mark Monroe-Preston and Alexandra Buckle and Emily Ward. I’m even more delighted that it’s got off to such a positive start!

I exhibited at Art Fair East in Norwich on the 1st-4th December 2022 and it was a fabulous weekend.  

Art Fair East showcases national and international artists, galleries and dealers in the spectacular setting of St Andrews Hall, at the heart of Norwich city centre. The quality of the art on display really blew me away. It was a very cleverly curated exhibition which left no artists competing against each other as no two stands were the same. The variety on show made for a really exceptional experience for the many visitors who came. The publicity of the event was so strong that despite the times we are living in (hello cost of living crisis) visitors were at times queueing out the door to get into the event! And there were plenty of people actively looking to buy art, which was nice to see.

I happily sold a good number of paintings, plus “The Cube” which was the hand-painted table I had my business cards etc on. I hadn’t really thought through what I would do with all my stuff without the table but luckily fellow artist Bella Bigsby came to my rescue with an accidental over order on tables.

Some of my artwork I had on display included pieces from the Movement, Shape & Twists collections.

I was also really surprised and flattered to have a number of people come to the event specifically to see me! Not friends or family but wonderful strangers who follow me on Instagram! What a lovely compliment!

All of the artists and galleries showing their artwork at this event were warm, welcoming and friendly, there was no-one at all who had an air of the stereotypical elitist Artist. There was something there for everyone and I really couldn’t have had a more positive experience of my first time exhibiting not just at Art Fair East but in the East of England full stop. Loved it and definitely hope to be back next year!

What a wonderful experience it was exhibiting at the New Artist Fair in the super cool area of Bricklane, London.

Obviously the main highlight was the delicious salt beef bagel from the infamous Beigel Bagel! But other than that, it was just such a pleasure getting ‘out there’ with my artwork!

I met so many fabulous artists whom I would now call friends, who provide me with a much needed network in the industry. I received so much positive feedback on my art and on my stand as a whole.

To top it off, I made a few sales! I was lucky to get a lot of support from family and friends in London who popped along to see me at my first Art Fair, it was such a delight getting to experience the buzz of the whole thing.

I am super excited to be taking part in my first ever Art Fair at the New Artist Fair on the 23rd-25th September in The Old Truman Brewery in Bricklane. 

Since 2011, the New Artist Fair has worked hard to become one of the most popular artist-led art fairs in London which displays artwork of the highest quality from emerging and recently established artists from the UK and around the world. I am delighted to be one of over 90+ super talented and varied new and emerging artists to be exhibiting at this event.

Get your tickets here for the New Artist Fair: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/new-artist-fair-london-23rd-to-25th-of-september-2022-tickets-384676085527

I genuinely feel pretty overwhelmed by how positive an experience I had taking part in Bucks Art Weeks 2022

Here is how it went and my reflections:

Firstly I have to say a huge thank you to my family for supporting me to make the fortnight happen. When you’ve got 2 young kids, doing something like this is not straight forward but I’ve had the best support.