The Space Norwich - Artwork Installation May 2012

I am pleased to announce that I have installed a series of landscape works at The Space in Norwich. This amazing location was kindly secured by the Secret Art Collector as part of an ongoing project and fantastic collaboration with the team at The Space. 

I am hugely grateful to The Space for allowing us to get this project off the ground and for allowing us to hang work that suits their contemporary spacious venue in Norwich. A big thank-you to Secret Art Collector for all the hard work and dedication to pursuing opportunities, exhibitions, sales and potential clients and passionately believing in and representing a small selection of emerging artists.

My art work is currently hanging and available for sale or commission in the large atrium space that is bright and full of natural light. As soon as you walk in you are struck by the sheer scale of the place, perfect for hanging paintings!

A word from The Space about their venue:

'The Space is known for flexibility and good value for money providing: Conference rooms, meeting rooms, training rooms, seminar rooms, banquet halls, reception venues, board rooms and more. With space from 5 to 500 and facilities unique in Norwich, you really need to come and take a look! Whether you’re planning a conference, large corporate event, banquet, concert or any large event, our main event hall boasts a large flexible space with cutting edge production and audio equipment for up to 500 people.'

For more of my art work and commissions please see my website

May Art Shows

I will be show casing two books in the Turn the Page Book Art Exhibition at The Forum in Norwich on May 4th and 5th. there will be a whole variety of book art from near and far. To read more about the exhibition click here.
There will be an amazing range artistic book creations and I will be promoting part of my own personal project 'The Place' and 'Thoughts on Walls' Take a sneek peek at the online bookstore. Where you will find the walls of Norwich plastered in chalk writings of mine. Jenny Leonard Art Books.

I am pleased to say one of my drawings will be featured in the new Norwich based art and illustration  'Sidlezine' part of a new project created by local artist Emma Ridgeway. (Links to the Sidlezine blog to follow!)

I have said a tearful goodbye to my little sketchbook full of drawings and it is now currently touring in America as part of the Art House run sketchbook project. It has recently been in the Brooklynn Art Library, here are some amazing pictures of all the thousands of sketchbooks available to read... What a project! Read their fantastic blog about it all here

Wonder if anyone has flicked through mine yet?! I left my twitter address in the back of it so I'm dying to get that tweet from someone who happened to read it over coffee across the world!

Lots of art commissions happening this summer, and equally lots of competitions I want to enter and art shows coming up, so thats all from me... off the keyboard and back to tha paintbrushes and pens. Take a look at my website for more artwork, murals, projects and commissions: www.jenny-leonard.com

April 11th - In the Daily Mirror Paper

 

Really excited to have my murals and paintings featured in The Daily Mirror today - had an amazing amount of hits on my new art website, lots of new enquiries and another magazine who want to feature my mural work in their commercial interiors revamp section! So long may it continue! 

Read the full article here Daily Mirror

April Art Shows in Norwich

The Norwich based 'Making Space' art collective have selected 6 pieces of my work to go in the April art show at St Gregorys Centre for the Arts. See my art website for more Plaster Landscape work currently for sale or commission a new piece of artwork!

St Gregory's Centre for the Arts, St Gregory's Church, Pottergate, Norwich, NR2 1ER. Just by the BirdCage pub in town. We hope to see you there!

Friday 30th and Saturday 31st In Norwich...

I will be showing some paintings and work in this exhibition this weekend, please pop in if you are in Norwich, its sunny out, its free, and theres lots to see!

Upcoming Shows and Exhibitions March 2012

Tin Pan Alley in Norwich presents a night market and bar with 4 floors of vintage stalls, antique stalls, clothing, jewellery, furniture and homewares. On Saturday the 24th of March from 5 - 10pm and Sunday 25th of March 11 - 4pm. I will be showing some paintings in the fantastic space opposite Cinema City Norwich. A previous commission client are now using my drawings on their website at: 'The Good Room' will also have a stall selling upcycled furniture. Make it down to the Market for a unique night of entertainment, shopping and interesting things to browse and oogle at. We hope you can make it.

I had a successful talk and great response with my work at the Wymondham Art Society this month with a 2 hour informal talk on portraiture and caricatures. I will be doing more like this in the Norfolk area soon so please contact me for further information.

I will be showing some new painting work with the 'Norwich Craft Village' on St Benedicts St this month on the 30th and 31st of March. They will be showing a range of painting, textiles, ceramics, wood, glass and jewellery. With free entry and Arts from Norfolk and Scandinavia on show for two days at St Margarets.

Next month on April 14th I will be doing some live portraiture and caricatures for the day of the Norwich Makers Market from 11am - 4pm on Earlham road in the Golden Triangle. There promises to be lots of other interesting little bits to find around the market showcasing local Norwich talent. So pop down and see us!

In May I will be showing my artist books with Turn The Page at the Forum for an artists book fair and exhibition. More details to come sooner the time!

In other news I have a sketchbook on display at the Brooklyn Art Library in New York City and touring show with 'The Sketchbook Project 2013' Sponsored by the Art House Heres a couple of images sneek preview from my sketchbook titled 'Tips for a Nice Existence'.

I will also have a snippet of some of this work published in the limited edition book about the project available to buy at the end of the year.

And finally a big thank you to freelance writer Josh Gibbs who wrote a fantastic blurb about our current landscape show at the art shop project on Earlham road:

“Emerging artist Jenny Leonard Explores the subject of landscape as a platform for the self to traverse, bringing about new discoveries of the changing nature of perceived reality. The travelling mind and its surroundings are key to the nature of the work. Indeed she adopts strong contrasts with her choice of media that render elements of the work to become simultaneously both microcosmic and more immediately tangible.”

The Arts Shop Project - Norwich

'Not Another Landscape' OPENING February 23rd at 5.30pm with www.jenny-leonard.com

I am pleased to announce I will be showing at this new arts location in Norwich in February and March. 40% of sales from the show will be donated to the NANSA charity the Norfolk sector of SCOPE. The landscape art exhibition will open its doors on February 23rd at 5.30 - 7pm with drinks and will run for the following month at the gallery. I will be showing alongside artists Chris Angell, Lorraine Forbes and Peter Rodulfo. I will be showing a selection of Plaster Paintings and Collage work at the exhibition all will be available to buy directly from the artshoproject.

Artshoproject

Gallery & Shop

The NANSA Art shop Project is located at 1 Earlham House Shops, Earlham Road, Norwich NR2 3PD. It includes an art gallery, shop and print workshop. They will soon be launching a website with and online gallery. Please see the Artshoproject section of the NANSA website for more details.

The Artshoproject aims to provide a showcase for the work of artists from NANSA, other organisations and local artists in the wider community and offer training opportunities across a range of skills to young adults of varying abilities and enhance their employment & career prospects.


We hope you can make the show!

Upcoming Shows Feb 2012

Really please to announce I will be exhibited 6 of my larger scale landscape works at the annual Painting and Sculpture show at Candid Arts Trust in Angel. all paintings will be for sale and we hope to see you there for the opening on February the 9th.

The WeareVV collective exhibition: 

I was a part of the 'Show Your Face' show which is open until February 1st so get down to Cultivate on Vyner street if you're in the East London area. Amelias Magazine has done a good review of the show here.

Upcoming Shows Jan - Feb 2012

Please join us for the Female artists VV collective show at Cultivate Gallery, Vyner Street opening night on January 26^th at 7pm. The show is based around the theme of self portraiture and have two pieces that were made just last month for this selected submission show.

The Candid Arts Trust Painting and Sculpture show opens on February 9^th at 6.30pm and runs until the 19th. I’m thrilled to have been selected as a painter in this show after selling work last month at their Christmas Art Fair. The Candid Arts Trust is just 2 minutes walk from Angel Tube and is great space to be showing some of my larger paintings.

In Norwich in February...

For one month opening on February 6^th will be a series of contemporary landscape painting work on show at The Tea House - 5, Wrights Court  Elm Hill, Norwich NR3 1HQ. This cute little cafe is nestled in the oldest street in Norwich and serves wonderful homemade cakes, sausage rolls, scones and soups using ethical and fair-trade products. They have had a series of local artists showing work on their walls and I’m very pleased to be showing some adventures from the road there and all work will be for sale.

Hope to see you at some of the exhibitions and shows and happy new year!

Upcoming Exhibitions - January 2012

Happy new year to all! This month I will be showing at The Rumsey Wells: 'Art in the Underbelly' as part of this years 'Submit and Exhibit' group show. Opening night is on January 12th at 8pm.

Art in the Under Belly is creative exhibition and performance space in Norwich, UK. Housed beneath The Rumsey Wells, its aim is to offer artists the opportunity to exhibit in an intriguing and unusual environment.

Far from being another gallery, the space is a converted cellar packed into intimate surroundings. There are no white walls or large floor spaces, instead the walls and the space retain much of their original character adding to the individuality of the surroundings. The space is open Monday to Friday, 1-3pm and 12-5pm on Saturdays.

Showcasing new works or work previously not exhibited in Norwich, its monthly private views are based not only around the art on show but also a program of live music and DJ's, the aim being to bring another element to the already burgeoning Norwich arts scene. - Luke Emery Curator





I am also showing two self portrait paintings as part of the emerging female artist group the WEAREVV collective. Opening night is January 26th at 6pm and runs until February 1st at Cultivate, Vyner Street, E2 9HA, London.

"I paint self-portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best.” Frida Kahlo (1907 - 1954) Our 2012 members showcase exhibition is therefore centred on the theme-the self portrait. In so doing we have curated a show that is not only breathtakingly beautiful; but which also examines the way in which female artists perceive themselves, and the darker undertones therein." - WeareVV    Hope to see some of you at the private views nights in Norwich and London this month!

It's December so Happy New Year... Things to come...

I always get a little reflective at this time of year. I'm not sure if it’s the full moon, the snow, the Christmas spirit or the dawn of a new chapter but I thought I ought to end the year with a short and sweet blog post. I always count things in eras and I know as the clock strikes 12 when I’m in Frankfurt this year for new years I shall be thinking of all the things I want to do in 2012.

Firstly, thank you to anyone who stops by and reads this, wherever you've come from, whoever you are! I have had an excellent year and a record number of sales and commissions along with several art shows and exhibitions across the UK, which have lead me to say goodbye to some paintings which I had become very fond of, alas they have now left me and are off out into the world to find a new home, so thank you for all your support.

A quick rundown of the year?

I have been showing work in Notting Hill with Debut Contemporary Gallery for the last three months and just a few weeks ago was selected for my first art fair with the Candid Arts Trust in Angel. Both of which have been learning experiences for my artistic career. I’ve had mural commissions from Comm-Tech and Age Norfolk in Norwich, both of which had some very nice press coverage. I was even featured on a 20-second filler on the breakfast of BBC Anglia News at 7am in the morning! (THAT was a proud moment, especially seeing my name come up as ‘Jenny Leonard – Artist’)

I had my ‘Debut Day’ at the gallery and at the click of a retweet and a generous mention from John Jones London and Amelia’s Magazine I was a happy little artist making collages in the window all day. Now that’s something. Yes 2011 let me to succumb and join Twitter. Yes it’s useful, but for a moment there I was doing everything in 140 characters or less, even speech, thank goodness that’s stopped now. Yes in 2011 I have become largely more net-savvy. I mean just look at how many clickable and useful links I have inserted haphazardly into this post. I hear that’s good for ratings right? I even have a facebook page you can like, does that even help my paintings? But you name it, I'm trying it.

This year I’ve had time to actually make work and enter all competitions I found at the zap of a tweet. Whilst some hit me in the face with a big harsh rejection in my inbox others were surprisingly lucky and I even got into some great ones. These included Drawing Crowds at The Stone Space in London, Brinkmanship at the Coast Arts Festival in Norfolk, The Eastern Open at the Kings Lynn Arts Centre and Elements, Material Worlds, at The Forum in Norwich where I was happy to see all three of my plaster landscapes sell within an hour of the private view night. (Those little red dots scattered near the things you create really do make the work worthwhile)

Earlier last month I launched my new website www.jenny-leonard.com so please do stop by for a visit and a browse if you haven't done so already. Until the end of this year and probably trickling into the next, my work can be seen in the little gallery space (dare I call it a solo show) in the upstairs of Anteros Art Foundation in Norwich. It’s the one next to King of Hearts Cafe. Maybe my work will migrate down to the cafe next year where actual Earthlings hang out and drink sweet lattes from tall glasses and chat. Miracles do happen.

So what’s next? Well early next year I will be exhibiting in a group show in Norwich, Art at the Underbelly at the Rumsey Wells. The work will be available for sale and opens in January. I have also entered my books into a competition called ‘Turn the Page’ which will be selected soon and exhibited in the grand space at The Forum in Norwich. Lots of exciting work based around the form of the book will be on display, so I'll keep my fingers crossed for that one. I'm thrilled to be saying that 2 of my paintings have just been selected for the self portrait group show in January at the 'Show Your Face' exhibition with the VV collective for emerging female artists at Cultivate in Vyner Street, London.

And finally, I have started on some new painting / collage work, thanks to my fellow artist and friend Beth Nicholas who provided me with some off cuts of her beautiful work which you can see here. Which I have included in some new landscapes. We hope that 2012 will bring some more colloborations for us to make work together. So at the risk of blabbering on in this blog and thinking I have had some sort of artistic epiphany whilst plonking away on my keyboard I shall leave you with a few images of some of my new stuff and wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. All the best... Jenny.

Angel Christmas Show - Candid Arts Dec 9th - 11th.

The Angel Christmas Art Fair weekend went very well with a selection of painting work and plaster landscapes sold over the three days, here are some shots of the event at the Candid Arts trust in Angel, London:

 Opening night

My stand at the fair.

Close up of plaster landscapes available to buy.

More work available to see what was on show here:
www.jenny-leonard.com

Latest Exhibition November - December 2011

Jenny Leonard 'Distances'
www.jenny-leonard.com


Private View at the Gallery December 8th - 5 - 7pm

I am please to announce that I am now showing some of my plaster landscapes at the Anteros Arts Foundation in the lead up to Christmas. A selection of canvases and framed work will be available for sale. This includes some of my recent collage and painting work. The show will be on display in the gallery upstairs. To see some more of my plaster paintings from the series please click here.

Situated in Norwich city centre, Anteros Arts is just a few minutes walk from the city's Cathedral, past Tombland and historic quarter of Elm Hill. You’ll reach the River Wensum and once over the bridge you’ll see the corner façade of the King of Hearts Café.

7 - 15 Fye Bridge Street
Norwich
Norfolk

NR3 1LJ

Anteros Arts Foundation is committed to developing the arts in Norwich and the area, offering arts courses and bespoke tuition as well as presenting professional exhibition spaces both in Norwich city centre and the rural gallery at Bergh Apton. Housed in a beautiful Tudor building means Anteros has rooms and halls full of character and is great new place for me to exhibit work. I hope you can make it down to see my show if you happen to be in the Norfolk area. In the mean time please check out my new website at www.jenny-leonard.com

Buy Limited Edition Artist Book 'The Place'

In edition to this artist book being available online I have also launched a new art website which showcases my entire painting portfolio. Check out www.jenny-leonard.com for information regarding artwork, commissions, murals, and recent painting work now for sale.

The Place by Journey through materials, memory and text. |

This Artist book has been self published and shows a selection of visual work and excerpts from journals,
letters and sketchbooks from travels in Canada, America and New Zealand. The book spans the years
of my artistic practice with an overview of painting, collage, drawing and writing. It is available to buy
for a limited time by clicking the link above, and sums up where I find my inspiration, ideas and
influences for new work from the landscape.

Some quotes about my work:

"Through her work and travel, Jenny is on a search for 'a world within a world'. Her paintings explore the
traditional model of landscape painting via an exotic and otherworldly path. They resonate with colour and 
memory, whilst retaining a universal understanding."

-        -  David Smith, Rise Art

"Leonard's works are both raw and inaccessible, contrasting bare hessian with the unexpectedly polished finish
of plaster. They capture movement in a strange way: a crystallised dynamism, and an estranged journeyer on the brink."

-        - Sarah Ryan, Founder of online art gallery New Blood Art

Debut Contemporary Gallery

This was my work space for a day on November 12th as I sat in Debut Contemporary Gallery for my Saturday Debut. I had a series of my painting and collage works on display upstairs in the gallery as well as a show of sketchbooks, journals and portfolios to look through.

In between escaping into an A3 sketchbook to make mountainous scenes, seascapes and open horizons I could peer up at the open window onto a busy street in Notting Hill. I think it made an impression on the work, perhaps things became more vivid and picturesque to combat the hustle and bustle of the city outside. Luckily the window provided such good people watching when I needed a break I just looked up and made strange eye contact with passerby's. It is difficult to get people into a gallery setting sometimes. People can be scared to come into an empty space, just to look at things on the wall. Kind of like a comedy sketch - watch this You Tube Clip of a Gallery Skit French and Saunders did, (at 1.58 into this clip we see what most new visitors to an art gallery do!) It is an intimidating place after all. The idea of creating a workspace in the gallery to is to get people through the doors initially, to come see how the work is made, to ponder, wander, mooch and look.

People who did come in did just that, a couple even took photographs, I mark this as a sign of a good impression if they want to take it away with them in someway. So all in all, it was nice to work outside of the studio and away from the setting I usually make work in. It felt quite like being a zoo animal with people gawking through the plane glass at me frowning, smiling or turning their noses up. Heres some work made whilst in the space:

Some of the press and advertising for the event:

Sketchbook Archive

Jenny Leonard will be at the gallery on November 12^th exhibiting a wide selection of painting and collage works and making some pieces of work live at the gallery.

She will also be showing her archive of travel sketchbooks and journals that have informed her paintings over the years. Jenny has spent time living and working in Canada, America, Australia and New Zealand, and these precious books of sketches, notes and ideas will be on display for guests to peruse to see how this creative research informs the final outcome of paintings.

Jenny spent time over the last month creating handmade painted invites for this Saturday Debut and has invited local galleries, curators and art professionals to the event to see her work and realise her ideas through the feedback and opinions of the audience from seeing this body of work together as a whole for the first time.

Some upcoming contemporary art exhibitions at Debut Contemporary Gallery in Notting Hill. We hope you can make it! Link to some of my work at Debut Contemporary Gallery

October news - Murals and Exhibitions.

I will be showing two new collage and drawing works in the 'Brinkmanship' Contemporary Drawing Show as part of the 'COAST' the Cromer and Sheringham Arts Festival. In collaboration with the Norwich 20 group and the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society. 'Brinkmanship' opens on Saturday 22nd October at 6pm for the private view, and is on for a week at The Rocket House, The Gangway, East Promenade, Cromer, Norfolk.

COAST exhibitions and events - Brinkmanship

I will also be exhibiting some of my latest 'Accidental Landscapes' Plaster Paintings at the 'Making Space' exhibition at the Unthank Arms in Norwich.
Making Space Website

In commissions this month:
I have now completed a mural project in Norwich on Kings Street Cultural Quarter for the new Comm Tech Communications Centre. The mural depicts the timeline of the company and is on permanent display in the reception area of their new head office.

News coverage on the mural project click here.

Comm-Tech News and Information

Frieze Art Fair from my point of view...

Maybe I don’t belong here.

As I wandered around Frieze art fair for the third year running my brain couldn’t block out the alarming insistence that maybe this particular side of the art world just isn’t me.

I make art myself, I paint, I draw, doodle, cut things up, turn things inside out, build things, muck things up, stitch, sew, throw and splatter, hell, I even occasionally write things. You’d think all this would go hand in hand with seeing works at an art fair. But I’m afraid I couldn’t see the art for the people or the outfits. I watch people circle around the art like predators approaching mercilessly ready to capture something that means something (though we’re not sure what).

Crocodile skin pointy boots and mustard yellow fitted trousers are out in the dozens, and blimey there are a lot of those circular black glasses around. And tweed. Good lord the tweed. I also quite like the jackets with suede elbow patches - Vice Magazine would have a field day here.

The point is I don’t fit in here. I don’t look like a collector, or speak like one, I don’t get excited by the arty lingo or the fancy words. Therefore it seems I can’t talk to the galleries or other collectors because I don’t fit the profile. I’m here to support ‘the work’ and perhaps that’s the gap. People are no longer LOOKING at the work. They’re taking pictures of it, or tweeting about it.

We walk around the art fair with our heads in a big foggy bloggy cloud, riddled with opinions that are 140 characters in length, retweeted if they’re witty, followed if you’re lucky, with our tweets meeting the eyes of strangers wandering around the same tent just a few feet away. Grab the FRIEZE hashtag on twitter and there’s simply no need to look at the art anymore because it’s far more fascinating to see what the people at the fair are saying about it.

I watch as people approach artworks camera first snapping away at them, hungry to clip a piece of the art for themselves and ignore any shred of momentary contemplation, eager to reduce them to the graveyard of photographs lying stagnant on a hard drive, or post them online to replicate what hundreds of others have already posted online. This is why this particular blog has no images. They aren’t necessary.

At the end of the day I flopped onto the train back home and stared at my blood shot eyes inflamed from all the looking in the dirty train window. I preferred reading the frieze art fair newspapers in the comfort of my own thought space on the carriage than I did being amongst the chaos of the fair and its okay to say that. It’s okay to say frieze just isn’t for me. It doesn’t float my boat. (Oh don’t get me started on the boat).

Next year I’ll just read the reviews and spend the time in my studio where I feel I do belong.

Drawing Crowds Exhibition 5th - 19th November

One of my drawings has been selected in the upcoming Drawing Crowds Competition hosted at
The Stone Space www.thestonespace.co.uk

The Stone Space is a community led gallery space in Leytonstone supporting creatives from a diverse range of backgrounds and providing a space to create thought-provoking and exciting exhibitions and installations.

The exhibition will be curated by Eleanor Bedlow and Carne Griffiths, for more information visit www.drawingcrowds.co.uk

October Group Show Private View

Please email the gallery or me if you would like to be put on the guest list to the next Debut Contemporary opening night on October 5th.

I will be showing some more painting works along with the other debut artists. Last opening proved to be a very busy and exciting event, with stacks of great paintings and sculptures to see and some performance art in the basement, so do come along!

First Wednesday @ Debut Contemporary from Debut Contemporary on Vimeo.

The Artist Pitch - Debut Contemporary

I have been drawing since I can remember, and if you’d asked me back then at the age I am in the photo I would have just said ‘I’m going to be an artist.’ Now? I think I have a problem with that word, because it’s tough knowing when you transition from being someone who makes stuff into an artist. 

At yesterdays workshop the all important artists pitch reared its head. On a sunny street in Notting Hills Debut Contemporary Gallery we sat patiently and nervously and listened to one another sum up an entire history of their art practice in 60 seconds or less.

The thing is, I want to refer to myself as an artist but I’m not comfortable in saying that. What if I don’t use the right lingo in the correct tense, what if I fluff a few words when I’m trying to describe and justify my work? What if I inject a really great adjective into a really bad sentence? What if I just don’t have a good face or voice for networking in these art circles? What if (and I fear this could be the real issue) I have trouble even sounding coherent when I start to talk about my paintings?

Is it not enough to just try to look devilishly thoughtful as I ponder over the next sentence hoping that the words will fall out in the right order? Should I be more aloof. Yes I’ll be aloof. And then people will say, oh she’s just like that, she’s an artist you know. Perhaps if you ponder long enough when looking over your own self proclaimed masterpiece people will just think you’re so intelligent and philosophical that won’t dare question you.

When all is said and done, I guess the way you accompany your work at an art show should be a bonus not a hindrance, I’m not sure which I am yet.  One thing struck me yesterday from a fellow artist at Debut, he said the most important thing about painting to him is for the work to be honest. And if we all just strive to be just that, guess we can’t go far wrong.