artwork

A Summer of Exhibitions

Exhibitions, News

As the season turns and the days shorten, it’s a good time to look back over the exhibitions during the summer. It’s been my busiest yet.

My painting, ‘Washing Dancing By the Sea’ did flutter near the sea all summer in the East Coast Open in the brilliant Scarborough Art Gallery. It was a treat to attend the Private View and meet the other artists (below). I still can’t quite believe it was accepted.

Judy Randle infront of a brightly coloured acrylic painting of a washing line with towels fluttering in the wind.
A gallery wall with a green lino print of Sheffield Winter Gardens in the foreground

A lino print of ‘ Sheffield Winter Garden’ was in the ‘Green City’ exhibition in the lovely Fronteer Gallery in Orchard Square, Sheffield in July.

In September, my favourite gelliprint ‘Voyage’ and a couple of lino prints were in the Open tent in ‘Art in the Garden’ in the beautiful Sheffield Botanical Gardens.

‘Winter in the Limb Valley’ made brief appearance at the local show.

A framed golden gelliprint and 2 lino prints in an art exhibition
Colourful acrylic paintings by Judy Randle on a red brick wall in an art exhibition, a glass case with framed prints is in the backgound

A week later, it was our All Good Stuff group exhibition ‘ A Plan Takes Shape…’ in the historic Butcher Works Gallery in Sheffield city centre – part of Heritage Open Days. It is always such a joy to exhibit with our friendly collective in this great space.

Finally, an exhibition of my prints continues at the friendly, volunteer run Totley Community Library. Phew!

A library with comfortable armchairs, a blue carpet and an exhibition of framed giclee prints by Judy Randle on the wall

I have been a bit lax in posting updates here but I update my Instagram account regularly (and in more detail). Head there for more images – see the ‘Contacts’ page.

I do have some very exciting news, which I’m not able to share yet … watch this space.

Exhibition ‘Midwinter’ @ The Shed – Saturday 3 February 2024

Exhibitions, New Prints Available, News

Delighted to announce a second joint exhibition with photographer Frances O’Connor, with a guest appearance by Angelina Perrett, on Saturday 3 February 2024 10.30am – 4.30pm, @ The Shed, Sheffield S17.

Inspired by snowy landscapes and wintry light, the exhibition will include photographs by Frances (including winter in Venice) and Angelina’s and my paintings and lino prints.

As before, greetings cards of my paintings will be for sale – with profits to UNICEF. New prints of my paintings and lino prints will also be available. We do hope you will be able to call in!

Exhibition at Totley Library

Exhibitions, New Prints Available, News

Delighted that some of my prints are now on display and for sale at the lovely Totley Library (or Totley Community Resource and Information Centre). This welcoming, light filled place is a volunteer run charity. It was bustling with activity when I dropped the giclee prints off. They have lots of events including films, story times etc and a Christmas Event on November 26th.

Colourful giglee prints in blues and greens by Judy Randle of Bempton Cliffs and Summer's Day Walk by the River
Totley Community Resource and Information Centre showing comfortable chairs, books on shelves and colourful blue and green prints by Judy Randle on the wall

There are a number of other artists’ works also on display. It’s open Monday 1-7pm, Tuesday and Wednesday 10am-5pm, Friday and Saturday 10am – 1pm. Pop along and take a look!

Thanks to the team for giving me this opportunity!

‘Botany’ at Fronteer Gallery – until 12 August 2023

Exhibitions, News

Delighted and honoured that my painting ‘Forest Network’ has been selected for a group exhibition ‘Botany’ at Fronteer Gallery, Orchard Square, Sheffield.

My little abstract painting is in impressive company and the exhibition includes a really brilliant mix of styles, media and subjects.

Abstract Acrylic painting by Judy Randle of trees and underground networks in blues, greys and burnt sienna

The Fronteer Gallery is up the stairs near Waterstones in Sheffield city centre, inside this brightly coloured building.

Photo of Orchard Square in Sheffield on a sunny day with a blue sky and brighly coloured mural on the wall. Inside is Fronteer Gallery

This lovely gallery is open on Tuesdays to Thursdays 11am – 4pm and Saturdays 2-5pm. A second exhibition ‘Small Textiles’ is running at the same time with more gems! Both exhibitions are on until 12 August. Pop in and take a look!

Also, more exciting news to come, I’ve just heard that a painting and a couple of my lino prints have been accepted for another exhibition … watch this space!

You can find more about the inspiration for this and my others paintings on my Instagram account @judyrandle_art .

Exhibition @ The Shed – Saturday 3rd December 2022

Exhibitions, New Prints Available, News

Delighted to announce a joint exhibition with photographer Frances O’Connor on Saturday 3 December 2022 10.30am – 3pm, @The Shed, 4 Dore Road, Sheffield, S17.

Inspired by the natural world, the exhibition will include her brilliant photographs and my paintings with the theme of ‘By the Water’.

Greetings cards of my paintings will be for sale – with profits to UNICEF. Some new prints of my paintings will also be available. We do hope you will be able to be able to call in!

Poster giving details of the upcoming exhibition @ The Shed on December 3rd 2022. Also, showing examples of colourful acrylic paintings and photographs included in the exhibition

Exhibition News!!

Exhibitions, News

You can see some of my Connections Series paintings at two exhibitions this Autumn…

D31 Gallery Autumn Exhibition

Delighted that two of my paintings will be part of the Autumn 2022 Exhibition at the D31 Gallery, Scot Lane, Doncaster, which opens on Saturday 15th October. I’m really looking forward to seeing them on the wall and to discovering the fantastic other work included! One of the paintings is also on their online site.

Colourful acrylic, abstract paintings of people dancing at a party in the Connections series by Judy Randle, Sheffield artist. Happy image of people dancing in blues, yellows and greens.

The Great Sheffield Art Show

They were accepted! Also, delighted that four of my paintings, a diptych and two single Connections paintings, are included in The Great Sheffield Art Show!

Many of you may remember this exhibition from when it used to be at The Octagon and then later at The Millennium Gallery in Sheffield.  This year, it is open online only – you can view some brilliant art on their website until 31st January 2023.  Please click here to take a look!

All these paintings are acrylic on canvas. Each painting measures 25cms x 30cms, they can be hung vertically or horizontally and will still flow. See my previous post for more details about the inspiration behind them.

‘Connections’ Series

Exhibitions, News

My new series ‘Connections’ started with two little acrylic paintings, which I tried to make flow vertically, ‘Skater’ and ‘Acrobats’. These were followed by a third ‘Family Dancing’, inspired by a long postponed party at my lovely sister’s in early August.

The party was the first time our scattered family had all been together since the start of the pandemic. It was just wonderful to see and chat to them again and also to old friends, who we had sometimes known for years, but who we hadn’t met recently. So this was the inspiration for the paintings – the party made me think how connections are formed and sometimes temporarily lost but then regained. I planned a series of paintings that would flow both vertically or horizontally in any order and could be rotated around – just like conversations at a party. I ordered a box of 10 canvasses (25 x 30 cms) and set to work…

Connections - Colourful abstract acrylic paintings (diptych) of a carnival in yellow, blue, green and turquoise of happy figures dancing at a carnival

I drew the design and, to avoid repainting, initially thought I would decide all the colours in advance, Bridget Riley style. This plan was abandoned pretty swiftly, I was too keen to get painting! Ten may have been a bit ambitious – only 7 completed so far, but a lesson learnt from earlier was that, to get a cohesive feel, it was better to work on several at a time.


Today, I have submitted 4 to an on-line exhibition, the first time I have tried to enter any of my paintings in an exhibition since I was a teenager, fingers crossed they accept them!

Watch this space!

Connections 1 - part of a diptych, colourful, abstract acrylic painting by Judy Randle in blue green and yellow of a happy person dancing at a carnival
Connections 3 - colourful happy abstract acrylic painting by Judy Randle of a person floating in the sea
Connections 3 - colourful abstract acrylic painting by Judy Randle of a family dancing at a party in blue, yellow and purple with a hint of green
Connections – Carnival, Floating and Family Dancing

The 3 art cards and Artists' details included in the July / August 2022 edition of the Art Post Sheffield - an art subscription services

Thanks to The Art Post for choosing my painting!

News

Thank you to the lovely team at The Art Post for turning one of my paintings into a post card and including it in this month’s edition! It was so exciting when it dropped through the letter box and then to open the package to see what was inside. I wasn’t sure which one they would include and was so pleased they had chosen one of my favourites – ‘Washing Dancing by the Sea’. This month also included work from the brilliant Paul Burgin and Alison J Carr.

The painting was inspired by a walk on a very blowy but sunny day along part of the Moray Coast Trail in Scotland. You can just see the Moray Firth in the background. Here is the original painting with the postcard…

In the painting, I have tried to capture the feelings of movement and change. I loved the way the wind rustled through the grasses and how it caught the towels pegged on the communal washing line and made them dance. During the first lockdown, I made a cloud diary, photographing the clouds every day from my garden. It was such a joy to be actually seeing clouds by the sea again and to watch the wind chase the clouds across the sky. This painting was also my first of a big sky, which I’ve now explored further in other acrylic paintings.

Acrylic painting of washing on a communal line blowing in the wind, by the sea. Clouds are racing across a blue sky and the grasses are being blown by the wind

Giclée prints of this painting will be available soon from Inframe Gallery

Find out more about The Art Post on their website www.theartpost.co.uk

A Website in a Week

News

A week ago, with some trepidation, I started to build a website to show my paintings. The reason – because I was thinking of producing some art cards and thought I probably needed one first. So plenty of time – no rush… Then last Sunday, I received a message about an exciting initiative, which meant that I needed the site up and running by today – eek!

So it has been a very busy week, with some frustrations and some amazing Eureka moments. I have learnt a lot of new acronyms and although I know what some of them stand for – I’m still not quite sure what to do with them all!

This is my first blog, and a bit like the acknowledgements section of a book – it’s a chance for me to say thank you to my family and friends that have helped with this so far. You know who you are! Particular thanks to Vicky, who pointed in me in the right direction and helped troubleshoot; to Tom, who dispensed design advice on the hottest night of the century and to my friend, Frances O’Connor, photographer extraordinaire, who gave brilliant advice as my one woman focus group. Thank you all!!

I have really enjoyed building the site and hope you will enjoy looking at the paintings and prints. Sign up to receive the blog and you’ll find out the reason for the rush!