Slow Down London at Skylark

Skylark is delighted to be taking part in the Slow Down London festival in the following ways :

Exhibition:

The Art of Calm

until Monday 4 May

Skylark Galleries is hosting a special exhibition for Slow Down London of paintings, original prints, sculpture and ceramics that radiate a sense of calm, inviting visitors to linger and browse in the two venues run by this committed and enthusiastic group of artists.

Right: Ruty Benjamini, Angel Eggs, £80 and £100

Over the May Bank Holiday Weekend (2-4 May) this exhibition will radiate out of the galleries and on to the railings by the Thames at Bernie Spain Gardens (weather permitting), close to both galleries

Venue: Riverside Walkway railings, Skylark 1 and Skylark 2 Galleries, South Bank, London


Slow Down: Artists at Work

Come and enjoy the relaxing pursuit of creating works of art. Everyone can join in; you can...

become a pavement artist
join a collaborative collage
and watch our painters at the "easy easels"

...guided by artists from the Cool, Calm, Collective, Skylark Galleries.

Dates: Saturday 2 May, Sunday 3 May and Monday 4 May
Time: 2-6pm
Location: Bernie Spain Gardens (Adjacent to Oxo Tower Wharf), Upper Ground, London SE1

Very Slow Art: free talks by gallery artists

Three gallery artists each give a 10- to 15-minute talk about their current working processes:

Gill Hickman: "Why Happy Cells" - Gill will explain the background to her current series of textural artworks

Kathy Dutton: "Create Inner Space" - Meditation and Reiki healing inspire Kathy's inner landscapes

Lucinda Beatty: "Very Slow Art" - Lucinda will talk about the long slow process of papier mache.

Right, Lucinda Beatty, Buddha

Date: Thursday 30 April
Time: 6-8pm
Location: Skylark 2 Gallery, Unit 1.09, First Floor, Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, London SE1


Creating Happy Cells - Visualisation

Skylark artist/director Gill Hickman invites you to: make time for yourself, relax, re-charge your batteries and give your immune system a boost. Gill will lead you on an imaginary journey inside your own body to create some vibrant, happy, healthy cells! Please bring a cushion to sit on.
(Sixteen of Gill's paintings of cells are on show at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1, until 7 May - see previous blog below for more details.)

Dates: Monday 27 April and Wednesday 29 April (Wednesday's session will be slightly different from Monday's).
Time: 6.30pm - 7.30pm
Cost: £10 waged, £5 unwaged. Places are limited. Email info@skylarkgallery.com to reserve your place.
Location: Skylark 2 Gallery, Unit 1.09, First Floor, Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, London, SE1

Find out more about Slow Down London

Gill Hickman shows at Guy's Hospital

Gill Hickman: Cellscapes
Textural Paintings of Human Cells

Showing at
Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1
Continues to Thursday 7th May

Diagnosed HIV positive in 1989, Gill Hickman believed she would not survive past the year 2000. Twenty years on, she is very much alive: successful artist, mother of a healthy teenager and director of Skylark Galleries, South Bank, London.

Her wholehearted change in lifestyle - leaving a stressful job as headteacher to embrace a life of art - has been central to Gill's continuing to lead a full and healthy life.

Long inspired by the way our bodies constantly renew and heal themselves, visualising 'happy, healthy cells' has been part of Gill's routine for years. As an artist, however, the depiction of these cells came quite unconsciously.

Taking the concept of the cell on to canvas, the happy cells have developed a life of their own, becoming more painterly and complex as textures evolved. Gill increasingly added other media - often in warm, rich golds - which represent the infinite dynamics of the millions of living cells we so take for granted.

To walk through the exhibition is to journey from a simple overview to a closer understanding of the power and beauty within our own bodies. As it is now well known that art can promote well-being and recovery, Gill is delighted to be showing in Guy's & St Thomas'.


Atrium 2, Bermondsey Wing
Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital
St Thomas Street
London Bridge SE1

Gill is leading two Happy Cells Visualisation sessions at Skylark (see following blog above for booking details) on Monday 27 and Wednesday 29 April.

Directions and travel options
Gill's website

Top, Gill with Cellscapes Red, above left, Blue Cells in Conversation, and right, Happy Cells Just Chillin'.

Clare at the 40th Eastern Open

Clare Johnson's Heart of Clark St 4 has been selected for the 40th Eastern Open, showing in King's Lynn until 16 May. The work won Clare 50 postcards of her work and inclusion in the postcard pack sold at the show.

The judges were Sook-Kyung Lee, exhibitions and displays curator, Tate Liverpool; Alison McFarlane, head of visual arts, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, the writer and curator Nicholas Usherwood and Judith Wyss of the Wyss Foundation, USA.

The exhibition is at the King's Lynn Arts Centre, 29 Kings Street, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE30 1HA
www.kingslynnarts.co.uk
until May 16th