A year of Single-handing.

I’ll say it again…What a year!   This year has brought many challenges, the biggest of which was single handing Tonka for the majority of the 6 months of TheArtBoat tour.   I often single hand but not usually for so long a period and with so many time pressures.  Festivals and Markets won’t wait for you to get there and although my planning is getting better, I had originally planned the route with two crew in mind.  Unfortunately my partner had injuries that meant he couldn’t be with me for the travelling this year and this meant I was thrown in at the deep end.

But you know what?   It was fantastic!  I loved almost every minute of it, and although I was sorry that Barry couldn’t join me, the feeling of accomplishment was great.  I may even get used to tunnels in time!

All Shelved up.

Thanks to Barry, The Art Boat has now got shelves along the whole of it’s length.  This means that all of the space under the awning can now be filled with paintings,  prints and cards.  I love it when Tonka is dressed up as The Art Boat.

Almost famous!

This year The Art Boat managed to be featured in a couple of online articles.  One of these was on the  Canal and River Trust   site.

I was really surprised as, being the numpty I am I hadn’t realised I was actually being interviewed.  I thought I was being asked if I would like to be interviewed in the future.  I chatted away not feeling under any pressure,  oblivious to the fact it was a real interview!

I musn’t forget to mention Kev Maslin.  A  brilliant photographer and responsible for the photo at the beginning of this post.  You can see more of his wonderful  work  here.

Thank you to all my Customers!

So many paintings this year have left me to be rehomed.  I am feeling overwhelmed that I am finally able to say with conviction that this is my full time living.   I am an artist surviving by my brush     (I have been saying it for a while but not really believing it).   A wholehearted thank you to all my customers.  Whether you have bought a painting, print  or a fridge magnet you have all helped to get me to this place.

The next few months will be  mostly about getting more painting done, ready for the beginning of TheArtBoat 2018  tour…Bring it on!

Until next time!   Thank you so much for your support … Jan x

What an Amazing Year!

(And a chance to win 10 fine art cards)

The Art Boat has had a wonderful Spring and Summer,  catching up with old friends, making new, and trying out some different festivals.  If ever I doubted I was doing the right thing (and believe it or not, even with my fabulous life, I do),  this year has made me absolutely sure.   I have sold more original paintings than last year and added some lovely mugs that my sister has started printing for me…She will have a whole blogpost to herself when she is ready!?  I will be telling you all about my lovely year in a separate post, but for now I want to celebrate…

10 Paintings in 10 days.

After my Spring and Summer season on TheArtBoat I came straight back to an Open Studio Event at Vernon Mill with the prospect of very few paintings to show (my successful year had it’s downside).  Not to be deterred I got my act together and challenged myself to produce 10 paintings in 10 days.  Each one on a 8″ x 8″ canvas .  Two have already sold (nos 9 and 1) as well as several hand finished 6″ prints.  I will eventually be adding them to my shop but meanwhile contact me if you are interested in any of the Originals or prints.

WIN a set of 10 Fine Art Cards

To celebrate the end of a challenging season I am giving away a set of 10 Fine Art greetings cards to one lucky winner.  All you have to do is subscribe to TheArtBoat Newsletter on the form at the side of this post.  I will also be sending a discount code for anything in my shop (If the item you want isn’t there yet, just let me know and I will sort it! )  The cards are made with slightly textured prints mounted on brown card with a recycled paper insert.  They are left blank for your own message.

The Newsletter is a brand new venture for me, and is intended to keep you up to date with The Art Boat and exhibitions and new works by Jan Vallance as well as special offers.

Until next time…   Jan

The Art boat has set off on it’s travels again and there has been a lot of miles covered. For the first part of this years tour I have been single handing so I have had very little time to let everyone know where I am up to. I will amend that now and get to the point of the post …A list of places where you will be able to find me over the coming months.

18th March 2016

The Art Boat Artist …Jan Vallance.

It is complete chaos here on The Art Boat.  I am getting ready for the long summer, painting, making a new workspace.  keeping up with woodblock orders and finishing my website,  I can’t believe it is now only a week until the first gala at Buxworth basin.  I have been working on an “about” page, for the Website, and thought it might be a good idea to blog it for some feedback.  Please have a read and then let me know what you think so far?  I don’t want it to be too long, but hope I have included enough information without boring the socks off people!

All about The Artist Jan Vallance.  In her own words…

I have been painting and selling my art since 2005. In the winter I work from a studio in Vernon Mill, an old mill in Stockport housing the studios of over 50 artists. The studio gets bitterly cold, so I often work from a makeshift studio in my mum’s loft. But the Spring and Summer is my favourite time. This is when I work from home.  Home is a narrowboat, and from late March to the beginning of October it becomes The Art Boat, my home, studio and floating gallery. I travel the canal system, popping up at floating markets, festivals, and sometimes just on my own.
Limited space means that smaller paintings are more practical to work on and this is where my miniature pieces are ideal. This year’s series are all waterways based and are painted under the loose title “Mini Mondays”. My work isn’t limited to miniatures though, I paint larger pieces too.

Inspiration and Method

I am inspired by my surroundings, and like to work on projects that explore different aspects of a subject. I live and work on the canals and they are the primary influence on my current paintings.
I work with layers. The paint and it’s application is all important. I apply paint quickly, filling the canvas and then start exploring…. printing, scraping, doodling. The image comes later. Sometimes I work with the subject, other times against it. I love paint – exploring it’s possibilities.

Previous exhibitions and events:

Last year (2015),  I took part in the Artists on the Canals tour,  organised by the inimitable Magda and Berth on Wanderlust .  Three “Art Boats” travelling together and popping up along the canals. Exhibitions at the Queens park Arts centre in Aylesbury, The Old Town Hall in Hemel Hempstead and The Cha Cafe in Cassiobury park, were also part of the tour.

Open Exhibitions:

Stockport, Derbyshire and Macclesfield.

Selected Group Exhibitions:

Vernon Mill Artists at Stockport Art Gallery.

Portico Library, Manchester .

“Love across the ocean”  Chicago

Solo:

Marple Library,

Stockport Art Gallery.

Jan Vallance studied art at Chester University. You can find her at TheArtBoat.co.uk

13th March 2016

Win A Hand Finished Print

It’s that time again!  Another chance to win one of my Hand finished Prints.  I marked the end of the Artists on The Canals tour last year with a prize draw for one of my Hand finished Prints and the response was excellent.  This time I am marking the beginning of The Art Boat tour 2016.   The last competition was run from my facebook page, but this time I want to show off my brand new website and blog,  so the prize draw will be run from here.

What is a Hand finished Print?

The prints are all taken from images of  Jan Vallance original paintings.

NOT JUST A PRINT.   Printed on real cotton canvas, the canvas print has gold and other highlights added by hand using artist quality acrylic paints. It is then finished with varnish to protect.  Each print measures 7½ ” x 7½ ” and is supplied in a 12″ mount.  This prize draw is for one print only

How do I enter the prize draw?

It is very easy to be in with a chance to win:

1.    Subscribe to my blog during March and you will automatically be entered.   Don’t forget to….
2.    Comment on this post, and include the number of which print you would like.  The available  prints  are all shown on the accompanying picture at the top of this post and are numbered 1 to 6

How and When  will the winner be announced?

The competition will close at midnight on March 31st, and the winner will be announced on Friday April 1st.  I am hoping to be able to video the draw again as that was very popular last time.

There will only be one winner,  but everyone who subscribes in March  will be sent a code for 15% off ANYTHING in the shop.   You can find out more about my prints in The Art Boat Shop

7th March 2016

ACEOs, Mini Mondays, and why I am addicted…

 ACEO

Once apon a time, a long time ago, when my children were knee high to (ok…they were probably a bit bigger than that),  I needed a way to earn a bit of extra money from home.  I was browsing ebay to see if it was a possible avenue for some of my smaller paintings, and I kept seeing the word ACEO pop up.  I hadn’t a clue, but I researched and discovered that ACEO’s are playing card sized works of art that were being sold and traded all over ebay.   Mostly in the US at that time.

So what exactly is an ACEO?

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  They are tiny works of art, measuring only 2.5 x 3.5 inches.  They can be displayed in an album or framed individually or in groups.   ACEOs are very collectible.   They provide a wonderfully low-cost and affordable way to purchase an original piece of work direct from the artist.  ACEOs are an offshoot of ATCs (Art Trading Cards).  This wikipedia article  will tell you lots more about both sorts of cards

And they are Addictive?

Absolutely!  I can guarantee once you start painting them you will find lots of reasons to make more.

I use them to:  make family gifts,  swap with other artists,  paint in series, and try out ideas.  You can experiment without wasting vast amounts of materials. There is only one rule …they must measure 2½ x 3½ inches.  The rest is up to you and your imagination…

So where does Mini Monday fit in?

A couple of years ago I started a daily painting series.  I painted a sheep painting a day for a year.  I loved the project and I found the discipline that was needed to complete one every day was really good for me and has stayed with me since that time.  I started the Mini Monday series, because I wanted to do something similar that would fit in with the Waterways paintings I am doing at the moment.  So once a week (usually on a Monday!), I paint a miniature waterways painting. Today I completed Mini Monday 7 (the swan painting at the top of this post).   So keep a look out for my Mini Monday …Tiny Tuesday…Wee Wednesday… Paintings.  I will be adding them to the Miniature Paintings Gallery each week.

Thanks for reading, and don’t forget you can have immediate notifications of blog updates if you subscribe to email updates.

Oh,  and if you want to know any more about my Mini Monday paintings, or are wondering how to get started making your own aceos, Just leave me a comment.

 

6th March 2016

Hello and Welcome to The Art Boat

 

The very first Blog post from The Art Boat…

Don’t let the sleepy exterior fool you.  There is so much to do to get Tonka  ready for the Spring and Summer months of travelling as The Art Boat.  All has been extremely busy on Tonka over the winter.   As well as preparing for the journey,  there are paintings to be signed, varnished and got ready for my first exhibition with The Guild of Waterways Artists  at Audlem in a weeks time….aargh. Where has the winter gone?   I suspect a lot of it has been spent getting my brand new Website, shop and blog  (Ta…dah!) built.  I have certainly not seen as much of my studio as I would have liked over the past couple of months, and I am hoping to see a lot more of my paintbrushes in the coming weeks.

I will keep this first post short.  I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone. Don’t forget to subscribe, it’s free, and you can cancel at any time … Coming up in the next few posts are details of The Art Boat’s itinerary and information on how to enter my March competition to win a handfinished print.

It is complete chaos here on The Art Boat.  I am getting ready for the long summer, painting, making a new workspace.  keeping up with woodblock orders and finishing my website,  I can’t believe it is now only a week until the first gala at Buxworth basin.  I have been working on an “about” page, for the Website, and thought it might be a good idea to blog it for some feedback.  Please have a read and then let me know what you think so far?  I don’t want it to be too long, but hope I have included enough information without boring the socks off people!

All about The Artist Jan Vallance.  In her own words…

I have been painting and selling my art since 2005. In the winter I work from a studio in Vernon Mill, an old mill in Stockport housing the studios of over 50 artists. The studio gets bitterly cold, so I often work from a makeshift studio in my mum’s loft. But the Spring and Summer is my favourite time. This is when I work from home.  Home is a narrowboat, and from late March to the beginning of October it becomes The Art Boat, my home, studio and floating gallery. I travel the canal system, popping up at floating markets, festivals, and sometimes just on my own.
Limited space means that smaller paintings are more practical to work on and this is where my miniature pieces are ideal. This year’s series are all waterways based and are painted under the loose title “Mini Mondays”. My work isn’t limited to miniatures though, I paint larger pieces too.

Inspiration and Method

I am inspired by my surroundings, and like to work on projects that explore different aspects of a subject. I live and work on the canals and they are the primary influence on my current paintings.
I work with layers. The paint and it’s application is all important. I apply paint quickly, filling the canvas and then start exploring…. printing, scraping, doodling. The image comes later. Sometimes I work with the subject, other times against it. I love paint – exploring it’s possibilities.

Previous exhibitions and events:

Last year (2015),  I took part in the Artists on the Canals tour,  organised by the inimitable Magda and Berth on Wanderlust .  Three “Art Boats” travelling together and popping up along the canals. Exhibitions at the Queens park Arts centre in Aylesbury, The Old Town Hall in Hemel Hempstead and The Cha Cafe in Cassiobury park, were also part of the tour.

Open Exhibitions:

Stockport, Derbyshire and Macclesfield.

Selected Group Exhibitions:

Vernon Mill Artists at Stockport Art Gallery.

Portico Library, Manchester .

“Love across the ocean”  Chicago

Solo:

Marple Library,

Stockport Art Gallery.

Jan Vallance studied art at Chester University. You can find her at TheArtBoat.co.uk

The very first Blog post from The Art Boat…

Don’t let the sleepy exterior fool you.  There is so much to do to get Tonka  ready for the Spring and Summer months of travelling as The Art Boat.  All has been extremely busy on Tonka over the winter.   As well as preparing for the journey,  there are paintings to be signed, varnished and got ready for my first exhibition with The Guild of Waterways Artists  at Audlem in a weeks time….aargh. Where has the winter gone?   I suspect a lot of it has been spent getting my brand new Website, shop and blog  (Ta…dah!) built.  I have certainly not seen as much of my studio as I would have liked over the past couple of months, and I am hoping to see a lot more of my paintbrushes in the coming weeks.

I will keep this first post short.  I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone. Don’t forget to subscribe, it’s free, and you can cancel at any time … Coming up in the next few posts are details of The Art Boat’s itinerary and information on how to enter my March competition to win a handfinished print.