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Sunday 3rd November 2019   12:28 PM

Christmas Cracker Exhibition

Byard Art, 14 King's Parade, Cambridge CB2 1SJ
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It's Christmas Cracker time!

I love the exhibition at Byard Art this time of the year. The gallery is choc-a-block full of beautiful paintings by a huge variety of artists from far and wide. I am very proud to say that they have invited me to have four of my small paintings in the exhibition this year.

As many of you may know I have been on a journey to change the materials that I work with. For years I have painted in oils but one of the problems I was facing was that I have been asked to make more paintings, which is absolutely great, but because of the many layers of detail that is the way I work my paintings are not dry enough to varnish and exhibit for up to eight months. Hmm, I felt I was letting people down.

So I began my journey to find some quicker drying paints. I didn't like the obvious choice of water-based oils as I couldn't get the glowing, vibrant colours. So I tried out all sorts of acrylics with slow drying mediums. Whatever I tried I never found a medium that had the kind of buttery consistency of oil that was workable for a day or so. I also didn't like the colours.

Just as I was thinking that I would never find what I was looking for I found myself in Jarrold's Art Shop in Norwich. On the shelf were some new kind of paints I had not seen before, 'Golden Open, Slow Drying Acrylics'. I had a chat with one of the very knowledgeable assistants who had tried them who told me that they did dry much more slowly, in fact they stayed workable for a long time. I bought a few primary colours and back in Cambridge set about testing them.

Although they do not react exactly like oils, in drying time they were what I was looking for and the colours are wonderfully bright and easy to mix and shade (I do a lot of shading). The two paintings shown are using my new set of 'Open' paints. I shall still make some paintings in oils but if I need to do some in a tighter timescale I shall use the acrylics. The only downside I have found so far is that because they are very transparent and perhaps less dense than oils I get through the paint much quicker.

https://byardart.co.uk/artists/maureen-mace/

https://byardart.co.uk/exhibitions/christmas-cracker-2019/

Maureen

About image

Painter living in Cambridge. Mixes fantasy and realism and loves medieval art and it's detail. An avid sketcher.

Blog Archive

* 2024
* Cambridge Drawing Society Spring Exhibition
* Drawing at the Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge
* The January Challenge
* 2023
* Live painting at Byard Art
* Demonstration at Byard Art
* Arts & Craft Fair, Pitt Building, Trumpington St, Cambridge
* A portrait of me
* Cambridge Drawing Society - Autumn 2023
* Inktober
* Try your hand at Gilding
* Birmingham Open Studios
* Teaching in my home
* Sold at Byard Art, Cambridge
* Thank you to everyone who visited my Open Studios
* Last weekend of Cambridge Open Studios 2023
* Cambridge Open Studios 2023
* Summer Exhibition 2023
* Cambridge Open Studios
* Cambridge Open Studios 2023
* Making planets
* Reverie at the Leper Chapel
* A new me
* Lost in Reverie
* Talk to the Cambridge Drawing Society
* First outside Urban Sketch of the year
* Cambridge Drawing Society Spring Exhibition
* Cambridge Art Classes
* Paintings in progress
* Work in Progress
* #TheJanuaryChallenge
* 65 Million artists
* 2022
* Exhibition at Michaelhouse extended until 17 December
* Small paintings with patterned gold leaf
* Of Day & Night
* Teaching students in my studio
* Of Day & Night
* Self Portrait
* Art in the corridor at Addenbrookes
* Christmas Cracker 2022 Exhibition
* Birmingham Open Studios 2022
* Birmingham Open Studios
* Birmingham Open Studios
* Life Drawing at the Tithe Barn
* Cambridge Open studios
* Cambridge Open Studios 2022
* Art demonstration
* Silent Auction
* Classes starting March 2022
* Newmarket Open Exhibition
* 2021
* Making a Tezlip pattern
* Winter Open Studio
* Winter Open Studio
* Mill Road Winter Fair
* Cambridge Drawing Society exhibition - October 23 - 30 2021
* A talk about my Lockdown Sketches
* The Rest House, Bournville
* Taking part in Birmingham Open Studios
* Art in a changing room!
* Life drawing at the Tithe Barn, Landbeach
* Sketching in the garden
* Cambridge Open Studios
* Art Exhibition at the Tithe Barn, Landbeach
* A haircut
* My very first book
* Still sketching
* Cambridge Drawing Society Exhibition
* Art Exhibition at the Tithe Barn
* Update about my Lockdown Sketches
* My Lockdown
* 2020
* SEAW exhibition
* Urban Sketchers are back
* Summer Exhibition
* Cambridge Open Windows
* Paintings off to Byard Art
* Sketching with my students
* Cambridge Open Windows
* Drawing what I see
* 20 x 20 exhibition at Byard Art
* Cambridge Art Classes
* Coronavius and my art classes
* Coronavirus
* Sketching the Market
* 30 day sketchbook challenge
* 2019
* November
* Winter Open Studio
* Christmas Cracker Exhibition
* October
* Birmingham Open Studios
* August
* Cake Tree
* Space pictures
* July
* Getting ready for Cambridge Open Studios
* Sketching in the garden
* Sketching with Cambridge Urban Sketchers
* June
* Drawing during 'The Silence of Time' exhibition
* Along your Street exhibition
* May
* Packing the paintings
* Basoka dreams / Dreams in the forest
* April
* Cows at Trinity
* Cambridge Art Classes
* March
* Cambridge Drawing Society
* Urban Sketchers in Eddington
* Messing around with watercolours
* Pyjamas
* February
* Commissioned Painting
* Commissioned painting
* Cambridge Urban Sketchers
* Three paintings on the go
* Part 3 of my 30 day sketch challenge
* January
* Another ten photos for the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge 2019
* Sketch a day challenge
* January in Byard Art
* New Year, New resolution
* 2018
* It's almost Christmas
* Look what's in the window!
* Christmas Cracker exhibition
* Winter Open Studios
* Winter Open Studio
* Urban Sketching
* Christmas Cracker
* Talk/Demonstration at Ely Art Society
* Friday morning Art Classes
* Sketching with my students
* Exhibiting at Addenbrookes
* Painting on a wet day
* Cambridge Antiques Centre
* A customer hangs her painting
* Two more mini paintings
* Drawing at the Museum of Classical Archaeology
* Urban Sketchers
* Painting some mini pictures for an upcoming exhibition
* Ely Art Society demonstration
* Painting Kings and Cows
* Painting Kings and Cows
* Painting Kings and Cows
* World elephant day
* Visiting Addenbookes
* In the basement at Byard Art
* Thank you to everyone who came to visit my Open Studio
* Drawing at the Botanic Gardens
* Open Studios have started
* July means Cambridge Open Studios
* Sold at Byard Art
* Edible drawings!
* First Sketch to completed painting
* Zoology Museum visit
* Paintings in the window
* Paintings at Byard Art
* My studio and garden
* Urban Sketchers at Novi
* May Drawing challenge
* Byard Art
* Sketching at the Parker Library
* Drawing at Queens College
* 2017
* New painting
* Winter Open Studio
* Cambridge Drawing Society Exhibition
* Cambridge Busker
* Cambridge Urban Sketchers
* Cambridge Open Studios
* Cambridge Art Book
* Haddenham Gallery
* Drawing at the Parker Library
* Teaching Art
* Observational Drawing
* 2016
* Winter Open Studios
* Winter Open Studio
* Lost Crusaders
* Drawing at the Parker Library
* Cambridge Open Studio
* Cambridge Open Studios
* Curiosity Gallery, St Ives, Cambridgeshire
* Running with Brushes
* Cat on a Mat
* Winter Open Studio
* Cambridge Drawing Society
* Mixed Media Workshop
* Cambridge Art Classes
* Pop up shop
* Cambridge Drawing Society at Addenbrookes
* Busy Painting
* Cambridge Drawing Society Exhibition
* Samovar Tea House and Gallery
* 2015
* Pop Up Market Place
* Etsy Handmade Fair
* 2014
* Cambridge Christmas cards available
* Cambridge Open Studios
* Strawberry Fair
* Cambridge Open Studios 2014
* Clavering Easter Art Show
* Cows, Bowers and Towers
* 2013
* My Shop on Etsy
* Prints
* Potentials
* Cambridge Art Classes
* Silvanite Woods
* Tree of Knowledge
* Cambridge Open Studios 2013
* New exhibition at Williams Art
* Art on The Hill
* Cow Prints at St Ives
* 2012
* Christmas Gift and Craft Fair
* Art Classes in Cambridge
* Cambridge Open Studios 2012
* 2010
* Moos & Blues
 

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