I wanted to warn you to keep an eye out for any scams / messages that you may receive from my Sally Coulden Instagram account.
My instagram account was hacked yesterday and the hackers have locked me out of my account completely so I now have no control over it. It is possible they may use my account to try to scam you posing as me! Red Dog Glass Design is completely secure.
Please be aware not to engage with anything coming from my Sally Coulden Instagram account as it will not be me. If in doubt please feel free to contact me to check.
I am super frustrated and cross and feel like I have been burgled – I will need to start a completely new account and start to build it from scratch again which is hugely infuriating.
I will contact you when my new account is set up and ask if you might be kind enough to follow me again.
Well it has been quite while since I last wrote a post, so I thought it time to get my act together and let everyone know Im still here !
Its been a really strange time over the last couple of years what with Covid, lockdowns and general disarray but the Coulden studios have been beavering away both on the studio side of things as well as building and growing Red Dog Glass Designs, my glass design business.
Exhibition wise….I feel like I have adopted St Ives as my natural home for exhibiting, not because I am showing at the Tate (tee hee) but because I feel very at home by the sea and after all St Ives is home to some of the greatest abstract artists and (generalisation..) the people that come to visit to view the art galleries ‘get’ the abstraction side of the artwork. I continue showing at the fabulous Salthouse Gallery each September to coincide with the St Ives Art & Music Festival. Im going to be there Sept 17 – 23 this year if you happen to be in the area do pop in! Its a great time to come as there’s loads going on!
I have also been invited to present a solo show in Mayfair, London in October, more about that in the next post.
Not a bad commute to work in the morning!!
I have painted a few commissions over the past year which has been fabulous and have also been developing my Bonkers series of paintings which I absolutely love!! They do rather look like I let rip on the canvas which of course I do but only after great consideration and thoughtful planning !
Bonkers VII
Having decided at the start of this year I needed to invest in feeding my creativity and book onto some painting courses, that just what I did. Its so important to nurture and challenge your creativity and approach but so easily omitted due to being too busy … so not this year!! I have just returned from an epic 3 days on the Cornish coastline painting with Paul Wadsworth a fabulous and prolific abstract landscape artist. Wow… it was inspirational, windswept, wild and absolutely brilliant. I have painted in the landscape before but not on cliff edges and with the ocean – Ive come back with a load of ideas which is great with the 2 shows booked already for this year a great start to building the new series of paintings!!
Paul Wadsworth in action!
I can’t finish this post without mentioning Red Dog Glass Design my design business that I launched 3 years ago. Ive been working really hard growing the business and getting ourselves known. We now have a team of 4 and we successfully secured investment at the end of last year to help fund marketing and further growth. We are all about transforming spaces into the extraordinary through art and have had the privilege of working in some amazing spaces. I took part in a really interesting panel discussion as part of the Creative Collaborate event hosted by the amazing Bristol Upholstery Collective .
Not sure what I was saying but it was fun!!
We also managed to get ourselves on one of the BBC interior design shows – if you blinked you may have missed it but we did get on film 3 times!!!! :O) Im happy to take that!!!! :O)
For risk of droning on Im going to pull this update to a close, I hope you are all keeping safe and well and life is Ok in the new normal! More from the studio soon and I promise it won’t be as long a gap before the next one!
‘Topography’ One of my perspex paintings, backlit with LED lights
Wow…….. well what strange times we find ourselves in, I hope you have had a good summer and managed a staycation at some point??
It has been a busy few months in the studio preparing for ‘Awakenings’ my August solo show in St Ives. Which was great and very busy….. guess what? …. Im back, it was so good I decided to come back for another week. So Im writing this post from the Salthouse Gallery in St Ives (October) where the weather has been rather bonkers!!!! Huge gales and the sea has been ferocious!! Extremely dramatic, glad I have brought my wellies!!!! :O) A big thank you to all of you that managed to brave the weather and make it down to see me :O)
St Ives – October 2020
As you will have hopefully spotted my augmented reality app has been launched which has generated lots of interesting & great feedback. If you haven’t managed to take a look yet, do check out my previous post which explains how to download ‘ABSTRACTED’ from the app. store. The plan is to hopefully, rebook venues we had to cancel in May (covid19) and tour in 2021.
Im also starting to map out a new, much larger project idea. Imagine a large exhibition space which is empty except for an easel, some sculptor hammers, a potters wheel and maybe a pile of clothes. You will be handed an iPad and then you start wander the room and discover different artists at work. Its all about providing insight into how artists work. I shall be submitting an application to the Arts Council England – Im hoping they will be excited by this concept and help support development.
‘Neurones’
Update from the Red Dog Glass Design kennel! We have been busy designing and fitting lots of great new kitchen splash backs and bathroom glass panels around the country. This is a kitchen we recently fitted with the ‘Neurones’ design – I really love how Graeme requested us to design a second piece of glass to fit behind the sink which really links the art through the space.
My perspex paintings which were the inspiration for Red Dog Glass Design have been popular – Not sure if you know, but to achieve the finished art piece involves me painting backwards. I do have to be patient and let each individual colour / layer dry overnight before the next layer gets applied – by doing this I can achieve the clean lines and colour combos you see from the front of the perspex ……. it does bend the brain slightly :O)
‘Topography’ is a piece I painted during lockdown and showed at St Ives in August. It now lives in Sussex at Will & Ruths funky home. They have mounted coloured LED smart lighting behind the perspex bringing drama to the piece! How cool is that!
So …… whats next ….. well I think I might give myself a short staycation and then preparation for another show in Bristol early spring at the Hidden Gallery in Clifton. This will of course be C19 dependent. I have also been invited to exhibit on a Parisian online gallery called Singulart – next job on my list is to load my profile and some of my work for the world of art buyers to be able to observe :O)
Think thats about all the news for now, do feel free to get in contact if you have any questions or thoughts :O)
Link here to the ABSTRACTED app – Requires iOS 11.0 or later
The ‘ABSTRACTED” team have done it !!! Covid 19 tried its best to derail us in our mission to create this extraordinary synergy between abstract painting and technology. Our planned tour dates all had to be cancelled but fear not!!……… we have developed an iOS app thats free for you to download & explore the installation in a scaled down form & you can do that from where you are sitting right now!!! HOW COOL IS THAT ??!! :O)
A bit about the work in case you’ve missed updates so far….
ABSTRACTED is inviting you to explore the development of an abstract expressionist landscape painting through technology ( an iOS App).
We have opened a window into my creative development process and this experience will allow you to become immersed in the physicality and psychology involved when I paint. The iOS app. takes you on a fascinating Augmented Reality exploration, ten hours of me creating this painting has been condensed into a seven-minute immersive experience. This unique work aims to demystify the process involved in my painting practice, whilst at the same time exploring how new technologies and fine arts can complement and amplify one another.
OK enough of all this chat I hear you say …… what do I need to do next ???
You need to have an iPhone or iPad thats pretty well up to date and can support AR functionality (Im afraid due to tight budgets we could only run to developing on iOS sadly not android)
Using either your iPad or iPhone click here ABSTRACTED which will take you straight to the app. or go to the App Store and search for ABSTRACTED, download it and then you’ll be ready to have a play! When you first open the app please make sure you allowaccess to your camera otherwise this won’t work!
1st screen is ‘Info‘ have a read then at bottom of the screen tap ‘AR‘, have a read then tap ‘Enter AR Experience‘ Follow the instructions on the screen (basically you need to aim your camera at a horizontal surface and tap!)
An easel should appear on your screen and music should start (you can mute at bottom of screen)
OFF YOU GO ……. I encourage you to really play around with the imagery. You can move your device close to the canvas and watch the painting grow, if you place your thumb & finger on your screen and twist, the image will rotate. You can walk around my avatar & painting to observe the performance from above, below & behind. Walk around the imagery, I would like to encourage you to explore and watch the performance from more than one spot to really get the most out of the experience :O)
This project is a pilot project. I would really value feedback from you lovely people. In 2021 I plan to return to the Arts Council to propose a much larger project using this technology. If I can submit REAL feedback from REAL people it would truly add a huge amount of credibility to my project application. Heres a few questions to get you thinking :O) Thank you in advance :O)
what did you think of the experience?
has this altered the way you think about abstract art?
do you think this approach makes abstract paintings more accessible to the public ?
did you watch it more than once?
if yes, why?
would you like to see more of this immersive type of art in your galleries / art institutions?
any general comments and feedback for me to take with me into the next project ?
I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to the amazing team Scott Fletcher (Producer), Benjamin Walbrook (Immersive technology specialist, developer extraordinaire), Zubr VR Studio, Jenny Male (communications) and most importantly The Arts Council England for providing funding for this extremely exciting project.
I hope you have enjoyed a brief immersion into the world of AR and abstract art!!!
A last request…. PLEASE SHARE THIS APP WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU KNOW, I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO GET IT GOING GLOBAL :O) THANKS!
Watch this space for more exciting projects in development :O)
Greetings from Bristol, I hope you are all managing to stay safe and well. Wow… what strange times we are living through, as lockdown is gradually lifting we are all having to adjust to the ‘new normal’ whatever that is!!!
BV Studios – M3
As an update from the studio I actually moved into BV Studios during lockdown – I have to say it was a bit bonkers as I did it on my own and nearly killed myself. I have been super lucky to have been allowed to paint right through the whole period which has been fabulous. I didn’t really see anyone else but it gave me an excuse to get out of the house for a change of scene.
Benjamin adjusting the cameras in the studio during the shoot
Sal as an avatar painting !
My augmented reality project ‘ABSTRACTED’ has undergone a rather massive change in scope due to our friend ‘covid 19’ ! I did have a fabulous exhibition tour all booked for the month of May in major public venues across Bristol but sadly this all had to be cancelled due to the venues being closed and no one being allowed out!
Quick rethink as I wanted to keep momentum going with the project even though we couldn’t meet etc… so we decided to repurpose the funding slightly and aim to develop an app. which means anyone globally will be able to download from their iPhone or iPad and watch a scaled down performance in 3D on their kitchen table! Check out the ‘Abstracted’ page on my website which explains what its all about and includes a short film of the making!
App due for public release beginning of August – I will let you all know & send you a link :O)
Salthouse gallery, St Ives. Solo show Aug 8th – 14th 2020
So just cos I didn’t want to get bored Ive painted a whole new series of paintings especially for my show in St Ives!! Its just 2 weeks away as of today and of course Im not panicking aaaahhhh….. :O)
I think Im pretty well sorted, its just all the logistics to get organised, but Im really looking forward to it. I have the whole Salthouse Gallery to myself so Im spreading out with loads of paintings for sale. Red Dog Glass is coming as well, so I will have plenty of glass samples on show to tempt visitors into treating themselves to a beautiful bespoke fine art kitchen splashback, a new shower wall or if they happen to own a hotel or bar I have just the thing for them!!
If you or friends are coming down to Cornwall in early August I would absolutely love it if you popped in :O) I promise to give you a personal tour of each painting! I will be there from 10am – 6pm everyday – obviously social distancing and appropriate PPE will be in place, make sure you have your mask !!
I think Im going to stop chatting now and let you get on with your day, trusting you are keeping well and adjusting to this new way of living, which quite frankly is quite odd, all the masks and no hugging unless you’re in a bubble…. keep smiling and heres to a sunny and fun summer :O)
The ABSTRACTED painting – 10hrs of painting condensed into 4 mins of film
Fab news – funding awarded by the Arts Council for my augmented reality painting project
The stage is set at the Bristol VR lab – my painting overalls, the green screen ready for filming and a blank canvas
Ben ready to get techy … thats a dummy in the foreground by the way, not me!!
Test day – I dressed up in a motion capture suit to enable Ben to develop some early animations of the various movements I make when Im painting – capturing the painterly process (without paint at this stage!!)
This whole process is far more complex than I had ever imagined, I guess ignorance is bliss sometimes but one thing is for sure, I come out of meetings with Scott and Ben and my head hurts!! Its a whole different stratosphere of thinking but it really is very exciting. I am extremely lucky to have 2 brilliant technology specialists who find it quite normal to think virtually!! :O)
I was totally thrilled when I heard we had successfully secured Arts Council Funding for my newest venture into the world of Augmented Reality and painting. I would like to present the ‘A’ team,as you are going to hear from us over the coming months. Theres just 3 of us and we are here to astound the world!! :O) Scott our digital specialist and Producer, Ben our whizzo immersive experience designer and myself who is the artist and painter. Between the 3 of us we are going to create an immersive technological experience which will give viewers insight into how I approach abstract painting. Viewing the paint layering up on the canvas, the mark making process, you will be able to see me painting (in the form of an avatar) and I hope to also narrate what will be 6hours of painting condensed into a 5 minute immersive experience for the viewer. I have secured venues across Bristol and will be taking this on tour in May – so lots of opportunity to come and have a go :O) Im just finalising dates of venues and will let you know as soon as they are confirmed.
I will keep you posted on progress – Ben is busy post filming on Friday testing things and I need to prepare for the full on shoot on the 20th March.
Exhibition news
The spontaneous ‘Pop up’ exhibition @ Carter Images Gallery, Bathwick Hill, Bath.
Its been a supremely busy start to the new year exhibiting wise and was fabulous to be able to show my work on the walls of Alchemy 198 throughout Jan. I received some really lovely feedback and as always its just such a privilege to be able to show my my work to the public :O)
I was offered a pop up in Bath for Feb and March – a fantastic open gallery very close to the Holburne Museum, thank you Martin for being such a fab host and allowing the population of Bath to see some of my work! and thanks to al the lovely visitors that took time to pop in and have a chat about my work, so lovely to meet you all. This space is soon to become Dexters Coffee Shop, a fabulous cafe run by the lovely Claire and Matt so get yourselves over there before the coffee machine takes over!!!
Just to add to the mix, another exhibition popped up out of left field in February. Not one to turn down an opportunity, I of course said yes!! :O)
Contemporary Art 2020 – 20 painters from the South West of England – what a fabulous experience and a great privilege to exhibit with fellow painters from across the region – amazing talent.
New Studio space…. moving down the road to BV Studios
As many of you may be aware my fantastic studio space @ The Works in Bedminster is a meanwhile space – this means its up for demolition once planning permission is granted. Our lovely studios will become a massive tower block! As my practice is growing, I feel that I really want to secure a permanent home for my studio so……. drum roll….. I have managed to secure a lovely space at BV Studios, home of about 120 studio holders mostly creatives so very exciting. I have the keys and guess what??? Im just in time to take part in their annual ‘Open Studios’. This year its a special 10 year anniversary event but a great opportunity for any of you that love all things creative to be able to come along and have a look around all the studios and buy direct from the artist themselves. Always a fabulous weekend not to be missed so pop the date in the diary.
BV Open studios
Gosh lots to fill you in on for this newsletter, I am going to let you go now, but before I do I also what to let you know I have managed to secure a gallery space @ the Salthouse Gallery in St Ives from Sat 8th – 14th August 2020. so watch this space Ive got some painting to do before then!!!
Im going to let you crack on, stay safe and keep washing your hands – dont let that coronavirus get in the way of things.
Happy New Year to one and all, I hope you had a fine festive season and are now ready to let rip and take 2020 by storm ! After a busy 2019, ending with the fantastic solo show at Hidden Gallery which was AMAZING…. lots of wonderful people came to view, Poppy & Daisy at the Gallery were super supportive and I have to say I ended the year on a high.
So whats planned for 2020 ??? Well funnily enough quite a lot :O) Never a dull moment. I have just spent the last 2 days hanging my paintings at Alchemy 198, a most wonderful drinking establishment on the Gloucester Rd where I live in addition to filling the windows of Room 212 with more of my paintings and samples of Red Dog glass. For those that are wondering what Red Dog Glass Design is, take a look at the website.
Do pop into Alchemy 198 if you are passing and browse the artwork, my work fills the top bar and the wine is to be recommended :O)
Room 212 – a hub of artistic brilliance on Gloucester Road My paintings fill both windows
So a few things in the pipeline, I’m waiting to hear from The Other Art Fair (Saatchi) if I have been accepted to the Trumans Brewery Art Fair in March. Some of you may remember I took part in this last year and it was amazing. Probably near to 17,000 people through the doors over 4 days. Fingers crossed they accept me, if they do I shall let you all know and free passes will be available to you all :O)
I have just submitted an Arts Council Grant application to do some experimental art using Augmented Reality. I will be working with 2 digital experts and myself of course the painter. What is super exciting is that we have secured some amazing venues to exhibit the final painting including 4 galleries, an arts centre, Bristol Aquarium & ‘We the Curious’ (The science museum in Bristol) so…… we should hear at the end of January if we have been successful with funding, then hopefully it will be all systems go. I will keep you posted on progress.
I have something very exciting planned for August this year but Ill tell you all about that in the next update.
I hope you have had a fab summer, full of sunshine, ice-cream and laughter. So what has the studio of Sal been getting up to over the summer??
Well, Ive actually been working hard, preparing for my first ever ‘solo show’. As a valued friend you have a personal invite to the PV on 3rd Oct. There will be fizz and everything! If you can’t make the 3rd, please do drop into the gallery for a browse during October.
Heres a bit about the exhibition……..
‘A contemporary twist on Turner’
When: Friday 4th October till 3rd November | Private View Thursday 3rd October 2019 @ 18.00 – 20.00hrs Where: Â Hidden Gallery, 6-10 The Clifton Arcade, Boyce’s Avenue, Clifton, Bristol. BS8 4AAÂ
‘Ship caught in snowstorm @ sea’
‘Snowstorm I’
‘Hare waiting to cross the tracks’
‘Seamonsters’
This is the write up associated with the exhibition :
Sally Coulden comes from diverse background of global careers & travel. In 2014, she embarked on her art career. She attended Art School in Bristol and then worked under the tutelage of a professional abstract artist to build her knowledge, experience and painting techniques. Sally’s instinctive approach to painting is inspired by her life experiences and the landscape surrounding her. Primarily working with a strong, vibrant colour palate, her energy and vigour translates directly into her work. Capturing the concept of non-containment is key, as she has a deep-seated need for a sense of space and infinity in both life and work.
Her new body of work ‘A contemporary twist on Turner’ has been inspired by JMW Turners late works. This 21st Century interpretation is translated onto materials such as Perspex, canvas, linen, and paper with some subtle variations in modernising the subject matter.
Sally has collections of her work hanging globally.
Gyclee prints – Seamonsters I – IX
A little teaser …. I have also teamed up with an amazing digital artist | creative director Scott Fletcher. We are currently applying to the Arts Council, requesting support for an Augmented Reality project we would like to explore together … very very exciting! I will keep you posted.
Im going to sign off now only because it means I will actually press the publish button and you will recieve this newsletter this side of Xmas!! :O)
Hoping to see you at the exhibition, if not, I will be in touch again soon,
Come and take a sneaky peek behind the scenes in our creative space – with over 50 artists, makers, a music studio and 2 amazing art galleries PLUS theres workshops to get involved with if you fancy it.
I will be there wielding my paint brush and paints! Paintings galore and you may even be lucky and get a cup of tea!
It would be amazing to see you if you can make it!
A long time coming… and yes Im referring to my complete tardiness at posting a newsletter this year!! No excuses … better late than never :O) I would also like to welcome my most recent readers whom I met at The Other Art Fair, Brick Lane earlier this month, welcome!
Lots has been happening in my world down here in Bristol. Before I start though, I just have to rave for a moment, about my stupendously amazing studio space, which I share with the multitalented arts collective ‘Caraboo Projects’. I am constantly in awe of their energy, professionalism and pure talent. Ceramics, film making, painting, sculpture their expertise and talent is endless. I am so lucky to be sharing creative space with such amazing people, its so inspirational. Check out their website Caraboo Projects – do come and join us at any of the events they have planned.
Speaking of my fantastic studio space, as you may know its in a disused printing factory. Gathering Voices run the collective of buildings on the large site which is known as The Works. PrintWorks where Caraboo and myself are based are just one of those building. A property developer has submitted plans to knock it down and build a massive block of apartments (boo!), we don’t know when this is going to happen but we will get a few months notice. Forever an optimist, Im hoping planning permission will take ages/ years :O) so we can continue to build our practices in this fabulous space … I have a big smile every time I come to the studio, each day a bonus.. ‘carpe diem’ !
Birds eye view of my studio…. I’m not lounging around the whole time!!!
A busy start to the year preparing for The Saatchi Arts Fair in London (March) – cracked on with some new paintings, mainly inspired by my experiences down in the Floating Harbour in the rowing boat. The fair was a triumph, my first in London ! Many thanks to everyone that came to say hi and supported me, it was really appreciated. I met so many lovely, interesting people and sold paintings – what could be better. Having taken a week to recover… these fairs are absolutely exhausting … I have reflected on what made it so great and what I could learn from it. The biggest learning as an artist investing in exhibiting at an Arts Fair is, make sure you research & take time to understand the demographics attending the Fair in question. You can be a genius modern day Michelangelo, but if your style doesn’t fit with the demographic visiting the fair, you’re not going to have the impact. The visitors at Brick Lane, for me, were generally after interesting, edgy abstraction & new concepts – If Im lucky enough to get accepted next year Im going to get a bigger stand, make bigger, bolder and slightly wilder work… can’t wait!!! :O)
Deep in conversation @ TOAF, Brick Lane, London.
What next…. well we have an Open Studio in April so a bit of prep for that, I will be part of a creatives ‘Dop up event’ in May, with Doppler Effect (excuse the pun!) in the heart of Bristol and then …… Teddington Arts Fair May 17-19th. Do drop me a line if you have any questions about anything Im up to or you would just like to say hello :O)
Hope you have a fabulous Easter and I promise I won’t leave it so long before the next update :O)
Tootle pip for now, Sal.
A big dollop of bright green always brightens up the day!!
