Celebrating Our First Birthday

Who would have thought that time would go so quickly?  On 9th May it will be exactly one year since we opened our gallery.  So much has happened since then!  We have discovered many new and wonderful artists and makers, restocked old favourites, opened the framing side of the business, started stocking beautifully illustrated Children’s Picture Books, added two more card racks, sourced beautiful quality gift wrap, become involved with various Business Forums and promoted the wonderful cause of the ‘Just a Card’ campaign (more details to follow). Phew!

We truly love what we do!  We enjoy meeting new artists, talking to them about their work and promoting it in our gallery.  We love living and working in the beautiful Georgian market town of Easingwold in God’s Own County.  We love our customers and how much they appreciate buying, gifting or owning the original works by talented people which we stock.

Please come and help us celebrate our First Birthday on Saturday 14th May from 10 am until 1 pm.  Jane Kitching will be painting in our window and there’ll be specially made Leaping Hare cookies too!  We look forward to celebrating with all our customers – past, present and future.

A Visit to The Penfold Press

Daniel Bugg in his studio

One of the best things about running a gallery is developing relationships with our artists.  Sourcing and selling original art is very satisfying, but seeing the artist at work, questioning him about his craft, or simply soaking up the atmosphere in his studio are bonuses that make the visitor feel very privileged.  Albeit briefly, you have stepped inside the artist’s skin and learned a little bit more about where he is coming from (and where he is going to next).

That was they way it was for us when we met Dan Bugg of Penfold Press.  Having studied at The Royal College of Art – becoming a successful artist himself – he now spends his working life as a printmaker, collaborating with prominent artists such as Mark Hearld, Emily Sutton, Ed Kluz, Jonny Hannah, Michael Kirkman, Clive Hicks-Jenkins and Angela Harding.  Developing an excellent working relationship with each artist, together they go through the processes which turn ideas into beautiful, sometimes quirky and highly collectable screenprints.  Each edition is produced in very limited runs.

For a while now, Dan and one of his collaborators, Emily Sutton, have been working on their Alphabet Series.  Starting with ‘A is for Accordion’ and running through to the most recent, ‘L is for Lemon,’ they have produced the most wonderfully appealing set of works. With ‘M is for Magic’ nearing completion, they will soon be halfway through this amazing, labour intensive project.

Emily Sutton’s ‘L is for Lemon’ pictured with printing notes and templates

It was very interesting to learn about the screen printing process at The Penfold Press.  Firstly there is the large number of templates which the artist produces, then there are the ten or twelve different colours the printer prints individually, not to mention any  necessary changes, discussions and corrections along the way.  Precision is certainly the key.  Dan, with his experience, patience and good-nature has this all down to a fine art (pun intended).

Here in our gallery we have some examples of work by Mark Hearld and Emily Sutton, which they produced in collaboration with The Penfold Press.  We hope to add more artists to our range in the future and wish Daniel Bugg continued and much-deserved success in his extraordinary venture. We look forward to seeing which artist he works with next.

The Big Gallery Bird Watch

The Big Garden Bird Watch is going on this week end – a fantastic initiative.

We’ve been doing the Big Gallery Bird Watch.

So far, in our gallery we have found:
A tawny owl,
A kingfisher,
A robin,
Two hens.
A puffin,
Two love birds,
A goose
And a wren!

New to The Gallery in January

We are now featuring Stoneware by Claire Pittham – Vibrantly coloured and textured.

And Gouache Paintings by June Hardy, depicting various scenes of York.

Upcoming Felting Workshops

Following on from our very successful Needle Felting Workshop in November, the lovely Pam Chilton will be conducting two more workshops in our gallery:

Thursday 11th February – 7 pm – 9.30 pm
Traditional Wet Felting – Make your own individual piece which can be turned into a wall hanging, bag or cushion.

‘The Robin’

Julia at work

How wonderful it was to have Julia Burns from Red Hen Originals visit us on 31st October – to launch her eighth and final Christmas Robin (it is particularly sweet this year) and to demonstrate her wonderful potato printing technique to an interested audience.

We had many people coming in during the morning to watch her at work and to ask her questions.  She gave a lovely souvenir gift tag to all our visitors.  We have framed ours!

It was also wonderful to have Jane Thorniley-Walker, who made the gorgeous mosaic robins and mirrors and Pam Chilton, who made the hand needle felted robins and other animals which sell very well in our gallery.

What a fantastic tribute to the Robin, Britain’s favourite bird – and an ideal introduction to the beginning of our Christmas trading period!

L-R: Pam, Jane and Julia

‘The Robin’

  “The Robin”
(Voted Britain’s favourite bird in the N.F.U.’s poll)

Julia Burns of Red Hen Originals will be launching her 8th and final
Christmas Robin
and conducting Potato Printing demonstrations in our gallery
on
Saturday 31st October
between 11.00 am and 1.00 pm

(Above: Julia’s 2014 Robin)

Also showcasing:

Needle Felted Christmas Robins by Pam Chilton

Mosaic Robins by Jane Thorniley-Walker

Signed copies of Suzanne Barton’s new Children’s
Picture Book, ‘Robin’s Winter Song’

Robins of all sorts available to purchase.  Start your Christmas shopping early!  A warm welcome is assured.

Welcome to The Leaping Hare Gallery & Framers

Welcome to our newly launched website, which finally gives a digital presence to The Leaping Hare Gallery and Framers!

Complementing the gallery is our framing service.  We have many mouldings and mounts from which to choose and Sarah will always give sound advice regarding how best to display your artworks and photographs.

To be notified of coming events and exhibitions or to hear about new stock just in, sign up to receive our newsletter, ‘The Hare’s Tale.’  We look forward to meeting you in Easingwold soon!

Michael & Sarah