Current and forthcoming exhibitions 2012

(CV also follows below)

Lisa Hooper, artist/printmaker.

Seymour House, 25 High Street, Port William, Newton Stewart, DG8 9SL.

Telephone 01988 700392

4th February 2012 - 15th March 2012, Exhibition of 20 pieces at the Kentmere House Gallery, York.

3rd March - 12th April, participant in Spring Fling Taster exhibition at Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries.

6th March - 15th April, Making an impression, joint exhibition with Colin Blanchard at the Upfront Gallery, Hutton in the Forest, Nr Penrith.

17th March - 5th May, participant in a joint exhibition (10 pieces) at the McGill Duncan Gallery, Castle Douglas.

2nd April - 19th May, participant in Spring Fling Taster exhibition at Stranraer Museum.

May/June (dates to be confirmed) participant in the annual wildlife printmakers' exhibition at the Birdscapes Gallery, Glandford, Holt, North Norfolk.

May/June, (dates tbc) participant in Farmyard Follies, themed exhibition at the Museum, Stranraer

2nd - 5th June Spring Fling Open Studios event. My studio/gallery in Port William will be open to visitors over the whole weekend. I shall be demonstrating some of the techniques I use. Teas will be available throughout the event!

11th - 22nd July, Land, sea, sky, solo exhibition at the Tolbooth Gallery, Kirkcudbright.

13th - 29th July participant in the annual National Exhibition of Wildlife Art, at the Gordale Centre on the Wirral. (NB selective exhibition which I shall be entering.)

August 16th to August 18th , I shall be selling work from the Art Marquee at the Birdfair, Rutland Water (under my business name Hoopoe Prints): see www.birdfair.org.uk for more info.

22nd September - November 13th, solo exhibition at the Donald Watson Gallery, Waterson House, Aberlady (Scottish Ornithologists club HQ).

16th- 21rd October Artist in residence at Nature in Art, Twigworth, nr. Gloucester.

October/November,(dates tbc) Society of Wildlife Artists annual Open Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. (NB selective exhibition which I shall be entering).

Galleries selling my work

I currently have work with the McGill Duncan Gallery in Castle Douglas, the Gracefield Arts Centre Craft Shop in Dumfries, the Whitehouse Gallery in Kirkcudbright, the Rockcliffe Gallery on the Colvend coast(online only), the Old House Gallery in Oakham, the Dirleton Gallery in East Lothian, and the Birdscapes Gallery, Norfolk. I also sell direct from my own studio/gallery in Port William (when we are in or by appointment) and from my website: see contact page

CV

Contact details: Seymour House, 25 High Street, Port William, Newton Stewart, DG8 9SL. Tel: 01988 700392 E mail: alan.lisa@btinternet.com Website: www.hoopoeprints.co.uk

Personal statement. I have been a successful, full time artist/printmaker since 2005 when I relocated to Dumfries and Galloway. I make linocuts, woodcuts, etchings and other types of hand made prints. My subjects are birds and other wildlife and landscape. I have also perfected a technique for making batik images on paper and recently I have been teaching myself how to do Japanese woodblock prints.

I market my work in galleries in the region and beyond from North Berwick to Norfolk and through events such as the British Birdwatching fair and Spring Fling. I also have a busy programme of exhibitions.

My work has been published in a recent book on wildlife printmakers and I regularly supply the RSPB and Art Angels with card designs.

Education and work experience My only qualification in art is Art O' Level (grade A!). However I have a First Class Honours Degree in Government (University of Essex, 1984) and a PhD in the same subject, from the same institution, 1987. My interest in art essentially became a hobby during my career with the Countryside Commission and its successor bodies (1988 - 2005). In 1991 I started to attend evening classes in etching at the University of Gloucestershire, buying my own press in 1998. In 1999 a significant corporate sale to the Nuffield Foundation was followed by acceptance onto the AA2A scheme, at the University, producing a series of prints of Tithe barns, and a small solo exhibition. I then started to sell in commercial galleries in the Midlands and through artists groups in that area. My job as a civil servant, which was managing a website, drawing office and publications team, gave me some useful skills in IT and marketing, which I use to this day. For instance I built and I maintain my own website. I was made redundant in June 2005 owing to a reorganisation, and I decided to become a self-employed artist.

Art career highlights · In 2007 I had a significant solo exhibition at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust HQ in Gloucestershire. · I now exhibit regularly in the National Exhibition of Wildlife art, on the Wirral, where I have twice won prizes (2007 and 2008) for my entries. The 2008 prize included a full-length feature in the magazine "Birds Illustrated" which led to increased interest in my work. · I regularly have work accepted by the Society of Wildlife Artists Open Exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. · In 2011 I had two joint exhibitions with members of the Society of Wildlife Artists, Matt Underwood (at the Bianco Nero Gallery in Stokesley) and John Threlfall at the WWT gallery in Slimbridge mentioned above (they no longer run solo exhibitions, so I invited John to join me).

· I have been a successful applicant for Spring Fling every year since 2007 when I was first able to take part.

· This year I was one of 20 or so artists with a chapter in Wildlife in Printmaking, published by the Langford Press.

· Following success at a 4 person exhibition at the Donald Watson Gallery in Aberlady, which is managed by the Scottish Ornithologists Club, I have been offered a major solo exhibition there in September 2012.

· During October 2012 I will be undertaking a Residency at the Nature in Art Foundation in Gloucestershire.

· My work is stocked by a variety of local galleries including the McGill Duncan Gallery in Castle Douglas, Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries and the Whitehouse Gallery, Kirkcudbright, as well as galleries further afield in Scotland and beyond such as the Dirleton Gallery in East Lothian, the Old House Gallery Oakham, and the Birdscapes Gallery in North Norfolk. I also have a busy programme of local and not so local exhibitions throughout 2012.

· I teach relief printmaking, batik on paper and monotype through workshops which I hold in my studio in Port William. I run about half a dozen of these each winter.

Current activity. I use several techniques to capture pattern, light and texture in landscape, townscape and natural history subjects, particularly birds. I work from my etching studio, at home, using zinc plate, woodblocks, Perspex and other materials to create intaglio and relief printing surfaces. I have also developed a technique for producing batik pictures on paper and have just taught myself how to make Japanese woodblock prints, which I think will become an important part of my work. I see my work developing in expression and depth as I concentrate on my artistic response to birdlife and begin to explore the landscape of Dumfries and Galloway and other parts of Scotland. I have a consuming interest in the craft of printmaking and I am always interested in learning new techniques and honing existing ones. My aim is to create communicative but enduring and decorative images. I do earn my living from my art and it is a serious, full time enterprise.

Personal details I am 50 and married. I live in Port William where I have a studio, framing workshop and dedicated gallery within the house. I am enjoying the challenge of working for myself and developing my work. I also keep bees and grow my own vegetables! I have a serious hobby interest in weaving and dyeing and I am a member of the local Guild of Spinners, weavers and dyers. I have two looms, which I do sometimes find the time to use! Lisa Hooper, December 2011