Dear Friend,

Spring is in the Air! and welcome to our 2nd edition of Mixed Media newsletter from Atelier 23
– the working studio of Carol and Ronnie Ford.

Throughout the dark days of the Scottish winter and as spring has finally sprung, Atelier 23 has been a hive of activity with preparations for four different Ford exhibitions. Morningside Gallery Edinburgh, Kranenburg Fine Art in Oban, Amelia Johnson Contemporary in Hong Kong and Affordable Art Fair in London have all been showing exciting new works by Ronnie this season. Read on for more about each show.

Also completed since we last wrote is the large commissioned piece for the owners of Cotswold House Hotel in Chipping Camden in Gloucestershire, who are delighted with their new Red Vineyard.

Our most exciting development is underway. As we write, our ecommerce platform is being created to launch our beautiful range of Ronnie Ford prints for purchase globally online. Soon you will be able to choose from a wide variety of signed giclée prints, some of them limited editions, and have them delivered direct to your door. Our online store will provide many customer friendly features such as: Secure transactions, advanced search, maintain your own account details, provide your own reviews for an interactive shopping experience; including purchase in local currency, and many more...If you are interested in our online print store, we'd love to hear from you - please drop us an email with your comments.

We have put together below some interesting information about the pleasure of collecting prints, as well as a guide to the different types of prints available. Meantime, to whet your appetite we have a very special offer of a limited edition signed print of the “Canal du Midi” – so follow the link and avail yourself of this unbeatable offer. Canal du Midi Giclée Limited Edition Print.

Finally, the lucky winner of the Ronnie Ford Christmas Competition has been announced. Click here to find out who has won their choice of signed and dedicated artist’s proof (highly collectible!) from the 2007 calendar.

Don’t forget to enter our new competition to win a print of your choice from the latest Ronnie Ford Spring Collection.

Warm regards,
Carol and Ronnie Ford

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Exhibition News

Morningside Gallery has a feature wall of Ronnie’s work in their Spring Show, which opened in their gallery in Morningside Road, Edinburgh on 10 February. As well as a selection of TextureScapes ranging from 30x30cm to 122x92cm, they are also showing “Les Quatre Saisons” – a TimeScape which takes you through the four seasons in a French landscape, created on a pyramid - shaped canvas. You can walk around the three-dimensional piece or rotate it in its glass cube to travel through time and space and enjoy the colours of the changing seasons. See a virtual tour of the TimeScape.

When it opened on 9 March, Ronnie’s annual solo show with Kranenburg Fine Art in Oban, this one entitled “Luminosity”, attracted much attention. It was in KFA that Ronnie had his first show after returning to Scotland from Hong Kong. He has had great pleasure in returning to this prestigious gallery for his fourth solo show there. There were around thirty new TextureScapes in the show, as well as a beautiful sunset vineyard in the form of a Timescape. You can see all the works on our website photogallery.

Click image for Kranenburg Gallery 360 Virtual Tour

“Much of this new collection has been inspired by two memorable journeys of 2006. The first was something of a pilgrimage. In the corner of France known as the Pays Catalan lies a true paradise of colour and light. It was here that Charles Rennie McIntosh spent the last four years of his life and while retracing his footsteps I became aware that many of the vistas before me seemed strangely familiar. While exploring the harbour at Collioures I realized why. There I came across a series of plaques commemorating many of my favourite artists. I had stumbled upon the very landscapes I had seen in my collections on the Fauves and the Cubists. It is not surprising that Cubism and Fauvism took hold in this land of ochre and purple, pink and turquoise, azure and orange, where the colours of nature are reflected in the geometric shapes of the architecture.”

If you read our last newsletter you will remember that the second trip which provided much inspiration was to New England in the fall. This collection shows the culmination of several months of experimentation with new colourways to recreate the splendour of the autumn in this beautiful part of the USA. This exciting journey will continue to inspire Ronnie’s work for many months to come.

Contact Kranenburg Fine Art for updates on which works are remaining.

On 11 March we flew to Hong Kong for another opening reception in Amelia Johnson Contemporary in NOHO (NOrth of HOllywood Road – the art and antiques quarter of the city). The new show “Vibrant Rhythms” had something for everyone - a wonderful selection ranging from sunflowers and lavender, glowing vineyards and vibrant poppies (always popular with the Hong Kong city dwellers) to Beijing blossoms and leafy New England lanes. The Solo show ran from 15th March to 14 April, for those who did not get the opportunity to visit, you can see a sample of the stunning pieces on our website gallery.

Also captured from the trip was a few snippets from the Hong Kong Magazines.

“AAF is the fab, funky fair where you can look, love and leave with contemporary art.”
At Affordable Art Fair, 15-18 March, in Battersea Park, London, Kings Road Gallery had a feature wall of Ronnie Ford TextureScapes. All ten pieces were snapped up by eager clients.

Chelsea Art Fair

The Kings Road Gallery stand at Chelsea Art Fair exhibited a small selection of Ford miniatures. The Fair was held at Chelsea Old Town Hall between 19-22 April 2007.

Here is what she said "All I can say is the picture is beautiful. We are thrilled. Only trouble is we have now decided to re-arrange our living room to make it a focal point, which will most probably mean a redecoration too. Thank you so much"
click here to see the competition winners page.

From our European Waterways (GoBarging.com) competition as announced in the January Edition of the Lock-Keeper. The Winner of a Pair of Ronnie Ford Limited Edition Framed Signed Prints is Barbara Raeuber from Mill Valley, California, USA.
See the GoBarging.com winners page.

Want to Know More about Collecting Prints?

Collecting Prints FAQ?

Why should I buy prints?
There are books written about collecting prints and many different types of collectors and collections. In a nutshell, buying prints is, for most people, an affordable way of putting beautiful art work on their walls.

Where can I get to see a choice of prints?
Visit galleries, museums and art fairs, browse and get a feel for what appeals. Ask the staff questions about the different artists and their prints. Go to gallery openings, have a look in art books and magazines. Use the internet to look at sites selling art work. Get to know what you like.

How do I choose what to buy?
No one can ever guarantee the investment value of any art, so the first rule has to be – buy it because you love it! You may choose to buy only prints of flowers, or collect prints by a certain artist or colours or subjects to suit its surroundings – but make sure you are buying because it will enhance your life.

What different kinds of prints are there?
There are many; screenprints, relief prints, lithographs, intaglio prints and digital prints are the main categories. You can learn more detail about each technique by visiting the Arts Guild website. www.fineart.co.uk

What is a giclée print?
A “giclée” print is a piece of printed artwork produced by a digital inkjet printer. The inks used are specially formulated and compatible with the extreme fineness of the printer head that spurts jets of ink in tiny droplets. The paper or canvas used is archive quality. The end result is a long-lasting, high quality print.

What about different editions?
An open edition is a run of prints with no limit on numbers. The prints may be signed or unsigned. Signed prints tend to be more collectable.

An artist’s proof is one of the first prints made. When the artist approves the colours and the quality of the print he/she signs it. It is then used as the standard to print the rest of the prints in the edition. The artist’s proof is usually more valued by collectors.

A limited edition is a run of prints with a predetermined limit on the number produced. The artist will sign and number each print in the edition usually with the number of the print followed by the number of the edition e.g. 39/250 (number 39 of a run of 250.) After the edition has been completed no more prints can be reproduced in any form and the print files will be destroyed. Limited edition prints are regarded as more collectable than open editions.

Next time – Looking after your Art Work.
Dont forget to get to let us know if you would like advanced notification of our new online print store. email us here

Ronnie Ford Competition - Win a signed Giclée Print

Win a dedicated, signed giclée Ronnie Ford print. One lucky reader can win this unique prize. All you have to do is visit our website and enter the Spring Competition. There are 4 easy multiple choice questions, based on this newsletter, with plenty of hints. It’s fun, and what a prize..!

The Winning entry will be selected at random and will have the option of selecting a signed giclée print of your choice from our new range. Click here to enter the competition...

Ronnie Ford Signed Prints (Spring Collection Samples)

Click here to enter the competition...

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