news from Gemma Plant

Walnut Cottage Art Studio Update November 2011

2011-11-03T00:49:00.000-07:00

This is me at my opening in Nicosia for my first exhibition in the capital! I was invited to take part in Decadance, an collection of work in different mediums from 12 artists from Cyprus including me. It was held over two weeks during the summer and the opening night was fab! live music and dancing.

I took part in Open Studios this year with my Studio and it was a huge success as I had lots of visitors and met new artists also. It was great fun and was a fantastic cultural event for Cyprus.

I would like to thank all of you who visited me during the 4 weekends I was open for Open Studios and helped to make it a huge success!

Please note that Walnut Cottage Art Studio will be open daily in the run up to Christmas, apart from the following dates which I will be closed due to holding exhibitions elsewhere in Cyprus:

7th - 13th November for 1 week, En Plo Paphos Harbour

18th November 1 day only, Polis Art Cafe Art and craft show.

30th November for 1 day only, Tweedies Restaurant in Kissonerga Christmas Coffee Morning with the artist.

16th December 1 day only, Polis Art Cafe, Christmas Art and Craft Show. Mulled wine etc :-)

19th - 25th December for 1 week, En Plo Paphos Harbour

Please feel free to come and see me and all my creations down in Paphos harbour or Polis during the above dates.

For further enquiries please contact me on 00357 99959227 or email on snowyclay@hotmail.co.uk

I look forward to seeing you.

Walnut Cottage Art Studio Opens May 2011

2011-05-16T02:17:00.000-07:00

Newsflash!

Walnut Cottage Art Studio in Fyti is now open!

Check out these pictures of my Art Studio that I have just opened in Fyti, Paphos district.

Walnut Cottage Art Studio is open daily, feel free to call me on 00357 99959227 or email me on snowyclay@hotmail.co.uk for details or directions, just off the main square.

Fyti is a picturesque, tranquil, traditional Cypriot village up in the mountains with a fabulous Taverna "Maria's"and a Cypriot Folk Art Museum, so why not make a day of it and come up and see us. Everyone welcome.

I have my paintings on display, handmade jewellery, cards and gifts. All things creative.

The views from my studio are what continually inspire me to create, as from one side I see Mount Olympus and the other side I see Latchi and Neo Chorio. Spectacular!

Fyti is 25 minutes from Paphos and 20 minutes from Polis, it is a beautiful drive up as you gradually climb to nearly 800 metres above sea level.

So in the summer months you will be able to escape the humidity of the coast. Nice.

Please feel free to come and visit and take in the views too........... Experience the real Cyprus.

Art Exhibition in Cyprus Dec 2010 - New Art works!

2011-01-07T10:22:00.001-08:00

After a productive and fruitful year, I held an Exhibition along with two fellow Artists, David Lester and Trish Wilson, in the Enplo Gallery, Paphos Harbour, Cyprus in December 2010.

Here are a few images of the work I displayed there.

The paintings are oil on canvas, although I have also experimented with Indian ink in some of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this series of work as it gave me a chance to completely broaden my spectrum and really work with totally different materials and subject matter.

The Exhibition in Paphos Harbour during Christmas week was fantastic as we all had lots of positive feedback and comments, we also had alot of sunshine which helps!

If you would like to know more about the paintings or forthcoming events please contact me on info@gemmaplant.com or (00357)99959227

NEWS FLASH! New Series of Oil Paintings from my travels of South East Asia

2010-03-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Here are just a couple of images of my new paintings I started this year.

I am making work back in Cyprus now and loving it.

I am working on a whole series of oil paintings from the photography I took whilst I was travelling through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

It seems to be the wildlife and colours that have inspired me.

"Elephant No.1" Oil on canvas 150cm x 100cm 550 Euros and "Water Buffalo No.1" Oil on Canvas 150cm x 100cm 550 Euros can be seen on display at Tweedies Restaurant in Kissonerga, Paphos, Cyprus from March 2010.

More to follow shortly..............

Vietnam April 09 the last leg.......

2009-04-17T06:44:00.001-07:00

Andrew at Bangkok airport waiting to go back to the UK, looking very pensive.

The traffic in Vietnam is mental! a billion mopeds!

Vietnam.... wish we could have stayed longer.
The people are lovely, countryside breathtaking and food to die for! crispy duck we love you x
Noodle soup on every corner, and the world's cheapest beer, what more can you say! lol
To Ho Chi Minh City Saigon , the south of Vietnam, we went but wish we could have gone up to the north...... oh well we will just have to go back there one day!

Cambodia March 09

2009-04-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

Just crossed over the border into Cambodia, waiting for a bus (we did alot of that!)

There is no in-between in Cambodia, either things are five star luxury or it is pure poverty at its greatest!

The sunsets were some of the best colours I have ever seen.

One of the Temples of Angkor

All of the signs of Buddhism inside the temples were destroyed.

Cambodian housing in the villages is very simple but beautiful I thought - better than the filth and dirt in the cities.

Deforestation is a major problem all over Asia! We do so much to try and save the environment and they are doing this with out blinking an eye as they know no different! it was shocking the scale in which they are doing this!

Me and Andrew on the top of a roof top restaurant just enjoying a cold beer and watching the sun set. I think we could run classes on how to do that!

After leaving the 4,000 Islands and crossing over into Cambodia on the Dong Cra Law border crossing we made our way on yet another very long and very tedious bus journey to Siem Reap but had to stay over night in Kompong Cham as it was such a long distance and the roads are so bad and the buses are so old! we were covered in red dust by the time we got there as "air con" also translates into "wide open windows"! lol

We travelled through such poor areas of Cambodia, and poverty is not the word, on the buses by the time we got to Siem Reap we did not quite believe how posh and clean some of the areas are.

"The rich are getting richer and the poorer are getting poorer" could be the phrase for Cambodia, corruption does not even begin to come close to what we saw.

We did Angkor Wat, the world's biggest religious site (aka Lara Croft Temples old ruins taken back by the jungle)AMAZING! then moved onto the capital Phnom Penh again dirty, disgusting, dangerous areas and turn your head and you have immaculate gardens and hotels and brand new cars.

Cambodia is such a beautiful place geographically but we did not feel safe there and the people we came into contact with either wanted to rob or scam us in some way. Therefore we decided to move onto to Vietnam.................

Laos March 09 the next chapter....

2009-04-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

Me looking very worried - can you see the fear?

One of the amazing sunsets over the Mekong outside our room.

This is the road system on Don Khon (4,000 Islands - Si Phan Don).

Don Khon

You can see the French influence in this derelict building in the grounds of the local school.

French Music festival on the night we arrived in Vietianne, amazing; live music, french cheese, bread and red wine - we were in heaven!

Typical housing on the hill side villages

One of the hefferlumps we rode on down the river and into the forest, it was so peaceful.

Our accommodation in Laos!!

4,000 Islands - This is the area where the rare Irrawaddy dolphins inhabit - but we did not spot any.

Andrew searching for the dolphins, the eternal explorer!

After we crossed over in to Laos in Huay Xai ( a tiny border town which consisted of one main street, a few guest houses which were holes lol and about 3 places to eat), we discovered that there were 2 options to get to our next destination Luang Prabang by water; either a two day slow boat (which looked like it had seen better days) or a 6 hour speedboat ride down the Mekong! guess which one we decided on! I started to get a little worried when they handed out massive crash helmets and life jackets for the smallest boat you have ever seen! lol

Uncomfortable does not even begin to describe that journey , it made the 12 hour bus journeys seem like a heavenly walk in the park on an extremely sunny but not too hot day!lol

Imagine sitting on a plank of wood with ZERO leg room, travelling along quite strong currents, choppy water at about 70 miles an hour! It was like hitting concrete at that speed, numb bum ?

We did get to stop off half way though in Pak Beng, another VERY small town built up over the years simply from tourism, people stopping off or staying overnight. After the commercialism, conveniences and luxuries of Thailand only a day or so ago, this was the biggest wake up call to a new and drastically different country anyone could ever have!

Especially not even proper toilets, just holes in the floating houses floors which drop straight into the river - the very same river we were getting sprayed with on the boat and people wash, brush teeth and fish in! nice!

We survived to tell the tale and will certainly never forget that experience!

Opening performances aside, Laos was probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!

The people are wonderfully friendly, happy, welcoming even more so than Thailand they would do anything to try and accommodate you.

We then made our way to the capital Vientiane, the most laid back capital in the world lol.

When we arrived there in the evening and there was a music festival on , we could have been in France! Cheeses, breads, wines and music and lots of french people! it was amazing!

We then moved onto the south of Laos, the 4,000 Islands!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!

Apartments on stilts on the river(bottom of the Mekong where it fans out into all of these tiny Islands, some of which are inhabited), no electricity (only some guest houses have a generator so you get a light bulb and a fan from 6pm till 10pm! luxury!lol no roads, no cars, just pathways and mopeds, no fridges just ice boxes everywhere with daily deliveries from the man on the river with a boat full of blocks of ice! crazy to even comprehend but simply beautiful and relaxing and amazing!

Absolutely loved Laos!

Next installment Cambodia...........................

Thailand the last chapter before crossing into Laos

2009-04-17T05:29:00.000-07:00

Yummy!

Sea Horses!!!

This was the very last part of our travels through Thailand and the last few photos before we crossed over into Laos.

After we had travelled the south of Thailand we came back up through Bangkok, on to Chiang Mai then Chiang Rai and then crossed over at the top of the Mekong river between Chiang Kong and Huay Xai (Laos)......

Thailand 12th March 09

2009-03-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

The journey continues, now in Chiang Mai the North of Thailand getting ready to cross over into Laos in the next fews days.

Have seen so much and travelled so many miles, have been some ups and some downs but experiencing every last drop to the fullest I can, I feel like a sponge!

Lokking forward to Laos as will seem very laid back compared to the cities of Thailand which are crazy! pollution, traffic, smog,scams the lot! but away from the centres are some quite amazing places! The highest Point in Thailand was unreal! and the National Parks here put Europe's to shame! They are enormous!!!!!!!!!!!!! and breath taking - literally on a moped down hill ;-)

The landscapes here are beautiful to say the least, green and lush tropical forest surrounding dirty big cities.

Hope that has updated you for now , more next time ...............

Feb 26th Thailand

2009-02-20T05:01:00.000-08:00

First steps of the journey..........

Travelling for thirty something hours is not much fun with no sleep, we weren't the happiest bunnys! ha ha

But we have arrived after bus london,tube london, plane India, bus India, plane Thailand,taxi bangkok, bus Ko samui , boat Koh Phangan, Taxi to wooden bungalow with one of the best views I have ever seen !

Have seen so much from the crazyness of Bankok to the calm chilled out vibe of this place Kho Phangan.......Just need to chill out now after all that travelling!

We have adventured all around the Island and taken in some amazing sites, dolphins on the way over, monkeys collecting coconuts, elephants in the mountains to mention but a few!

We are staying in a bungalow 20 steps away from the ocean but we have given the snorkelling a miss as there are quite a few jelly fish!

Loving Thailand.

enjoy the pics........

Ireland Feb 09

2009-02-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

Well what a place to start travelling, I know its in the UK and not quite Asia YET but that will come(Feb 16th) but what an amazing place to begin and get my creative juices flowing again!

I love Ireland, it has the most unbelievably fantastic landscapes and interesting, funny, friendly people. Everyone says hello to you in the villages as you walk by, just like you would imagine!

The natural beauty of the place just takes your breath away.

What else can I say? The photos do not do it justice!

Back in England now preparing for the trip! I can not wait to go further around the world and just enjoy and explore and experience everything we come across ( and by "we" I am talking about my life and travelling partner aka my better half (sometimes) aaka Irish Boyf x

Lets just keep everything crossed that we can get out (sorry FLY out - slip of the tongue )of England OK with all of the snow...................

Travels Part 1

2009-01-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

The start of our travels........
Landed in Dark, cold, grey and wet Manchester a few days ago, missing the Cyprus skies already and longing for Thai ones soon to come.
I will not be putting any images on this entry of my diary as I am sure you do not want to see Staffordshire in 4 degrees at 2:30pm ! very gloomy indeed.
Instead I will simply let you know that we are beginning our travels next Saturday to Ireland visiting Andrew's family and for me to experience Ireland for the first time.........
there will definitely be pictures next time!

Gemma Plant launches new website

2008-01-22T02:16:00.000-08:00

Professional artist, Gemma Plant now has a website which shows her abstract paintings, figurative canvases, drawing, and architectural studies.

The site also offers the visitor the chance to contact the artist to discuss exhibitions, sales and private commissions. Gemma's CV and biography outlines her art education whilst the exhibition page details past solo and group shows both in the UK and in Cyprus.

Thanks to grish art, the creative agency responsible for design and construction of Gemma Plant's website. Return your visit to keep updated with Gemma's new art works as well as details of forthcoming exhibitions.

Any comments on the artist's new website would be gratefully received.