Matchbox

Norwich Artists Collective

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What a brilliant evening we all had at the Mustard Café in Norwich yesterday! Lots of lovely friends and guests turned out on a lovely warm summery evening. We just love being able to show off our latest art, chat to our visitors, have a drink (or two) and enjoy the super nibbles generously provided by Elaine at the Mustard Café; makes all the Matchbox artist's hard work so worthwhile. We didn't even get time to take any photographs ourselves but thanks to Yvonne for providing us with some memories of the evening. If you missed this event there are more coming up throughout 2015, more details later.

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Matchbox member Daniel Saunders is having an exhibition throughout April at the Cherryleaf Coffee House. It will feature a sneak preview of his latest book as well as paintings and other illustrations. Everyone is welcome to tag along!

https://www.facebook.com/events/407505929417843

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Unsurprisingly, Graham Harbord is still reviewing the photographs taken in Indochina (only about 800 to go) The children of this part of the world are fascinating and enchanting. By western world standards they have so very little, but seemed so very happy. Is there a lesson here?

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Well, that’s the end of our Frank’s bar exhibition. Overall, it was a great success and we sold a number of pieces! A special thanks to Frank’s bar for hosting us, and special thanks to all our friends and family for visiting the exhibition over the past two weeks. We hope you enjoyed it; it’s certainly been a pleasure for us! If you’ve missed out, there’s no need to worry, we have a whole year of fun events planned, including “first birthday” celebrations! Thanks again to everyone involved. Onwards and upwards!

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***Exciting News! – Valentines Exhibition at Franks Bar, Norwich***

We are pleased to announce our latest exhibition at Franks Bar, Bedford Street, Norwich where you can see new and exciting works including a very happy hotdog, cute couples, a ‘guest appearance’ by Barry White and much more. Why not buy your loved one a special and unique valentines gift and for extra brownie points suggest a romantic meal as well? The food is delicious! The exhibition runs from Tues 03 Feb up to and including Sun 15 Feb

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Matchbox Member Graham Harbord (the elder) of ‘artandimages’ is February’s 2015 Artist of the Month. Norwich born artist Graham just loves working with ‘soft pastels’ as a painting medium, but they are very, very messy…..perhaps that’s part of the charm and attraction. The ability to blend colours on the paper and turn a blank sheet of paper into something that his customers love and cherish is a rich source of satisfaction. Pastel painting is not a stable medium, it doesn’t go off or set or go hard. Even a commercial ‘fixative’ won’t stop the pastel smudging so a lot of care is essential when painting (as he has found out many times!) Photography also plays a big part in his creativity. Building on a childhood fascination with a Brownie Box camera, then much later, developing a sound photographic knowledge by completing a two year course with The New York Institute of Photography. This included starting from the very basics through to advanced techniques, regular assignments and assessments much of which is still appropriate today even in the world of digital cameras. All this hard work and study paid off when he was awarded the Royal Photographic Society ‘Licentiateship’ in 1989. His prize winning abstract photographs have also appeared in Practical Photography magazine. Recently returning from a 28 day tour of Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and a city break in Bangkok there were a considerable number of photo opportunities (understatement). There is now an enormous amount of sorting to do, although taking ‘reference location’ photos enroute does help with this huge task. Looking to the future, he is very much looking forward to being involved with all fantastic ‘Matchbox Norwich’ artists in the exhibitions and activities that they will be presenting in 2015 as well as the celebrating the groups first birthday. He can’t wait to see old friends, family and meeting new friends at these events. He is also working towards his first solo exhibition……..more details about all these exciting events later.

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"The Hobbit"

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"Meanwhile on the giant space platypus" by Daniel Saunders

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The Matchbox Mascot finally has a name! After going through loads of your fantastic submissions, we have choosen the name "Marcelle." The winner of the framed print will be contacted very soon! Also, as a result of this wonderful news, Marcelle is very excited and (rather suddenly) full of Christmas spirit!

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Christmas Craft Fair for MSA

Hi everyone! Matchbox Norwich has a stall at the "Christmas Craft Fair for MSA" on Saturday. It's our first craft fair so come and say hello! We'll have lots of lovely prints and books and things to sell. Perhaps that perfect christmas gift you've been looking for will be waiting on our table... Also, there's going to be tea and cake, and it's all for a good cause!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1479941605615129/

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Happy Halloween!

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Hi everyone! Our Matchbox mascot still needs a name. You can now enter the competition online by clicking through to our special competition page… http://matchboxcompetition.wordpress.com/ Enter now for your chance to win a framed Matchbox person print! Hopefully, we can officially name him/her in time for Christmas!

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Well if that was just the pre-launch can't wait until the launch! What a fabulously successful event. Thanks to everyone that joined us during the evening for a glass (or two) of Pimms. Lovely to see so many people. Feedback has been just amazing!

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Well, what an amazing day at the Free Spirit Fair! Really positive feedback, and the children loved playing with Lara's sculpture/game. Definitely lots of free spirits about!

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Holly Stanton

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Lara Nicole A’Court

Lara A' Court works with a whole variety of people from students in schools where delivering workshops with an artistic slant to the public designing and delivering games. Lara also takes commissions varying from sculptures to tattoo designs.

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Maria Crutchley | behindtheframearts.com

Maria Crutchley is an arts promoter, children’s writer and illustrator of the Erna book series. Based in Norwich, Maria is Director of Behind the Frame, which works to support local artists and art events