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EMILY BALL AT SEAWHITE‍

CONTEMPORARY DRAWING AND PAINTING COURSES‍

SIMON CARTER

Artist | Tutor | Curator

“Simon is enormously generous with explaining his own thought process of what is vital to him in drawing and painting.” ~ Julia Schultz,  Expanded Painting Student‍

Image: Simon Carter's studio (Noah Carter)‍‍

Dear  ‍ ‍

Our team of tutors are perhaps our greatest asset at the Seawhite Studio.  They invest so much in their role: generously sharing their passion and knowledge with students.  In this newsletter, we’re highlighting the quiet powerhouse that is Simon Carter.  Emily has known Simon for many years, inviting him to teach numerous courses at the studio, online and more recently to share his painting practice through week-long studio residencies.‍

“Simon is a generous and attentive tutor who provides exciting demonstrations as part of his short courses.  Walking his own talk, he encourages students to appreciate how vital it is to change and edit paintings and inspires them to be confident in doing this.” ~ Emily

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As well as being a much-respected part of the Seawhite Studio tutoring team, Simon is a prolific and disciplined painter. As art critic Matthew Collings observed: “He works all the time. He lives and paints near the sea, he’s walking and looking every day.” ~ Matthew Collings @paintworks_london.  Simon is known for his dedication to making countless studies out in the landscape -  on the seawalls, quays and marshes of the Essex coast - and then returning to his studio to find ways of maintaining the raw freshness of those drawings in his studio paintings. He exhibits regularly, works consistently, and seeks to share his practice through his teaching, Instagram feed and films. 

Image: Studio shots (Simon Carter)

Beyond his studio, Simon has also built a reputation as a person who keenly champions others artists; providing opportunities for their work to be exhibited and for more people to see exciting and engaging shows. He is President of the Colchester Arts society, Curator of The Art of Frinton exhibition programme and Co-founder of the Contemporary British Painting Group.

Read on to find out more about Simon’s creative pursuits, and how you can join him for an exciting new course at the Seawhite Studio this September.‍

SIMON CARTER: TUTOR

 A Day on the Beach

16-19 September 2024 (Mon - Thurs), £400

1 day at the beach, 3 days at the Seawhite Studio‍

Image: Drawing on the Beach (Simpon Carter)

A Day on the Beach is a four-day practical course that starts with a day’s drawing on the beach at Worthing.  The course will look at understanding these initial drawings and at ways of using them to fuel work in the studio.

“Whether your usual drawings are loose notes in a sketchbook or are more complete and considered, it is often difficult to see how to use the drawings we make. Our initial drawings often have a life and spark that can easily be extinguished in the studio processes.” ~ Simon‍

 The course will look at  strategies for unpacking drawings, understanding what it is that makes them work and seek at ways to maintain the freshness of the initial drawings as studio work develops.

For more information and to book your place, please click on the button below:‍

Image:  A Walk by Cormorant Cree, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 117x127cm, Simon Carter‍

“Attending Simon’s course has moved my work on significantly.  I enjoyed Simon's course immensely.  I feel I have made important and significant progress with my work.  Simon is a really good tutor, and very kind and generous in sharing with us his own experience and skills as a painter.” ~ Linda Partick, Painting and Drawing by the Sea‍

 PROJECTS

12 Months in Essex

 “I get such excitement from Simon Carter’s inventive fusions or hybrids of landscape and abstract. He’s one of the greats in my opinion… I think he’s a very distinctive painter, very different from the usual officially approved art. He seems more connected to nature on the one hand and art on the other (ie historic art).” ~ Matthew Collings, quote posted on Instagram feed @paintworks_london  

Image:  Saltmarsh, 2023. Acrylic on canvas, 70x100cm, Simon Carter‍

"I am working with Noah Carter (youngest son, artist and filmmaker) on a film and book charting a year in my landscape and studio. We raised funds on Kickstarter, offering rewards in exchange for sponsorship, and plan to have the book ready for sale in mid- October. Raising our own funds allowed us to make our own decisions and to take control of the way the story is told. ‍ 

Image: Simon Carter's studio (Noah Carter)‍

"The book will be around 150 pages, hardback, initially launching at a pop-up shop at Old Grocery, Wivenhoe, Essex. It will include an essay by Matthew Collings.

"The book and film will work in parallel, covering the same material in a different but complimentary ways. The film will be in 12 monthly sections and around 120 minutes long, and should be complete by the end of the year. We have screenings and events in planning!"~ Simon‍

EXHIBITING ARTIST

Where can we see your work?  Current and Upcoming exhibitions…‍

"The painting 'A Walk in Winter' is currently at The Minories Open in Colchester." ~ Simon

The show runs until 11 August 2024.  More details can be found here‍.

Image: A Walk in Winter, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 117x127cm, Simon Carter

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"I am showing the large canvas 'A Long Walk in the Rain' at Britten Pears Arts’ Summer Contemporary, at Snape in Suffolk."  ~ Simon‍

The show runs until 1 September 2024.  More details can be found here.

Image: A Long Walk in the Rain, in situ  (Simon Carter)

Image: A Long Walk in the Rain, 2024. Acrylic on canvas, 140x160cm, Simon Carter‍

"I also have a small painting in Slow Painting at Plough Arts Centre, Devon until 17 August." ~ Simon

 More details can be found here.

EXHIBITION CURATOR

What shows are you currently curating?‍

 "I curate exhibitions at Oasis, a community space in the high street of Frinton-on-Sea. We work under the name The Art of Frinton.  The summer exhibition 'The Beautiful East presents 20 works by 20 artists from across the eastern region. It is our 70th exhibition at Oasis. For more information about our exhibition programme follow us on Istagram - @theartoffrinton . 

CREATIVE PRACTICE

What’s going on in your studio at the moment?‍

 "I am currently working on a group of smaller pieces on paper, looking at including more directly drawn elements layered onto the landscape." ~ Simon ‍

Image:Work in progress.Twenty things I like to draw, Acrylic on paper, each sheet 42×48cm (Simon Carter)‍

You can find out more about Simon’s work by visiting his Instagram feed, where he regularly shares what’s going on in his studio, exhibition news and updates on projects that he is working on.

You can also find out more about Simon’s painting philosophy through his “Artist-to-Artist” interview with Robert Priseman (part of a series of interviews conducted by the Priseman Seabrook Collection).  ‍

If you wanted to see Simon’s painting processes up close, why not join him for a residency at the Seawhite Studio next March? Our five-day studio residencies offer artists the chance to work alongside one of our tutors, and provide the space and time to paint in an inspiring atmosphere.  Simon has led several studio  residencies with us already, and we are looking forward to welcoming him back next year:

“I have greatly enjoyed leading the week-long residencies at the Seawhite Studio. It is amazing how much can be achieved in a concentrated week’s work by a small group of artists, working on their own projects but invigorated by being with other artists in a busy studio.” ~ Simon‍

Image: Simon's work space during his Seawhite Studio Residency (Simon Carter)‍

To find out more about our residency programme and to book a place, please click on the button below:‍

Image: Simon Carter teaching Experiments in Watercolour Online (Noah Carter)‍

 "It was really helpful and I thoroughly enjoyed the course as it took me out of my comfort zone. Onwards and upwards! Shall be out with my sketchbook again in the next day or two with Simon on my shoulder!" ~ Janet Aughey, Experiments in Watercolour‍

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