Blue Monkey Network

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Blue Monkey Network

Artist network run by artists for artists. To join or find our more please visit our website.

26/05/2026

The newsletter for June will be sent out by Friday (check your inbox) so please send us details of any workshops, events, open studios, exhibitions etc that you’d like to share with our members. Details in image and our bio.

18/05/2026

Image: Vessel, screen print by

Submissions are now closed for our 2026 members open call, HIVE. Thank you to all our members who have submitted their works. We have such a wonderful selection of mediums to consider - from painting to sculpture, from film to print, from artist books to drawing and more.

We are now going through all your submissions - if you only submitted one work then this WILL be included. We are looking at conversations across the works, as well as considering space - and will be in touch within the next few weeks with the final results and details for drop off.

All the events related to the Exhibtion are now on our website so be sure to save the dates, whether you are in the show or not.

15/05/2026

For those of you that came to our May event this week with , we are sharing the 10 second extract of the animation ‘Things’ that we had hoped to share on the night, by , but we had a little technical hitch. Something fun and creative to start off your weekend.

14/05/2026

Thank you to for sharing your wisdom with us about the art world, for our 4 members who generously shared an insight into their ways of working, thinking, deliberating and making work, to our audience for engaging and to for hosting us and getting us all set up with almost no technical hitches! Phew!

We discussed the value of group shows, planning your budget for open calls, the Basic Income Scheme for artists in Ireland, the value of artist networks - like ours- the overused word ‘emerging’, blanks in our CVs from caring, the reality of running jobs alongside our art practice, how resilient we are for still creating as well as juggling other and changing demands over months and years to name just a few.

Our other event this month has unfortunately been cancelled but we will be sharing some ideas of places to go locally over the next few days.

11/05/2026

Less than a week to go now for your submissions to this year’s BMN members Exhibition. You have until 6pm on Sunday 17th May at 6pm to make your submission. Link is in the bio - all details on our website. We ran an online event to give ideas /inspiration and you can access the slides from this talk via our website.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted so far. It helps us a lot to receive applications before the deadline as it spreads the workload.

Everyone will have at least one work selected for the Exhibition and also be part of our online show in August.

We are looking forward to seeing your submissions. If you have any queries then pls message us on Instagram or email Nikki - details on website.

27/04/2026

Image 1: Contours 2022, Digital print from a drawing

Introducing the 4th of our members .burrows who will be sharing a snap shot of her practice with us at our May event with - How to enter the artworld after…….(sold out event).

Annie Burrows makes images and objects that contemplate themes central to the human condition.

Using the body as a starting point Annie’s practice is based on a drawing process that expands into print. She re-presents the body to reveal the quiet beauty that sits close to the abject whilst acknowledging diverse feelings that we may have about our bodies.

We are looking forward to hearing more from Annie on the 13th May - starting promptly at 6pm til 8pm on the ground floor. Doors open at 5.30pm and the ground floor bar will be open.

This is a ticket only event which is now sold out.

22/04/2026

Head in the clouds - copper tissue, spray-paint, hollow-fibre and wood by

Introducing the third artist who will be speaking at our How to enter the art world after………event with next month (see previous post for details/website and message us here or Nikki on the events email if you’d like to join the waiting list for this now sold out event).

Caroline works in an improvisatory way using non-traditional art materials and everyday items to make objects and environments which veer between fun and profundity, lightness and darkness.

The humble, found and homemade, no-art materials that she uses lead the way in her process. Her forms are a little absurd, provisional, often fragile and precarious, reflecting the spontaneity of their making. Her spacious installations are odd and surprising. The work has a haptic, voluptuous quality, a deliberate unfinishedness that intrigues, engages the senses and evokes a range of emotions.

Caroline will be sharing some details of her practice with us alongside 3 other members, with a short talk. Very much looking forward to hearing more.

18/04/2026

Introducing our second member speaker for our May event with , How to enter the art world after….. - see bio/website for details.

Elizabeth Doak is an Eastbourne based artist and artist educator. The work she makes is formed from research, with a layered historical context that she uses as a basis for storytelling. The written word inspires her practice greatly with themes centred around belonging, place, memory, and community, especially in the context of the home and heritage. She works with range of digital, analogue and alternative photographic methods to create ‘portraits’ in a wide field of interpretation.

Image 1: Digital positive from a paper negative taken with a victorian view camera and developed in caffenol - Lewis Carroll’s Bed Desk
Image 2: ‘s new book

17/04/2026

Thank you so much Emma & Richard for hosting us last night for a fascinating talk sharing your story of how the gallery and the archives started and has developed. From a chest of drawers to last minute flights, to building relationships with printmakers and their families to treasures under the bed, we loved hearing the story. We were also privileged to be able to view some the background materials that make up some of the archives - including carved leather broaches, copper plates and planning drawings for multiple plate Lino cuts. We are very lucky to have this gallery on our doorstep. If you haven’t been or missed the event we highly recommend a visit- check their website for opening times and the additional events they are involved in over the next few months from the London Print Fair to an Exhibtion of prints at the stunning National Trust Mottisfont in Hampshire.

As always thanks to our members and the visitors that came along to make it such a positive evening.

We look forward to seeing you at an event soon. Don’t forget that the next 3 events all need to be booked in advance. Links in our bio.

14/04/2026

Next month we are looking forward to welcoming for a discussion relating to the launch of her new book, How to enter the art world……..after ……

As part of this event we will be starting with 4 short pecha kucha style talks by 4 of our members. Today we are introducing the first of these, Heloise Jackson.

Heloise Jackson is a mixed media, multidisciplinary artist based in Eastbourne.

Her work explores the traces of human experience, memory and the act of remembering — the marks, impressions and scars, both visible and invisible, left on surfaces, landscapes, our bodies and each other - and how these are shaped and reinterpreted over time.

Through layered processes of construction, concealment and excavation, she creates surfaces and objects that act as repositories for fragments of lived experience. Working largely with found materials, her work forms an evolving archive — holding stories that have been told, left untold, or are in the process of being forgotten.

Image 1: ‘Freedom Remains’ 2026 Mixed media on card
Image 2:
Image 3: ‘s new book cover

Due to limited numbers for this event we do need you to reserve your place in advance. Free to members and £5 for visitors on the night. All are welcome. Link in our bio. (Only a few tickets left so please reserve yours).

Address

Towner Eastbourne, Devonshire Park, College Road
Eastbourne
BN214

Website

https://www.bluemonkeynet.org/

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