some photographs taken at the recent artworks 11th annual exhibition at blackthorpe barn...first up is little ol' moi, jazz green, as my paintings are directly opposite the main entrance in the long barn - someone said it was really good to have some strong pieces at the start - strong, that is, if they have a penchant for the strangely mouldy and lichenesque...
lichenscape i & ii, and mouldscapes i - ix, mixed media on canvas and wood panel...entering the main medieval barn, one is immediately confronted by lynn hutton's explosive piece of sculpture, 'in the natural order'. it stands about three metres high and is made of mirrored steel with text etched onto it. hutton's work explores identity and memory, often referencing aspects of the landscape...
turning to the left, one meets liz waugh-mcmanus's gleaming red glass sculpture 'pierced', placed on a white plinth - seeming to reference either the biological body or a botanical structure...
nearby are eileen revett's minimalistic & monochromatic intaglio prints - the nature of time is explored through subtle gradations of tone, blind embossing and repetition of line...
one can't fail to miss jenny goater's wire sculptures in the centre of the barn - here, a large and small elephant, perhaps a mother and child - these are life size and very heavy. i love the concept that when they are situated outside, within the dense and intricate mass of wire a little bit of nature takes hold after a while...
mac mccaughan is a sculptor turned furniture maker - this high-backed english oak chair is both a contemporary design statement and a rather stately, functional item - it suited the rustic environment of the barn perfectly...
at the far end of the barn is one of eleonora knowland's sculptural, curved canvases. this small, captivating work on canvas, '11.59 summer', aims to capture the mystical magic of twilight as seen through trees...
as these few selected works from the artworks exhibition demonstrate, the landscape, the environment and nature in all its forms continue to be a strong source of artistic inspiration....the 11th annual artworks exhibition is at blackthorpe barns, open daily 10 am - 5pm, 11 September to 3 October 2010artworks is a professional group of thirty east anglian artists, who join together each autumn in a major group exhibition at blackthorpe....
on artworks and deckchairs
Passed by the Artworks exhibition at Wingfield Barns Arts Centre this weekend - this is firstly a shameless plug for my own work (it's my blog after all)... but the rural setting is fabulous - nature quietly intertwined within the traces of agriculture. I like to think that my work, Farmscape II looks quite at home here...
[Farmscape II, 2010, mixed media on canvas, 60cm x 120cm]
[a detail of surface textures]
[another detail of surface textures]Found out I had sold a couple of small paintings which was food for the soul.There is an interesting fund-raising exhibition of art on deckchairs in the adjacent barn... some really good ones (such as Dave Mckee's, the creator and illustrator of Mr Benn) and one or two perhaps not so good ones (technically speaking), but all will be auctioned off to raise money for the St Elizabeth Hospice... My favourite was the one created by the artist Tony Casement, all sand-encrusted with little seagull footprints, a deckchair that would be least coveted by the sun-lover, in the social etiquette (or war) of deckchair and sun-lounger acquisition. Very pleased to see that three Artworks artists have customised deckchairs in this exhibition too: Eleonora Knowland, Elaine Nason and Janet French...I wished I had stopped longer to observe and take some photographs of the old barns' structures but I had to get back to deliver my canvas to the HWAT Art exhibition, which opens on monday... you can read more about that particular painting, Edgescape: Fenn, here......The Artworks‘ Spring exhibition is currently showing at the Wingfield Barns Arts Centre until 25th April 2010, open daily 10am – 5pm.HWAT Showcase Exhibition of Art and Mini-works will be on at the Harleston Gallery from 19th April to 30th April 2010.