an escape from the country

dear reader, do you remember my experimental travelling iCons series from 2010 - where will they go, i often do not know...three of these small canvases are currently on display at the lovely cork brick gallery, three small canvases looking forward to travelling somewhere new. they are: maroc, nepal and tsavotsavo, 2010, 13cm x 13cm x 3cm. read more about this small abstract on canvas, tsavo - another journey into colourmaroc, 2010, 13cm x 13cm x 3cm. photographed in natural daylight on a typically cloudy day in great britain. read more about this small abstract canvas, maroc - around the world in one hundred abstractsnepal 2010, in the artist's studio, under the spotlight!nepal 2010, seen on a rare outing to the end of the artist's garden, where rust and algae grows - it seems at home here, despite the weather. read more about this small abstract on canvas, nepal - painting by numberstsavo, pueblo (centre, not in the gallery), and maroc.there are many more small abstracts in the (travelling) iCons series here (with tour guide explanation), and just over there to the right you will see that there are more canvases ready to travel light to new places, in the country or the city.why is it always about the art on show in cities, in new york, london, berlin..? oh wait, i forgot, that's how this virtually travelling project started - seeing the world, taking a virtual holiday, on an internet road trip, a small break from the norm, getting away from it all, on a (not so) grand tour, an escape from the country*...*escape to the country is a BBC daytime TV property series in which prospective house buyers hunt for their perfect home in the countryside. as a nation of people living quite close together on quite a small island, we quite like watching property & travel shows.Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they're going.Paul Theroux (travel writer)...

six abstract painters : a private view

walking past st mary's churchyard from the marketplace towards the new exhibition 'six abstract painters' at the halesworth gallery, this is what you will first see - a most charming grade II listed building, built in 1686 (or perhaps earlier). as with a lot of very old buildings they are altered and rebuilt over the centuries making them difficult to date accurately. this building was formerly the town's almshouses - that is, a place providing shelter for the destitute & impoverished of the parish.i was surprised to discover that this building still functioned as almshouses up to the early 1960s (read more information on halesworth, its history and the halesworth town trail here). the halesworth gallery has exhibited art by some notable names in twentieth century british art - including sculptor elisabeth frink and the painters mary fedden RA, feliks topolski, josef herman, mary potter and margaret mellis...the selection of artists for inclusion in the halesworth gallery exhibition programme takes place in january following a national 'call for artists'. the exhibitions are planned & organised by a gallery committee. the halesworth gallery is only open from may to september as the building is very old and unheated (it would be very costly to heat it effectively, given the restrictions laid down on modernising listed buildings). so, the halesworth gallery season closes each september with a fabulous 'open' art exhibition, where every artwork submitted (with some size restrictions) is exhibited. i am always amazed how efficiently & imaginatively this process is undertaken, and the exhibition always attracts a lot of visitors. i must actually remember to submit a little something this year!the halesworth gallery is now an established exhibition venue in central suffolk, it is non-profit-making, run by a team of dedicated volunteers, with a commitment to showing high quality, contemporary art (including painting, printmaking & sculpture) by professional artists who have strong connections or links to suffolk or east anglia. ok, let's go in and take a look around the current exhibition, 'six abstract painters'...this is the first room of the gallery, showing mixed media paintings by the painter mari french, along the leftside wall. on the small table is the gallery's guest book. the view through the window looks across to the church...over to the other side of the first room are mixed media paintings by norfolk artist anthea eames (with one of her paintings hung in the old fireplace). there are two more of mari french's canvases to the right. these two small works by mari caught my eye, where she has used plaster & textile collage elements to build up surface texture...mari french, ancient landscapes IV & V, mixed media on plaster on panelmari french's recent series of paintings are inspired by the open landscapes of north norfolk, where she has recently moved to from the highlands of scotland - from one dramatic landscape to another. in mari's own words: "light and atmospherics play a strong part in my finished pieces, where the build-up of complex layers and the exposure of under-painting all add to the visual intensity."these two paintings by anthea eames are near the reception desk...anthea eames, coastal dwelling & coastal dreaming II,  mixed media, including norfolk woad, earth pigments and sandanthea eames' map-like abstract paintings have strongly cultural resonances, bound up in the history of ancient sites or tribal landscapes. anthea says that: "my more recent work draws on my present home in Norfolk and frequent visits to Australia. Collecting impressions and subsequently working with these, I attempt to understand my place in these disparate worlds. Each location brings with it its own spirit, colour and textural palette." also key to anthea's process is that she sources & uses locally-derived pigments and earth minerals in her work, such as norfolk woad... these are the kind of paintings, embedded as they are with discreet layers of history and meaning, which ask to be deciphered slowly...on through to the next room of the gallery, we encounter the work of another norfolk-based artist, john midgley...john midgley, marsh cut, threshold I & II, oil on canvasi first came across one of john midgley's paintings at salthouse 09, where i was also an exhibitor. he describes his paintings as "strident, gritty paintings that grab you by the collar and demand attention."this new series of landscape-derived works have a more subdued mood though, reminding me of the poetic daubings of cy twombly. you really have to see these paintings close-up to appreciate the gestural brushwork. this series of paintings are inspired by the same location, salthouse marshes. john has been a member of the salthouse art committee since 2008 and is also exhibiting in this year's salthouse art exhibition, salthouse 11: ad limina, curated by art historian and gallery owner of art1821, laura williams...the artist geraldine carratu is exhibiting some large canvases on the opposite wall; she is also based in norfolk. she works in both acrylics and oils. these three paintings worked well together, united in form and content...geraldine carratu, evening sail, harbour blue & beach hutthis leads us through to the third and final room of the gallery, one that feels lighter and more spacious. to the left are a series of canvases & works on panel by the london-based artist joan hickson. joan works with a muted colour palette and her paintings suggest the weathered elements of the coast...joan hickson, sleep I, mixed media on canvas, and waterfront study 1 -4, mixed media on boardand lastly, to some of my own paintings in this exhibition…to the right, in the fireplace, the large canvas painting, edgescape rostand over there, on the church-side wall, three farmscapes…farmscape VI, VII and II, mixed media on canvasyou can see more abstract farmscape paintings here...edgescape fennyou can see more pictures of the abstract painting fenn here. the observant might also note a change in orientation - this is because this is (to me) a seasonal painting; in the spring the suggestion of new life rises up from the earth, in the winter it is sleeping below ground...and lastly, to some of my small iCons…wildwood I, II, IIIsiena (top), congo and redwood (below)close-up of one of the small iCons - redwood, 2011you can see more images from this exhibition in the previous post: six abstract painters : an exhibition...Six Abstract Painters, Halesworth Gallery*, Steeple End, Opp. St Mary's Church, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 8LL28 May to 15 June 2011open daily, Monday-Saturday 11am to 5pm, Sundays 2pm - 5pm......if you are holidaying on the beautiful suffolk coast, or perhaps visiting aldeburgh, snape, southwold, walberswick or dunwich, the small market town of halesworth is only a short drive away, a few miles further inland from blythburgh church (with the legendary scratches of the fearsome 'black shuck', curious pew carvings representing the seven deadly sins and exquisitely carved angels high up in the roof), and not far from henham park (a private estate which hosts the annual latitude music festival). the town of halesworth is signposted off the a12.*n.b. due to the unique character and age of the building those with mobility issues will find the steep, narrow stairs to the upstairs gallery difficult. please call the gallery on 01986 873064 should you require any assistance or more information prior to your visit......addendum: the artist mari french has put up some photographs of the preview evening of 'six abstract painters' here......

six abstract painters : an exhibition

this is a small exhibition that i am currently showing some new paintings in, and as the title conveys, it features the work of six abstract painters, all with connections to east anglia. the artists are geraldine carratu, anthea eames, mari french, jazz green (that's me!), joan hickson and john midgley. it opens today (saturday 28 may 2011) at the halesworth gallery, in the heart of rural suffolk...i took these photographs of my paintings in the gallery on the day of the hanging. all went very smoothly, much helped by the assistance of jan & alan (and some tea & biscuits!). as any artist will tell you, transporting art & installing art exhibitions can be a tiring and sometimes stressful affair...the halesworth gallery is wonderful space in which to show one's work, as it has an honesty, simplicity & serenity that i find very appealing. it is not the white cube of a gallery space desired of most contemporary artists, but having recently exhibited in a 16th century church, the cellar of a medieval merchant's house and two listed barns, halesworth gallery's own period charm & modest character feels to be a 'right' context for my particular work (born as it is from the surrounding countryside), and i am very pleased to have been selected to exhibit here in 2011...this is the view of my art as you enter the third room of the gallery. my paintings are hung along the church-side wall (the gallery is directly opposite st mary's church - i discovered some interesting lichens in the graveyard). note the ceiling with its old oak beams and the impressive inglenook fireplace - when i learnt that one could hang artwork in the fireplaces my red edgescape painting 'rost' simply shouted to be included in this show. the floor (covered by some matting, under which i presume to be the original oak floorboards) has a gracefully uneven character about it too...here are three of my abstract farmscape paintings from 2010, and this is their first public exhibition. i wondered if they might look a little too dark, cold or austere in this room as they are quite muted & monochromatic, but actually the light in the space seems to bring out the subtlety of colours and surface textures...this is looking back along the long expanse of white wall (it's about 7 metres, with a casement window in the centre - this photograph is a bit washed-out), with the three farmscape paintings at the far end, another large edgescape painting, this one is called fenn, and then three canvases making their small entrance from the right...the large abstract painting  fenn once again and six small works seen to the right, which leads around to the second fireplace in this room... i wanted quite a lot of whitespace around the painting fenn, but the green hue is subtly reflected in both farmscape II to the left and the three small abstract canvases situated on the right...these are three new canvases from my ongoing travelling 'iCons' series, wildwood I, II and III. i kind of broke my self-imposed rules of the iCons by giving all three abstract canvases the same title, but they had to be seen together in a sequence...to the right of the narrow doorway that leads back to the staircase are three more 'iCons', siena, congo (there is a mention of congo here) and redwood. i chose to exhibit these three canvases together because of the obvious textural similarities to the architectural features of the room (dark oak beams and red brickwork)...this photograph perhaps shows better how these three small canvases complemented or just 'clicked' in this particular location; i think that they hold their own quite well.i am always reminded when i exhibit my work how very naturalistic, earthy and rustic my palette is for an abstract artist. it is a renewed sense of clarity about my work that i can't always seem to realise within the confines of my very small studio.there was perhaps another plan in my proposed layout for this exhibition, well a formative idea at least (that i was able to achieve in the end), that all my paintings if viewed from left to right would naturally transition from rusty red to deep brown or violet grey on to green and then into brown and rusty red again.so, with all the paintings installed (as i had them originally mapped out on graph paper) i left the art gallery with a sense of all things in their rightful & purposeful place - and, at just that moment it began to rain. ever so slightly at first, like an erratic, hesitant wind-blown spray, an is-it-raining-or-not sort of rain, even though heavy rain showers had indeed been forecast, and it had been a blustery and overcast morning. soon enough the rain came down good and proper, but it was not enough of a downpour to call it a torrential rainstorm. the first fall of rain that afternoon brought about a fresh, dewy lustre to even the most parched of things - and the light green of the blossoming hedgerows were instantly repainted in a deeper, more luscious, vibrant green hue, set against the pale violet-grey sky.this change in the atmospheric conditions, from so many days of sun to the cooler, changeable air seemed, metaphorically speaking, as if other matters were slowly shifting in alignment too. at least, this is what i momentarily thought as i headed back - mindful of the similarity to driving which focuses your attention on the road ahead but with a watchful glance back every now and again. the small window on the world that i was looking through was, at every precise sweep of the windscreen wipers, also clearing out the unnecessary clutter in my mind. i have some art out in the real world and can concentrate on some printmaking again.given the simple title of this exhibition, i hope that my paintings will provide a small glimpse into my 'abstracted' world. i will have to visit the exhibition again as there wasn't the opportunity to fully appreciate the other artists' work at the private view, but it was most interesting to meet the other artists and talk with friends and old acquaintances - and it transpires that i have previously been in group exhibitions with both anthea eames and john midgley - and perhaps it sort of makes natural sense, really - it is in the landscape of east anglia.the exhibition 'six abstract painters' is on until wednesday 15 june 2011, and i hope it will, to coin a well-worn phrase, be something of an eye-opener to anyone who might consider 'abstract painting' is only about colour, pattern or moving paint around on a canvas until it looks 'right'. all the painters in this exhibition respond to the 'landscape', the implicit emotional engagement or dialogue that exists between the artist, the places where they live or work and the substance or language of paint . i think i might write more about this particular aspect in another post, after i have revisited the exhibition......Six Abstract Painters, Halesworth Gallery, Steeple End, opp. St Mary's Church, Halesworth, Suffolk, IP19 8LL, 28 May to 15 June 2011, open daily, Monday-Saturday 11am to 5pm, Sundays 2pm - 5pm...*please note, due to the unique character and age of the building those with mobility issues will find the steep, narrow stairs to the upstairs gallery difficult. please call the gallery on 01986 873064 should you require any assistance or more information prior to your visit...