Meet Me in the Gallery…
About a month ago I was invited by Elspeth Moncrieff-Bray to exhibit at her gallery in a group show of artists producing new work during lockdown. As I have found myself with so much more studio time in recent weeks, this seemed to be such a timely opportunity, one too good to miss. As I venture into the world of being a full-time artist, taking a break from teaching, this gave me the incentive to stay in my studio and paint. During this strange and precious time I have revisited a project begun in 2017, whilst artist in residence at a luxury hotel in Tuscany, where I painted my breakfast every morning, to give a focus to the day. By returning to this sense of routine, I remind myself every day: here I am, the artist in residence at home; noticing objects, in their space, feeling connected, telling their story, paying attention to the everyday.
While the original daily paintings are done in watercolours, the decision to group them and paint them in oils as a composite piece came as I was organising them for safe keeping. A patchwork of disparate images, all connected, fragments of life, a documentation of everyday space. The process of bringing them together, re-examining them, repainting them, is a very satisfying conclusion.
I then chose to paint some of them again in oils, as individual pieces on small blocks of wood, the same size as the original watercolours (12 x 12cm). These make beautiful objects in their own right, elevating the humble subject of the everyday, and are being sold singly or in groups, so they can be rearranged to tell a visual story, as chosen by the viewer.
The garden paintings have come from a slower pace of working, painting as a meditative thought process, rather than the more spontaneous nature of my previous work drawing and painting interiors of historic homes. They are beginning to include more of a sense of narrative, playing a role beyond mere observation. Renaissance paintings by Piero della Francesca have informed my choices for composition, space and colour.
The work is on show until Saturday 4th July. The gallery is open 10-5pm Tuesday to Saturday, and being in a large open barn space, in an exquisite country setting, is an ideal space for socially distanced viewing with all the current guidelines being adhere to for your safety and reassurance. Alternatively you may contact me, or Elspeth, via the website to find out more about individual pieces of work, although the small oils on board are currently not on the website, as they are so newly completed!
Click on the link below to watch a beautiful film of the exhibition, with a few words spoken by each of the artists involved. A moving testament of this current time.
View on YouTube
Lockdown Paintings - a series of individual oil paintings on board 12 x 12cm (based on my daily watercolour paintings) currently on sale individually for £120 each through the Moncrieff-Bray Gallery
