Puzzlewood

Puzzlewood is the title of this gorgeous new painting by Jelly Green, one of a series of 35 paintings and drawings of woodlands around the UK that she has been working on over the last 12 months. They will be exhibited as part of the Alde Valley Spring Festival 2017, whose theme this year is Quercus & Co, a celebration of the English oak, woodland & local wildlife. It promises to be a wonderful show. It opens on 22nd April and runs until 21st May. More details here.

Jelly Green / The Rowley Gallery.

Frames of reference

Six From David Wiseman

David Wiseman brought us some new work, more tales of the riverbank, rich with the tangled delights of branches and lights, the sparkle-dance of leaves and water, ripples and shadows like liquid music. Look out for David’s paintings in the forthcoming Arborealists exhibition at the Nature in Art Gallery, Twigworth, Gloucestershire and then later in the year at Poitiers in France. Continue reading “Six From David Wiseman”

Frames of reference

Six From Andrew Walton

More beauties were delivered to the gallery recently (not by bus), paintings by Andrew Walton, mostly done on site at his beloved Otmoor, an area of wild wetlands north-east of Oxford – A place with a rich history. Riots caused by enclosures, inspiration for writers, Lewis Carroll & John Buchan. A bombing range from WW2 and still an MOD rifle range. RSPB reserve, site of many murmurations. Continue reading “Six From Andrew Walton”

Frames of reference

Six From Robert Newton

A box of paintings, newly arrived from Robert Newton, full of the smell of fresh oil paint even before the bubblewrap came off. A box of delights, each one thickly painted with quick strokes that capture the fleeting presence of the Northumberland landscape, seen in passing either by train, car or bicycle. They are tablets of immanent light held fast in Robert’s own handmade frames. Continue reading “Six From Robert Newton”

Frames of reference

Stillness: Paintings & Drawings From Life

Wilmington Hill from Beachy Head

When I began painting as a teenager growing up in Sussex I painted things that were accessible. These were what was outside my bedroom window and objects I had lying around my room. The view outside my window was the South Downs and the changing light, weather and seasons made it continually fascinating and enduring as a subject matter. I began going out into the landscape and painting plein-air and when indoors I ran out of objects to paint I began collecting pots and coloured fabrics. These two ways of working have endured and developed simultaneously and I have continued to work from both landscape and still life in equal measure. Continue reading “Stillness: Paintings & Drawings From Life”

Frames of reference

The Century Ilex Trail

This was another walk last summer, one of many suggested by the Tourist Office in Montefollonico where we were staying, but we chose this particular walk because of its promise of an ancient tree. Even though it was confusing. When I read, Discover the 100 years oak, I assumed it was a typo and they’d omitted a 0. Why celebrate a centennial tree? It must be a millennial. It was titled, The century Ilex trail, but then I read, You will get to the Palazzone farmhouse where, on your left, lies the big field hosting the ancient oak. Surely an ‘ancient’ tree must be more than a hundred years old. Well, that was the impetus for this walk, to guess the age of the tree, but I’m no dendrologist. Continue reading “The Century Ilex Trail”

Frames of reference

The Leaves Of Southwell

I was reading Up The Forest! one of the many contributions to Arboreal, a book I got late last year. It’s a wonderful compendium of woodland writings, a bumper book of tree stories. In this particular story Sue Clifford recalls her Nottingham childhood, Nottingham Forest FC, the coal mines interwoven with houses, fields and woodland, Robin Hood, Sherwood Forest. Continue reading “The Leaves Of Southwell”

Frames of reference

Josef Frank @ FTM

The Fashion & Textile Museum in Bermondsey was founded in 2003 by Zandra Rhodes, in a converted warehouse redesigned by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta, a disciple of Luis Barragán. Their current exhibition is Josef Frank: Patterns-Furniture-Painting. Continue reading “Josef Frank @ FTM”

Frames of reference