Rowley Gallery Blog
On May Day, a public holiday given over to celebrations of fertility we went looking for maypoles and morris dancers. We went out to Epping Forest and parked by Queen Elizabeth’s Hunting Lodge. Straightaway, even before leaving the car, there were grand old characterful trees springing back into life, bursting with new born leaves. Maypoles and morris dancers proved more elusive. Continue reading “In Epping Forest”
Christopher Corr sent us photographs from the top of the Shard. Luckily he has a head for heights. He’d been invited to see the panoramic views across London. He took photographs and made sketches for a painting. A souvenir print will soon be available in the Shard shop. Continue reading “The View”
This is a postcard from the Fashion and Textile Museum, a souvenir of their exhibition Kaffe Fassett: A Life In Colour. It took me back to the 1970s when his influence was everywhere, in style and fashion and probably in my paintings too which were full of colourful stripes in those days. There’s a common myth that the 70s were a brown decade but this exhibition is a reminder that there was an exuberant riot of colour which has continued to the present day. Continue reading “On Bermondsey Street”
The Pelmeni Poets (named after a favourite Siberian dumpling) are hosting an evening of readings at The Duke of Wellington in Islington on 8th May featuring work by Tim Cumming, Natan Barreto, Anne-Marie Fyfe, Katha Pollitt, Rosie Shepperd and Liane Strauss. More information here – Pelmeni
After we hung Jonny Hannah‘s exhibition at Kensington Place last week I discovered a box of leftovers containing these wonderful hand painted paper carrier bags, for these popular high street retailers – Ishmael’s Stripey Top Shop, Henry Thomas Tackle & Bait Shop, Ahab’s Fish & Crinkle Cut Chip Shop, The Cullen Skink Fishmongery. We’re just missing The Kensington Plaice. Continue reading “Jonny’s Got A Brand New Bag”
Holloway is published this month by Faber & Faber. Caught By The River are hosting a launch party at Rough Trade East on May 14th. Its original publication last year inspired this earlier post, Holloway.
We just received a call for entries for Jerwood Open Forest, an opportunity for artists to submit proposals that explore the potential of forests as sites for art. The closing date is 28 May. More details from Jerwood Open Forest.
Suddenly last weekend there was unexpected sunshine. I fancied the coast, Sue wanted to go west, we wasted time weighing pros and cons and set out later than we should have. We finally settled on the Chilterns, Sue’s homeland and we began our walk from Butler’s Cross at the foot of Coombe Hill, site of geography field trips to the trig point at its summit. The surrounding hedgerows suggested snakes & ladders as much as chequers and the soundtrack was the song of the skylark. Continue reading “Chequers”
This is Sea Into Sky, an oil painting on paper from the forthcoming exhibition Littoral: John Hubbard In Context at the Luther W Brady Art Gallery, The George Washington University, Washington, DC from May 16 – June 28. It promises to be a great show – The exhibition highlights the painterly work of an American artist living in Dorset. His oils & charcoals on paper feature the sea, sky and tidal movement. But if Washington is too far to go you can also see John’s work at The Rowley Gallery.
Here’s a nice cartoon by Robert Crumb from Rock’s Back Pages on the pain of record collecting. Follow the link and the trail leads back to Discaholic Corner and a great interview with the cartoonist musician about his addiction to tracking down old 78s. Portrait d’un 78 Tard by Les Primitifs du Futur, on which he plays banjo, from their album World Musette, tells a similar tale –