Category: Art

Pop-Up London

This is one of our favourite books of cut out paper constructions. Folded away within its pages are many of London’s landmark buildings just waiting to pop-up wherever you choose to erect them. Here is Tower Bridge transported to the top of Primrose Hill. Other pages feature the Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, St Paul’s Cathedral, all illustrated by Jenny Maizels and engineered by Richard Ferguson. But due to an unfortunate oversight they neglected a pop-up Rowley Gallery! Demand answers from Walker Books.

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The Dunmore Pineapple

This is one of eight recently arrived pieces from Ed Kluz, made of painted paper, cut out and collaged scenes from Scotland. The Dunmore Pineapple is a summerhouse in the grounds of Dunmore Park, 30 miles north west of Edinburgh. It is available to let from The Landmark Trust, and this dramatic moonlit dream’s-eye view may well be the result of an overnight stay. Continue reading “The Dunmore Pineapple”

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Garden Studio

I thought I would begin my first contribution to the Rowley’s new blog by showing some images inside my studio. It is a large wooden building (35′ x 15′) that I built 25 years ago in my garden in West London after a succession of shared studios. This is now biodegrading with me. I am hoping it lasts me out! Continue reading “Garden Studio”

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Open Studio

Chris Keenan, potter and friend of The Rowley Gallery, is hosting an open studio along with fellow ceramicists at Vanguard Court, 36-38 Peckham Road, London, SE5 8QT. The private view is Thursday 1st December 5-8pm. Then Friday-Sunday, 2nd-4th December 11am-5pm.

Pictured here are a set of celadon and tenmoku beakers. See more of Chris’s work on his website.

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Jenny Franklin

We have been blessed with Jenny Franklin’s magical watercolours since 2006, when Kai and I first started showing pictures at The Rowley Gallery. Shown here is Flotsam (Shells), Australia, one of a series of paintings of rock pools. Jenny’s watercolours are virtuoso technical performances. They are also revelations of the world around us, grown out of close observation, transformed and re-presented, they capture the essence of her subject. She quotes the artist poet Jean Arp, who spoke of “a secret primal meaning slumbering beneath the world of appearances”. Continue reading “Jenny Franklin”

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Suffolk Jelly

On a recent trip to Suffolk, driving up the coast from Orford, we took a detour through Saxmundham hoping I might find a fleece. The weather had turned cooler and we were planning a circular walk from Dunwich. Saxmundham was fleeceless but Sue had spotted some paintings in the window of a frame shop. They were vibrant accomplished paintings of cows heads staring directly back at us. Like a face to face encounter, capturing all the animal’s character and vitality with a few sure brushstrokes. Continue reading “Suffolk Jelly”

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All The Little Wonders

Sometimes it can seem that our job as picture framers is to domesticate artworks for the gentle folk of Kensington. This huge, tumultuous and exuberant painting arrived in our workshop in August at the height of the London riots. Buildings were burning, shops were being looted, we were all wondering where it would erupt next, and in the circumstances this painting seemed emblematic, like some kind of apocalyptic landscape. Not only was it enormous but it was also a riot of colour, and containing it would be a challenge. But yet framing did not tame it’s wildness. Despite being framed it remains a beautiful force of nature. Continue reading “All The Little Wonders”

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Frameworks

Here are some that I’ve been saving up. This first one, Intemperie by Catalan artist Perejaume, was at Fondation Maeght, St Paul de Vence in 2007. An enclosure built of picture frames, facing inwards inviting you to step inside and look through them at paintings by Bonnard, Leger and Chagall on the gallery walls beyond. It was originally sited on a mountain top in Garraf, south of Barcelona, where it could be used as an observatory of the surrounding landscape. Continue reading “Frameworks”

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