GENTLY FLOWS THE AVON

The river under Pulteney Bridge in Bath was quiet this morning, having lost its froth and turbulence in carrying so much recent rainfall, not to mention uprooted trees and asorted debris, to the sea. Meanwhile we are putting together the work of 4 artists to present at our opening on Saturday evening.  You are very welcome to attend if you can possibly make it. As I have already rashly claimed, we are nailed-on, guaranteed some sun on Saturday.

LAURIE STEEN – New Drawings

Laurie’s work has to be seen in the flesh.  It is drawn on Mylar paper, a medium similar to that used in blueprints.  The Mylar paper is sewn on to the mount and is hence suspended in the frame.  The semi-translucence of the paper gives it an other-worldliness, in keeping with her magical depictions of the beautiful rolling Devon countryside which is her adopted home.

 

 

 

Laurie says of her work, I have been drawing shadows in my garden since I was a teenager. I think this was perhaps the beginning of my need to make. Looking back it was about capturing the fleeting nature of trees, positive and negative shapes and forms in the landscape. I believe it helped me understand the need to focus less on the recognition of an image and allow the energy and spontaneity of process to become celebrated. It is the environment in which I live that continues to be my constant source of inspiration.

Laurie studied Fine Art at the University of Calgary in Canda.  Her work is shown in the U.K., Canada and Switzerland. In 2015 she was elected an academician of the RWA. Some recent group shows include the 2017/18 Jerwood Drawing Prize, and the 2018 and 2019 RA Summer exhibitions.

 

There is a fondness and a knowing when revisiting familiar places and a comfort in walking these small lanes. It all feels very personal. I draw places that are familiar, and places that fill me with anticipation to explore or surprise me most unusually with the change in lighting or time of day. There is newness in everything; even places close to home. I would like to make visible a ‘humanness’ I see and feel in the landscape by rendering it. But mostly to show that it has been remembered.

COMHGHALL CASEY

– New Paintings

 

 

Comhghall’s paintings are meticulously observed studies of everyday objects- fruit, toys, flotsam from the beaches near his Dublin home. Comhghall grew up in Omagh in county Tyrone and has been featured regularly in the RA summer exhibition, BP Portrait Prize, and the annual Royal Hibernian and Royal Ulster Academy shows respectively.

 

JANE SHEPPARD 

New Smoked Fired Ceramics

 

 

Jane has been coiling and smoke firing cramics for three decades. She worked for many years as a lecturer in art specialising in ceramics and finds inspiration in Neolithic landscapes and artefact.  Living in the Somerset/ Wiltshire border provides rich source material.

Jane has travelled widely in Africa researching the spiritual use of clay and visiting remote pottery communities, running workshops in the Namibia and Kalahari deserts with funding from the British Council.  The meditative simplicity of coiling is fundamental to her practice.  As is the universality of clay and its central role in the human experience.  She aims for forms and decoration which appeal to our shared human aesthetic and which remind us of our physical connection to the earth.

 

MIZUYO YAMASHITA

– New Ceramics

 

Mizuyo Yamashita   Three Jugs   Y34. 14 x 9.5 cm  £95, Y35. 16.5 x 9 cm.  £130,  Y37b 14 x 9.5 cm

 

Born in Japan, Mizuyo first developed her interest in ceramics whilst working as an interior decorator. She gained a degree in Ceramics from the University of Westminster and draws from a wide range of inspirations across different cultural ceramics practices – integrating elements from English, Japanese, Roman, Korean, and other traditions rather than choosing one purist approach to the creation of her work. Her ceramics incorporate a blend of clays and typically use glazes in natural muted tones. Her work has been exhibited across the UK, including Tate Edit at the Tate Modern, and in Germany and New Zealand.

 

 

And finally…..especiallly for honeymmoners Doug and Ella..

Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water rats;
There we’ve hid our faery vats,
Full of berrys
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim gray sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles
And anxious in its sleep.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes
From the hills above Glen-Car,
In pools among the rushes
That scarce could bathe a star,
We seek for slumbering trout
And whispering in their ears
Give them unquiet dreams;
Leaning softly out
From ferns that drop their tears
Over the young streams.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

Away with us he’s going,
The solemn-eyed:
He’ll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping than he can understand.

W B Yeats The Stolen Child

 

Thanks as always for reading,

Aidan