Thursday 30 May 2013

In the garden




Summer exhibition at The Gallery Upstairs in Henlen-in-Arden, in the garden.





On the Beach, Tony Feld




Bird Bath, Nick Bragg




Together, Ray Castell (white marble)




It's a beautiful garden and it has a stream at the end of it












and some colour.




Head, Peter Hayes






Wednesday 29 May 2013

Summer exhibition

 
 
Summer Exhibition at The Gallery Upstairs, Henley-in-Arden.
 
 
 
 

Black and White Stepped-Rim Pot, John Ward, (stoneware)




To Truly Soar One must first Unfurl, Marie Boyle, (aluminium resin)




Wide Bronzed Stoneware Vessel, Jason Wason





Wide Bronzed Stoneware Vessel, Jason Wason




Who Dares Wins, Marie Boyle (bronze resin)




one more image




Turning Towards, Small Blue, Jon Middlemiss




from a different angle




Head, Peter Hayes (ceramic)




Raku Keyhole Bow, Peter Hayes, (ceramic)




Cartwheel, Alison Bell (bronze)




Icarus, John Milne (cold cast aluminium), 1967

John Milne was a sculptor associated with the St Ives group. His house and studio were next door to Barbara Hepworth's. His work belongs to the neo-classical style of Modernism. His later work was influenced by the landscape and architecture of Greece, Persia and North Africa.



Monday 27 May 2013

Leamington Art Gallery

 
 
 
Leamington Art Gallery. Some works in their permanent collection:
 
 
 
 

Green Landscape, Anthony Whishaw, (acrylic on canvas)

Influenced by two art movements, Abstract Expressionism and the British romantic landscape tradition, Whishaw tries to combine abstract form with figurative elements to create 'a parallel experience to reality rather than a description of it'.





Orange Umber, Terry Frost, 1960 (oil on canvas)

Born in Leamington, Frost left school at 14 and joined the army soon after the outbreak of WWII. He was captured on active service in Crete in 1941 and spent the next four years in prison camps. It was during this time that he met the artist Adrian Heath and learnt about the artists' colony in St Ives. On release Frost married and enrolled at Camberwell School of Art before moving to Cornwall.

Frost's brightly coloured canvases demonstrate his love of the work of Russian supremacist artists Malevich and Lessitski as well as American expressionists Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.





Madrigal, Terry Frost, 1949 (oil on canvas)

Frost discovered the song Madrigal by WH Auden when he was in Leamington gallery carrying out research for an assignment for his degree in Art. The song was written for the film Coal Face for which Benjamin Britten composed the music. The collaboration led to a lifelong friendship with Britten. Frost was attracted to the song not only because he felt empathy with the miners in the Midlands, but because it also described a miner leaving work to meet his 'Kath' , which was also the name of Frost's wife.





The Spirit of the Snake, Eduardo Paolozzi, 1965 (screenprint on paper)

Paolozzi created some of the finest examples of Pop Art. The print is one of four given to Exhall Grange Primary School. They show the artist's fascination with popular culture, science fiction and advertising. The print is from the As Is When portfolio of 12 screeprints which was inspired by the life and theories of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein: based on elaborate collages, the prints employ fragments of text, abstract patterns, pictures of aeroplanes and other machines, together with Disney characters. He has described the prints as 'a kind of combined autobiography'.




Wittgenstein at the Cinema Admires Betty Grable, 1965 (screenprint on paper)

As above



 
as above.
 
 
Some of these works are on loan from Exhall Grange School in Coventry, founded in 1951 as a residential establishment for children with visual impairments. In 1970 the headteacher of the school, George Marshall, decided to develop a collection of art for the children to enjoy. He felt that his pupils should be able to appreciate the best art available, so he contacted a range of contemporary artists asking them to donate work. His powers of persuasion encouraged leading artists such as John Bratby, John Piper and Eduardo Paolozzi to donate works to the school, resulting in an excellent collection. These works of art are on loan to the Leamington Art Gallery while the school is undergoing refurbishment and will be returned to the school when building work is completed, to be enjoyed by a new generation of pupils.
 
Isn't that a wonderful story?
 
 
 


Saturday 25 May 2013

Ceramics


Some of the ceramics of the new exhibition at the Stour Gallery in Shipston-on-Stour.




I have always liked Peter Hayes' work, but in the last two years or so I have been very impressed with the way he is developing and with the work he is producing. This is a very beautiful piece.





by Jack Doherty





I really liked the look and texture of this bowl





and a look inside.





Peter Wills

I really like Peter Wills' bowls, I like the colours and the patterns he achieves with the glaze





the inside





Peter Wills






inside.






Head, Peter Hayes

Another of Peter Hayes' new work.






Peter Hayes.

Friday 24 May 2013

Ryton Woods




It's the bluebell time of year again, and what a delight!





I missed them last year as we were in New York, and I missed them the year before, but I have made up for it this year - this was my fourth walk in the woods.





A beautiful sunny day, but the light plays tricks with you sometimes and everything can look dark





I love walking in the woods at any time of year, there is something magical about them





but when the ground is covered with a carpet of blue, it is something else....






looking closer





and again





It's quite a long walk, the bluebell walk, it takes me two hours





all the more to enjoy the beauty of it all




I get lost in my own thoughts





and I love the paths that snake up





as for the scent .... it is heavenly





Now I have reached the top of the slight uphill climb, and the huge clearing is a mass of blue with bits of white





I can never manage to capture the solidity and mass of the blue with my camera





I love the way the light filters through the trees





Here is another photograph of the clearing.