For the past three years, Stroud artist Angie Spencer has followed the course of the River Frome, getting to know its characteristics throughout the seasons, from its source to where it joins the River Severn at Framilode.
‘You’ve got to be very determined to keep going as an artist; life does have a tendency to try to get in the way.’
It was that ‘L’ word that drew artist Angie Spencer to the River Frome in Gloucestershire in the spring of 2020.
‘We weren’t allowed to go anywhere and, living in Stroud, I went down to Frome Banks as part of Walking the Land [an artist collective that has been active in the Stroud Valleys since 2002],’ she says, ‘and started doing small watercolour and then oil sketches. I became absolutely hooked on it.’
As well as being a gifted artist, Angie – who hails from North Yorkshire but moved to Gloucestershire in 1984 – is also a violinist and leader of Stroud Symphony Orchestra. Please don’t bother excusing the pun, but she does have many strings to her bow.
Angie’s solo exhibitions take a huge amount of work and are planned a couple of years in advance, so hard work and self-motivation are almost as important as her talent as a painter. The exhibition that’s been taking her time and energies over the last few years is From Source to Severn, a study of the River Frome through the seasons as it winds its way through Gloucestershire towards the River Severn at Framilode.
The exhibition is being hosted at Spring gallery in Cheltenham, run by the ‘hugely supportive’ artist Conrad Clarke, with a follow-up exhibition at Prema Arts Centre, Uley, in September and October. What is shown at Prema, of course, depends very much on what is sold at the Cheltenham exhibition, but is likely to be a combination of her River Frome paintings, and summertime studies of the lake at Stancombe Park.
From working in IT in Cheltenham and commuting from a gorgeous cottage in St Briavels in the Forest of Dean, Angie moved to Stroud in the late 90s, taking her Fine Art degree in Cheltenham 2000-2004.
‘Finally!’ she laughs. ‘It’s what I’d wanted to do when I was at school, but I was a very good academic student and so I was persuaded to go to university... which was disastrous. I did French and History of Art in London and hated it. I spent more of my time drawing in the National Gallery than writing my essays...’
The attitude back then, as Angie confirms, was that ‘only people who weren’t clever went to art college’. Astonishing, but something you hear stated all too often.
Identifying with the moniker ‘Contemporary Romantic’ painter, she wants to be out there, in the nurturing heart of the natural world, experiencing the elements, rather than back in the protective, artificial warmth of the studio. And, as such, Angie Spencer is very much a plein air artist.
‘Because I’m the sort of person who does like a lot of solitude, I’ve always escaped into nature,’ she says. ‘Where I lived in Scarborough was right on the edge of some beautiful countryside – deep valleys, lakes and rivers – not that dissimilar to here.
And there is a great deal of support and appreciation for her naturalistic work in the Cotswolds.
‘I’ve recently started showing at a lovely gallery in Tetbury – Spencer House, run by Chris Woodcock, and she’s been really great,’ she continues. ‘Lots of visitors go to the town, so she can get my work seen by a lot of people who wouldn’t otherwise. She also paints – and her husband’s a ceramicist – and she has a really fresh approach to running a gallery.’
Angie Spencer – and this is something I hugely admire as I don't have the courage to do it myself – is a all-year-round wild swimmer. And so, her subject for this exhibition – the River Frome – is not just something she views from the safety of the river bank, but she immerses herself in it completely. She knows its ability to give life and sustenance to those who honour it, but also recognises the power of the river’s force, and how the seasons can shape and shift the flow. It’s a force to be respected, and that comes across in the beauty of her paintings.
Consequently, Angie always gives back to the environment, and donations from funds made from her exhibitions usually include those to The Rivers Trust. Other beneficiaries include Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the wonderful Stroud Valleys Project, who have taken on the management of Frome Banks.
Angie is a firm believer in ‘what you give out, you get back’, and living by that tenet has seen her experiencing great kindness from others, and opportunities to access parts of the countryside and private grounds she might not have otherwise.
There are several springs that feed into the River Frome – including Syde, Nettleton and Brimpsfield – which eventually all flow down into Miserden, and Angie has been welcomed onto private land to paint and capture the source of her beloved river, with the help of friend Dr Penny Wright at Syde Manor (who, incidentally, owns quite a few of Angie’s paintings and has hosted an exhibition and private view in the lovely tithe barn there).
Angie has a strong affinity to water – of being near it as well as in it – and credits Wotton-under-Edge-based artist Rob Collins with teaching her how to capture its qualities in oils. Possibly not the easiest medium to work with en plein air, but it’s the right one for Angie, and over the years she has mastered the art of transporting her works to and from the site via bicycle without them getting damaged. The benefits of having a methodical as well as artistic brain!
Angie’s exhibition will follow the 25-mile course of the River Frome, capturing its very different incarnations, from modest source, through industrial Stroud, on to the majestic River Severn, and is something of a love letter from an artist to her natural element.
‘Being out in nature has always been a thing that supports me, and I have that Romantic – with a big ‘R’ – view that’s it’s more than just plants,’ she laughs. ‘There is actually a spirit in nature.’
Angie's solo exhibition at Prema Arts Centre, Uley, GL11 5SS, runs from September 13 until October 21.
Angie Spencer Paintings, Trixter Studios, London Road, GL5 2AY, angiespencer.co.uk
