A new exhibition by Phyllis Wolff at Dorset County Museum celebrates Dorset’s colourful rural landscape
Dorset artist Phyllis Wolff is renowned for her wonderfully colourful landscapes which celebrate the beauty of the county through the seasons. Her new exhibition Phyllis Wolff: Landscape and Identity at the County Museum in Dorchester features 90 paintings based around the concept of the identity which Dorset’s rural landscape establishes within the artist and the connection this makes with the work itself.
“Phyllis’ paintings are incredibly vibrant - full of life and colour - and represent the best of contemporary artists working in Dorset today,” said Jon Murden, Director of Dorset County Museum.
Phyllis Wolff has lived and painted in north Dorset for nearly 40 years. She moved there soon after graduating from St Martins’ School of Art in the 1970s to be closer to the landscape which she wanted to paint. That is precisely what she has done, more or less consistently, since that time.
Phyllis has been described as a 21st Century impressionist - her Dorset garden is a rich source of inspiration to her. She paints with spontaneity and immediacy, diving into her work and suffusing it with life and colour. The use of abstracted brushstrokes and painterly marks all help to create her very distinctive and beautiful paintings.
Phyllis walks us through her exhibition: “You enter past the first large map which places Hawkcombe in the landscape. On your right there is a wall of Tree Paintings - these are trees I pass daily on my walks. I know them so well. Then there are paintings of our Garden Ponds, a subject I return to again and again - as I have with Bright Gardens. There are my new double sided screens which I painted after Dorset Art Weeks.
And remember Spring? This is celebrated in ‘Blossoms’ and finally there are Dorset Hills ... principally Melbury, my local hill which I have been painting for 40 years!”
Accompanying the exhibition is a selection of greetings cards and a booklet on sale in the Museum shop. Entry to the exhibition is totally free and paintings are available to purchase. So could be a good place to find a very special Dorset Christmas present with lasting appeal.
So take a break from the frenzy of Christmas shopping and step into the beautiful world of Phyllis Wolff and soak up the glorious Dorset landscape.
Dorset County Museum is open from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday. Phyllis Wolff: Landscape and Identity runs until Christmas Eve. For more information see dorsetcountymuseum.org.
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