A floral inspired exhibition to open Redearth’s Summer Exhibition in Bickleigh.
There will also be a series of workshops to compliment,lead by three exhibiting artists on a floral theme, watercolour/acrylic and pottery.
The exhibition draws together an eclectic mix of styles, capturing individual artists’ inspiration on the exquisiteness of flowers, from the subtle abstract forms as seen in Sara Dudman’s “Garden in Spring 1” to the strong painted style Jo Beer’s floral paintings. Ceramics by well known Somerset ceramisist, Renee Kilburn and Redearth’s resident artist, Steph Mills.
Other works include botanical drawings by Penny Brown, soft watercolours by Paul Riley, blousy florals by Barbara Green,
monotypes by Kerry Tremlett and much more.
Featured artists include:
Sara Dudman - her paintings capture the sensations and experiences; be it a fleeting moment of light catching on stalks and stems as they teeter and sway under the weight of their flowers, or the overwhelming mass of colours in a garden border at springtime. The transient and sensory experiences of being in a garden and the natural world ex-cite and inspire her.
Sara’s work balances figurative representation and more expressive abstract qualities. Using the liquidity of oil paint to suggest the physicality of the plants and garden, bringing contemporary painterly expression to her work. Fragility is expressed through unpainted or sparsely formed nega-tive spaces. Gauzes and veils of transparent and semi-transparent glazes create mists and hazes.
Jo Beer - having grown up in the countryside, Jo developed a love of nature particularly flowers. The shapes, textures, colours and tiny forms held within the petals fascinate her. This is evident in her balancing strong brush strokes, but still allowing the delicate fragility of the flower to come forth.
Barbara Green - colour and vibrancy are central to Barbara’s paintings. Having painted all of her life, it is the nature that surrounds her that inspires Barbara to paint with strong brush strokes but evoking a warm country feeling in her work.
Paul Riley - best known for his fluid and delicate yet vibrant watercolours. He allows the delicate diffused light to shine through, giving the illusion that the flowers are just “fluttering” on the paper, light and airy. Paul is teaching a watercolour workshop during the In Bloom Exhibition (please contact the gallery for further details and bookings).
We will also be running a series of “floral inspired workshops” to compliment the exhibition:
‘Painting day with Sara Dudman’ - Sunday 22 July 10-4 (£40.00 + £7.00 for materials)
Come along and learn to paint in friendly and relaxed company. Find and release your inner artist! Painting can be so much more than a photographic representation of a subject. Learn how to capture and express the sense of something rather than just what it looks like! We’ll use the ‘In Bloom’ exhibition as the inspiration for the day, painting directly from fresh flowers. We will begin the day with drawing warm-ups and then we will all complete an acrylic painting on canvas to take away at the end of the day - what could be better?’
Renee Kilburn, has the wonderful ability to create beautiful flowers in clay, from vessels, jugs, all showing the delicate nature of the petals. She focuses on making a basic shape and then dressing it in hand modelled sprigs, lifting it from the surface and continuing beyond the rim to give each piece a sense of movement.
The importance is not to duplicate nature, but to evoke in the viewer a smile that one automatically gets when seeing the wonders of colours and shapes in nature. Renee Kilburn’s chosen material is white stoneware that is glazed in a white gloss glaze and fired to 1260 after the bisque firing. She then paints the piece in hand mixed earthenware glazes to achieve
the brilliant colours.
“Flowers with Attitude” - Sunday 28 July 10-4
A demonstration and workshop in watercolour with Paul Riley. Paul will be showing additional examples of his work that will display his fascination and passion for all things floral. He will then do a stage by stage demonstration which painters may follow. Many aspects of painting flowers in water will be shown including brush techniques using both western and oriental in-spired methods. Masking methods will be explained with variations that will surely inspire.
Two day making pottery workshop with Steph Mills - Making Day: Thursday 4 July 10-4. Glazing Day: Thursday 25th July 10-4
(£55.00 incl. all materials)
Steph Mills, resident potter with Riverslip Potters at the Redearth Art Centre will be leading this two day making pottery workshop, suitable for beginners and those with more experience. Come and be inspired by creating wonderful ceramics, let your imagination run riot under expert guidance.
Booking at the Redearth gallery - julia@redearth-art.com
