Catching Up

Even with the best intentions it seems that I am always behind with writing about what is happening.

On the last post I showed some sculptures that were not part of our new exhibition.

What did it matter? I had plenty of time to show what was going to be included,

but as usual time just slipped through my fingers like sand.

Like with every exhibition that we hold things seem to run up to the wire,

There just seems like an endless list of jobs to be completed, not least showing the new work

to its best advantage, which I admit can sometimes be difficult when the art

isn't here and is only expected minutes before the opening.

I should be used to the stress and I suppose I am but it doesn't make me feel any better.

Anyway.

Here are just a few of our latest exhibits.

The paintings by Gwen Fulton which form a part of this exhibition

I have already given you a "peak" of before so now I will show a few of the other exhibits.

These pieces are by Mark Oliver

who describes himself as the 'Urban Entomologist'.

Which is his bow of respect to the Victorian tradition of insect collecting.

His work is anything but Victorian, it is created from the household objects that we discard on a daily basis.

When this discarded "litter" is transformed by Mark into objects of beauty

it makes me wonder where we have all gone wrong.

But of course we don't have his vision.

Vision or history? It is hard to say which as his influence came from sitting with his father in the garden shed.

Like many many of us remember our Dad's were great hoarders of treasure.

Old tobacco tins full of "nuts, bolts, cogs and watch parts".

All of those things that "you just didn't know when you might need them".

It is this influence that makes the art pieces created by Mark so very endearing,

he is very much an artist of our time but with one foot set firmly in our recent past.

His 'Litter Bugs' are both beautiful and very nostalgic.

I was first introduced to his work by a fellow 'blogger' who once showed a little of his work

she had seen on show somewhere but she didn't tell us who he was.

For about two years this work stayed in my thoughts.

At last he is here in the gallery, and his work really has to be seen to be appreciated.

The third artist to share the space with Mark and Gwen is 

Rachel Talbot.

Her work is an absolute delight, it is so well crafted and is cast in bronze, yet even though it is

made from a very expensive material it is treated without reverence,

it is so very gentle and childish, I suppose mean childlike not childish.

For me it invokes so many memories of being a little boy.

As a child being read stories like 'Wind in the Willows' it seems so very natural to me that wild animals would dress in clothing.

Why not?

I just love the thought that such a talented sculptor is so "young at heart"

and doesn't take herself too seriously.

In her own words she says

"like Peter Pan I strive never to grow up"

As an artist she is an absolute delight.

With every conversation I have shared with her I have put down the telephone

down afterwards with a big grin on my face.

You may understand by now that I like to tell stories, or as I would describe it

"paint pictures with words."

Whenever I speak with Rachel I feel we have both been painting pictures,

in fact I find that we are both almost whispering, like children do.

When her sculptures were delivered by her husband [also a sculptor] we took a break for a coffee.

It gave me [and him] the opportunity to talk of her.

I explained to him how much I admired her and how lucky I thought he was to have such a partner.

"I would not exchange her for a 'Golden Pig' he told me.

I have no understanding of what he meant but when I told Rachel I could feel her smile

[is that possible]?

He also told me that her "drapery" was becoming first class,

"look at it when you go back to the gallery, the detail is incredible" he said.

I explained that I had seen that instantly.

"The trousers on the Hare are so lifelike, the way they are tight around the crutch is so realistic."

I told him.

"that required a lot of "dressing up," he replied [with a grin].

I didn't believe him.

But it was true, like my favourite illustrators of all time 'The Brothers Hildebrandt"

Rachel and her husband create the costume and pose for photographs

just to see how things would look in 'real life'.

She uses these photographs as the starting point for her sculptures.

I loved to hear such things,

only a serious artist would do such a mad exciting thing.

Which makes the innocence of her work even more delightful.

I like Rachel and I hope she never grows up.