Art and Eating

We’ve just been on a bit of an art safari in Devon and had a wonderful time. Started in our home county of Dorset, with a quick pop in to the Artwave Gallery in Morecombelake. They had a great mixed exhibition. We were very taken with the work of Rebecca Fontaine-Wolf and you can see an example below. The fantasy element was enriched by her use of colour and you felt that you needed to hear the story of this mysterious figure.

We were also taken with the lovely paintings of Donna Goold who uses oil bars on paper to wonderful effect in her dreamy landscapes. Her husband Martin had a way with pastels, working with  a geometric precision that brought to mind Kaffe Fassett’s needlepoint work.

Our art fix the next day was at the wonderful Devon Guild of Craftsmen’s gallery at Bovey Tracey. We were so lucky to find that the big exhibition space had been given over entirely to Anita Reynolds’ work and I have long been a fan of hers. The work was based on a year in Datmoor and her monoytpe prints portrayed this in a sensitive way that still managed to convey the massive and lovely tors and boulders. Here is a general view of the exhibition which was also a masterclass in hanging as it really made the most of the big space. The dynamic between large pieces and the smaller rectangles of her lovely concertina books worked very well.

Clive and I were unanimous in choosing the piece below, ‘Super Moon at Greator Rocks’, a monotype print (where the plate is cleared after printing, ensuring that only one copy is produced) as our ‘standout’ favourite. The technique used was monotype print with chine collé.

As I am very into concertina books at the moment having just produced one for the WOWclub members (coming next week, folk), I loved these books and there were quite a few in the exhibition.

There was a lot of extra information about the artist and her working methods and one idea that I loved was the ‘Bus Prints’ idea. These are made on her mobile press on location  – in the camper van on Dartmoor. Instant impressions – so immediate and satisfying. Must try that with the die cutter used as a press.

Finally, to show that it’s not all about colour, these monotone trees presented a powerful reminder that colour is not everything. Stark, yet flowing, they delighted the eye.

A final view of the gallery and then it was time for a lovely lunch in the gallery upstairs. Art watching makes you hungry and they do wonderful food!

Of course we did some silly holiday things, too. On the Golden Hind replica at Brixham, I made Clive walk the plank.

The ship was very interesting – much more than I expected. We had a lovely break.