Art plus Frames
Christmas Exhibition 2024
November/ December 2024
Kenson Low
Born in London 1969 and studied Illustration BA(Hons) at Leicester Polytechnic. Kenson Low has been producing artwork professionally for over 30 years, as a painter, illustrator, designer, concept artist and prop designer/builder. Lives in the south-west of England where for many years he ran creative art and animation sessions in an NHS mental health hospital as part of the Occupational Therapy team.
Present
Now focusing more on his own art practice, his paintings in the last few years have been greatly influenced by present political, social and environmental events. Still an illustrator at heart, each of his paintings tell a story reflecting on these events and the possible futures (invariably dystopian) that they might lead to.
"The Journey through Primitivism, Expresjonism to Abstract"
10 May - 30 June 2024
Artists:
Luke Squire
Roger Phillips
Gemma Silk
Ruth Smith
5th March-30th April 2024
Rosie Rainbow, Grant Notten, Carrie Clarke.
January-February 2024
Art Exhibition
This time I would like to introduce 5 new telented local Artists.
Frances Salmon
with her beautiful oil paintings on canvas of flowers, wild plants and insects that you can see while walking around Devon landscapes.
Warren Clayburn
Warren calls his watercolours "autobotanical". Turning the insides of the car or bike in to an art piece. Using techniques derived from Victorian watercolour botanical studies Warren aims to combine traditional methods with contemporary subjects to present classic automotive parts in a new light. Unpolished and uncleaned the objects carry their age with them, telling the story of their lives and the history of motoring.
Lucy Beagley
Lucy takes her inspirations from nature , she works mainly in watercolours, sometimes adding charcoal. Paintings of birds, squirrells, foxes , owls, we all love that.
Sandra Chalton
Sandra is an Ilustrator of nature, in this exhibition she is showing us her collection of different birds that live around Devon. Sandra also writes poetry , she has published a few small books with her poetry complimented by her illustrations of nature.
Airida Curtis
Airida is an emerging artist, very talented. self taught.
"Angels"
15th November - 10th January 2024
Rose Wakem-Barrett
&
Louise Vercoe
9th Sept-31st Oct 2023
The Art of
Monika P-Tetmajer & John Hurford
Monika Przerwa-Tetmajer
Monika, who is both the gallery owner and an artist, has created a mesmerising collection of new works. Her current work is mainly inspired by the extraordinary patterns in nature, and the richness of life underwater. Other works have a more dream-like, surreal quality. A cottage garden becomes a play of pattern, light and colour. The underwater world shimmers as tentacles untangle and fish spill from between a myriad of corals. The use of silvering and gilding enriches and adds luminosity. Whilst her work is clearly influenced by the Vienna Secession school, the Kano painting style and Alphons Mucha, each painting is uniquely Monika's view.
Monikas gallery: https://www.behance.net/monicatetmajer
John Hurford
John is internationally known for his psychedelic art; he was one of the real forces behind the British psychedelic art movement in the 1960’s, and was the ONLY psychedelic artist of his generation to contribute to all three of the most influential and important underground publications of the 1960s - OZ Magazine, International Times and Gandalf's Garden.
He is famed for the numerous books he has illustrated, the album covers and posters. His highly detailed observations from the natural world he saw around him were often coupled with finely drawn Tolkienesque fantasy landscapes, people and mythical beings; goblin-like creatures were a favourite, as were naked girls. Although his subject matter largely remains the same – still the flowers, birds and insects he has observed since childhood in the Devon countryside - his current work differs from his early work in both scale and style. With his current paintings John takes you into a vibrant and spectacular macro-world as might be seen by an ant. Surrounded by the minute detail of nature, flowers are huge, unfolding ferns and crisp lichens are in vivid and luminous contrast to that of the muted colours of decay. This world he paints shows the beauty in all, including that which is flawed, imperfect and decaying.
Every painting is breath-taking as you stand before it.
Anthony Martin
Anthony Martin is a part-time professional artists based in Crediton who originally trained in painting at Bournemouth, Winchester School of Art and Newlyn Art School. His work explores the wonders of creation, spirituality, history, science and our place in the cosmos.
Phil Smith
Previously exhibited at Art plus Frames. Phil is an abstract, expressionist painter.
He spent his professional life as a marine biologist, but he also discovered a passion for art. His works are full of colours, expression, and imagination.
Spring Exhibition 2023
Michael McDonagh Wood
Michael McDonagh Wood was born in London, England in 1952. His father was the highly respected marine artist, Peter McDonagh Wood so he grew up surrounded by his father's paintings and with access to an extensive library on art and artists. Michael's studies at Hampton and Hammersmith schools of art provided him with excellent tuition in painting and drawing. He also spent a term at Gorham College, Maine, USA specialising in photography.
In 1979 he married Veronica Charlesworth, also an artist, and together they set up a printmaking studio in Stroud, Gloucestershire printing their etchings and silk screen prints.
On a visit to the beautiful Greek island of Paxos in 1987, Michael rediscovered his love for painting producing a series of evocative sunlit watercolours. Although very detailed, his paintings are fresh and lively with layers of pigment resulting in intense colours. Following the success of his Greek paintings, Michael has travelled widely in Europe capturing images of vernacular architecture and ancient villages. He has become renowned for his stunning views of Venice.
“I started painting in watercolour in the late 80s and was immediately entranced by the subtlety and fluidity of the medium. Watercolours enabled me to achieve my visual goals. I am particularly interested in painting architecture and water so Venice is an enduring inspiration” he reveals. “I love the dilapidated surfaces of the grand palazzos reflected in the canals. I prefer to paint the backwaters away from the bustle of the tourist hotspots.” The beauty and mystery of the glorious city are captured by Michael's accurate draughtsmanship and masterly rendition of the reflected architecture.
A trip to Cuba in 2012 resulted in a body of work based on Havana, its attractive colonial architecture and exciting vintage cars. “When I'm travelling I make watercolour sketches of subjects that interest me and take a lot of photographs” explains Michael. “Back in the studio, I study this material for a long time before deciding what I will work up into a finished painting. I use a range of watercolour techniques to represent the texture of weathered buildings as well as the constantly changing reflections in the canals. I work on my paintings for weeks, sometimes months.”
Michael's has exhibited widely in Britain and in the USA.
***
Richard Thorn
Born in Torquay, England 1952, Richard’s art began with drawing. His love of the countryside and the sea drew him to sketch and paint nature in and around his close environment.
Since those early days, his paintings have been exhibited in England, Europe and America and China.
Richard is principally self-taught apart from his schooling and a spell at Art college but his early fascination with drawing would prove essential to his later work.
He has won two awards at the Royal Institute (for painters in watercolour) at the Mall Galleries in London - 2016/17 and his book - Down an English lane - was published in 2016.
The artist’s work depicts the moods and flavours of the countryside - ‘I like to paint the soul of the scene I’m working on, depicting the essence of that which is before me’.
The artist’s primary influences were the French Impressionists and the English watercolour masters; William Turner, John Cottman, William Russel-Flint. And later, the American exponents; Andrew Wyeth, Philip Jameson and Winslow Homer to name a few.
***
Francesca Dawson
I use a variety of media to create my artwork including watercolour, pencil crayons and ink pens. I have always loved creating artwork and my mother who worked as a school art teacher taught me from a young age. I completed an Art Foundation Year at Central Saint Martins and a BA (Hons) degree at The Arts Institute at Bournemouth where I gained a first. After graduating, I worked as a gallery manager in Gloss Art Gallery, Exeter and later as a retail manager for the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey (now Make Southwest) where I gained a lot of experience with selling and displaying artwork.
I am inspired by walking in nature, especially Dartmoor, and I combine these memories with imagined narratives in my landscape mixed media pieces. I enjoy drawing animals and alongside my landscape artwork, I complete pet portrait commissions. I work from my studio in Exminster, near Exeter.
Claerwen Gillespie
My Mum is a potter, throwing beautiful traditional stoneware, and I was in her studio modelling with clay as soon as I was able. I did my degree at Falmouth College of Arts. My work is really illustration in Ceramics, I am a story addict, and my work either depicts characters that have excited me from books and theatre and so on, or I am creating a character that embodies aspects of my life on our small farm with the children and folk and wildlife that we are living alongside.
previously:
"Realism contra Abstract"
1st March - 30th April 2023
artists:
Pete Newell
Roger Phillips
Pete Newell,
studied at Exeter College of Art for a BA(Hons) from 1978 to 1981 and progressed to the Slade School,
University College London, completing a Higher Diploma in Fine Art in 1983. Prior to all this and in what now
seems like a prior existence, he achieved an Associateship of the Institute of Bankers. In 2011 wanting to understand
more of the visual language he was using, he gained a Master's Degree in Art History from the Open University.
Strangely, as his participation in this exhibition involves his paintings, the first two degrees where in sculpture, and
indeed he practised as a commercial sculptor for twenty odd years. The transition from sculpture to painting came about
for a variety of reasons, but the link was that he had always made drawings, filling sketchbook after sketchbook with
images and ideas. By the time his sculpture practise was coming to an end he was teaching art full time, mostly on degree
level courses. Within the preparation for art teaching, he became particularly interested in the concepts of Modernism and
how some groups of artists developed narrative images within the Modernist canon. Particularly influential to him are the
American Cool Modernists, integrating detail with strong abstract compositions.
Having explored various painting styles, including large abstracts working with Patrick Jones, through to observed still life,
his current style and subject matter developed on his move to Bideford some eight years ago. The quayside in Bideford is the
home for vessels in a variety of states of repair and is the destination for other forms of shipping. He became fascinated
with the relationships between these boats, their individual qualities, and their moorings. Living just three minutes from the
quayside enabled him to develop a practice involving the making of observed drawings and taking photographs which generate
ideas for studio paintings. As this practise developed, he started to apply it to other locations including quaysides in Bristol
having ample opportunity to make studies during his visits to his son who lives there.
In a recent discussion Pete said about his work, "Each painting is a test, there is always something new to learn, reflections,
clouds, finding a technique to achieve the result I want". He continued with, "they are always paintings, even if superficially
they appear to be wanting to mimic photographs, they don’t, the application of paint is always apparent".
We hope that you enjoy them.
Roger Phillips's paintings
work slowly on the viewer. Their
large size catches the eye and draws
us in. They speak softly, almost
imperceptibly.
Roger's work is other dimensional
and channeled through his meditative
experiences and life's work as an artist.
The Astral and planetary images in his
work brings us to another worldliness.
Roger leaves his work untitled, leaving
maximun space for the viewer to elicit
meaning from the paintings.
Bridget Johnson,
is not only an internationally recognised Ceramic Artist, but also what we should know and be proud of is, that she
comes from Crediton! The secret of her success lies in the unique, very precise time taking technique,
that lets her create organic, delicate, perfect forms that are entirely hand coiled
Bridget, while studying for her BA in Ceramics, explored a diverse range of hand building processes before being
finally drawn to the traditional West African technique of coiling. Attracted by the tactile and Zen-like qualities of
this ancient method, she experiences feeling completely at one with her clay, as she gives birth to each exclusive piece. Bridget’s finely hand-coiled, organic forms are burnished, bisque fired, and then smoke fired with a carefully
selected collection of natural materials to produce their unique colours and markings. The intensity and precision
involved in the creation of each piece is further enhanced by the excitement and drama of smoke firing. As the vessel
is subjected to the smoke and flames, alchemy takes over resulting in each celebrating its own distinctive attitude and
identity.
Bridget’s latest work explores a more textured burnished finish, creating a luminous, velvety, matte surface which
seems to absorb and glow with the surrounding light.The textured markings echo the natural, fractal-like patterns
and features of the Devon landscape where she lives, between the moors, surrounded by ancient forests, and the
tones produced in the smoke firing reflect the natural colour palette of the moors, the forests and the ever-changing
sky.
The Process…
My vessels are formed using a traditional West African coiling technique, a building method which for me has an
almost addictive and Zen-like quality, where I feel completely at one with the clay.This particular technique, where
each new coil is twisted into the body of the vessel, produces a greater strength to the form, and the use of a highly
grogged clay body adds to this a resilience, helping the vessel withstand the primitive firing technique. The vessels
are then refined by scraping and surforming to develop the form and smooth the exterior clay surface, which is then
followed by hours, sometimes days, of burnishing using a polished stone, which produces a tactile sheen, making
each piece feel warm and alive. The pieces are bisque fired, and then smoke fired with a carefully selected collection
of organic materials such as sawdust, wood shavings, coffee grounds, dried leaves and flowers, to produce the surface
markings. The intensity and precision involved in making and burnishing each form is then contrasted by the excitement
and drama of smoke firing, where the vessels are sacrificed to the smoke and flames, and alchemy takes over…
The result is that each piece is unique, feels alive, and has its own attitude and identity.
History info re: process:
Historically, these pots would have had their one and only firing in a bonfire, an unpredictable process with rapid
changes in temperature. Pots that didn’t make it through the firing process in one piece were ground up and added
to fresh clay to give it greater resilience. Burnishing was used to improve a pot’s ability to hold liquid, as it compacts
the clay’s surface. It is fascinating that these ancient clay processes which had very practical reasons behind them,
were, and are still, used for decorative and aesthetic purpose.
Tension & Contrast
I have always been interested in the tension and contrast between what is natural and what is man-made, and seek
to create organic forms that appear to have sprung up naturally, and yet are made with great attention to detail.
This tension is expressed in the smoke firing process. For someone who enjoys the precision of coil building, and
finishing each detail of their pieces so carefully, it is incredibly exciting, unpredictable, not to say stressful and
nerve-wracking to then hand my vessels over to the natural elements of the smoke and fire to create its markings.
The smoke fired finish makes each piece unique and creates a sense of life and drama on the vessels’ surface.
My vessels are abstract forms that suggest organic forms. They are experiments in form, and the markings and
effects they take on in the smoke firing help to attract the observer who can then give the form their own suggesti
ons and ideas.
previously:
"The Nature and its Magical World"
10th January - 28 February 2023
Artists:
Rachel Toll
Maggie Anne
The opening of the exhibition will be hold on
Saturday 14th January @ 2pm
Rachel Toll
Rachel is an experienced watercolour artist living in rural mid Devon. She has been painting with watercolours for over twenty years. Rachel says:
”I love the fluidity of watercolour and its ability to capture the immediacy of a subject. I feel, like many of the creatures I like to paint, watercolour can never truly be tamed.”
Rachel likes to paint some parts of the painting in detail and then get much more loose in other areas, leaving some work for the viewer’s imagination.
Rachel has been shortlisted for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year on six occasions, and she completed a large commission for Michael Caines’ Hotel, Lympstone Manor, concentrating on the birds of the Exe estuary. She is also known for designing images for cards and mugs for the RSPB.
Maggie Anne
Maggie is an artist based in Devon. Her work has been described as whimsical, imaginative and playful and is created for those who see the magic in the world! Maggie says:
“I am hugely inspired by nature - it’s where I find solace, beauty and healing. I always try to see our natural world through the eyes of my younger self - whether it be a face in a tree or a gathering of dancing mushrooms. My aim is to emulate the souls of such enchanting surroundings by bringing them to life on paper, for others to enjoy.”
Maggie wants her work to bring you joy, ignite a deep love for Mother Earth, and remind you to look for the magic around you - it’s always there.
Christmas Exhibition
Saturday 12th November until 5th January 2023
Artist Exhibiting:
Louise Vercoe, from Cornwall, whose artwork is influenced by the
Cornish countryside. She loves drawing old buildings, empty
neglected houses, and remote places, the damaged and broken,
and the fragments of the past that get left behind. She draws
figures in the landscape, and birds, that often fly into her paintings.
Sue Richardson, produces large, colourful paintings of
everyday life. She's a figurative artist and she spends a lot of her
summer sketching in France, visiting markets, cafes and beaches.
She works up the sketches into large canvasses.
Helen Hamilton, combines meticulous freehand machine
embroidery with hand painting techniques, creating ethereal
landscapes that explore patterns within science, beauty and the
natural world. Working on stretched linen, she explores the
textural intersection between thread and watercolour, giving a
multi dimensional aesthetic.
Antoinette Jackson, Figurative and Portrait sculptor. Human
form especially children inspires her to create sculptures capturing
feelings of joy, awe and wonder. She works in bronze and bronze
resin to create large and small sculptures. Her work aims to
resonate with the ordinary but meaningful moments of our lives
which remind us of our own experience.
The Gallery also holds handbuilt and thrown ceramic pieces
from Anne Smith, including some new stunning work.
We also will have a jewellery for sale. Theese unique, beautifull
pieces can make perfect gifts for Christmas!
First Exhibition @ Art plus Frames Gallery
Artist: Phil Smith
"An exploration of colour and form"
from 27/08/22- 10/11/22
Phil is an abstract, expressionist painter.
He spent his professional life as a marine biologist, but he also discovered a passion for art. His works are full of colours, expression, and imagination.
A lot of his inspiration has been taken from what he has seen under the microscope. His paintings are in collections throughout England and in private and corporate collections in Germany, Italy, and in Canada, New York, Florida and Texas.
Phil started painting in 2006, and is largely self-taught. He works mainly using acrylic paints on canvas, usually producing abstracts or semi-abstract landscapes. He is interested in capturing the essence of a place using abstract colour to convey moods and feelings about landscapes, either real or imagined.
Many earlier abstracts started with paint applied directly to the canvas. Areas of paint are worked with spatulas, paint brushes, rollers or even grout spreading tools. He also cuts through surface wet layers of paint to reveal details in the painting below. Many of these paintings are multi-layered and are worked on until something emerges. He says he rarely know what is he looking to achieve, it is simply an exploration of colour and form.
Anne Smith
Ceramics
27/08/22 - 22/10/22
Anne creates contemporary hand built and wheel thrown ceramics using stoneware clays, selecting the clays for their contrasting textures and colours in the final piece. Leaves, seaweeds and trees inspire her designs on platters, bowls, vases and lidded pots. She creates striking contrasts using bright glazes, especially layers of blues and greens, set against unglazed stoneware, often carving the clay before firing or making impressions worked into the clay.
Artist: Monika Przerwa-Tetmajer
"Sealife colors"
27th August 2022 -1stNovember 2022
Monika- I am the owner of this gallery but also an artist. Not sure how I can categorise myself ? Maybe more like a contemporary artist with a hint of expressionism, but in general I don't like to close myself in one type as I like to have freedom to experiment in art.
I studied Fine Art at Pedagogical Academy in Kielce, Poland.
I came to England in 2006, worked in a lot of different places, and gained a lot of different experiences- but art was always with me, and I think it is just my destiny.
Tomasz Pawinski
" 1920 x 1080 "
27/08/22- 01/11/22
Tom has finished College of Art in Poland specialising in sculpting. Then he studied architecture. After 10 years working as an architect due to his moral and political beliefs he decided to quit and moved to England, where now he most of his time works with wood, doing joinery, but he also creates beautiful drawings, which are focused very much on technique and details, unique ideas from his imagination.
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