Pat Tromans's " 'Just Write' Amongst Artists" Creative Writing Workshop

We were pleased to host and welcome Pat and her students to create a picture with words (as one of our facebook friends put it)

They gathered in the Gallery Craft room with many

 paintings around them

 Wandered through the

Sculpture Garden gaining inspiration from many of the exhibits

and chatted after lunch  in the Gallery Café

A piece created  by Penny Cooper one of the students during the workshop-

"A rusty roller

Leans against the ancient oak

That spreads its branches over static sheep

The sheep are lifeless,

Frozen, gazing across the grass.

They cannot hear the wind surging through the trees

Or add their voices to the cawing crows.

But golden dragonflies can flit about

Pausing to rest their gossamer wings

Upon the sun-warmed bench.

And robin can perch

Unharmed on the gorilla's head

While the pig, arms outstretched

Must wait forever his chance to dance.

We can stroll by leafy paths

Through twisted rhododendron tunnels

Past a green man with ivy hair.

We feel the wind on our cheeks

And smell sweet scents of flowers

But the wire woman is forever condemned

To heave herself out of the ground

On splayed hands and outstretched fingers.

Striving to free herself, and go

We know not where.

Penny Cooper August 2010"

and another by  Linda Hutton

Moon-gazing

"Ellie knew it was him long before she saw him. The smell of Balkan Sobrany from his pipe wafted ahead of him, and she heard the sound of him marching down the gravel path.

“In here,” she called.

He stuck his head around the first tree trunk to look into the glade.

“What are you up to now, cariad?” he asked, then spotted the sculpture. “Bloody hell, a dancing pig! Whatever goes on in your head sometimes?”

His words might seem brusque but they were delivered with affection, and Ellie knew that he’d be smiling when she turned and looked at him. Her big brother hadn’t an artistic bone in his body, but was very proud of her.

“Are we still going riding, then?” he asked, putting a hand under her arm to help her up.

“Oh yes! I just had to put this little chap in place.”

“You could’ve done that tomorrow.”

“I know, Bob, but somehow I feel he needs to be out here today.”

He rolled his eyes in mock despair, then took her heavy shoulder bag off her and arm in arm they walked away, him slowing his long stride to match her limping one.

Dusk came, birds twittered their evening chorus, and with the departure of people from the gallery and sculpture gardens a pleasant hush fell over the place. Long shadows stretched further out and beneath the trees a quiet tension began to build.          

“Are they gone?” the smallest of the sheep statues communed to its  companions. Together they had stood beneath the spreading arms of the great oak since spring. Flowers had come and gone with the seasons but now they were going. All day they had been practicing their farewell song, and soon it would be heard.

 “All clear!” The gorilla from by the front door swung into the garden, nimbly swinging over the garden wall and locked gate, and knuckling his way over the lawn to meet them.

  “Your last full moon here, then?”

“Yes,” the lead sheep baahed. “We’re off to a garden somewhere.”

“I’m scared,” the small sheep bleated. “It’ll be strange and we won’t know anyone.”

“But at least we’re together..,”

“...together..,”

“...together,” the other three baahed in unison.

“But what if there’s a dog?” the little one persisted. “The one here’s friendly but others might not be.”

“Don’t you fret, it’ll all be fine,” the gorilla said reassuringly. “You’ve got your leaving song all ready for us?”

“Oh yes...”

“...oh yes..,”

“...oh yes..,”

“...oh yes!”

Together the sheep and the gorilla moved across the darkened lawn. A Green Man plaque on the wall whistled to attract their attention and the gorilla lifted him down by standing on the back of one of the sheep.

“Can’t think why they stuck me on the wall out here!” the Green Man sighed, “it’s going to be interesting next month if I’m still here.”

“Don’t you worry, mate, I’ll get you to the gathering somehow,” the gorilla assured him.

Moving into the wood they found the other Green Man and the Green Lady and some of the other sculptures who could roll their own way to the assembly beneath the trees. Moonlight fell on parts of the garden, but not here, deep in the thicket and far from the prying human eyes inside the house.

“We have a newcomer!” the Green Lady announced from her vantage point on the tree. “Over there!”

            There in the middle of the tiny clearing stood the terracotta pig. His arms spread wide, snout in the air, nostrils flared as if waiting for some unknown thing to happen. His tail was curled in anticipation as he sat on his stone stump, frozen in time. Together the others began a soft humming, and, as the last of the warm herb scents from the courtyards faded and the cool night air awoke more earthly scents, the pig blinked.

“Welcome,” the gorilla said. “For whatever time you are here you are one of us. Do you sing?”

“Sing?” the little pig blinked, seeming astonished that he had been freed from his solid state. “I don’t think so.”

The other looked from one to another. It was rare that an awakened piece lacked a voice, but sometimes it did happen.

“Not to worry,” the Green Man called down. “Just listen and follow us in the choruses.”

Together they settled into a circle as near as they were able, and then they each sang their song, led first by the Green Lady. After the gorilla had rumbled his way through a shanty he gestured to the sheep, who were the only ones left who hadn’t sung besides the pig.

“Time for your farewell song,” he said. “You know the code now: to awaken others whom you encounter, keep the faith, and don’t let the humans see!”

Leaning close to one another the sheep sang a beautiful chant, noses lifted and eyes gazing at the flickers of moonlight which peeked now and then through the canopy. If a human had opened the window they would have heard nothing, but the spirit song was heard by all those gathered, clear and true.

“Go in peace to your new home, we’ll not forget you,” the Green Lady said, then turned to the pig. “And what of you little one? What does your heart tell you to do?”

The pig waved a trotter experimentally, then another. Then, as a shaft of moonlight finally found a hole and sent a shaft of white light to the woodland floor, the pig slipped off his stony seat and began to dance. He pirouetted on wobbly legs at first, then as stars twinkled above and he gained confidence he began to move more rapidly. Like a tiny shaman of old he danced with a love of life, little feet tripping across the fallen leaves, forepaws outstretched and a smile on his face.

“Will that do?” he asked when he stopped.

“That’s just perfect,” the gorilla said. “Welcome brother!” 

Feedback comments from a couple of students :-
  " Inspiring venue & excellent food & facilities."
     " . . . the setting is wonderfully inspiring."

From Pat: I liked the way the writers wanted to pick up where the artists left off.  The artists captured living forms in static materials;  the writers' response was to re-animate them in their stories and poems.


 

 

Amelia Humber's - Solo Exhibition in the Gallery

Amelia Humber visited Bevere and enjoyed exploring the Gallery areas and talking to Stuart our Ceramic Curator

also  the Sculpture Trail.











We are pleased to show her paintings in the Main gallery throughout August

They strive to relay the atmosphere and emotion of the landscape through a personal and momentary experience. They contain the ideas of capturing the sublime and those immediate feelings of drama in a continuously changing landscape

Her interest in the landscape was stimulated by her childhood in the countryside of West Sussex where adventures on the South Downs with its ever changing skies and their dramatic effects on the land beneath became her inspiration when she discovered her passion for painting

TWO BOOKS BY ERIC JAMES MELLON

These two books will be available during Eric James Mellon's special 85th Birthday Exhibition here in September. This is a great opportunity to get your book signed

DECORATING STONEWARE
Eric James Mellon and Paul Foster
University of Chichester 2007
158 pages

This lavishly illustrated volume was written at the behest of Mellon aficionados who were concerned that his extensive and innovative research into ash glazes should be written up for practitioners as well as the ceramic enthusiast.

It sets out with great clarity the concern that he had to translate his drawing to high-fired stoneware without the inevitable loss of definition that occurs at high temperatures. This book is an important survey of his ceramic output and the themes of decoration which have defined his work over many decades.



65 YEARS OF PRINTMAKING
Eric James Mellon
University of Chichester 2010
128 Pages

This is the second beautifully illustrated book by Eric James Mellon, this volume is a survey of the printmaking of this prolific ceramicist and artist. It covers four techniques – wood engraving, etching, aquatint and lithography with numerous examples of his output over many decades. The human form is an endless fascination for Eric and this is evident in nearly every print. Although many of his themes are concerned with mythology and religious iconography there is nevertheless a sense, as the cliché has it, that all human life is here. This volume will be of interest to student and art lover alike.

Eric signing his new book during the weekend of the launch of his celebratory exhibition in
                                 The Gallery at Bevere during September 2010

Eric James Mellon's Birthday Celebratory Exhibition coming soon

ERIC JAMES MELLON

Capturing the Light

85^th Birthday Exhibition

September 2010

Plans are now well advanced for this milestone show. The exhibition will show past as well as recently made work and we hope to have around seventy ceramic pieces as well as paintings and prints. We are particularly delighted that Eric has produced a special limited edition birthday print called ‘Mermaid and Fox’ which will be available for sale, along with all the work in the show, at the opening on 4^th September.

We are particularly pleased that Eric will be here for the private view and opening. He will be happy to talk about his work as well as sign copies of his two books. The most recent -’65 Years of Printmaking ‘- is beautifully illustrated and a fitting testament to the Mellon legacy in printmaking.

We are also delighted that Eric has made available a small number of the paintings of his late wife Martina Thomas.

This show is a must for anyone who is interested in ceramics and printmaking. A short monograph has been written by Stuart Dickens, the Gallery’s Ceramic Curator, to accompany the exhibition and to provide insights into EJM the man as well as the artist/potter.

Stuart Dickens our ceramic curator has chosen

POT OF THE MONTH

August 2010

CHRISTIANE WILHELM

Grey vessel with Silver Leaf

This wonderfully crafted pot appeals at a number of levels. The dimensions and shape of the vessel are well proportioned. The contrast of the textured body with the applied silver leaf on the neck and lip gives an added touch of opulence. Importantly, the piece has a distinctive voice and great presence.

I have admired the work of Christiane for some time and every piece from her small, simply decorated bowls to her larger more complex pieces shows thoughtful design and a high level of artistry and skill. In some ways it is invidious to select one well crafted piece from another but this particular pot is one of the ‘stand out’ pieces in a show full of excellent ceramics.