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This new collection by Rebecca Polyblank celebrates the detailed beauty of nature, and the precious sights and sounds that can delight our senses if we take the time to notice them. She trained as a sculptor at Gloucester College of Art & Design, but over time her passion for drawing and painting has become equally important. In her work, rabbits, deer, swifts, swallows and other wild creatures are conveyed with a sensitive hand, in a manner that suggests the artist’s reverence for their fragility and unique personalities. Rebecca lives and works in a remote setting on the edge of Bodmin Moor, and the view from her studio looks out across the ancient landscape of Carne Down. Throughout the seasons she is immersed in nature’s changing colours, the flowering and fading of plant life, and the coming and going of all the familiar birds, animals and insects of Cornwall’s wild landscape. On daily walks she collects grasses, seedpods, flowers and berries from the hedgerows. Arranging them back at her studio into an assortment of jars, she uses them as subjects in her paintings, with the addition, perhaps, of an imaginary hare, the memory of a tiny bird, or the dream of a passing butterfly. All of nature’s beauty and Rebecca’s momentary encounters with Cornwall’s wild creatures are brought together on paper through her delicate use of line and a palette of shimmering colour washes. In her papier-mâché sculptures, which have the elegance of figurative bronze, Rebecca brings out the unique character of each carefully observed subject: hares, owls and moor ponies are rendered in classic form, and finished to a fine texture that suggests the speckled tones of local granite and Blue Elvin stone.
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“I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer: hopefully, in my work, I capture some of the magic and dream-like qualities of nature. My sculpture and painting are intrinsically linked, and I try to capture the character of each creature in its natural habitat, amongst the landscape and the grasses. Particular features will inspire me: hares and owls, and of course the moor ponies, and black rabbits which must have escaped from captivity, I suppose, a long time ago. Swallows too - they have such a glorious colour in the sunshine, or lapwings over a bleak, midwinter field, with all those beautiful wintery colours. Butterflies, birds and deer are drawn from my memories: I am inspired by all the creatures, and every season here in the wild landscape of Cornwall. I feel like I am woven into this landscape when I’m in it, around our smallholding, or out on the moor where I will pick flowers, plants and grasses and see things that spark ideas. From my studio I can see right out through the doorway, over the moor to Carne Down, and I have a sky facing window. I like a big sky.”
February 2021
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1. Kingfisher Dreaming, acrylic on paper, 41 x 56 cms, £680 2. The Jay, acrylic on paper, 37 x 63 cms, £700 3. The Jackdaw, acrylic on paper, 50 x 70 cms, £750 4. Hot Day, acrylic on paper, 83 x 112 cms, £1,200 5. August Swallows, acrylic on paper, 37 x 85 cms, £695 6. Dippers on the Penpont Water, acrylic on paper, 34.5 x 59.5 cms, £650 7. Canada Geese, acrylic on paper, 49.5 x 90 cms, £1,050 8. Crossing the Marsh, acrylic on paper, 48 x 69 cms, £795 9. Stretching Hare, paper and wood, 42 x 29 x 10 cms, £1,100 10. Running Hare, metal and wood, 29 x 46 x 9 cms, £700 11. The Black Rabbit, acrylic on paper, 37 x 63 cms, £700 12. Boswithick Hare, acrylic on paper, 69 x 43 cms, £700 13. Hare and Magpie Moth, acrylic on paper, 35 x 14 cms, £450 14. Davidstow Hare, acrylic on paper, 59 x 88 cms, £1,100 15. Little Owl, paper and wood, 29 x 12 x 10 cms, £650 16. Moor Pony, paper and wood, 48.5 x 41 x 12 cms, £1,100 17. Spotted Horses, acrylic on paper, 42 x 85 cms, £980 18. Penpont Pony, paper and wood, 38 x 24 x 9 cms, £950 19. Briar, acrylic on paper, 75 x 99 cms, £1,100 20. Emperor Moth, acrylic on paper, 74 x 104 cms, £1,100 21. Kind Looking Horse, paper and wood, 45 x 41 x 16 cms, £1,100
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