11 minute read

ARTS & EXHIBITIONS

ARTS AND EXHIBITIONS

Winter Exhibition Gallery Nine, 9B Margaret Buildings Bath BA1 2LP, 8 November –31 December

Artist and designer Katie Mawson returns to Gallery Nine with her collages using antique cloth-bound books. Ceramicist Anna Lambert makes handbuilt earthenware ceramics using various techniques including slab-building, modelling, and painted slips. Jeweller Duibhne Gough’s work is defined by simple forms, and jeweller Helen Noakes works in resin and silver with miniature figures incorporated into the designs.

gallerynine.co.uk

Farnhill White Path Bowl and Grass Woods Jug by Anna Lambert

Lydia Corbett & Pablo Picasso: Out of Vallauris David Simon Contemporary 37 High Street, Castle Cary BA7 7AW, 5–28 November

A rare exhibition of paintings, works on paper and ceramics by Lydia Corbett and Pablo Picasso. Lydia Corbett, née Sylvette David, was the subject of more than 60 paintings and sculptures by Picasso, after they met in 1953. Now in her late eighties and with failing eyesight, she uses her ‘inner eye’ to work directly on to canvas and wooden panels, creating bold and powerful compositions in oils and watercolours.

davidsimoncontemporary.com

LEFT: The Three Kings, Lydia Corbett, watercolour and ink on paper RIGHT: Composition Après Pierrot et Arlequin, print, 1920, Pablo Picasso

The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath, all exhibitions run until 8 January

Rodin –Degas: Impressionist Sculpture Representations of the human body by Auguste Rodin and Edgar Degas, and their expression of its energy through both dynamic and static poses.

Elisabeth Frink: Strength and Sensuality Featuring themes such as storytelling, animals, humour and violence, Strength and Sensuality shows a selection of Dame Elisabeth Frink’s bronzes and works on paper.

Nalini Malani: My Reality is Different Malani has created over 60 new animations based on 25 paintings featuring famous paintings from the National Gallery and the Holburne.

, 2022 ‘Goodbye Ma’am’, Queen Elizabeth II

Charles Minty: City of My Childhood, The Guildhall, Bath, 3 October until 18 November

Charles Minty’s first solo exhibition will showcase 20 of the plein air artist’s oil paintings of Bath and Wiltshire. The exhibition is a testament to the hundreds of hours Charles has spent outside in the past year to create these works –and to his love of Bath: “Bath is a city I love and find absolutely fascinating to paint. I always get so many people coming up to talk to me, to encourage me, when I am painting, which is wonderful”, the artist says.

cmintyart.co.uk

New work by Ruth Brownlee, Nick Mackman and Chris Keenan Beaux Arts Bath, 12–13 York Street Bath, 14 November–23 December

This new exhibition features the work of three artists. One of Shetland’s best-known artists, Brownlee paints the island’s everchanging dramatic conditions, exploring the relationship with land, sea and sky; Mackman is a sculptor of one-off, Raku fired clay animal models; and Keenan works in hand thrown Limoges porcelain to create beakers, bowls, cups and more.

beauxartsbath.co.uk

The Road, Acrylic on Canvas, 90 x 90 cm

Ruth Piper at Sandra Higgins Art

Sandra Higgins Art is delighted to exhibit new works by artist Ruth Piper. Ruth’s work is both romantic and enigmatic; inviting the observer into a world that is beautiful and brooding. Visit the online gallery to view Ruth’s latest work or contact Sandra to arrange a private visit to the artist's studio.

sandrahiggins.art sandra@sandrahiggins.com

Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair, Sunday 13 November, 10am–5pm Green Park Station, Green Park Road, Bath

Painting by Teresa Poole

The award-winning monthly Bath Contemporary Artists’ Fair (BCAF) is back on Sunday 13 November. Committed to bringing the best of contemporary art from the city and beyond to the heart of Bath, the fair has created a regular space where artists can network, share ideas, connect with the public, and where the public can connect with art. Visitors can browse the works of local artists and admire fine art, photography, sculpture, textiles, ceramics and much more, all under the vaulted glass roof of Green Park Station. For updates and exhibiting artists visit the website. bcaf.co.uk

Peter Brown: Bath, Bristol and Beyond Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, until 15 January 2023

This exhibition features over 100 new oil paintings and prints by the ever-popular Bath-based artist, ‘Pete the Street’. The exhibits follow his footsteps through the streets and green places of Bath and Bristol, as well as places further afield and domestic scenes from his home. Having worked with the gallery on a number of occasions, Brown is perfectly suited to updating the tradition of visually recording life in Bath – a legacy well represented in the gallery’s permanent collection, encompassing Turner to Sickert.

Holly Brown: Life & Land 24–27 November, The Gallery at The Station, Station Approach, Frome

A solo show of a collection of contemporary landscape, seascape and still life oil paintings by Somerset artist Holly Brown. Private view Thursday 24 November, 6.30–9.30pm with low intervention, organic wine from More Wine. All paintings are individually hand framed and available to buy. Open daily 10am–4pm.

holly-brown.co.uk

Figs by Holly Brown

David Ringsell: Contemporary Art Prints and Paintings of Classic Bath Architecture “I aim to present a contemporary perspective on some familiar places. I often focus on the darker side of Bath architecture with peeling paint and stained stonework.”

David’s work is being exhibited at The

Claremont Pub, 5 Claremont Road, Bath; and at The Old Crown, Weston, Bath.

There is also a Meet the Artist event at The Old Crown with a free glass of prosecco on 17 November at 7.30pm. Discover the full story behind The Old Crown’s fabulous new art exhibition when artist David Ringsell will talk about his influences, struggles and inspirations as an artist. The exhibition runs throughout November. Custom prints are available online in a range of sizes – see the website: real-images.com

Image: Heaven and Earth, A2 framed giclée print by David Ringsell. A stained stone chimney stack contrasts with the distant St Michael’s Church.

Charles Minty

Would you give up an established career to paint outside in all weathers? That is what artist Charles Minty did a year ago – and it has paid off with his first solo exhibition at the Guildhall. Here Charles tells us about his plein air painting life

Igave up my job in an engineering company a year ago to pursue a new career as a plein air painter. This meant no warm studio, no roof and four walls, and working on an easel, hour after hour, in rain, wind, or sunshine.

I don’t have any artistic training, but ever since painting a barn owl in flight on black paper – when I was about 6 –I have always loved art, and I would draw and paint in watercolours at home constantly. During A Levels, I was desperate to learn oil painting, but the school didn’t have the resources, so I grew frustrated and decided to quit A Level Art to focus instead upon my other subjects, which would lead me to study French at University and… History of Art! Nevertheless, I vowed to become a professional painter one day when the time was right – and continue with art in my free time.

The months of lockdown and a horrible winter in 2020 took their toll and I knew I needed to make changes. I packed my paints and brushes when I went on holiday to Cornwall and that’s when I knew it was time to make painting my career. It is important to say that this decision, while in many ways a risky one, has also been successful, as my paintings are selling – and I’m grateful to all of those people who have bought my work or commissioned me to do a painting for them.

One of the obvious challenges of being a plein air painter is the weather: I love to paint in the rain, pitting myself against the elements, but it’s not always plain sailing. I painted a large canvas of George Street earlier this year and I was checking the forecast every day, hoping for news of low pressure and black rainclouds, looking for atmosphere. I set up my equipment but the weather was so extreme with high winds that the signs outside the restaurants were falling from their fixings and the police ordered them to be removed, so I finally decided to admit defeat before my canvas went airborne. It was more fun in the summer, painting the rum bar on Trim Street into the long warm evenings –and being served a drink or two! I love all times of year: the different colours, the long summer nights, as well as the cold, atmospheric winter evenings.

Immediately following the news of our late Queen’s passing, I began painting a very large black-and-white portrait of her in front of Bath Abbey, from one of the 1953 Coronation photos. Upon seeing the emotional reactions from people passing by, but without knowing whether I would be allowed (by the dozen or so armed police on the entrance), I decided to take it to Windsor and painted through the night before the funeral, without any sleep, until morning came. Exhausted, I then moved on to start a new painting of the scene of the gathering crowd in front of Windsor. It was a very solemn and moving day and a wonderful send-off. As a painter, literally ‘in the thick of it’, this was the ultimate challenge –thousands of people stood elbow to elbow with me, watching my every brushstroke, as I was the only artist there on that historic day.

I was kindly invited by the Mayor of Bath, Rob Appleyard, to exhibit at the Guildhall. I often went to the city with my mother as a child and its beauty, history and architecture have always fascinated me. Now that I am a professional painter, I want to capture the beauty and feel of the city on canvas, which is the reason for the name of my first ever solo exhibition: City of my Childhood. Art in my view is about capturing a moment in time, and a feeling – it’s about our own humanity and interactions with others in the spaces we occupy together.

At my exhibition, people will see twenty of my oil paintings, all for sale, which were completed during the past year.

ABOVE: Green Street, 2022 BELOW: The Royal Crescent, ‘Bridgerton End’, 2022 Charles painting at the top of the Long Walk at Windsor the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral

Charles Minty’s exhibition City of my Childhood is at the Guildhall in Bath until 18 November (free entry); cmintyart.com

Snap up a Snaffles

Although his name remains largely unknown in urban homes, Snaffles’s prints are familiar furnishing fare amongst rural collectors. ‘Snaffles’, born Charlie Johnson Payne in 1884 specialised in watercolours, caricatures and – more commonly – the production of light-hearted colour prints that are now synonymous with post-Edwardian sporting joie de vivre. In the 1910-1950 period, such prints captured something vivacious and exuberant about the joys of hunting and, with a deftness that is rare amongst sporting artists, Snaffles blended such subjects with echoes of military life.

Any artist who sought to reproduce his or her work in mass-produced print form needed to be a superb draughtman and Snaffles’s style was dependably fluent, accomplished and well-composed. The gentle inflexions of humour and pathos have guaranteed an enduring appeal, even in an era where we now tend to look askance at blood sports in art. For the enthusiast who enjoys the hunting field, the race track or the respectful evocation of the spirit of the British serviceman, Snaffles’s prints capture a period from our past that suits our nostalgic yearnings. Over thirty of his works are on offer at Lawrences on November 25th with estimates from £50 to £200 apiece. Illustrated: ‘Blighty - and only five-and-twenty percent of the danger’ Colour reproduction, finished by hand, laid down onto support sheet, signed in pencil, 37.5 x 30.5cm. £100-200. A full team of specialists are available to advise and assist with FREE valuations:

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