Landscapes & Orchids: Studio Visit to Bill Pryde in Advance of his September Exhibition

Bill Pryde in his studio

Yesterday Robin and Natalie took a trip to Saxmundham to visit screen-printer Bill Pryde in his new studio.

Bill Pryde outside his idyllic new studio in Saxmundham

The aim of the visit was to choose work for Bill's upcoming show with us in September and to find out a little bit more about what he has been making in recent months.

Studio Interior- Downstairs

The new collection of prints focuses on both the landscapes of his native Scotland and his new home environment in and around Suffolk.

Bill Pryde, 'Day Loch', screenprint

With this new body of work he aims to capture the spirit of the location, recording a "non-representational, poetic response to the mood and moment of a place."

Bill at his print bed with a new print, surrounded by older works (behind,framed)

He sees walking in nature to be of essential importance to his work, breaking the long periods in the studio with regular trips to the sea or marshes nearby.

One of Bill's new, more painterly landscape prints

These walks are not specifically for inspiration, more to encourage a moment of tranquility to allow his creativity to return after his often physically exhausting printmaking sessions.

Much of Bill's inspiration comes from working in his beautiful new garden

The recent move to Suffolk has had a large impact on his practice, affecting his pallette and moving his landscapes away from his characteristic style of 'cloisonnism' to softer, more painterly printmaking.

Choosing some of the new Orchid prints for framing

Alongside these new landscapes we were pleased to see Bill was keeping up with his much loved still-life's - this time returning to Orchids as a subject for the first time in ten years.

Bill Pryde with his dog Bunny

We had a wonderful, uplifting day with Bill, seeing his new home and work space and, most importantly, seeing his new prints. A lot has changed in his practice since his 2012  show "Lonely Churches and Remembered Landscapes" and with these developments come exciting new challenges for the established artist.

Nicola Lord

This month we will be showing a solo exhibition of Nicola Lord in our upstairs gallery. Her new works are mostly inspired by English landscapes, with a small additional series based on Venice.

Clear Waters, mixed media on canvas, 49.5 x 49.5 cm

We have been showing Nicola since shortly after she graduated from her MA at the Royal College of Art. 14 years on and she is now a senior lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth, where she tutors on the BA Textiles course.

Grand Canale, Venice, mixed media on paper, 32.5 x 31.5 cm

It is often remarked that her work bears a resemblance to textile, a comparison which Nicola encourages, seeing her paintings and collages as closely related to her textile designs.

Harbour View, mixed media on canvas, 32 x 39 cm

For more information on Nicola's solo show see the gallery website.

ALISON ELLIOTT: ARTIST INTERVIEW

Last October Sir Peter Blake, Anthony Green RA and Nicholas Usherwood presented Alison Elliott with the Curwen Gallery Prize for Figurative Painting. 

Her prize was representation by Curwen Gallery and a solo exhibition with the gallery this July.

We met her in her studio to discuss the new work…

Alison Elliott with Lord of Men I

Curwen Gallery: In the early stages of the competition we were very impressed by the impeccable attention to detail in your paintings.

I think it was this level of detail that set you apart from the other artists in the competition and ultimately won you the prize.Was it a conscious decision to work in such minute detail?

Fledalji, Fledalji,, oil on canvas, 224 x 183cm

 Alison Elliott:  My work has always been about detail. I want each subject to come to life…so much so that one can almost feel them breathing, rather like a ‘tableau vivant’. The beauty of my paintings is achieving this.

Curwen Gallery: I remember you saying that you considered yourself to be largely self-taught. How did you learn the techniques that you use in your current work?

Alison Elliott: I am completely self-taught. I learnt from reading and experimenting with different techniques and supports until I began to feel comfortable with what I was doing. It’s taken me years to get to the stage I am at now and I still feel constantly challenged by the medium.

Boy, 127 x 203cm, oil on canvas
£19,995

I consider myself as a classical artist. I prefer to use the more traditional techniques. I start by putting an imprimatura / stain on each canvas. I then spend a lot of time placing the subject on the canvas in pencil, before I consider picking up a brush. [3]
I then slowly build up layers of oil to form the image and finish it with a traditional glazing technique.

I have always used Old Holland oil paints, bought from Russell and Chapple, a traditional company now based on Store Street, close to Curwen Gallery. They always make my canvases from double oil primed French linen. It’s not the cheapest canvas to buy but it’s the best for my work. It’s the most wonderful surface to work on.

Curwen Gallery: How long does it take to make your larger works? For instance Fledalji (above) what kind of time scale are we talking about for you to make a painting of that size?

Alison Elliott: My large portraits take approximately three to six months. My rearing horse ‘Fledalji’ took a bit longer. I usually work on two paintings at a time to allow for drying time as well as to remain focused and keep a fresh eye on them.

Curwen Gallery:  There are no background features around each animal in your work, what was it that made you decide to paint in this way?

Alison's Studio in Cambridge with Lord of Men II

Alison Elliott: Each blank canvas provides that integral space for each subject to project itself from. I want the main focus to be on my subject and I don’t feel the need to distract from this by adding anything else. Less is more.

I work in a similar way to [the photographer] Tim Flachs. He strips the picture down to just the bare essentials. The focus on the subject is emphasised by “cutting it out” from its context. I feel that it makes them more striking and contemporary.

Curwen Gallery:  How much did your time at Winchester and Newcastle Polytechnic influence your work?

Alison Elliott: I did my Art Foundation at Winchester. I developed a wide range of skills during this period. It was the first time I’d experienced life-drawing, which is an incredibly important discipline to learn. I also did my first photographic work there, which is still an essential part of my practice.

Pug, oil on canvas, 110 x 110cm
£12,500

I did my BA in Fashion at Newcastle Polytechnic. I was one of the few students that could draw and so my illustration skills developed a lot during that period. Even then though, I never stopped sketching animals.

 I remember once I had an interview with [fashion designer] Thierry Mugler’s assistant. In my press book I had several sketches and montages which featured illustrations of pug dogs….she thought the dogs were incredible!

Curwen Gallery:  What has been your career trajectory? Which exhibitions and opportunities do you think have particularly helped you?

Alison Elliott: My first ever exhibition was in the home of [French Playwright and Actor] Moliére in Pèzenas, France. That was a collection of pen and ink illustrations of the medieval buildings reviewed by the Midi Libre. I’ve also been regularly showing with the Society of Equestrian Artists at the Mall Galleries and at Newmarket Racecourse. 

Frank Nichols, oil on board,10 x 13cm
£650

Some time ago I sold my first horse portrait to Royalty in the Middle East. My first miniature commission was a dog for the Earl of Cadogan, as a gift from the Countess.

More recently I have been showing a selection of works at the Sloane Club in Chelsea and then, of course the Curwen Gallery Painting Prize, which I was thrilled to win last October.

Hernando, oil on canvas, 152 x 107cm
£19,995

Curwen Gallery: Do you consider yourself to be a portrait artist? Many of these works are of very specific animals, such as Visindar and Lord of Men, but some seem more universal, such as Boy or Fledalji. Is the history and character of each animal important to you?

Alison Elliott: Yes, I do consider myself to be a portrait artist. I would say that most of my paintings are very specific to the subject. Boy was actually a six month old giraffe that I photographed in South Australia.  It is part of my creative process to identify the animal and to communicate the ideas and subjects which reflect their character.

Curwen Gallery:  What is it about horses as a subject matter which so captures your imagination? They constitute around half of the whole body of work that we are showing   this July. Your level of interest must show more than just a love of their appearance.

Alison Elliott: I believe the horse as a subject is one of the hardest animals to paint and I challenged myself many years ago to see if I could. I think that I have now proved to myself that I can, perhaps that is why I’m currently working on developing my paintings of large dogs!

Molly, oil on board,10 x 13cm
£650

Two years ago I began focusing on the Arabian Horse as a breed and I selected Stivalery BJ to be my first painting. I set up a photoshoot where she was based. I hung a 12 foot canvas backdrop and photographed her standing as a show Arabian should stand.   I photograph the dogs I paint in the same way, although they come to the studio.

Curwen Gallery: The scale of your work is obviously very important to you as you paint in both life-size and miniature. Is this to do with visual impact or is it more to do with creating an accurate portrait of the animals that are your subject?

Visindar, oil on canvas,122 x 193cm
£19,995

Alison Elliott: It is a completely subconscious decision, as every subject will dictate their finished size on the canvas. I have been experimenting with size and scale. Last year I began painting my first miniatures and now I’m beginning a collection of larger than life dog portraits. Whatever size they are I still want to recreate their every detail and bring them to life!

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Curwen Gallery is currently holding a solo exhibition of Alison Elliott's new paintings.

For more information see: http://www.curwengallery.co.uk/gallery/elliott15/title.htm

Curwen Gallery takes on Jon Wealleans and Gerald Mynott following closure of Francis Kyle Gallery

Curwen Gallery has recently taken on two new artists, Gerald Mynott and Jon Wealleans following the closure of Francis Kyle Gallery. 

Charleston Farmhouse

Gerald Mynott was born in London in 1957. He studied Heraldry at Reigate College of Art and Design and then went on to study at the Künstlerhaus, Vienna. Until recently Gerald Mynott was represented by Francis Kyle Gallery, where he had being showing his work since 1980.

Pagdorze District, View from Vistula, Cracow

He works predominantly with oil on canvas, with occasional use of pastel and lithography. His paintings capture fleeting scenes in the great European cities, focusing mainly on the architecture and public spaces of Vienna, London and Venice.

Heian Temple- Kyoto

 He will be exhibiting his new paintings with Curwen Gallery in December 2016. For more information see Gerald's website by clicking here. 

Jon Wealleans was born in Yorkshire in 1946. He studied architecture at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art followed by post-graduate studies in design at the Royal College of Art, where he is now an Honorary Fellow.

Homage to Bob: The Gate's of Eden

He began his career as an architect, working for the Building Design Partnership, Foster Associates and then setting up his own practice. In the 1960s he acquired a reputation for designing eccentric shop interiors including renowned rock-fashion boutique, Mr Freedom.

Homage to Bob: Maggie's Farm

During this period he also collaborated also with rock musicians and their management, including the Elton John Organisation and Led Zeppelin and taught architecture and design at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, the Royal College of Art and Kingston University.

Since the 1990s he has concentrated mainly on painting and until recently was represented by Francis Kyle Gallery, London.

Homage to Bob: The Drifter's Escape

His new series of works is a collection of figurative oil paintings loosely based upon the song titles of Bob Dylan. He will be showing them at Curwen Gallery in May 2016. For more information see Jon's website by clicking here.

Curwen Gallery Auctions: Now Open!

Our 2015 auctions are now open. The catalogues are available to view on The-Saleroom.com here. This year our auctions include 230 paintings and prints from the gallery collection.

Artwork in this years auction hanging salon style in the main gallery

As with previous years, there will be two auctions, both of which have online catalogues on The-Saleroom.com. One auction will take place online over a two week period (the 'Timed Auction') the other will take place in the gallery on the evening of 23rd June (the 'Live Auction'). All of the artwork in both auctions is currently on show in the gallery.

John Hoyland, Curwen Anniversary Print,
lithograph, Est. £200-300 (Retail value £900)

If you haven't been to our auctions before then you will be in for a treat. The annual auctions are, for good reason, one of the best attended events in our calendar and are an excellent place to buy artwork for a greatly reduced price. 

Associate Director Natalie Suggitt preparing the auction lists

Brendan Hansbro, Rejuvinated Unicorn,
wood engraving, 11 x 16cm, Est. £30-50

A few of our favourite pieces have been selected to be included in this years auction. With many reasonably priced works rubbing shoulders with more valuable, highly collectible works, there really is something for everyone in the auction. 

Donald Hamilton-Fraser, Launch Wash,
 screenprint, 69 x 53cm, Est. 300-400 (Retail value: £950)

The artwork for sale is a combination of classic lithographs by Modern British artists which we have acquired from Curwen Studio (often from big name artists such as Donald Hamilton- Fraser, Leonard Rosoman and John Piper) and more contemporary work from gallery artists. Estimates range from £5 to £2000 and cover all areas in between.

Albany Wiseman, Horseguards,
lithograph, 57 x 78cm, Est. £50-80 (Retail value:£250)

The auctions are always a great place to find high quality work at a reasonable price, whether you are a dealer buying for investment and re-sale or a new homeowner looking to cover your walls inexpensively. Last year many people also just turned up to see the event itself and then found themselves getting sucked into the bidding.

Alistair Grant, Sugar Suite Orange, lithograph,
 70 x 89cm (framed), Est. £200-300 (Retail value: £425)

There are always some fairly spectacular bargains to be had from the auctions with artwork often being sold for considerably less than its normal retail price (and even our very conservative estimates!).Obviously, the prices paid for lots depends entirely on who is in the room during the bidding.

Richard Walker, Move On Up, screenprint,
140 x 101cm (framed), Est. £300-500 (Retail value: £1100)

For more information on the auctions visit the gallery website  

MARK CAZALET : ARTIST INTERVIEW

 7th-28th May 2015
Artist Talk: Tuesday 12th May from 6.30pm

Mark Cazalet is a new artist to Curwen Gallery. We decided to get to know the man and his works a little better …

Curwen Gallery: What themes and ideas were you hoping to communicate with the body of work which you will be showing in this exhibition?

Mark Cazalet: The classical unity of works produced in one place, at one time with one set of concerns; the arrival of the new day and its equivalent decline into darkness - moments of transformation.

Curwen Gallery: In the past you have said that your work is about “moments of transformation” – does your recent work explore these same ideas? Which experiences have inspired these works?

Mark Cazalet: The writings of Thomas Merton, a Benedictine Monk, who after a gadfly youth became a hermit in Gethsemani Monastery in Kentucky.  He wrote about the practice of meditational silence and the experience of nature as a divine teacher and inspiration.

Curwen Gallery: What is it about the depiction of nature that you find an appropriate vehicle for your spiritual ideas?

Magnificat Les Bassacs Wood Dawn II
chalk on coloured paper, 34 x 74cm(framed)
£950

Mark Cazalet: The history of Modernism and beyond is a radical separation from nature and concentration on the self-referential process of self-reflexive creativity.

That is a very worn down and claustrophobic arena.  As I teach in the beautiful locale of the Luberon Valley I encourage my students to not only work from what they see but spend time really seeing what is before them, it seemed natural that I should do the same.  The spiritual you ask about is probably just feeling at one with nature and thrillingly alive in this place.

Curwen Gallery: Do you feel that this recent body of work continues the tradition of English Romantic Landscape painting in a contemporary manner?

Mark Cazalet: I am very wary of any attempt to continue the tradition of English Neo Romantic or Romantic Tradition, despite being very influenced by both epochs.  We have to make work that comes out of our own period and neither rely on the collateral of others achievements nor the relevance of their work to their time.

Magnificat Les Bassacs Wood DawnV
chalk on coloured paper,34 x 74cm (framed)
£950

Equally we are formed by the traditions of our heritage and Romanticism is by no means worn out with its emphasis on the individual’s perception, and nature being an immeasurably precious source of inspiration as well as the means of our existence – these it seems are ever-truer realities today.  Perhaps for the first time there is an elegy to a passing fragile nature that will soon be mourned by the following generation.

Curwen Gallery: You have had a number of quite profound religious experiences. How have these experiences changed your world view and the artwork that you create?

Mark Cazalet: As my friend Timothy Winton replied when I asked him the same question: how does a fish feel about water?  The religious viewpoint is all I do and see, so I cannot imagine answering your question as if it weren’t there.  It is the element in which I exist so everything is religious. Re Ligare – to bind up a thing which is broken, a splint for healing.

Magnificat Les Bassacs Wood Dawn VII
chalk on coloured paper,34 x 74cm (framed)
£950

Curwen Gallery: Do you find that your faith can be problematic in the (largely secular) London art world? Do you think that this niche has created opportunities for you or not?

Mark Cazalet: It has caused me problems with specific gallery owners and certainly derailed one or two opportunities, probably for the best in hindsight.  I am not convinced that the Art World is secular, increasingly people (in private) follow all manner of eccentric, personalised, spiritualised belief systems.

In the 1980s it was different when a legacy of hard edged atheism ruled as a legacy of the radical political avant-garde.  Now commerce and hyper individualism, more corrosive ultimately, allow a broader inclusivity on the surface at least.  The problem comes with representing The Church as if one were an ambassador or preacher, neither of which I am- nor want to be seen as.

Les Basaacs Magnificat 5,oil on board, 17 x 24cm
£650

Curwen Gallery: How did your work develop during your experience of living in seclusion during the Albers Foundation residency? Is this the start of the body of work which you will be showing with us?

Mark Cazalet: The work I am showing with you prefigured the Albers work but also was its germination.  Josef Albers’ Interaction of Colour was a seminal text.  This is a very large question.  I am still working through the consequences of the two Albers Foundation residencies.

Nunc Dimitis Les Bassacs Wood Night I
chalk on coloured paper, 34 x 74cm (framed)
£950

 Curwen Gallery: Did you find the seclusion of the residency led you to produce less allegorical works? What is it that caused you to move away from the more figurative, myth inspired works which you are better known for?

Mark Cazalet: Colour has always been my chief pleasure and means of communication whether with figurative or in pure terms.  I simply sought to allow the experience of being still and opening my eyes to predominate.  Anni Albers said “let them speak,” meaning one’s materials.  I still have a way to go on that front and it seems the next step.

Curwen Gallery: Your, often controversial, ecclesiastical commissions form a large part of your opus. Do you consider them as a separate strand of working to the small pastel drawings that you will be showing with us? How are these two strands of working linked?

Mark Cazalet: The ecclesiological commissions and personal, biblically inspired works are as much a core part of me as the colour works.  Having a brief to fulfil and an architectural context to satisfy do load on the complexity, to say nothing of working with committees and patrons.  Obviously to walk alone and respond to whatever one sees is very wonderful in its freedom; a sacred flaneur.

 

Morning Light II
chalk on coloured paper, 38 x 30cm (framed)
£450

Curwen Gallery: The majority of your previous works are figurative drawings which re-interpret biblical mythology in a contemporary manner. What inspired this shift in your focus to the exploration of nature in a semi abstract manner?

Mark Cazalet: Actually neither: I have always had a semi abstract streak, which waxes and wanes, but certain shows such as The Museum of London’s Cathedrals of Industry or The Path to Calvary have stressed the most figurative side.  It really is all one, just different periods and themes.

Curwen Gallery: The wood and the tree are recurring motifs in your work. What are the references you are drawing from this symbol? Why is the tree and the wood a focus of your recent work?

 

 Mark Cazalet: Silent meditation requires a still place away from other people, or at least the intrusion from other people.  A wood is both an old image of an enclosed space in which to become lost and an increasingly difficult place to get lost in.  There are also aspects of Heidegger’s Lichtung; the momentary clearing in a dense space that allows for clear thought and perception.

Curwen Gallery: Are your more recent works inspired by poetry? What is it about poetry that you feel is valuable to your artwork? 

Morning Light IIIIchalk on coloured paper, 38 x 30cm (framed)
£450

Mark Cazalet: Poetry has always played an important role in my work, as has theatre and Opera.  All vehicles for staging ideas in a dramatic form.  But more than for the literal references. It is in the cadence, rhythm and irresolvable nature of the best poems that I find encouragement.

Curwen Gallery: You have travelled widely and done a number of artist residencies on Christian Pilgrimages (with Biblelands to Egypt, Palestine and Israel). What is it that the experience of travel and, most specifically, being on a pilgrimage that you find beneficial to your work? 

Mark Cazalet: The random and often infuriatingly inapposite timing of inspiration.  Routine is broken and the unexpected upturns ones normal practice.  Again increasingly it is not knowing what 

 one is to do that provokes the most creative response.

Magnificat Les Bassacs Wood Dawn VI
chalk on coloured paper, 34 x 74cm (framed)
£950

Curwen Gallery:How did your time studying under Christian Boltanski effect your work? How did this period relate to the period of work which you are currently making? 

Mark Cazalet: Christian was infuriating but several of the things he said took years to filter through and finally provoke a response.  He would present himself as a clown and yet slip in very difficult ideas that one couldn’t dismiss nor agree with; the artist as a bad preacher who pushes buttons to get a reaction but slips away without giving an answer, and the self- reflexive activity of making art, a self-awareness of what one is doing even whilst doing it.  I still greatly revere his paradoxical role as teacher who claims he has nothing to teach… 

Les Basaacs Magnificat 8,oil on board, 20 x 22cm
£650

Curwen Gallery: You studied at Chelsea and Falmouth colleges of art. Was this a crucial period of your artistic development. In what ways has your work changed since that time?

Mark Cazalet: I am closer to what I was doing on foundation than any other period since, a really warm feeling of coming home but not in the way I expected, nor the manner.

View the online catalogue for the exhibition here . Contact the gallery for sales enquiries.