Paintings of Bright Sunshine

Andrew Tozer has been exhibiting with Beside the Wave for years; a “Tozer” is instantly recognisable:  Deftly painted boats, economical brushstrokes effortlessly sailing through sparkling waters.  Children, shrieking in delight as they run from chasing waves, just a squiggle of paint twisting to see the progress of the sea.  Yet, for all their familiarity these paintings never fail to be fresh, new and gasp-worthy! 

 

As you walk into the gallery these are the works that call from across the room “I am here, I am Cornwall, family holidays, intimate moments, I am infinitesimal shifts in the light…look at me”

With his work, Andrew Tozer is also displaying his wide breath of knowledge, both of colour and mark making.  He captures perfectly the soft haze of evening sunshine, the lazy warmth of a dying day.  He shows us the bright, fresh, clean light of a blustery summer, when the wind appears to make everything crisp and clear.  He depicts the heavy purple shadows on a hot afternoon and the beautiful soft blur of watching someone that you love dressing in the morning.  His colour decisions appear effortless but are those derived from years of practice, look at this work, it is just so simply excellent.

This collection is stunning and includes not only familiar Cornish scenes but also intimate family moments and interiors that confirm Tozer as a consummate contemporary impressionist.

“Paintings of Bright Sunshine”  will be available to purchase and exhibited in full on our web site and in the gallery from 10am on Saturday 22nd. September.  If you would like to meet the artist, Andrew Tozer will be in the gallery on Saturday from 10am until 1pm.

Don’t miss it!

All At Sea

We have a beautiful exhibition on show in our upstairs gallery and at the National Maritime Museum until 6th February.
Six of our artists, Heseltine, Hoskin, Jones, Lindsay, Tozer and Wimperis have explored Cornwall's relationship with the sea and discussed, in paint, what it means to them.

From the cluttered workshops and boat yards to empty fish markets and working quaysides Sarah Wimperis has chosen the working face of Cornwall.  Andrew Tozer has gazed across the bay and described the beautiful sparkling light and the shapes of sails, which so often grace his work, giving us a Tozeresque splash of salt water.

Al Lindsay has applied his slightly retro vision to talk about quaysides and harbours with perfect colours and graphic shapes.

Robert Jones, who worked as a fisherman years ago, has gone back to his roots and taken us on a trip out to sea where little boats are buffeted beneath endless skies.

Amanda Hoskin allows us to drift through summer flowers on Cornwall's clifftops, or glimpse the twinkling lights of home from out at sea.

Miles Heseltine has gone out onto the cliff tops with enormous sheets of paper and exposed the soul of Cornwall's granite heart in powerful gestural charcoal drawings that must be seen to be truly appreciated.

It makes for a facinating exhibition, full of contrasts and tasting salty and of the sea.  All of the work can be viewed on our website.

Paul Wadsworth, Coastal Connections

Dancing in the Sand
1020mm x 1020mm, oil on canvas
£3100

The work of Paul Wadsworth is splashed all over the gallery.  The sands of the Omani coast mixing, with a joyful exuberance, with the sands of the Cornish coast. 

St. Ives Bay
400mm x 400mm, acrylic on canvas
£840

Colour is pouring from the walls as if your pupils have been dilated and nothing is filtered or held back.  The sky is blue and green, teal and pink.  Bright hues dance with rhythmic energy across the canvas and throughout the exhibition.  The paintings appear to leave the boundaries of the supports that they are painted on and enter into your very soul.  There is light and passion in the brushstrokes and power within the layers of paint. 

Seeing the Bigger Picture
1020mm x 1020mm, acrylic on canvas
£3100

Figures are seen and drift in and out of focus, like the figure of a storyteller visible through the smoke and embers of a beach fire late at night. 

These are paintings that allow your mind to wander while they whisper exotic tales in an ancient language; stories that you recognise and understand but cannot ever repeat in words of your own.

Wiseman of the Beach
460mm x 610mm, oil on canvas
£1150

It’s a great show, beautifully wrought and exhilarating to see.

The opening night is tonight 6-8pm and the exhibition continues until Wednesday 19^th of September.