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.

Olympic Torch Relay

Saturday was a day full of sunshine and high spirits enjoyed by everyone in Falmouth.  The Olympic Torch continued on its journey through the centre of town, and right past the gallery.  

Not only did we have Bucks Fizz and little cakes and nibbles to celebrate this wonderful occasion but we were very privileged to be able to show five very special watercolour paintings by guest artist Emma Cousin.  These paintings were part of a collection that had been commissioned and painted inside the Olympic Aqua Dome.  A very close link for our gallery to the Olympics.

  Everybody enjoyed watching the huge turn-out for the event.  The streets were lined, people were leaning precariously out of windows above the shops to get a better view, and there was an incredible atmosphere and buzz all through the town.

We managed to get some photographs of the mornings events, it certainly was a day to remember, and what a welcome to Amanda Hoskin's exhibition that had opened the night before!

And last, but by no means least, Gavin Cattle, running with the Olympic Torch for all to see...

Catalogue for Chelsea Art Fair

We will be at Chelsea Art Fair, Chelsea Old Town Hall, Kings Road, London SW3 5EE.  On Stand 35.  Friday 20th April - Sunday 22nd April.  There is a Preview on Thursday 19th April, 4pm - 9pm (invitation only).
If you would like tickets please contact the gallery.  We would love to see you there.  If you click on the catalogue above you can see the work that we will be taking with us.  There is new work especially for Chelsea from Anne-Marie Butlin, Amanda Hoskin, Richard Tuff and Sarah Wimperis.  Previously unseen work from Chris Rigby.  Lovely pieces from the Effortless Brushstrokes exhibition and a selection of very exciting sculpture.
This fair we will be taking a browser containing mounted but unframed original paintings, drawings and etchings by Miles Heseltine, John Howard, Chris Rigby and Sarah Wimperis, which is an opportunity to get your self some georgous art at a lower price.
All of the work is available with the own art scheme, smashing the price into ten, interest free, monthly repayments, so you could have a painting for as little as £10 per month!
If you see anything that you fall in love with it is available to buy now, from the gallery.
Enjoy the catalogue and hopefully we will see you in London, if nothing else it is an excellent chance to see some of our best work in the "flesh" and have a chat with Ingrid Heseltine and Sarah Wimperis who will be staffing our stand.

A Celebration of Watercolour.

All too often watercolour painting is overlooked and under-represented in many galleries today which is why we at Beside The Wave have taken the bold step in hosting a glorious celebration of watercolour. A number of our artists are experts in this exacting discipline, and now their work in watercolour can be seen and enjoyed in this special exhibition.

Watercolour is often seen as the poor relation to oils, not considered as "proper painting" by some.

It is also the first choice of many who are new to painting and yet it remains one of the most difficult mediums to master. 

The clean colours and expert draftsmanship of John Raynes work succeed in  making this art form look effortless.

The exuberant splashes and mark making of Richard Thorn are an emotional response to a multiple textured landscape.

The intimate delicate paintings of Amanda Hoskin are beautifully simple and yet wonderfully complex.

The layered colours that Sarah Wimperis employs give a jewel like luminosity to her work.

The chalky twin of watercolour is gouache and this is exhibited with the expert brushstrokes of  Richard Tuff.

We have a preview of this fascinating exhibition in our upstairs gallery from tomorrow, Saturday 1st of October with the full exhibition opening on Saturday 8th October and running until the 19th.

Wimperis, Hoskin and Helford

Sarah Wimperis and Amanda Hoskin continue the Contemporary Impressionism series of exhibitions, at Beside The Wave, with their own individual visions of the Helford River.
In this, Sarah's first major collection for Beside The Wave, works include the Helford (where she lives) come rain or shine, exquisite portraits of gardens and a rich collection of paintings from Sarah's recent visit to Provence - a welcome reminder of what a sun-drenched summer really looks like.  

Wimperis. Low Tide, Polwheveral Creek



Hoskin. Misty Day, Helford.



Meanwhile, with her epic painting journey around Cornwall done, Amanda has found inspiration further inland around the Helford River. In painting the Helford for the very first time Amanda has sought to capture the essence of the river throughout the year.

Paintings are made by coaxing misty shapes out of the paint, using her fingers and splattering subtle colours onto the canvas. Amanda often paints from memory or from sketch books and studies made outdoors working to create and communicate the spirit of place.

Sarah paints as much as she can en plein air, or out there, in the rain, mist and sun, completing entire works of art outdoors. Her work seeks out strong colours, deep shadows and brilliant light, and she will often painting into the light ("contre jour") from the creek side or from her floating studio out in the river.

 

Sarah Wimperis and her floating studio


 For both Amanda Hoskin and Sarah Wimperis, the challenges of painting Cornwall in the winter, misty and moody with lush greens and subtle greys, and Cornwall in the summer, hazy sunshine, hot colours against deep cool shadows have produced breathtaking collections of work. And unsurprisingly, from the same stimulus of the Helford River each has such different and refreshing responses - which of course is part of what the joy of art is all about. Unique ways of seeing and utterly individual ways of voicing them.
 

Hoskin.  Rain Clouds over the Field.  Helford.



Wimperis.  Hazy Helford



Sarah, meanwhile, has also spent some time this summer in Provence, painting en plein air and has filled the gallery with paintings of blue Provencal skies, terracotta walls and purple shadows and of course Lavender.

Sarah and painting kit in Provence

Here you can see the process of painting, but you can't sadly hear the cicadas or feel the hot sun but clearly much of that has seeped into the paintings!!!


Wimperis.  Shadow Shed



Wimperis.  Lavender Stripes.

Anyway, it's now time to go and hang these paintings on the wall so they can be there for all to enjoy!
This exhibition opens on Saturday 6th August and continues until Thursday 18th August.

Private View. Amanda Hoskin.

A Meeting With Amanda Hoskin.

Amanda Hoskin works in a large, light wooden building at the bottom of a garden in Par. Inside it is warm and bright, white walls and cupboards and paintings in various stages of completion.

The first thing to catch my eye was a collection of tiny canvasses with, what appeared to be, butterflies stuck to them.  These exquisite little works of art are made using Amanda's characteristic painterly style, collage and wonderful colour sense, a little gold leaf, and butterflies that she has painted onto fine ivorine, cut out and then collaged into the work.

They are so beautifully painted that I had to look very closely to make sure that they were actually made and not pinned. 

I am to include this disclaimer: "No butterflies have been harmed in the creating of this exhibition" 

I wanted to know why she has chosen gardens as the subject for this next exhibition:  Not wanting to be type cast as "that artist who paints the Cornish coast", she decided to explore gardens.  There is a wealth of wonderful gardens in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.  She admits to being initially worried that this would result in a lot of green paintings but as soon as she began to explore the subject she became hooked.

Naturally butterflies have flown into the picture.  They are beautiful but rather more importantly, she reminds me, is the vital role that these jewel like creatures play, along with bees, in our survival on this planet. Which is why the entire proceeds from the sale of one exhibition painting are to be donated to the British Butterfly Conservation Society. 

With the same energy and passion that was evident in her coastal walk and the resulting paintings, Amanda has quite literally gone down the garden path.  She has spent hours in gardens, public gardens, tiny back gardens, allotments and orchards absorbing the scents, sounds and textures, making small paintings, working her sketchbooks and gathering information.

She returns to the studio and paints in oils, on paper, wood or canvas. Whatever suits the painting, she is, I think, an instinctive painter.  Using pallet knives, her fingers and brushes, but brushes as tools to "stab the canvas" rather than to paint with, she weaves the colours. A huge collection of very well used, sturdy paint filled brushes sit on the window sill next to a big pallet and a lot of paint.

As we talk she begins to work the sky on the easel painting.  Mixing paint with a pallet knife and applying it to the painting she then begins to use her fingers, coaxing the soft greys into the right kind of light, she almost looks as if she is conducting the weather, there does seem to be a tiny bit of magic going on.

Amanda's paintings are many layered, skies are first filled with delicate layers of subtle tones, worked and smoothed with quick fine fingers. Then paint is applied with the brush-tools, flicked, smeared and splattered, layer upon layer until a dense undergrowth of colour and texture is created.  Paper, words and precious gold leaf are often employed, all working together to recreate the gardens and landscapes that now seem to contain dreams and memories as well as trees and flowers.

Her sketchbooks are works of art in their own right, valuable note books, filled with drawings and beautiful little paintings, colour studies and experiments, seed packets, textures from a magazine, sweet wrappers and labels, words and thoughts, finger painting, watercolours and oils mixed and mingled into a delightful inspirational cake. 
These are what inform her paintings.  It is these paintings which must be seen to be appreciated, I can honestly say that if you like Amanda's paintings in the catalogue or on the web site you are going to love them when you see them in real life.  They are richly textured, deeply layered, beautifully considered and an honest, heartfelt response to a place and a time.

Amanda's paintings are feminine, soft and beautiful.  They are a testament to the natural world, Cornwall and the isles of Scilly.  They look lovely but there is also an undercurrent, like a hidden message, someone telling you in a half remembered dream: "Don't mess with this beautiful world, treasure it, layer it with gold and precious colours and lay it out, without a word, for everyone to see."   That is just what she has done.