Curating an Exhibition in February

For a long time I called our February Exhibition ‘The Spring Exhibition’.  It turned out to be a misplaced optimism  as Winter in the Cotswolds goes on for a lot longer than you think when you are basking in September sunshine.

However, despite the frosty nights, the snowdrops are out and there is always at least one weekend in February that is relatively mild and sweet scented with a southerly breeze.   Such was the opening weekend of our, now named, Winter Exhibition.

When curating and compiling the exhibition months ago, I wanted to have a wintery feel to the show.  Paintings of snowy landscapes, monotone abstract landscapes and ‘crepescule’ landscapes are beautiful in themselves but when viewed ‘en masse’ often need an injection of colour, cheerfulness and optimism.  This was supplied by the uplifting still lifes by Alison Dickson from Edinburgh and flower paintings by Nancy Chambers.

I’ve also been taken recently by the loosely painted oils of Liz Keyworth who puts so much expression and colour into her landscape paintings.

In addition I have some wonderful paintings by gallery regulars; Betty Harrison, Mike Duckering, Lorraine Houston, Laura Howarth SWA, Sue Godfrey, Jenny Graham, John Henry and Mike Ibbotson, Malcolm Ashman RWA, Nancy Chambers and Janet James.

I also wanted to introduce some new and upcoming artists to the mix.  I’d seen some favourite pieces in the RWA show in the Autumn in Bristol so in January I visited Jane Boot in Bristol and loved her mixed media landscapes, often with a green/pink combination of colour.

I also visited Kerry Phippen in Stroud, on the recommendation of a mutual friend, to select some wintery but also Scottish landscapes with solitary figures painted in acrylic and pastel.   There is a special serene quality about Kerry’s work and she is brilliant at sketching in pencil too.

After seeing her work on instagram, I visited Samantha Wilkins in Gloucester to select her unique abstract landscapes; I just loved her composition and use of colour.

Finally I felt I needed some sculpture/ceramics in the exhibition to complement the paintings and I asked Miles Johnson to make me some heads.  Miles was a contestant on the Great Pottery Throwdown and I had seen his work previously at a ceramics fair in Oxford.   All the pieces were raku fired and this was done a few days before the exhibition opened so there was a sense of jeopardy as we all know that things can wrong in the kiln.  Luckily all was well.

In all there are over 100 paintings and 60 ceramics on view. The opening weekend saw sales for work by John Henry, Kerry Phippen, Jane Boot, Lorraine Houston, Miles Johnson and as the exhibition continues I hope to see many more.  More importantly, though, is the appreciation given by visitors of the  whole exhibition; an  eclectic mix of styles, techniques and sizes and a great way to refine your aesthetic.