After our annual break for Stokesley Agricultural Show and Fair, the gallery is about to reopen with a burst of colour and frivolity for the Autumn. The new exhibition features the work of three artists, Sarah Morpeth, Colin Smithson and Sheila Smithson.
Sarah is a Northumberland artist who, after practicing as a solicitor in London for ten years, decided to have a complete change of direction and study for a degree in Embroidery at Manchester
Metropolitan University. She moved back to live in the heart of the
Northumberland National Park, where her work takes inspiration from the
landscape around her, as well as from films and books - with which she has
surrounded herself all her life. The work included in this exhibition takes the form of handmade books and three dimensional pieces as well as framed cut paper works. They are wonderfully intricate pieces, incorporating subtle colour, print, and hand colouring.
Colin Smithson was born in Liverpool and attributes his sense of humour in is work to his Liverpudlian back-ground. He paints in acrylic and oils; his work has illustrative qualities, inspired originally by a love for the Yorkshire Dales where he has lived, worked and exhibited since the 1970s. He uses strong colour and texture in his paintings to recall small observed moments which invoke a strong sense of place with drama and sometimes humour. The wonderful thing about Colin's work is that however long you have studied one of his paintings, you will go back to it again and again and notice some small, quirky detail - a parrot squawking in the window or a sheep in a tight spot - that you had not seen before.
Sheila last showed her work in Bianco Nero last summer in the exhibition "Up the Garden Path". In this exhibition she has continued to explore the theme of gardens as a "Flight of Fancy" and her paintings are rich in detail, texture and colour. In a similar vein to her husband Colin's work, Sheila also treats the viewer to hidden glimpses into forgotten or overlooked corners. Her work is unashamedly decorative but also visually rich and exciting.
The exhibtion starts with a preview evening on Friday 28th September and runs on through the Autumn until 10th November. It's definitely worth a look, and then another look, and another ....
