The Narrative of Trees - with the Arborealists.
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Exhibition catalogue below: Get in touch with enquires team@galleryeast.co.uk
The Narrative of Trees explores our love of trees and their meaning for our personal and collective identity. It brings together in over 50 paintings, drawings, etchings and limited edition prints, by established Gallery East artists alongside a selection of artists from The Arborealists, an association of UK based artists, found in 2013, by Tim Craven. The timing for The Narrative of Trees is perfect as we join in the celebrations for National Tree Week on 28 November. We are delighted to be co-curating this exhibition, for the first time, with respected art historian, curator and artist, Dr Angela Summerfield.
The Narrative of Trees explores our love of trees and their meaning for our personal and collective identity. It brings together in over 50 paintings, drawings, etchings and limited edition prints, by established Gallery East artists alongside a selection of artists from The Arborealists, an association of UK based artists, found in 2013, by Tim Craven. The timing for The Narrative of Trees is perfect as we join in the celebrations for National Tree Week on 28 November. We are delighted to be co-curating this exhibition, for the first time, with respected art historian, curator and artist, Dr Angela Summerfield.
Emma Buckmaster and Janet French are printmakers and members of the Arborealists.They work as a team to create etchings of British trees printed onto paper made from the leaves of the tree itself. The leaves are collected and prepared to form delicate sheets of paper using only the natural constituents of the leaves to bind them together. Whilst the paper is still damp the etched image is printed onto the leaves from a steel plate using a traditional etching press. Emma and Jane live and work in Suffolk and their work is in private and public collections worldwide. They became Fellows of the Society of Botanical Artists in 2019.
Claire Cansick paints in oils and is member of the Arborealists. In her work, which starts and ends with a choice around colour, she seeks to capture the emotion, beauty and power of the elemental forces of nature. Claire is conscious of climate change and her work delves into the relationship between nature and us. Claire works and lives in Norfolk where she also grew up. She has exhibited widely throughout the UK in solo and group shows. Find out more at Claire Cansick.
Patricia Cain PS, ARWS, NEAC is an award winning artist and writer living and working in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Her distinctive and original work is at the intersection of abstraction and figuration. Patricia sees patterns and connections in her work which mirror the process of continual transformation in the natural world and the human mind. In 2013 Patricia was awarded an RSA residency through the Barns - Graham trust at Balmungo House in Fife, Scotland. Find out more at Patricia Cain
Perienne Christian is a masters graduate and teacher at the Royal Drawing School. She lives and works in London and Suffolk. Her highly original work looks at connections between landscape, including everyday medicinal weeds and their folklore, and the role of the feminine. Perienne's work is in many private collections throughout the UK and her work"Calling" featured in the 2019 RA Summer Show. Find out more at Perienne Christian
Lara Cobden is an award winning figurative painter and a member of the Arborealists. Lara moved to Norwich in Norfolk from Ireland. Her work often captures the mystical properties and stories of a landscape. These 2 works are inspired by the Madron Wishing Well and Clootie Tree in Cornwall. Wishing trees are often used as an object of wishes and offerings and are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. She exhibits widely and one of her paintings has been selected for this year's ING Discerning Eye exhibition. Find out more at Lara Cobden.
Blaze Cyan is a fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and a member of the Arborealists. She lives and works in London and works within the mediums of drawing, etching, woodcut and wood engraving. She has a particular fascination with ancient trees. Blaze has shown work with many of the leading art and printmaking societies. She has had a number of solo and group exhibitions within the UK, including the RA Summer Show in 2019 and Eames Fine Art Gallery in London. Her work in the RE ‘Print REbels’ Boxset is in a number of collections including the British Museum, V&A, HRH Queen Elizabeth II, and The Ashmolean Museum.
Kate Giles is a contemporary artist working in oils. Her work is an explosion of bold, expressionist like brush strokes of Norfolk landscapes. For the last couple of years her focus has been on field corners, stray paths and dividing roads which send signals to be obeyed or ignored. In particular there is an old and neglected orchard not far from Kings Lynn which ofter appears. Kate's work is eagerly collected throughout the UK. Find out more at Kate Giles
Jane Human is a much admired and collected painter and printmaker with strong links and attachments to the East Anglian fens. Her work is characterised by a strong sense of place, and exploration of colour, texture and space. Often working in a series Jane uniquely captures the soul of the landscape, with open spaces and trees anchored by the horizon. Jane's work is in public and private collections worldwide. Find out more at Jane Human
Woodland Fringe, October Bright /Oil on paper/74x165cm/ £3,250 SOLD
Caroline Poole is an oil painter living and working in Suffolk and London. Caroline paints from observation and works outside in all weathers, settling her easel in a particular spot in coastal Suffolk to paint trees in the landscape, returning regularly to capture the subtle changes resulting from the seasons and coastal erosion. Her work is now attracting attention throughout East Anglia and beyond. Find out more at Caroline Poole
Nahem Shoa is a contemporary artist born living and working in Notting Hill, and a member of the Arborealists. Nahem has painted trees for over 50 years, relishing the total concentration and powers of perception required to paint and draw them well. He has established an international reputation as a painter of contemporary multicultural life and is currently curating an exhibition at Southampton City Art Gallery called the Face of Britain where his work is hung alongside historic and other contemporary black portraits. Nahem's work is in many UK gallery and museum collections. Find out more at Nahem Shoa
Michael Sofroniou is an artist living and working in Oxfordshire. Michael paints from direct observation, often from drawings done outside where he can accurately capture the colours, shapes, patterns and atmosphere of the landscape or objects in front of him. Michael currently exhibits in galleries and undertakes commissions in Oxfordshire and London. One of his drawings from a residency with the Royal Shakespeare Company is held by the V&A. Find out more at Michael Sofroniou.
Angela Summerfield is an art historian, curator, artist and a member of the Arborealists. She sees her landscapes as visual metaphors for contemporary living; her contemporary portraits of trees challenging conventional perceptions and understanding of nature and human nature. The silhouetted and twilight forms capture the essence of each single tree. Earth colours, associated with landscape traditions, are dispensed with in favour of “electric” colours, associated with urban neon-lighting. Angela's work is held in private collections in the UK, Canada, US, Australia, and Germany.
Arborealists : Emma Buckmaster and Janet French, Claire Cansick, Lara Cobden, Blaze Cyan, Nahem Shoa, Angela Summerfield.
Gallery East artists: Patricia Cain, Perienne Christian, Kate Giles, Jane Human, Caroline Poole, Nahem Shoa, Michael Sofroniou
"We all bring and take stories and memories from the trees, forests and woods we visit, whether in the country or towns and cities. This exhibition, The Narrative of Trees, explores this enduring relationship shared with trees through the work of award winning contemporary artists from East Anglia, London, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. The work tells a narrative around A sense of Place with artists responding to trees or woods of cultural or personal significance and The Arboreal Mind which includes works depicting imagined spaces, abstractive forms and patterns, and experiences of the spiritual and well being." (Dr Angela Summerfield).
Gallery East artists: Patricia Cain, Perienne Christian, Kate Giles, Jane Human, Caroline Poole, Nahem Shoa, Michael Sofroniou
"We all bring and take stories and memories from the trees, forests and woods we visit, whether in the country or towns and cities. This exhibition, The Narrative of Trees, explores this enduring relationship shared with trees through the work of award winning contemporary artists from East Anglia, London, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. The work tells a narrative around A sense of Place with artists responding to trees or woods of cultural or personal significance and The Arboreal Mind which includes works depicting imagined spaces, abstractive forms and patterns, and experiences of the spiritual and well being." (Dr Angela Summerfield).
Tune into my conversation with The Tree Council on Art and Trees recorded for the launch of National Tree week 28 November 2020. Also on the Panel, chaired by Charles Watkins Professor of rural geography at Nottingham University, were Dr Angela Summerfield co-curator of our exhibtion, founder of the Arborealists Philippa Beale, and tree artist Angela Rumble https://treecouncil.org.uk/take-action/seasonal-campaigns/national-tree-week/join-our-free-national-tree-week-arts-culture-events/national-tree-week-arts-culture-events-watch-the-recordings-now/
Also showing Elaine Bolt's new Suffolk collection:
Elaine Bolt is a ceramic artist living and working near the South Downs in East Sussex with a rapidly growing reputation for individuality and integrity. She works with clay and mixed media, creating works and compositions guided by a sense of narrative and steeped in the context of her local surroundings. New works inspired by Elaine's visit to Suffolk in September this year, available either as an installation or as individual vessels. Check out Elaine's recent interview in Ceramic Review (issue 306) entitled Sculpture Vultures in which she speaks to 5 ceramic sculptors about the lure of sculptural forms.
Elaine Bolt is a ceramic artist living and working near the South Downs in East Sussex with a rapidly growing reputation for individuality and integrity. She works with clay and mixed media, creating works and compositions guided by a sense of narrative and steeped in the context of her local surroundings. New works inspired by Elaine's visit to Suffolk in September this year, available either as an installation or as individual vessels. Check out Elaine's recent interview in Ceramic Review (issue 306) entitled Sculpture Vultures in which she speaks to 5 ceramic sculptors about the lure of sculptural forms.
Hope to see you soon or get in touch with enquires team@galleryeast.co.uk or 07836 325497.
