Wivenhoe Library Exhibition : Sunsets and...

Visit Wivenhoe Library & enjoy some of my paintings...

Creative Spiral: children can enjoy looking for all sorts things hidden in this spiral painting

& not always noticed unless you stop & look

I painted several sunsets, seen across the Colne at Brightlingsea where the brilliant effect of sunlight shining through the mist on the distant shore and across the water is really quite amazing.

 I remember as a teenager swimming here one evening with a group of us who had been playing tennis, and we could hardly believe the intensity of gold flooding the sea all around us as we bobbed & floated along.

Dawn Mist Rising          oil on canvas, Janet Driver

I continue to be intrigued by dawn mist & the "lost & found" nature of things hidden or revealed through the mist. Can you guess the river marshes this was based on ? 

Hanging next to it you will find a painting of  this scene at sunset. Again a surprising sunset where the light lit up the wall hidden by the dawn mist with a brilliant reflection almost like gold.

for Library Opening Times click the link below:

http://webapps1.essexcc.gov.uk/findalibrary/libdetail.asp?LibID=78

Chagall White Crucifixion Revisited: "Father Forgive "

How did I ever come to paint this ? ...so different from anything I have painted recently...

When I  heard about the Firstsite Open Exhibition    http://www.firstsite.uk.net/    
I thought "Oh yes...I have several paintings ready to go into my October solo exhibition: I could easily chose from one of those..."

But then I read through the Guidelines and thought again...
Yes, I could easily put in one of my recent sunsets or...   

BUT the exhibition organisers  were clearly hoping for a few paintings that might get people talking and interacting with the exhibition...Mmmm... could I possibly rise to the challenge ?

• ...first idea:  "Climate Change...thats the biggest issue at the moment, with the important talks coming up in December..."   

... but somehow all I could think about was this poster advertising "Baked Alaska" the touring Climate-Change play:    http://ridinglights.org/baked-alaska/   

 or my window in Climate Change  http://janetdriver.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Climate%20change   

amazing how  "been there, done that " blocked my thinking...plus the fact there was hardly time to produce an  oil painting that would be dry before the handing in dates...

...I left it... got on with life...turned my back on the whole idea...

...went for a walk by the sea...

• ... walking along by the sea at Brightlingsea, watching the small ferry full of people as it fought the current, going so slowly against the incoming tide, making its way towards Mersea... 

...can you see the visual link already?....

....a flashback to news pictures of refugees in overcrowded small boats, some floundering & overturning... others pouring into Greek islands...

"how would we react if they were landing here...?"

By the time I reached home my mind's eye had raced on, remembering Chagall's White Crucifixion.

Hadn't he painted a whole series of incidents about early holocaust victims all around the Crucified Christ ?  

Chagall: White Crucifixion

 ...and suddenly I could see the link:  70 / 75 years on ...unimaginable horror & violence escalating once more around the world

...images poured into my mind, tumbling after one another... I knew what I had to paint...

...could I actually complete it in time ?  

 Well, maybe...if I didn't spend too long planning it...if I could let go and follow my intuitions... 


                                                                                                                    ...to be continued....



added January 2016:   Just read this article about the Lampedusa Cross & the carpenter who decided to make small crosses out of migrant boats which broke apart whilst carrying migrants...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35360682

The Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe

Dodds & Co

just a few more days

to see this

fascinating exhibition

 I watched this new gallery being built over the last few months, each time I walked down the pebbly road from Wivenhoe car park.  I have to admit I was intrigued to see what kind of building had finally been accepted after all the fuss about planning permission, and as the weatherboard panels were hoisted into place I was amazed how well the subtle pale ochre blended into their surroundings. Surely even the former critics would agree this gallery has grown into a building that has really improved the area ?

 The Sentinel has not only become a lovely showcase for Prue Green's ceramics, but she is hosting the work of local Wivenhoe artists throughout the year....

http://www.thesentinelgallery.co.uk/

Do go & see the current exhibition... where many beautiful surprises await you...

                                          & don't forget to read the poems !

Exhibition at Geedon Gallery until 12th April

Only 3 more days to visit 

the Geedon Gallery Exhibition !

www.geedongallery.co.uk

We went down there this morning, enveloped in mist even after 11am... and were delighted... a real feast for the eyes. This gallery is a hidden gem near the Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve. Follow the Mersea road out of Colchester and turn left in Abberton, watching out for a small sign to the gallery down a country road on your right...

                                                          

artist: Ruth Stage : egg tempera painting

I was immediately drawn towards a group of paintings by Ruth Stage; the colours drew me in, and then I was intrigued by her use of egg tempera for landscapes.

This one above is a different one to give some idea of her style, but you need to visit Geedon Gallery to see how beautiful her paintings there really are. 

There are beautiful ceramics, a group of wrens carved in walnut, playful otters in bronze http://www.laurencebroderick.co.uk/otters-lb.html

and so many oil paintings...difficult to choose one or two artists...but I loved the subtle effects & colours of Jaqueline Williams   http://www.jacquelinewilliams.co.uk

and we almost missed a group of small paintings just near the door on our way out...

http://www.royalsocietyofbritishartists.org.uk/RBA/artistinfo.aspx?userid=1003

well, click & see, then visit Geedon Gallery and find Barbara Richardson's "Honesty Straw & Pots"

and enjoy all the other paintings, lino cuts, jewellery, wooden bowls...

and the view from the upstairs window across the winding river towards Mersea.

12th & 13th September: Wivenhoe : Art in the Church

Come & see a wide variety of paintings by local artists.

This morning I took down three of my most recent oil paintings for this exhibition... My painting of the Houses of Parliament was naturally inspired by Monet... though I often pushed a pram along by the Thames, seeing this famous view when we lived in Lambeth.  So I have painted three H of P sunsets, each one with a different effect. The cliffs above are near Linton: again filled with the warmth of evening light. I am always attracted by the light at dawn or sunset shining through a sea mist.

If you visit the exhibition you may also find my painting of the River Colne transformed at Sunset, which is one of four paintings inspired by the amazing effect of sunlight shining though the evening mist, transforming the whole stretch of riverbank. I remember how the golden light changed to deeper orange, flooding the water at high tide: swimming in this was unforgettable !

details:    stmaryswivenhoe.org/forthcoming

29th July...through August... to 9th September 2014

Wivenhoe Library

have invited me to do another Exhibition of my Oil Paintings 

Library Opening times: click link below or scroll down to next blog

http://webapps1.essexcc.gov.uk/findalibrary/libdetail.asp?LibID=78

Look above the bookshelves and elsewhere on the walls : 

sunsets on the River Colne, dawn sea mists, butterflies...and more...

30% on all sales goes to Library Funds.

                                                                               

click here for my website   www.janetdriver.co.uk

at a recent exhibition someone asked me

     Why on earth is this painting called 'The Eye of the Needle' ?

Can you guess ?

clue :  the small natural archway:
apparently it is only just wide enough for a dingy & oars to go through, and, so the story goes, the stone masons who cut stone from these cliffs nicknamed the bay "the eye of the needle".

  I would like to know why the contrast between shadows and brilliant sunlight shining on these limestone cliffs reveal so many abstract human-like shapes. Is it just the result of natural weathering, or did the stone masons enliven their labour by cutting these shapes ?

 I made two studies before painting this, and nearly called it "Stone Carnival", but then I suddenly saw the link with what Jesus said: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God". Certainly these gigantic "stone people" could never pass through this particular "eye of the needle" archway. It seemed to make a visual tongue in cheek parallel.

May & June 2014

13th May - 17th June:  Exhibition of Paintings

@ Wivenhoe Library 

Come along to the Library and see a selection of my oil paintings up on the walls above the bookshelves and by the noticeboard & desk .

 For the first week there is also the Wild Life exhibition as you enter the Library,  with sketches by Richard Allen and a colourful  children's sculpture.

Wivenhoe Library Opening Times:  

Library Opening Times:
Monday:	Closed
Tuesday:	2.00 - 7.00
Wednesday:	Closed
Thursday:	2.00 - 7.00
Friday:	10.00 - 1.00
Saturday:	10.00 - 1.00 & 2.00 - 5.00
Sunday:	Closed

View paintings on my website: www.janetdriver.co.uk

Geedon Gallery

Ive just visited the Autumn Exhibition at Geedon Gallery, near Fingringhoe, Essex

www.geedongallery.co.uk

Its well worth a visit...but hurry...this exhibition ends on Sunday 20th Oct !

there are bird & animal sculptures that are a delight
and some really beautiful paintings

there are a lot of exhibits...
     .but just pause for breath...
                and soon you will be able to just zone in on one or two favorites...
 savour them slowly...

there are sofas & chairs for pausing & waiting till ... off you go again ...

I still have several paintings and delightful sculptures in my minds eye...

Exhibition & Open Studio ... this weekend !

13 -14 Sept: Art Exhibition at St Marys Church Wivenhoe

for details: www.stmaryswivenhoe.org.uk   & click  Friends  page

Open Studio / mini pop-up gallery 14 & 15 Sept 3-5pm

www.colchesteropenstudios.org    & go to:

Artists Directory   /   type in   "Janet Driver"