COAST
An Exhibition of Paintings by
IAN SHEARMAN
FIONA McINTYRE

12th ~ 30th September 2009

Drinks & Supper with the artists Wednesday 23rd September, see below for more details - or contact the gallery.

St Michael's Mount ~ Oil on canvas by Ian Shearman
21 1/2 x 14 inches ~ £795.00

St Agnes Caves, Cornwall - Acrylic on canvas by Fiona McIntyre

90 x 90cm ~ £895.00

In Memory to Dilys, South Devon - Acrylic on canvas by Fiona McIntyre

70 x 70cm - £650.00

Sennan Beach, Cornwall - Oil on canvas by Ian Shearman

19 1/2 x 13 1/5 inches ~ £795.00

Fiona and Ian have now delivered their paintings to the gallery - very exciting indeed! Ian Shearman's paintings are full of detail, you really can see the waves running off the sands, he captures that lovely shimmer of glassy water on the beach. Ian has visited Cornwall several times this summer to paint. An area that he loves and hopes to make his home very soon. Ian knows the coast line of Cornwall intimately, having painted there for many years, this collection of work brings you just a little bit of the English coastline which we think you will love.

Fiona has enjoyed her switch from painting landscapes to seascapes and is loving the many turquoises of the sea. Her strong, bold brush work combined with vivid colour are extremely effective when depicting the rugged coastline of Devon & Cornwall - the sun is shining, the wind is blowing and the surf is up! Bright and breezy!

There are sereval preparatory sketches, always interesting to see how and artist starts. The sketches are light watercolours with scribbles pastel and pencil. Don't think they'll be available for too long!

We're not having a private view for this show - we're asking you to join us for Drinks & Supper! Supper is at Number Seven Restaurant, Cheltenham - Main Course followed by pudding, coffee & a glass of wine, all in honour of our coastal theme. The cost of supper and a glass of wine is £19.00 per person. Drinks at the gallery are of course free, so come to the gallery early for drinks - and of course to view the paintings.

NEW ARTIST NINA HARVEY

Nina Harvey has just delivered the first collection of work that we are going to show in D'Arcy Gallery - really exciting! After chatting, mainly about dogs for at least two hours - Nina and her partner breed Irish Wolf Hounds, they've got ten. Wolf hounds are huge, I can't imagine having ten - just think of feeding them!! Mind my fifteen year old son eats as if filling a bottomless pit! Nina tells me they are going to breed more very soon.

She studied Textile Design at Ulster University, Belfast. After a stint working as a designer for a linen mill Nina setup her own business designing and making rugs - awards soon followed. The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum in Belfast have one of herrugs in their collection. Nina moved to live in England in 2003, switching to painting full time - a medium she found more versatile for expressing her design ideas. The textured layering of her work sometimes results in an old distressed quality - an old, worn and loved feeling. Warm to live with.

Her paintings are lovely simple images - with nothing simple about them!!! Nina layers and builds paint on paint to create a soft muted image, with

Matthew Dean and his Movement Studies

Matthew Dean trained at Bristol in Film Animation, then studied Fine Art - it is the combination of these two that Matthew has used to great effect in his work on Movement.Pen & Ink Sketch of male model moving around the studio.

A male model dancing and leaping - another Pen & Ink study

Pen & Watercolour - Model moving and stretching to music.

Matthew's work is lovely in it's simplicity. His quick sketched lines moving across the paper, with wonderful detail. The deftly crafted strokes build together in almost anatomical precision. We are show casing work by Matthew at the gallery - join us for Wine Tasting and to view his most recent paintings Wednesday 22nd July - 7pm. Email or call for more details - hope@artbydarcy.co.uk 0044(0)12424 511682

Gail and Ruth's Artwork, more.

Ruth adores living in Tuscany - I think I could manage to enjoy living there for a few months every year, but then I'd miss Cheltenham.

Her paintings are like well loved family scrap books - they are full of remembered places and people, hidden treasures. The variety of media used by Ruth when creating her artwork adds to the interest and depth wating for the viewer to explore and find. Most visitors to the gallery spend a long time with noses very close to the picture - trying to work out how Ruth created the work, but also looking for hidden gems.

Ruth's jewellery has caught the eye of my art lovers - people who like to wear art as well as view it! Ruth's jewellery is a collection of unique pieces - antique textiles, vintage beads, beaten metal, sea polished glass, every piece is different.

Gail & Ruth's artwork

I am just trying to get pics of artists work to show alongside the right posting. Apologies if it all looks a little dis-jointed.

Gail's artwork is warm and friendly, she features lovely, round ladies in her artwork. Artwork featuring people you want to live with. You know by looking at her work that the ladies are cuddly and fun - they enjoy themselves. Just like Gail.

Saturday 11th July Visitors

Saturday was really busy, lots of visitors - some browsing, some buying and some trying to sell. Sometimes it's hard explaining to artists that I can't view their work then & there - even though the gallery looks quiet at that moment in time. I always ask prospective artists to send in 3 or 4 images of their work, either by email or post, so that Ranulf & I can look at them and decide if the work is right for our gallery and if it is, when would the work fit into our exhibiton diary. Then we make an appointment to see the actual work. I remember many years ago - before I had my own gallery, I always used to think that some gallery owners were a right snotty lot!! But now I really understand that you've got to be firm and organised (that bit's hard work for me!!?).
Had two lovely people in today - they came to see Gail & Ruth's artwork, which they loved! These two, Paul & Louise work at The National Star College in Cheltenham, an independent specialist college for young people who have physical disabilities and associated learning difficulties - an amazing place for amazing youngsters. We're auctioning a painting to raise funds for Nat Star College, created by Matthew Dean at an event held at The Daffodil Restaurant just recently - but more of that to follow.
I'm off to see several new artists on Monday and Tuesday, more to report then
Hope

New Exhibition

Hi ~ I'm new to blogging so will probably take a while to get the hang of it all. Art by Darcy is my blog spot for my art gallery - which I'm passionate about. So much happens in a day that I'd like to share with everyone, the wonderful Art, Crafts but especially the people I meet both Artists and Art Lovers.
We're hosting a show by Gail de Jong, Ruth Elliott and Anne Bosset ~ Paintings, Ceramics, Textiles and Jewellery - an electic mix if ever there was! Gail's paintings and ceramics feature lovely large ladies in exquisite corsets and red shoes - we think they are probably self portraits! Ruth collects antique fabrics, vintage beads and beachcombs for glass to create her unusal jewellery - Art to wear! Her paintings are created using a variety of mediums, printing, collage, painting, sewing - I keep looking to see if there's anything I've missed!! Ruth has used beautiful imagery and scenes from the area of Tuscany that she lives in - these works of art really deserve a closer look.
Anne Bosset contacted me earlier this year hoping to meet up - luckily she was able to combine a trip to see me with a family wedding. Anne has been living in France for the last eleven years painting full time. We've got watercolours of the Brecon Beacons, oils on canvas of French Poppies, interesting abstract mountain landscapes and detailed watercolour still lifes of delicate china - sounds a bit of a mixture - Well it is; and it all works together in a most harmonious way!!

I'm looking forward to an interesting Saturday.
Hope