Mark Hearld - Collage and Ceramics For Sale

Mark Hearld is, as any of you who follow our blog pages will already know, an artist of immense talent and someone who features in our own personal art collection.  He loves to create and has over the years been equally as happy making marks in oil paint, lino, print, collage, wood, and ceramics. We are delighted to have some of his very recent ceramic work available to buy and think that they offer remarkable value while they are sure to become collectors items of the future.

Mark Hearld's first ceramics were decorated blanks in a ceramic cafe where he decorated  bisqueware which then went for its final firing in much the same way that the great painters from the potteries worked in the 20th century. He went on to explore the use of scraffiti and slip trailing before collaborating with the great master potter , Terry Shone in Whitby.

Mark Hearld Ceramic Horse

Mark Hearld Ceramic Horse

In more recent times Mark Hearld has worked with a low volume pottery producer in Stoke on Trent . This came about when he was initially away in Berlin for a few days with Emily Sutton and they came across an old wooden horse that had wheels on its base and had been a child's toy. It was for sale in a flea market so , being the great collectors that they are, it was purchased and came home to York and then onto the potteries to be the model for a mould. The rest is history as Mark has now produced a small number of his ceramic horses in a hand full of batches each individually decorated by him and are of such great proportion that they make a feature and talking point in whichever room they are located. We here at Blondes Fine Art love the simplicity of form and nobleness of stance which when combined with Mark's decorative verve makes them a must have item.

The most recent output by Mark, in Stoke on Trent, are a new series of slipware platters which have been hand produced in small numbers and have designs inspired by his recent visit to the USA with birds such as the Blue Jay featuring strongly. Mark Hearld will continue to produce great work in all mediums and we very much look forward to seeing his latest output, a ceramic cockerel, which is still in the design stage. But for now we are delighted to be able to offer a selection of ceramic and other work by Mark Hearld and if you check out his artist page here at Blondes Fine Art you will find a few gems still available to purchase. Don't miss out !

Peter Biegel - Sporting Art

Peter Biegel is one of finest equine artists and Blondes Fine Art are delighted to have acquired two fabulous oil paintings dating from the 1960's. 
The smallest work is an oil sketch on board and has a real period quality about it and a very American feel due to the denim clothes worn by the lad. It has its original gallery label attached verso and details of its later sale in the 1990's to raise funds for the injured jockey fund. It is  really nice piece that would fit well into any equine lovers home.

Peter Biegel oil painting

Peter Biegel and his wife Dora were actually regular visitors to the United States and would go for a month every year to paint. They first went out in the 1960's to paint for Barry Ryan at Normandy Farm, Kentucky . Their host was an equine art lover and had works by Herring , Munnings and many others but was quoted in a magazine, Thoroughbred of California ,  as saying that Peter Biegel was' the best painter of the horse today'. Biegels work is still much admired in the U.S.A. and a draw for many a collector.
It is also fitting that these works that we currently have available were both  later sold for the benefit of the Injured Jockey Fund. Many charities benefited from Peter Biegel's generosity but it was the Injured Jockey fund that benefited to the tune of one hundred thousand pounds on a number of occasions from the sales of reproduced images in the form of Christmas cards. 

Please do view our new Sporting Art pages and contact us is there is anything that you are particularly looking for.

Gwilym Prichard - Welsh artist of painterly form

Gwilym Prichard  - or Pri(t)chard as he signed his work in his earlier life - is much less well recognised than some of his contemporary Welsh artists from the same post war period.

For me one of the absolute joys of being a Fine Art dealer is that I can indulge my passion for art on a daily basis by sourcing and purchasing the work that I personally enjoy. It matters little to me if a particular artist has been 'over looked' by the mainstream Art community , and indeed I see it as a distinct advantage when looking to find new gems. The early work of Gwilym Prichard is perhaps one such example. He is well known in Wales but much less so elsewhere and I am always interested to hear from private clients who have his work from the 1950s and 1960s and are considering selling. I buy his work because it resonates with me emotionally, it has such vibrancy in texture and palette, yet communicates the bleak Anglesey landscape in a way that is hard to find anywhere else. 

As a child my sister and I would visit Anglesey on a regular basis to see 'Uncle Ivor' and to explore the wildlife of North and South Stack , watch the rock climbers navigate the cliffs and to search for Adders and Bee orchids on the sand dunes. They were , from my recollections, days of extreme weather and I recall being burnt from the sun and drowned by the cold rain on the bleak hills. I had , at that time, no knowledge of anyone called Gwilym Prichard and no knowledge of how he was recording my childhood memories at exactly the same time that I was visiting the places he painted. Penmon Priory was a regular subject of his work and often depicted Puffin Island in the background. Actually the bulk of his work was, for sometime focused in a triangle formed by Pentraeth, Penmon and Beaumaris  and it was while painting in this area that he really matured as an artist.These were also familiar places to me and I guess that is why his work has such a hold on me . But it is not just the subjects that are important but his painterly style and use of thick slabs of palette - knife and sweeping brush stroke to convey the boulders , buildings and beauty of his native land. In fact his colour and block work reminds me of de Stael.

Gwilym Pritchard was born in 1931 and would keep the spelling of his surname with the 't' until the 1980s when finding that his Great Grandfather had been a Prichard - without the 't'. He had a brother Arthur, who was also a talented artist and he married his childhood sweetheart Claudia Williams who is yet another talented Welsh artist. They lived in Anglesey for much of their early life and it was here , and the images of the local landscape, that gave Prichard the notoriety he deserved. He taught at the local secondary school for 11 years and managed to paint in his spare time building up a steady patronage.

He built up strong ties with leading galleries and was a regular exhibitor from the late 1950's with Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales , Bangor Art Festival and notably with Howard Roberts Gallery, Cardiff for a decade between 1958 - 1969.

 In 1956, when private galleries were rare outside London, Howard Roberts established his gallery in the Welsh capital. Roberts  was born in Cardiff attended Cardiff College of Art, and taught art at Tiverton High School before returning to the Principality and opening what was to become Wales' most successful commercial gallery. It concentrated mainly as one would expect, on Welsh art but also showed many British artists who included Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Graham Sutherland, Prunella Clough,  and Bridget Riley. Welsh artists exhibited included Augustus John, Morland Lewis and Alfred Jones. The gallery was also a considerable force in developing the careers of Kyffin Williams, John Elwyn, Ernest Zobole and Will Roberts amongst many.

However, by 1970, expenditure on new premises, competition from other galleries and rising rents forced the gallery's closure. The work shown above dates from the early 1960s and has a Howard Roberts Gallery label fixed verso. Enquires about this work are welcomed so do not hesitate to contact us here at Blondes Fine Art.

 

Elizabeth Blackadder flower paintings in oil

Elizabeth Blackadder has had a love of flowers since her childhood but they did not appear significantly in her work until the mid 1970's, when she moved to Fountain Hall Road , which had a large garden . Prior to that period she was however, experimenting in her style and mediums and flowers were a topic that seems to recur.

In 1963 John and Elizabeth moved from their flat into a house in Queens Crescent, on the South side of Edinburgh. They then had for the first time, a small garden which gave her access to a constant supply of flowers and it is in that period that we begin to see them feature in her work. In 1966 she produced a large pen and ink drawing of Lilies which is depicted on page 51 of Duncan Macmillan's book about Elizabeth Blackadder, which has some similarities to the work we, here at Blondes Fine Art, have recently acquired. The work shown below is signed but undated depicts a still life of Lillies in a vase and is I believe from the same mid 1960's period. Interestingly the period, gold, glazed, box frame appears to have been 'borrowed from her husband as it bears his name and the title of one of his works to the back.

During the early 1960's Blackadder lived near Anne Redpath and it was she that helped Blackadder to see the possibilities of still life and as a result she began to experiment in a way that shows a direct link to those still-life flowers of Redpath's. It is also clear that Elizabeth was concentrating on still life in oil and produced a body of work that have a very similar palette to the work shown above. Two such examples are 'Summer' an oil from 1963 and 'Still-Life with Grey Tabletop' an oil from 1965 both of which use the same loose style in greys and yellows. During this period she experimented with approaches and appears to be looking to find a new way of working and her own distinct artistic voice. She did , as we are all well aware, hone her skills in the painting of flowers later in her career but this work offered here , 'Still-life Lilies' in oil, circa 1965 is one of the first serious paintings of this subject matter.

Early oils of flowers by Elizabeth Blackadder are a rare find and this one is delicately painted and of a size that will fit into any home . please contact us if you would like further details or arrange to view the work

 

Fred Cuming RA 'Visual Intelligence' - Painting for sale

Fred Cuming and his use of light and colour have always attracted me to his work and I am extremely happy to have recently acquired a wonderful still life oil on board depicting a vase of flowers. Indeed, the last time I was at Bonhams for a sale, I watched two similar works sell for very good prices and have been searching for some time for the right work to come my way.

One of my occupational hazards is trying to read about three art books at once and at the moment I can recommend two. The first is 'The Visitors Book' which is so visual that I almost feel I was there with Francis Bacon, John Minton, The Roberts, and the rest of the Fitzrovia 'gang' in the drunken post war period of the 1950s. The book is about the lives of Richard Chopping and Denis Wirth-Miller and if you have not heard of them it is a must read book. I know I am digressing and need to focus on Fred Cuming but this is the other book that I am currently consuming. 'Another figure in the landscape' is also a must read if you, like me, love the work of Fred Cuming. He tells us all about his working and influences which I will not rehash here but is a collectors study staple.

So, where is the link between the two , I hear you ask? Well its something I have just read in Fed Cuming's book and its 'Visual Intelligence', which is a phrase I have not heard before. I am a great believer in Emotional Intelligence and much has been written on the benefits of such over IQ for example.  He talks about some people having visual acumen far ahead of their fellows, who are open-minded about what they expect to see and do not see art as merely a reproduction process. It is, he says , people with a willingness to become fascinated by the mechanics of just 'seeing' such as film makers and theatre directors, lateral thinkers, people with a commanding, even obsessive, drive and focus.

This made me reflect on Francis Bacon whose work was initially heavily criticised but he continued with his work despite these adverse reviews and also of Wirth-Miller who against the odds became a great , if not under recognised, painter of abstract landscapes. Both men where self taught with little formal training yet their Visual Intelligence was so strong that they succeeded in making a career in art . I think Fred Cuming is correct in his views and some people are just more open to visual stimuli and see and translate emotion in colour and light. Certainly, Cuming is one of these people,  his use of colour and light is quite wonderful and he is rightly considered to be the greatest living landscape painter of our time. But, it is not just landscapes where these skills are to be seen and in his conclusion to the book  says the following which illustrates this well.

" From my studio shed I see everything transformed by the angle of the light in autumn evenings, a magical half-hour of brilliant gold light against shadows and darker areas. The jam-jar on my window-sill holding dead flowers, thistles and teasels is transmuted into gold, a treasure from the tomb of Tutankhamen. And then as the light fades  different shades appear, gold turning to beautiful mauves and browns, dramatic contrasts reduced to subtle harmonies, the explosive sound of a huge orchestra dwindling to a gentle sonata of greys , mauves and pinks'

Now I know why the work of Fred Cuming resonates with me so much, its his Visual Intelligence.

The work shown above is currently for sale.

Julian Trevelyan Prints -Etchings, Aquatints & Lithographs

Julian Trevelyan has left us with some wonderful images that track his life, loves and passions, the earliest days of which can be traced back to his days at Trinity College , Cambridge in the 1930's. He was at this time, interested in Surrealism and eventually, in 1931, gave up the academic life and travelled to Paris where he where he joined S.W. Hayter at Atelier 17 . It was here that he learned his trade as a master printsman. He graduated from line engraving to textures impressed in soft ground etching and aquatint, which became his preferred methodology.

Julian Trevelyan worked at the Royal College of Art  between 1955 and 1963, where he became head of the Etching department and influenced the likes of Ackroyd, Hockney and Kitaj. His own personal style, particularly in the 1970's, developed into one of simplification and outlining which resulted in fresh, spontaneous and bold images with the use of little colour. He printed many of his Etchings himself at his Durham Wharf studio in West London , where he had a Kimber press installed in 1964. 

The image shown below is a fine example of Julian Trevelyans work from the late 1970's. It is titled 'Farndale' and is an Etching and Aquatint from a single steel plate 35 x 48 cm and dates from 1979. The work only uses one colour -black- and was printed by Trevelyan on Mouldmade, Arches 88 paper sheets 57x76 cm. Interestingly, this was to be an edition of 50 with a run of 5 Artists Proofs but only 10 of the edition were ever produced by him in his lifetime, making this a very sought after and hard to find image. Farndale , itself is located in North Yorkshire and is only a few miles from the farm the Trevelyans bought in 1974 called Hill top Farm in Spaunton, North Yorkshire.

Here in Hertfordshire, Blondes Fine Art continue to strive to source those special works from our greatest artists and if you are looking for a particular 'hard to find' work do please contact us and we will endeavour to help you locate it.

At the time of writing this image by Julian Trevelyan has just been reserved.

John Elwyn paintings for sale

We are delighted to have recently acquired some lovely work by John Elwyn. This self exiled Welsh artist is one of our firm favourites and his work has a great collectors following. John Elwyn was greatly admired by his contemporary native artists such as Sir Kyffin Williams RA who said , 'the work of John Elwyn will always stand out and be admired'. he was , of course, correct and he has , in recent years, come out from the shadows and is now rightly regarded as one of the greats.

Titled ' Welsh Farm'

Titled ' Welsh Farm'

John Elwyn trained at the RCA in London and was encouraged to stay in London by his friend and artist Ceri Richards , who put him in touch with various London galleries. By the end of the 1940's he was exhibiting regularly with the Royal Academy and in 1948 he moved to Hampshire where he lived until his death in 1997. His move out of London, was to take up a post at Portsmouth College of Art followed by one at Winchester College of Art . He lived at 5, Compton Road, Winchester ,  a lovely period town Villa and a photograph is shown below.

John Elwyn's home in Wichester

John Elwyn's home in Wichester

By the start of the 1950's his paintings were widely acclaimed , particularly in Wales where his figurative 'Chapel' and 'Miners returning home' paintings were much loved . By the end of the 1950's his figurative work had increasingly given way to pure landscapes which were more often than not depictions of Welsh rural scenes taken from his memories of Cardiganshire. The work we have available here at Blondes Fine Art is an example of such a landscape showing his characteristic geometric and patterned landscapes. All of which are executed in the vibrant colours that he loved to use. Vivid green, yellow and orange sunlit fields, imposing skies, white - washed barns , hedgerows, stone walls and a lane winding away into the distance. These were the recurrent themes in John Elwyn's later work and he painted many variations on the same theme with titles such as Welsh farm, Dyfed Landscape and Upland farm occurring numerous times.

John Elwyn left Winchester Art College in 1976 to become a full time artist and he worked from memory and sketch books. Often, he was not sure what they would look like at the beginning and inspiration might emerge during the painting, from perhaps poetry or the weather conditions. Like so many artist he had a love of gardening and painted plants at different times of the day and in all seasons so it, perhaps , could not be more fitting that it was in his beloved garden when he fell and sustained an injury that caused his passing on 13th November 1997.

During his life time he had multiple exhibitions and his work is held by private and public collections throughout the country. We are always interested in hearing from anyone who is considering selling work by John Elwyn.

Tom Merrifield - Sculptor, Artist and Dancer.

I first became aware of Tom Merrifield in 1990 when I recovered a stolen edition of his sculpture , Marion Tait " Fantasy" which had been stolen by means of Burglary from a North London house. I visited Tom in his Hampstead home where he was able to identify the sculpture and provide the details of the victim of the crime, thus allowing me to reunite it with the lawful owners. He was the most helpful and engaging of men who made time to tell me about his work and career.

I remember his house was full of his work with paintings and sculptures of dancers filling the rooms. He was keen to tell me about each work and I was fascinated by his story. Tom had been a dancer initially in his native Australia and later in shows, films and ballet in London. This made a great deal of sense to me because the bronzes had  a wonderful sense of movement that could only have been understood by someone who had intimate understanding of dance. The other thing I learnt was that Tom had never had any formal training in drawing , panting or sculpture which I found hard to believe looking at his work. He exuded a passion for dance , sculpture, drawing and indeed for his cats which were also a regular feature of his drawings. He also explained how he had been commissioned to produce the Society of West end theatre award which was a lovely bronze of a naked dancer.

 It was a privelede to meet him and when some many years later I had the opportunity to purchase an early bronze from a small edition in the late 1980's I jumped at it. The work we have on offer is " Lisa " 23 cm in height and an edition of 8. The work is actually depicted in the catalouge that Tom gave me when I met him all those years ago. The ballerina herself is none other than Lisa  Macuja-Elizalde who was  Prima Ballerina. In 1984, she became the first Filipina prima ballerina, and first foreign soloist to ever join the Kirov Ballet.

This is just one of a long list of the most famous ballerinas and dancers that have been sculpted by Tom Merrifield because they know that he knows how to ensure the work is accurate. In his early career he danced with the Borovansky Ballet in Australia and when the Biography of Borovanskywas written, some years ago now, Tom merrifield was described thus" His ws the most rarest of all qualities, the dancer's persona, the innate quality that attracts an audiences attention from the moment of entrance" 

 

 

 

Alberto Morrocco and his Mural Paintings

Alberto Morrocco was born into an Italian family who had very much adopted Scotland as their home. His mother was 3 years old when she arrived in Aberdeen and was raised speaking Scottish and, as Alberto recalled,  rarely speaking Italian to his father, who had arrived in Aberdeen in 1912.

One of my very favourite stories to tell any prospective Morrocco buyer is the fact that Alberto Morrocco was not his correct name . His father opened a shop in Aberdeen, an Ice-Creamery, but when he came to Scotland did not speak the language particularly well. So, Mr D MARROCCO, asked a sign writer to make a sign for the shop. Instead of spelling it with an  "A " the sign writer spelt the name incorrectly with an "O" and the rest his history. His father accepted the sign and from then on the family name has been spelt with an "O". Alberto Morrocco had a birth certificate spelt Marrocco but as for the generations thereafter I have no idea. Leon and Jack both spell their names with the "o" but I know not if they ever formally changed the surname. Perhaps you do - I would be interested to know!

It was the mid 1960's when Morrocco's stylistic approach to still-life and his Italian subject matter began to crystallise into his recognisable style. He had become well known and elected a member of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1962 and it was this that became the catalyst for him being commissioned to paint a number of murals by Sir Anthony Wheeler. Morrocco trained at the Grays School of Art in Aberdeen under James Cowie and Robert Sivell and it is perhaps the later who influenced his murals. While still a student Morrocco had assisted Robert Sivell on a large mural which is still to be found in the Students Union in Aberdeen. He went on to produce two huge murals in his own right during the mid 1960's. The first was Christ carrying the Cross for St Columba's Church in Glenrothes followed by two large murals for Liff Hospital in Dundee. In these works he was able to consolidate is work with Sivell in Aberdeen and produce his own style in a medium he had always been interested in through his link to Italian Renaissance art.

We are delighted to have two designs for murals for sale from the personal collection of Sir Anthony Wheeler , who was the commissioning Architect. One is by David McClure, a close friend of Morrocco, and was produced for the staff room at St Andrews University and the other is the original design by Alberto Morrocco, for the mural at St Columba's Church (Click Link to see the work) Both are in fantastic original condition and kept by Sir Anthony ,only becoming available when he passed away a few years ago. 

In 1983 Sir Anthony Wheeler became President of the Royal Scottish Academy and, as tradition has it, his portrait was painted at the end of his term of office - in the early 1990's. So who else did he choose for this but none other than, his friend, Alberto Morrocco. He had already painted a portrait of Lord Cameron for the University of Edinburgh in 1972 but the painting of Wheeler is painted more within the style of his still-life work of that 1990 period. His handling of the paint is very similar although the colour not as high in concession to the fact that it was a commission and needed to be recognisable. It was painted from life inside the RSA building under artificial light and what is resulted is a a warm friendly painting which seems to sit between a painting of a family member and a more formal work like that of Lord Cameron. 

Alberto Morrocco painting of Anthony Wheeler

Vincent Haddelsey - Yorkshire artist - painting for sale

Vincent Haddelsey comes from a family of painters, at least both of his grandmothers were gifted painters , and when he was eight his maternal grandmother gave him his own paint box, brushes and palette. He was born into a privileged upbringing attending Ampleforth School and hunting and beagling in the holidays. His father and his father and grandfather were all lawyers and Vincent was expected to follow suit. In fact, his parents did not encourage him to paint but actively discouraged him, since painting was not an activity they thought likely to provide a secure future. So Vincent learnt to draw by himself without any formal lessons recording the countryside in the area surrounding his home.

One skill he did learn from his upbringing was his horsemanship, which was to further develop over his lifetime and become the main feature of his art. At the age of 18 years he emigrated to Canada and became fascinated by the native Indians and their collective folk art. He developed this interest with trips to Mexico and the Indians living there before moving to Paris where he made his name as an artist and in 1969  won the International Grand Prix for naif painters.

Vincent Haddelsey has a nieve style and a simplicity of approach which are bound together with a warmth of colour that creates a complexity for the viewer. The background details are just as important to him as the main subject and this is the case in the work that we currently have for sale here at Blondes fine Art. " The Polo Match at Belvoir Castle " has Rooks alighting from the trees and a pair of hawks in the sky, it also has a group of onlookers to the right and a goal official by the posts, not to forget the distant Castle nestled in the trees. Another feature of his work is the attention to the detail of the patterns of leaves and grass which also evident in this painting but, the main subject of his painting is, of course , the horse and the horsemen. Whatever the scene these are usually central to the work and this is the case in this picture shown below.

Vincent Haddelsey Oil Painting " Polo Match"

Vincent Haddelsey Oil Painting " Polo Match"

Haddelsey played a lot of polo when he was in Canada , though never in England where he set this scene. He always played with number 2 on his back and that is a feature of all of his polo paintings and here number 2 is placed left of the painting.There is wonderful form and life like realism in the equine movement that shows his intimate knowledge of the horse. This expertise in painting all forms of horsemanship comes from having that experience himself. He not only rode in polo matches but show jumping, broncos, quarter horses, steeplechasing, and fox hunting, so he was a highly competent horseman.

The painting on offer is in excellent condition signed with initials  and again verso, it came from the studio sale of his work so has fantastic provenance and is great value. Please contact us for more information to arrange a viewing or to make an offer.

Sheila Robinson - Artist, Printer & Teacher

Sheila Robinson was a marvellous artist and member of the Great Bardfield group. Her lino cut print of 'The cat' from 1961 is full of colour and design that makes it unmistakably "Bardfield". Indeed the background to the work is in fact printed from one of her own wall paper print blocks.

One of the interesting things about Sheila Robinson is her acquired  love of gardening. This is something that she had in common with both Edward Bawden and John Aldridge who in turn were great friends with other artists sharing the same passion, such as Cedric Morris and John Nash,  who both lived nearby. I am a fan of all of these artists and there must be something in the eye of an artist and gardener that shares an ability to work with colour to produce beauty and balance to the viewer. She also had a love of cats which again Bawden and Aldridge shared  with each producing many images with the creatures centre stage.

However , it was Bawden that she was closest and this stems from a similar nature both quiet,reserved, hard working and with a  high sense of moral code. Neither thought themselves better than the other and despite their generational difference in age maintained a close relationship for over 40 years, not just professionally but as friends, Bawden would look after Sheila when she was unwell and ensure that she had food to eat delivering it to her door. She had originally been an outstanding student , progresssed to being his assistant and then onto a professional  equal. Certainly her work is of equal to Bawden and I think her lino cuts possibly better. She used Japanese paper and her printing was done without a press as her cottage was too small. She would stand on the blocks and walk up and down to produce an image on the paper. The technique was so time consuming that the editions were small and done in batches. She was also highly skilled in other printing methods including the use of cardboard cut out to produce the picture and used this in conjunction with lino print to build up an image.

Sheila Robinson was also a fine illustrator and was commissioned to produce work for the BBC and in then 1975 an edition of the book 'sons and lovers' . Like Bawden and Aldridge she was able to share her skills and ability with the next generation of art students when in the early 1960s she taught at Walthamstow  College of Art where she also experimented with more abstract printing and a few years later she took a post at the RCA teaching in the illustration department until her death.

So she was a talented artist , role model to her children , and loyal friend to Bawden. Sheila Robinson does not get enough recognition for her amazing work and we here at Blondes Fine Art rate her very highly indeed. If you happen to have one of her prints or indeed anything that she produced we would love to hear from you and to acquire a larger representative collection of her work , so drop us an email .

Work by Sheila Robinson is always WANTED by Blondes Fine Art !

Mark Hearld & Emily Sutton - Art & Design a way of life.

I have only met and chatted to Mark Hearld on four occasions and Emily Sutton twice, but it is clear from their home , their work and their love of all things design that Art for them is simply a way of life . It does not stop with a sketch , a water colour or oil on board put permeates every conceivable medium and oozes out of every corner of their home in York. Mark is a self confessed collector and fan of such greats as John Piper, Edward Bawden, Julian Trevelyan along with Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant , another two great artists who had an eye for colour and design.

We visited the house in York last weekend when Mark and Emily held an open studio and I was fascinated by, not only the quite wonderful art for sale but also, the eclectic collections of toys , corn dollies, Staffordshire china dogs, and folk art in its widest sense. In fact , I was so taken with it that I felt an overwhelming urge to buy a large water colour by Emily of the Yellow fireplace in the front room of their house. It has every detail in fabulous colour tones and shows Emily's work at its best. It is yet to be delivered by Mark but I just cannot wait to hang it in our home to add to our own very eclectic art collection. Mark will also be delivering our other purchases a ceramic horse and a fantastic collage of a pigeon called "Bo" and two Silkie chickens. It is not just ourselves who are fans of Hearld and Sutton, we arrived at the open studio only 15 minutes after it opened finding the house full of people and Mark  rushing around sticking red dots on work as quickly as physically possible. I could not help but reflect on the Great Bardfield open houses in the 1950's which were such a great success and helped put the art and design of those talented artists such as Bawden, Aldridge, Rothenstein ,Cheese, and Robinson firmly in the minds of the post war generation.

I am loath to link the work of either Mark or Emily to any one or two greats from the past but there is clearly a Ravilious influence in the shop fronts produced by Emily which are reminiscent of the High Street illustrations for the 1938 book by that title, and more than a touch of Piper and Bawden in the Collage and Lino cuts produced by  Mark. But it is impossible to categorise their work, and why would you want to, they are unique in their variety and thirst for new ways of expressing themselves in art and design.We feel privileged to have added their work to our own personal collection and find it both uplifting and colourful which is all one can ask for in a work of art and design. 

Mark Hearld & Emily Sutton Open Studio

Mark Hearld & Emily Sutton Open Studio

A few months ago we attended an evening talk by Mark in Saffron Walden , and he gave a fantastic insight to his work and his inspirations . It was there that ,for the first time, I became aware of his ceramic figurative work. I was aware of his collaboration with the master potter Terry Shone producing some," to die for",platters and tiles but not of his ceramic horses which he had used when he curated his display in The Lumber Room at York Art Gallery. He explained how he had been on a weekend to Berlin, Germany and had found an old wooden horse in a flea market. He purchased it and on his return to York decided to use it to cast ceramic horses with the assistance of a low volume ceramics manufacturer in Stoke on Trent. Since the day of his talk we have coveted one, so it was great to find that Mark had produced another batch of 9 for his open studio and it took only a few minutes for the decision to be made and a red dot to be applied to the chosen one. They are, colourful, simple, and a new 21st century spin on an old traditional form of decorative art. His work is alive as is that of Emily's and the combination of influence from the greats of the past with the design needs of today, produces this fusion of  folk art,craft and tradition which still resonates with the modern world as some of us try to hang on to the "make do and mend" philosophy of the past.

To say we are fans of Emily and Mark would be an understatement , but do not just listen to my views go and seek out their work , it ranges from a few hundred pounds for a limited edition print, so is accessible to all . Their work makes me smile and feel better about the day ahead and that is a wonderful skill to possess and I can not wait to see what new work they produce in the coming months .  

Rose Hilton - Art, Painting, Exhibitions and the 1980's

Rose Hilton has been painting and exhibiting since  1988 . Her late husband, Roger Hilton, died in 1975 and it took her some 13 years to come to terms with the changes . She had a wonderful group of friends, who all helped to support her through this difficult time, such as Dudley Sutton , the actor , who in 1979 sent tickets for her and the boys to fly to the West Indies for 6 weeks while he was making a film with Michael Caine. Patrick Heron helped by providing a reference for a studio and in the early 80's she started painting with more purpose. This was coupled with her holiday to see Matisse's work in the Hermitage in 1983 and visits to see the Raoul Dufy show at the Hayward in 1984. It seems as if Rose was trying to find herself again and once she decided to keep her married name Rose Hilton, the new artist starts to emerge.

Times were still tough and she had little money, borrowing from the bank to get by, she took teaching jobs at Bristol and Falmouth. She stretched all her own canvases to save funds but then  started to show at the Newlyn and Penwith annual shows. That was the very start of her journey , her personal struggle and emergence as one of the finest and well collected Artist of the late 20th centuary. In 1987 she had her first one man show at the Newlyn Gallery.

These early works were generally decorative in nature and often set in the house at Botallack. The pastel blues and dreamy textures are to be seen in one of the two works currently offered by us at Blondes Fine Art. Titled "Afternoon Dreams" this bears a Michael Parkin Gallery label verso from 1988, and was purchased by the Artist John Pawle , for his own private collection. Talking to Diana Parkin recently she recalls the sale and at that time John Pawle was represented by their gallery . Rose  Hilton also had a show in Oxford that year and the following year she agreed to let Messums represent her work and has had countless successful shows there ever since, the most recent being in 2014. I can remember going to this show and seeing her large work "Red Studio" for the first time ,it was an interior design statement piece that was later exhibited at the RA and sold for £20,000. (See our previous blog dated September 18th 2015 for more details and link to the RA Summer exhibition). The show also had some paintings that had more than a nod to the work from the 1980's and one in particular took my eye as it reminded me of Afternoon Dreams it was a large canvas 120 x 190 called "Summer repast" in delicate blues , orange and white it had a calming magical feeling. Unfortunately, I could not manage the £28,500 asking price!

We are great fans of Rose Hilton's work and currently hold two works by her. They are great value , so if you are also a fan and would like to view them please contact us to arrange a viewing either by appointment in our private Hertfordshire Gallery or in your own home .

Richard Bawden - His life and work

It is no secret that, here in our corner of rural Hertfordshire , Blondes Fine Art are great supporters of The Fry Public Gallery. With only a 20 minute drive to one of the most active and friendly galleries in the country, we hardly need an excuse to go for a visit or view whatever exhibition is current. So I was delighted when, a few weeks ago, we received an invitation to a preview and book launch for "Richard Bawden at 80". 

A very nicely prepared flyer promoted the title of the book, "Richard Bawden his life and work" proclaiming it to be a major new book by Malcolm Yorke, to be published in March 2016 by Fleece press.Attached was a reproduction of a rather splendid linocut of a Hare and the details of the book and price.(see below)

"Bawden is a famous name, and as he nears 80, Richard is the supreme printmaker and  beautiful watercolourist. It is a privilege to publish the first book on his life and work. Malcolm Yorke's biography, with illustrations, is timed to coincide with the Fry Gallery retrospective in April. The book runs to 200 pages in full colour." The standard copy is £242 and  55 specials with a signed etching , housed in a solander box for £364.

The launch of the book coincided with the opening preview of Richard Bawden's work which will run until 18th June 2016 and is Free Admission. I was unable to resist so set off to Saffron Walden for the 11am opening. Anyone who has been to The Fry will know that it is a small building and a squeeze at the best of times and this event was no different. It seemed that everyone had come to see Richard Bawden to wish him a happy birthday. The event was super busy and once inside I could see that both Richard Bawden and Malcolm Yorke were already hard at work signing the new book for those lucky purchasers.The book really does look fantastic and a must for any fan of Bawden's work. It was great to catch up with a few people such as David Oleman , gallery chairman, and Diana Parkin who was there to plant a big birthday kiss on Richards cheek. 

Richard Bawden signing his new book.

Richard Bawden signing his new book.

I also managed to get a few minutes to chat to the super talented, and huge supporter of the Fry , Mark Hearld . He has a exhibition in the form of an open studio at his home in York in two weeks time and is another , not to be missed, event for those who love his collage and new ceramic work. We will be there and look forward to seeing what Mark Hearld and Emily Sutton have on offer . We were lucky to purchase the collage that Mark Hearld produced to help raise funds for the Fry Gallery  leasehold  and it has pride of place in our home , and is not for sale.

I was also pleased to purchase a lovely little watercolour by Richard Bawden depicting one of his much loved cats in an equally regularly painted chair. The work is titled "darling on her chair" and will remain exhibited at The gallery until  June,  so pop along and have a look it is well worth a day out and features Richard Bawden's watercolours, Etchings and Lino Cut, all of which are for sale. A real must......... 

richard bawden watercolour

Well done Fry gallery a great event and wonderful exhibition.

 

Click this link.......For more details about events at The fry Gallery this coming year.