ALMANAC – the seasons they rolled in and they tumbled
Ron Wilson and Jan Stead hail from the West Riding of Yorkshire. They met whilst studying art and design and teacher training at Bretton Hall over 40 years ago, they have kept in touch – sharing a passion for Yorkshire, art and design and in particular, printmaking.
ALMANAC
An Almanac can be described in general terms as an annual calander which contains a wealth of information such as important days, times of the sun rising and setting and changes in the moon and tides. In the past the Almanac was particularly important to farmers but perhaps their relevance is somewhat diminished. Ron and Jan have each produced a visual Almanac based on the four seasons and the wheel of the year where they have attempted, in their printed pieces, to re-establish the natural connections of the rolling seasons.
Ron: My Almanac wraps localities and phenomena in folklore and myth, elements within the work are symbolic and at times esoteric. The images in the Almanac are lifted from Anglo Saxon and Medieval almanacs and bending them to a response that will resonate with contemporary audiences. I invite the viewer to create their own narrative.
Jan: My Almanac is in Astronomical Seasons where the equinox and solstices mark the beginning and end of each season. It does, therefore, span two calendar years. Spring, Summer, Autumn and the first month of Winter – December are set in 2018. The remainder of winter – January and February, are in 2019. I am concerned with the equinox, solstice and moon shapes on key dates in each month. The images are a mix of Pagan, Christian and general traditions.
Landscapes have always inspired Lucy. She has a passion and pull toward remote or isolated places, nature and our place within our environment; of how we choose to live carefully within it so that we leave as little damage as we can. Lucy endeavours to capture the feeling of isolation and the wildness of a place so that the viewer can imagine that they hear the breeze blowing through the grasses, the wind scouring across the beach or the call of a wading bird in the dunes. These places arouse different feelings: comforting, unsettling, eerie, lonely, peaceful, they can bring solace and rest, inspiration or a decision to be made. Lucy has woven these feelings into her landscapes and will continue to capture the moment each time she visits a new place. Each landscape is worked from personal photographs taken during travels around Britain.
“It is like I am revisiting the place again. I wish to convey this through each unique landscape”.
The Ropewalk’s annual Gardening Day returns on Sunday, May 23, after a break last summer because of Covid restrictions.
“This year we have had to be mindful of all government restrictions in place at the time of the Gardening Day but at the same time we want to make the experience as near as possible to previous Gardening Days for our visitors,” said Liz Bennet of The Ropewalk. (more…)
Sidelong: With video and sound installation by Paul Ratcliff
A series of photographic studies of the people and landscapes seen ‘in passing’ on the train journey from Barton and while exploring the popular Wakes Week destination town of Cleethorpes.
this is the world seen from the edge of our vision, the sidelong glance, a world absorbed almost sub-consciously in passing, capturing aspects of urban and rural landscapes as the viewer moves through them
“As a photographer I have tried many times to capture this experience but all too often I capture only the place, not the journey, not the travelling. The processive images I am working on now are the closest I have come yet. The motion of the camera facing sideways produces repetitive, fragmented and distorted pictures that convey a dynamic sense of movement: a series of moments compressed and dragged into a single still image: the vague and fragmented memory of a journey, repetitive yet barely observed. A smear of sensation.
Experiencing the journey from Barton and the discovery of Cleethorpes as a destination has allowed me to develop the processive technique and the photographic ‘sidelong glance’ in a relevant direction, following the Wakes Week holidaymakers. Sadly the pandemic has prevented me from completely fulfilling the idea but this exhibition has provided the chance to show my early images taken during winter 2019 /2020.”
Brian Larkman
More of Brian’s images are combined into a video and sound installation created by Yorkshire sound recordist, Paul Ratcliff, who sonically responds to these photographs and the places depicted in these images with field recordings. These location-specific sound recordings are of; trains, coastal seascapes, bustling towns, the Humber bridge, level crossings, and spring birdsong and calls, from the Cetti’s warbler, Reed warbler, Black cap, Greenfinch and White throat.
Shapes and colour, and translating these onto the paper, are the foundation of printmaking. In this show, linocuts by three regional artists illustrate the multitude of colours and shapes in the landscape, juxtaposing their different approaches to using this medium.
Alan Abbey’s connection to the landscape is deep and long-standing, often going back to places he visited as a child. This amalgamation of the real and remembered can be quite an overwhelming experience linking to what Alan calls the ‘spirit of the land’; A wide-ranging mix of emotions can be revealed – from longing and loss to joy and fulfilment.
“As you move through the landscape you become part of it even if only for a short time, so trying to capture even a part of its essence can bring you back to the places you love.”
Nancy Power originally trained in Fashion and Knitwear Design and her passage into printmaking combined her enjoyment of design and technical precision with her for love for nature and landscape.
“My practice is creating reduction linocut prints. I’m excited by the ‘absolute’ decision-making that this process requires. Many of my images are printed from dark to light, as I am intrigued as to how the colours perform quite differently and give some unexpected and surprising results”.
The natural landscape surrounding her Sheffield home near to the Peak District often features in Katherine Rhodes’ painterly linocut prints. Inspired by human endeavour, adventure and being in the outdoors, Katherine’s images hold stories of the relationships, activities, and interactions we have with the outdoor landscape. She has regular contact with climbers and has learnt through them of the intense relationship and the knowledge they acquire when they climb or explore the landscape. To this end “The shapes of the rocks and landscape in prints are shown accurately – features that are crucial to the climber, mountaineer, and walker connecting them intimately with the land, using them to navigate their way up a rockface or through rugged terrain.”
Brought up on a farm, Alison studied art at Newcastle University before running the Printmaking Workshop at Lincoln University for nine years, where she also completed her MA Degree before becoming a full-time artist
“Although I love all forms of printmaking, my current favourite is the woodcut, and I attack my plates quite brutally at times,” says Alison. “I am always surprised at how simple they are; just a few lines to denote the essentials. I like the hands-on nature of producing a plate and its immediacy. I don’t keep highly detailed sketchbooks etc as I use the plate rather than paper to work out ideas. I think this is why my images are quirky, if I plan too much I find this is often lost”
Penny divides her time between teaching and creating her own work from her studio in St Peter’s School, York. Using a mixture of different clay to capture the form, Penny allows the material itself to express as much as possible of the intrinsic nature of an animal. This is done in as loose a way as possible, so the clay is not overworked. She then uses layers of slips and oxides to add more depth to textural the surface. Penny’s work has traditionally dealt with English animals, both domestic and wild. Over the last two years she has begun a series of larger works concentrating on primates. Created on a bigger scale the “portraits” explore the individual spirit of her subjects. All Penny’s pieces are sculpted with thoughtfulness and understanding, inviting her audience to contemplate and reflect on the intrinsic beauty and energy of wild things
