Open Studios Cornwall- The Exhibition

The Chapel Gallery, Gulval, Penzance http://www.thechapelgallery.co.uk/ open 10.00am-5.00pm

Each year, many local artists and artisans open their studios to the public throughout August, and while I have often picked up a catalogue, I've never found the time to organise a round robin of them. This exhibition, and relatively new gallery, was recommended to me while talking to a visitor, and it seemed such a good idea to be able to see a snapshot of participants' work in one place.

The former Methodist chapel which houses the gallery has not been refurbished, so upon entry you find a tiered amphitheatre of pews facing the original altar, pulpit and choir. Although this building does not have an upper gallery, it does have the same high ceilings as others, which allow copious wall space for hanging, and the central open area houses cabinets of jewellery, sculpture and ceramic work. The immediate impression on entering is almost overwhelming, although a noisy if friendly greeting by cocker spaniel Laurence soon reinstated an sense of balance.

This year, 205 artists were involved in Open Studios, and of them 88 were invited to take part in this exhibition. Paul Broderick, the director, proved to be a friendly and informative host and asked with interest about my own practice and studies, before discussing certain of the exhibits and artists in relation to my particular preferences.

In particular there were a number of works by Noel Betowski http://www.noelbetowski.com/ , an abstract landscape artist whose rich layered colours entice you to look deeper into the suggested and yet familiar land and townscapes of Penwith.

Watercolour has never been my strong point, nor yet a particular interest, but a pair of large seascapes by Nigel Haward were simply outstanding in both their minimalism and colours; one work was of the Brisons, near Land's End, the other a rough sea looking over Godrevy Lighthouse. The amount of clean white paper left on the paper is surely a lesson to all of us that less is more- his work can be viewed in his gallery at http://www.nigelhaward.co.uk/ .

A work by Sheila Holland titled "The Kiss" caught my eye as the strange creatures depicted reminded me of a softer form of some of Odilon Redon's bestiary. (http://www.sheilaholland.co.uk/ )

Elizabeth Perry was also interesting, I loved the intense colours in her "Mining Landscape", so typical of the Pendeen area, and some smaller work made interesting used of acrylic media in the depiction of rockpools. It was rewarding to be able to get so close to the work and try to determine the media and techniques employed, as the subject is one I have used in the past. (There is an American artist of the same name (dot com) online: this Cornish artist's site is under contruction at http://www.elizabethperry.co.uk/ ).

What I at first took to be an oil painting by Lorna Wiles, of sunlit grasses against a cobalt sky, turned out to be pastel applied to a prepared canvas support. It is described as mixed media and I was unable to determine whether the ground was acrylic or oil-based, although I'm fairly sure the pastel was hard conte as the lines retained a strong identity when viewed up close. There is an amazing online gallery of diverse styles at http://www.lornawilesgallery.com/ including textiles and abstract work.

I could go on at length as there really were so many different ouevres which caught my eye, and I'll certainly be visiting again. A real bonus was the catalogue which has all the work photographed in monochrome in situ, and many colour plates to remind one of the visit, a bargain for £2!

Next up is a hanging of works by Michael Strang, which as I understood is to allow selection of pieces for the Ashmolean, and later, to ensure parity with an earlier exhibition of female artists, one which will focus on the male artists currently working in Cornwall. For anyone interested in our local artistic community, the directory site http://www.artistsincornwall.com/  is a good starting point, although they now include work by those with a connection to the area and not necessarily working in the county.