Current exhibition

ABSTRACT EDGE

March 8th is International Womens Day, and we are delighted to welcome, as our first online exhibition of 2021, the group of female artists from Abstract Edge, exhibiting with us for the whole of March.

Formed in 2004, Abstract Edge is a group of artists who have a shared interest in painting in an abstract or semi-abstract way.
Collectively, their work has been shown in various local venues.
Some of the work that is semi-abstract, takes a landscape, organic form or still-life as its starting point. Some is purely abstract, making no explicit reference to the external world, but relies on shape, colour, line and texture to create an image which is engaging in it's own right.

* All work is for sale, and you can reserve an artwork by clicking on its image for more information and to contact the Centre.

Rae Harrison

Perhaps stemming back to working in London in the late 1950’s Rae has been intrigued by abstraction, enjoying it’s freedom and ambiguity. Initially her work was semi abstract but recently she has enjoyed the challenge of working in the abstract, often mixed –media and collage. ‘'Sometimes I begin with a stored memory of an abstract image; then I experiment with shape, tone, texture, line and colour to create an interesting composition. ’In 2004, Rae founded Abstract Edge, a group of like minded artists, who meet monthly to review work in progress.'

Alison MacGregor Grimley

A Winter's Tale 2 is a painting that has taken two winters to complete, hence the name. It has developed from an amalgam of memories. Walking the hills of the Marches during the winter months, absorbing the imagery, light and colours. A vestigial dusting of snow enhances the contours and textures, this combined with animal track and bare trees offers a rich visual experience. The painting is oil on canvas and measures 66cm x 100cm.'

Maggie Jones

I believe that our lives are inextricably linked to, and influenced by our earliest experiences. I was brought up in North Cornwall and spent most of my formative years beside the sea and amongst the varied landscape of the West Country. Today, layers of paint on canvas or paper represent through colour and texture, the essence of places remembered. Working mainly from memory enables me to manipulate the original place, to express my experience of it, to exaggerate and improvise. The artist Barnett Newman wrote: “To create a work of art means, to me, to express something that is deep in one. It is an attempt to put down what you really believe and what you really are concerned with.'

Ciara Lewis

I am an Irish painter settled on the Welsh Shropshire borders with over thirty years experience as a working artist whose work is informed by landscape. I work in mixed media on large formats. I have recently expanded my practice through the MA in Hereford to incorporate sculpture. Capturing an emotional ‘portrait’ of a place is more important to me than a pictorial rendition. I am influenced by places I visit and the work reflects travels within both urban and rural landscapes, hence these themes being recurrent within the work. `My studio can be visited by appointment and I exhibit my work nationally.'

Lois Hopwood

Like so many people who live on the Marches I walked my way through the last year. This picture called ‘The source’ is of a recent walk to the source of the Lugg and the two bronze age barrows at it’s westerly edge. I find that Abstract ‘practice’ informs my figurative paintings. I am not very abstract at the moment just painting what I want, trying not to get in the way of my own work and really enjoying pushing oil paint around on big canvases.'

Bronte Woodruff

During the past year, Land has been much on my mind .. out and about, either gardening in various places or walking with my lurcher Finn, the varying landscapes becomes engrained on the mind and eye. In Land I reverted to my favourite medium, van Dyck crystals .. burnt walnut husk a natural wood stain used in furniture making. Also to a minimalist approach .. the bare bones of the land, shape, contour, portrayed with stick and ink, ink and kitchen roll. The simplicity and directness strikes me as a metaphor for the honesty we need now.'

Sue Firmin

I did enjoy the challenge of representational works, particularly noting space and connections in still life arrangements. However I became intrigued by non objective works, exploring the ambiguity of shape, line, value and relationships between marks in my painting, working intuitively from the starting points on my board. I regularly spend time in my sketchbooks with ink, collage, paint and pencils discovering ideas to stimulate new areas to explore in future paintings. Often these pages become beginnings but then develop a life of their own beyond their origins. I have successfully exhibited in galleries and exhibitions all over the UK.'

Jacs Collins

Since childhood, I have always been a collector and curator of my visual “experiences”. The hunt for source materials, colours, shapes and objects marked by the passage of time and always searching somewhere new to unearth this overlooked treasure is as enjoyable to me as the process of making artwork. My interest in collecting and displaying this ephemera- to explain it and reveal it to a new audience-feels like a natural extension of being a visual person. I spent most of my working life as a commercial designer- creating sales & marketing materials as tools for retail. But the challenge to be an “ARTIST” by employing painting skills to transform or translate the found items and images that I love is something I struggle with- perhaps I have a stubborn lingering streak of functional practicality that is blocking me from accepting that anything can be just beautiful without also having to be useful? Placing some collaged work made decades ago, side by side with a textile piece crafted recently ,was an interesting exercise. I feel like it reveals my constant theme.'

Cheryl Anne Williams

My work is inspired by the Welsh border landscape of my home, and aims to capture my experience of walking in its wild beauty. My process begins with sketchbook drawings and colour notes made on my walks, then in the studio these initial observations are developed, their colours and marks explored in paint, seeking form and context. It is an intuitive partnership between the drawings, my memory and the painting process often allowing the materiality of the paint to have the upper hand. My aim is to reveal, with lyrical and evocative imagery, a sense of the peace and beauty of this landscape that so inspires me.'

Jane Thomas

Looking for ways to kick start my Springtime painting in 2020 I signed up for the Find Your Joy week long painting course with Louise Fletcher. It included very exciting and freeing techniques which led to new ways of experimenting with colour and Abstraction.'

Tottie Aarvold

I am a fine art photographer based in Shropshire who focuses on the abstract qualities of the world. I see my photographic images as ‘found paintings’, an organic fusing of both the human and natural world. I notice what is frequently unnoticed, value the unvalued and reclaim the abandoned. I am drawn to textures, layers and entropy. I see beauty in decay, the unusual and random in everyday life. The camera is my eye, it captures what stands out to me in the world. This series of photographs reveal the abstract mark making of the weathering of time.'