We are pleased to
present a group exhibition of paintings by three Artists
selected from the Ovenden Contemporary portfolio, to
launch the art exhibition programme at The Carpenters
Arms:
Jeremy Mayes
Jean Picton BA (Hons)
Peter McCarthy
The
Carpenters Arms
10 High Street, Great
Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire CB1 5JD
25th July to 30th August 2007
The enigmatic work of the prolific Jeremy Mayes is instantly welcoming and positive. He cites his influences as Cezanne, Modigliani and Chagall and there is certainly a warm familiarity in his expressionist paintings that gently draw the viewer in. He makes you feel as though you are wandering through a beautiful garden, or punting along a quiet river, or sipping espresso outside a boulevard cafe on a lazy Sunday afternoon, as a gentle summer breeze passes you by.
And that's the vital ingredient in Mayes' work. He manages to capture and perfectly represent that comfortable moment in time when we all feel good, the precise instant that we dare to believe things are going to be alright. When you view one of his paintings you are taken to a better place, for just a moment. You can almost feel the summer breeze through your hair, smell the hot coffee, hear the birdsong emanating from his lollipop trees.
Jean Picton paints the lush, beautiful flowers that have become her trademark, as a symbol of the hope that she is compelled to feel when she considers the state of the world. Life erupts even in the bleakest corner and this resilience gives Jean much comfort. Life goes on. This amazingly prolific Artist has led the most extraordinary life so far. Born in the thirties, she had a theatrical career at the age of 14 and was a famous ‘Windmill Girl’ in London in the fifties, working with many famous names from British showbusiness. A TV acting career followed then a spell running her own production company until, in 1990, she retired and began painting seriously.
In 2002 she obtained a Fine Art Batchelors Degree with Honours from the University of Hertfordshire as well as a Design Diploma from Central St. Martins’ College in London. She is now a respected Art Tutor in her own right and runs the oversubscribed ‘Art Menorca’ painting holidays. Jean is extremely well represented by several well-known Galleries and we are pleased to be able to include her work in our portfolio.
At first glance, the graceful landscapes of the accomplished Suffolk Artist Peter McCarthy, appear to be a response to the vast flat vistas of the nearby Fenlands, where McCarthy spent some periods of his life. Further consideration of these simple, but beautiful paintings, however, leads us to wonder about the solitude of these scenes. There are many places in the Fens where you could imagine that you are the only person for a thousand miles in any direction and the endless skies can make a person feel very insignificant.
McCarthy's
landscapes, however richly painted, somehow capture this
sense of isolation and his trees, even when grouped, are
still alone. If you delve a little deeper into the
portfolio of this sought after Artist you will find this
sense of solitude almost overpowering his paintings,
particularly 'House In The Woods' or 'The Bare Tree', as
if he is using certain objects in order to paint
loneliness. We rate these darker, 'lonelier' paintings
very highly indeed and are proud to be able to include
them in the Ovenden Contemporary Collection.
