HUGE VISTAS ON SMALL CANVASES
The Floradale Fine Art Gallery hosts artist Jen Rowland’s miniature landscapes
Multiple little landscapes fill a section of the Floradale Fine Art Gallery as part of curator and artist Jen Rowland’s Eastern Cape Insight exhibition which opened on Saturday.
The exhibition is a celebration of Eastern Cape landscapes, which are vast and seemingly boundless, but Rowland has drawn and painted them in miniature format.
“I am definitely out of my comfort zone because I usually draw or paint quite big and there is a lot more freedom with bigger works. With such small art works you have to be very accurate and pay much more attention to colours and tones,” said Rowland who has a deep appreciation for nature.
Inspired by the landscape around her, Rowland took one year to complete the 19 artworks which were also exhibited at the William Humphreys Gallery in Kimberley in September.
From ink and pencil crayon drawings to watercolour creations, Rowland used multiple mediums to depict some of her favourite Eastern Cape scenes, making sure to add beautiful textures to each tiny work.
“I love the colours and tones of indigenous bush and I always seem to notice everything – from the smaller details to the bigger landscape as a whole,” said Rowland, who finds inspiration while walking her dog in her neighbourhood, Dorchester Heights, as well as on trips to Grahamstown and Port Alfred.
“I always work from my own photographs. I feel there’s a stronger connection to the work that way,” said Rowland.
The exhibition is housed in one of the gallery’s rooms, but visitors are welcome to walk through and view the entire collection of artworks currently on exhibition at the gallery.
Some of Rowland’s other artworks can also be seen in the general exhibition, including seven larger landscapes inspired by her journey to Kimberley earlier this year.
“We have three great local ceramicists’ work on exhibition and their work has been very well received by visitors.
“We try to change the exhibition every few weeks and it takes the work of a lot of dedicated people to run the gallery. It really is a community effort.”
The Eastern Cape Insight exhibition is open daily from Monday to Saturday at the Floradale Fine Art Gallery and will be on display until January 2019.