Western Morning News (Saturday)
WMN3 Captivated by these flowing forms from leaves to sails
FRANK RUHRMUND on a celebrated sculptor who marries classical and modern in her work
Many will recall that a dozen years or so ago, David Durham, director of the Porthminster Gallery in St Ives, held an exhibition celebrating the 70th birthday of the sculptor Margaret Lovell, and the publication of a book about her life and work. In that same year, her work was selected by Grayson Perry for inclusion in the national touring show Unpopular Culture 2009/10.
An artist who was born in Bristol, she studied at the West of England College of Art in that city, as well as at the Slade in London, where she won prizes for her sculptures drawings and etchings. She subsequently worked for a time at the Morris Singer Foundry in the capital, before gaining an Italian State Scholarship, which took her to the Academy of Fine Art in Florence. This in turn was followed by the award of a Greek Government Scholarship, which led her to the study of classical sculpting techniques in Greece. Then, in the early 1960s, she came to St Ives where she was mentored in her studio practice by Barbara Hepworth with whom, along with several of the leading artists in the town, she would later exhibit. Some 60 years or so ago she held her first show at the Marjorie Parr Gallery in London. One whose work has close links with the St Ives tradition, in 1969 her second solo show was held at Marjorie Parr’s newly opened Wills Lane Gallery in St Ives, and she was to become a regular exhibitor with Marjorie Parr alongside such Ives-based sculptors as Denis Mitchell and John Milne.
Now living in New Zealand, her list of credits is exceptional. Among her many exhibitions in the UK, Europe and the US, she has also carried out commissions for such concerns as John Player, Unilever, and the Arts Council of Great Britain. In 2012 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Leicester. Talking of her work, David Durham says how the graceful planes and movements of her head, leaf, soil, bird and fish motifs, all expressed in her flowing polished forms, recall the so-called father of modern sculpture Brancusi rather than Hepworth or Moore. “I’m privileged to have known Margaret since 2002 when I first began to represent her. From the start, I was captivated by her abstracted bronze sculptures: her sinuate leaf forms, wavering maritime sails, and the references to archaic art in her streamlined monolith and totem forms.”
The exhibition of her work is linked to the largest show of modern St Ives and British art that the Porthminster Gallery has hosted during its 20 years in business. As David Durham adds: “Over the last two years we have seen a 60 per cent upturn in sales. I think that during the months of lockdown people have been thinking about the sort of art they aspire to own. The ongoing mid-century modernist furniture and design is the perfect backdrop for art work by such as Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Heron and Henry Moore.” Works that are filled with “the spirit of St Ives” by such as Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Trevor Bell, Sandra Blow and Peter Lanyon, to mention but a few, they can be seen online along with those by Margaret Lovell until May 1. The Porthminster Gallery remains open for business online – see the gallery’s website.
Gardening Expert
THE first plump, powder-puff camellia flowers are eagerly awaited each year, telling us gardeners that winter really is over and better days are finally on the way. And once they start opening, which is any time from now, the camellia season lasts roughly until mid-May.
For those of us who do not have the right sort of soil – camellias only thrive on neutral to acid soil that is rich in humus – it is still possible to enjoy their Hollywood-style glamour by growing them in pots.
A camellia can live in the same large pot, tub or half barrel for many years and, because the roots are restricted, it stays naturally neat and compact – even if it is normally a big variety.
Plenty of camellia plants are sold in full glory at nurseries and garden centres every spring as impulse buys for containers on a patio, tubs or beside the front door.
I love the white and candy-striped Lavinia Maggi, soft pink and perfectly formed Ave Maria, pink and rosette-like EG Waterhouse and the good old favourite rich pink Donation.
But if you buy one in bud or in flower now, take a tip and don’t re-pot it yet. Instead, stand it temporarily inside a bigger patio tub or decorative pot.
If you disturb the roots at this stage there is a good chance it will shed its buds, so wait until it has finished flowering before replanting it in a bigger container.
Then choose one at least 15 inches in diameter, and use ericaceous compost. Go for ericaceous John Innes if you can find it. It is loam-based so will last longer in pots. But add a little grit and some peatfree ericaceous compost to give it a fluffier texture that drains more freely as potted camellias hate having waterlogged roots, and in winter that happens all too readily.
From then on it’s just a case of keeping a camellia regularly watered. Use rainwater if you collect your own in a water butt – otherwise leave a bucket out on rainy days.
Dose it with diluted liquid tomato feed every couple of weeks from May to August. A couple of late feeds in August are especially important as that is when camellias initiate next year’s flower buds, and a quick boost of potash really helps.
Each spring, camellias appreciate having old potting compost refreshed, so shortly after flowering, remove an inch of growing medium from the top of the pot and replace it with new potting compost that you have beefed up with some slow-release feed granules.
They only need re-potting when they are totally pot-bound,
Plants in full glory are sold as impulse buys for patio pots
which may not be for two or three years or more. But the secret of growing camellias in containers is choosing the right sheltered position, with very light dappled shade (sun is fine as long as the roots are kept cool and moist in summer) and facing any direction except east.
In a windy spot or one exposed to the early morning sun, the flowers are always disappointing because the petals turn brown.
White-flowered varieties are the worst for being affected like this, so avoid them unless you really have a truly favoured spot.
Otherwise, move your camellias into the conservatory from mid-winter onwards.
Doing this will mean the flowers open weeks earlier than usual, even without any heating.
However you choose to grow them, camellias make absolutely brilliant tub plants for a touch of late winter glitz.