A real treat in store
The Barefoot Gallery, Boston Spa, is hosting exhibitions of the work of two exciting artists in the coming months – contemporary landscape painter Boo Mallinson from May 6-27 and awardwinning author and illustrator Catherine Rayner from June 10 to July 8.
Boo Mallinson’s paintings are inspired by her Dorset surroundings and her intimacy with the landscape. She responds to feelings, experiences and observations of the terrain and the elements. Her work is an emotional, personal expression.
Boo studied fine art at The Byam Shaw and City & Guilds School of Art in London then moved to Dorset 15 years ago.
Her paintings act as a visual diary of her everyday walks and journeys through the landscape.
Memories of a repeated walk along a known pathway, the dramatic changes of light and colour from one moment to the next, the way that sights, sounds and smells come together to form a very strong sense of place – these encounters with the natural world form the starting point of her paintings.
Once back in the studio, the translating of ideas and memories into paint enables her to explore and move intuitively between the real and the imaginary.
Boo, who also exhibits in London, Bath and Cheltenham, works in a number of mediums including, oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink and pastel. Her paintings vary in size from large canvases to smaller more intimate works on paper.
Catherine Rayner is originally from Boston Spa and studied Illustration at Edinburgh College of art.
She fell in love with the city and still lives there with her husband, two young sons and a small menagerie of animals; Shannon the horse, Ena the cat and Richard the goldfish.
Catherine currently works from her small studio at home, with a very big desk that she shares with Ena.
She finds huge inspiration in her pets and often uses them as models, frequently asking Ena to pose so that she can study her posture and movement. Then she translates sketches of Ena into characters such as dragons and hares, not to mention moose and bears.
But it was creatures of a wilder kind that inspired her first picture book, Augustus and His Smile (published
2006) Catherine spent hours and hours watching and sketching tigers (in freezing temperatures) at Edinburgh Zoo.
Catherine, once again, is back at Edinburgh Zoo as Illustrator in Residence.
Gallery owner Linda Schulz said: “We are delighted to welcome Catherine to the gallery for her second exhibition featuring new variable edition prints and some very special original paintings.
There is a preview evening, with Catherine on June 9, contact the gallery for further information.
The Barefoot Gallery,| 144 High Street, Boston Spa LS23 6BW
Ttel: 01937 845135; email Linda@ thebarefootgallery.com ; www.thebarefootgallery.com.
There’s a wealth of talent coming to The Barefoot Gallery very soon