Kim’s paintings allow you to lose yourself Kim Dewsbury
How old are you? 63
What are your best and worst habits?
I would probably say that my worst attribute is being a perfectionist – but I am eternally optimistic and unusually determined to complete anything I start.
T
HIS week we talk to artist Kim Dewsbury (pictured) whose works are on display at Ffin y Parc Gallery.
Q
Where are you from? Tell us about your family. A
I was born in Falmouth, Cornwall and lived there for five years, but grew up in the Midlands. I returned to Falmouth in my twenties to study Fine Art, but have now lived in North Wales for almost 40 years.
I am married to the painter Gerald Dewsbury and we have two children; Roanna lives in Pembrokeshire and Merion is in Birmingham.
Q
What are you best known for?
A
I am best known for making oil paintings which are a combination of still life and landscape; they hold stories and allegories and are built around subjects I feel passionately about. I particularly enjoy berries and flowers and leaves so these often feature in small precise studies.
Q
Tell us about your exhibition.
A
My exhibition is at Ffin y Parc Gallery in Llanrwst, and comprises just over 30 oil paintings. Luckily the venue is now open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm. However the whole exhibition is also on the website www.welshart.net and work purchased online can be delivered free of charge at the moment. T here is no one theme to this exhibition – I am, as ever, inspired by my rural surroundings and I value that first hand contact with nature; my sketchbooks are filled with notes and drawings about walks, insects, clouds, natural ephemera, etc, and I feel that everything has a story to tell. For instance, the painting A Flush Of Golden Plover stemmed from a particular walk up Foel Goch on New Year’s Day, when I discovered a flock of golden plover on my way home. Seeing them again about a month later prompted me to design a painting around them and the way they seemed to dance through the sky. I wanted a golden bird in the foreground, so cut out and carved one that I could paint. I also produce work about anything that I am feeling strongly about at that time – and not all of these paintings make it into a frame!
Q
When is the exhibition running from/to? A Open now and runs until Wednesday, July 15. Q What can people expect from it?
A
If you manage to come and see the exhibition in person, which we hope you will do, you can expect to see small contemplative still-life painting alongside larger paintings that combine many elements from one place or time. For instance, I visited Eyarth Rocks, near Ruthin, several times last summer and hence three paintings evolved, which are mainly about the amazing flora and fauna found there, but seen with a particular vision, and hopefully imbued with the aura of that place.
Q
Tell us five things which make your exhibition great.
A
In the exhibition you can lose yourself in different places; amuse yourself with the series of paintings on Fishing Ephemera that I made in the dark cold days this last winter; recall the fun of the 2019 Llanrwst Eisteddfod in my painting Let’s Revel; enjoy the rhythm of vessels and plants in a painting about
Bogwood – maybe fall in love with a painting and take it home!
Q
Tell us a little known fact about yourself.
A
While teaching my children how to climb a tree, I fell off and broke my wrist. I now watch my daughter climbing trees with her children and she doesn’t fall off!
Q
What’s next for you? What are you currently working on?
A
I am currently finishing a painting about the