Brian Sinfield Art Gallery
Just In
Annie Rouse
Annie explains: “Home and gardens are the subjects of my painting, these I’m most familiar with - flowers from the garden, crockery from the cupboards. These are the ‘actors’ on my canvases. They often take on different roles changing colour and shape, transformed as they interact with the space and objects around them. They reoccur repeatedly in different paintings. Added to this my absolute delight in the viscosity of oil paint and colour mixing. I love to experiment, working with a limited palette, playing with tones, and enjoying how far I can ‘push’ a painting.”
Annie Rouse clearly has a great love of painting. Her pictures say it all. They chart the passage of time, she says, journeys made, stories told, notes in sketchbooks, scratches on walls and old songs.
There is nothing overworked in these paintings. Instead there is a quirky almost childlike spontaneity, a love of drawing, of texture and the viscosity of oil paint laid on thickly. Most of her paintings are in a large format, better to carry her vision, though in this exhibition there are also some delightful smaller works. Occasionally she moves towards abstract, with blocks of colour. Isolated images within a composition - vases and tea cups, flowers, mugs, oranges and lemons pack her canvasses.
Undoubtedly there are influences, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, the Scottish painter is one, but like all good artists she takes from the best and disregards the rest, putting a stamp on her own work.
Annie received a B.A. Hons in Fine Art Painting from Central St. Martins. She has exhibited widely in Britain and overseas, including a number of times at the Royal Academy Summer show, The Discerning Eye at the Mall Galleries in London.
Annie now works daily from her studio at Wimbledon Art Studios, where she has been for the last fifteen years. Annie paints whatever subject matter excites her - the subject can also dictate the style in which she paints. Her paintings deal with ethereal moments and passing time almost like fractions of a poem. She continues to experiment with drawing on different surfaces and textures, and uses a variety of materials to build up a working surface, including oil paint, crayons, pencil, and charcoal. Annie loves texture and uses the viscosity of oil paint to sculpt forms onto her canvas.
Image Illustrated: Table with Amaryllis and Spring Flowers | oil on canvas | 100 x 100 cm
To view all available paintings by Annie Rouse click here
Featured Artist
Miles Cole
An expressive abstract painter, Miles Cole was born in 1965. He studied Fine Art at Gloucester College of Art and the Chelsea School of Art. His early career was spent working as an illustrator with regular commissions from various periodicals such as The Economist, The Times Educational Supplement, Tatler, the Mail on Sunday and many others. In 2010, after a successful career as an illustrator, he returned to painting after a fifteen-year hiatus. His work is rooted in the tradition of British and European post-war Modernism, particularly abstract painting, He says of his work: "The interconnecting lines found in these paintings are a catalyst for what then becomes a sensual engagement with the materials - deconstructing and reconstructing shapes into various compositions until a point of departure from the subject matter has been reached."
As with all artists there are undoubted influences - Kandinsky for one but more particularly the Russian/French abstract painter Serge Poliakoff. Undoubtedly Cole is a master of colour. The power of these paintings relies on two main factors, a perfect understanding of colour and tone and the placing of the right colour against a contrasting colour (powerful in itself), and the use of strong almost three-dimensional shapes, exemplified in his painting 'South Bank'. Combined, these create an explosion of colour that appeals directly to the senses. One does not need to understand the complexities of abstract art to be drawn into its orbit. Stand in front of one of these paintings and you begin a fascinating voyage of discovery.
Exhibitions include the Paisnel Gallery, London, The Square Gallery, London, the Mall Galleries and with the Josie Eastwood Gallery in Hampshire, as well as taking part in numerous mixed exhibitions.
To view all available paintings by Miles please click here
Image illustrated: Outrospective | oil on canvas | 90 x 115 cm
Exhibition
Elsa Taylor 11 July - 25 July 2020
Exhibition 'Not Dark Yet'
A natural colourist, Elsa's abstract imagery, combined with her confident use of colours, create delicious harmonies. Her flower pieces are not simply depictions of flowers but vibrant celebrations of colour and texture. She will take time mixing her palette, sometimes up to two hours. This mixing of colours gives great depth to her paintings, and in the hands of a master, such as Elsa Taylor, the result is intoxicating.
Like many of the best abstract painters, Elsa's work evolved from a traditional base. The Cotswolds, where she lives and paints, with its soft rolling hills and ancient stone villages, has undoubtedly been a strong inspiration, as have the very different landscapes of Cornwall, Scotland and Italy, all of which she visits often.
"Whether you are drawn to landscapes or still life, these are paintings of the heart and mind and of imagination. I would defy anyone standing in front of a painting by Elsa Taylor not to be moved." - Brian Sinfield
Image illustrated: Three Pots and White Anemone | oil on canvas | 60 x 80 cm
View the exhibition here
Elsa will be present at the gallery on Saturday, 11th July (10am - 4pm) and viewings will be by appointment only - please contact the gallery to arrange.