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| SWMA's second exhibition of 2024 is on show in Exeter Library. Thirteen artists have work on show created using a variety of materials and a diverse range of subjects. The artists include: Emma Abel, Anita Batson, Denny Dormer, Michelle Greenwood Brown, Audrey Hardman, Jo Hartland, Alison Hepburn, Manya McMahon, Sue Smith, Ali Soper, Janet Ventre, Adela Webb. The exhibition runs from Tuesday, 3 September 2024 through to Thursday, 14 November 2024. |
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Michelle Greenwood Brown, 'Robin in the Ivy' Most evenings we walk through our local woodland and take food for the various birds that live there, especially the robins. Birds frequently feature in my work and I aim to capture the wild tangle of hedgerow plants. I have made all the pieces myself in in fired earthenware. |
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| Audrey Hardman, 'Penguin Pair' and 'Eyes' |
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| My mosaics are Nature and Marine based. The penguin pair show them together in their environment depicted by the orange and white stained glass with pearlised nuggets. Their chests in silver granite mirror shine out - a beacon for their future. The 'Eyes' mosaic is an abstract 'look around', with stained glass in yellow, black and blue with iridized nuggets and millefiori as accents and red and green mirror gleaming in the centre. |
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| Anita Batson |
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| As an artist I love working with different shapes. Spheres are a favourite of mine. There is always a bit of mystery as you look at them from different angles. I wanted to create a piece that celebrates life combining some of my favourite colours. The aqua pebble tiles represent water and health whilst the purple stands for creativity and peace. |
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| Adela Webb, 'Fish' |
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| The three fishes are an exploration into making undulating forms on which to decorate with three contrasting materials and styles. The first fish uses colourful glass tiles, in the style of a Soviet mural mosaic, I love the colours and almost cartoon quality of the finished fish. My second fish is made from marble and the design has ancient Roman as inspiration. The third fish was a playful picassiette style using recycled glassware and china. |
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| Ali Soper, 'Evening Song' |
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| The blackbird has the most beautiful evening song that lifts the heart of the garden wherever you are. I am drawn to the outside life and it plays a big part in my mosaic making. |
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| Alison Hepburn, 'Topsham Mud Flats' |
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| I live in Topsham and walk by the estuary every day. When the tide is in, the landscape is everything you would imagine, boats bobbing on the water, swans, paddle boarders etc., but when the tide is out it leaves mud flats as far as the eye can see with deep swirling shapes carved into the surface and a myriad of colours and textures. No two days are ever the same and I find it endlessly fascinating. It is impossible to capture the whole ever changing picture so this picture is a collage of sketches I have made from patterns left in the mud by the River Exe. |
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| Manya McMahon |
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| For these pieces, I have been working in a much smaller format than usual, so I decided not to plan each piece in advance. Instead, I used some favourite pieces of stained glass as a starting point, then employing a 'strem of consciousness' approach to achieve a more spontaneous result. |
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| Emma Abel, 'Akohekohe Honeycreeper' |
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| Critically endangered. This is 1 of 6 critically endangered Honeycreepers, and yes they do feed on nectar! Part of the finch family, it is endemic to Maui island, Hawaii, and it is threatened by avian malaria transmitted by mosquitos. |
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Sue Smith, 'Shades of Blue' and 'Autumn Bouquet'. |
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| Jo Hartland, 'Church on Naxos' |
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| In the summer of 2023 we travelled by ferry through the Cyclades in Greece. On the island of Naxos we came across an everyday yet beautiful Greek scene -a remote church, atop a rocky ridge with the azure Aegean Sea in the distance behind. |
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| Kirsty Freeman, '25 Thoughts' |
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| '25 thoughts' is a representation of my thought process when someone says 'a penny for them'. Incorporating the quick responses of 'sticking out', the slate slices. Regular flowing thought patterns, illustrated in yellow. The flower construction shows growing ideas, whilst everything else has been 'organised' into socially acceptable compartments. |
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| Janet Ventre |
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| Denny Dormer, 'In the Beginning', 'I love Devon', 'It's Christmas' |
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| Three artworks to show the range of styles you could create in one of Denny's workshops. |
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