This very special group show is a celebration of four artist’s ability to combine colour, texture and form to produce exquisite works of art. From Anne-Marie Butlin’s traditional still life’s depicting hand picked flowers in a Sue Binns’ vase to Emma Dunbar’s eclectic and playful compositions featuring an Ali Tomlin pot with her distinctive scribble.
With impressive and extensive careers to date, we feel privileged to represent these artists. Each have been shown throughout the UK, have been featured in several publications and now have an international following of collectors.
Anne-Marie Butlin trained at Harrow and Loughborough College of Art.
She now lives and works in Crouch End, North London. Her work is
exhibited all over the country and has been show at Art Fairs in
Amsterdam and the USA. She also regularly works on portrait
commissions.
‘I paint mostly still life with fruit, flowers ceramics, patterned fabrics and
various domestic objects in still, calm interiors. I love the character of
different flowers and the unique feeling they can create in a space; the
strong structures and sometimes the sheer joyfullness of their
appearance. Although I often use the same shallow format, I like the
different possibilities of the still life.
My colours range from the subtle, with close tones, to strong and
decorative. I usually use a strong base colour, which I allow to show
through in places; this gives many of the paintings quite a jewel-like feel.’
Anne-Marie Butlin
Born in England in 1961, Emma Dunbar graduated in 1984 with a BA Hons
in Fine Art Printmaking from West Surrey College of Art and Design. Since
then she has worked full time as an artist and exhibited throughout the UK.
Emma’s inspiration comes from travelling in India, Cornish holidays and the
chaos of family life. Also, the work of her favourite artists, including Mary
Fedden, Milton Avery and Daphne McClure.
“What excited me about making pictures is trying to capture the essence of
a place, a feeling, a thing. I am attracted to vivid colours and the decorative
qualities of everyday objects. My aim is to end up with my gathered
ingredients – glimpses of journeys, patterns from familiar settings and
objects collected along the way – converging to create an image that
communicates the richness of the original source of inspiration.’ – Emma Dunbar.
Sue’s skills as a potter are largely self taught but she had an inspirational few years under the guidance of Ian Godfrey at the Montem School in the 1980?s. Since then her work has been evolving and she has produced a wide range of functional domestic stoneware.
The distinctive patterns are produced by brushing dilute cobalt over the dolomite glaze before firing to 1240 degrees centigrade. The seemingly endless combinations of stripes that dominate my work are carefully chosen to suit each individual piece.
Ali Tomlin has always drawn and designed and loves the energy of random lines or marks, from a sketch, painting or found on stones or peeling paint. She enjoys how just a simple line can completely change the feeling of a piece.
Her work is a collection of thrown, uncluttered porcelain forms. She throws and turns the pieces to a fine finish which, when unglazed and sanded, gives the porcelain a paper-like, tactile quality, where she applies her marks as spontaneously as possible. Preferring to work on the dry, chalky surface, she uses stains, oxides and slips, splashing or sponging away areas and inlaying lines, creating pleasingly imperfect and unpredictable marks. Sometimes this results in simple graphic marks and sometimes never ending abstract, landscape paintings or cityscapes, wrapping around the pots.
We hope you are able to join us in the gallery for what promises to be a striking, richly coloured and joyful exhibition of these incredibly talented artist’s work.
We hope you are able to join us in the gallery for what promises to be a striking, richly coloured and joyful exhibition of these incredibly talented artist’s work.
