OPIE AT KINGSBRIDGE

Viv Hendra lectured on JOHN OPIE THE CORNISH WONDER at Kingsbridge Decorative and Fine Arts Society (KEDFAS)  on Wednesday September 28th and again on Thursday 29th.

Opie painted several Kingsbidge portraits, especially WILLIAM COOKWORTHY. This early work is now at Plymouth Art Gallery.

Opie's career was launched and managed by John Wolcot who was a Dodbrooke/ Kingsbridge man so it was a treat to find the house where he was born and spent his early life- it looks onto the  quay at Kinsbridge and must have been even more picturesque in the eighteenth century. It is now called PINDAR LODGE which reminds us that Wolcot usd the paseudonym PETER PINDAR for his satirical writings.
There used to be a portrait of Wolcot- by Opie of course- in Kingsbridge museum but though that Old Grammar School is a fascinating place, well worth a visit, the portrait of Wolcot is no longer there.

26 flavours

We have an imaginative exhibition in the Lander Gallery at present.
26 FLAVOURS OF CORNWALL

All linked with the FOOD AND DRINK FESTIVAL it is a colourful and stimulating series of designs by various creators.
It is not for sale, you can just come and enjoy.

We have the designs as placemats on the tables so you can look at them while enjoying a capuccino!

They say:

26 Flavours of Cornwall is a unique exhibition of writing and design, first shown at Trebah Garden in Cornwall in July 2011. The show will be on again at The Poly in Falmouth during Falmouth Week, from 6th to 14 August, and then again at the Lander Gallery in Truro between 16th and 30th September.

We’ve paired 26 writers with 26 designers, matched each team with an item of Cornish produce and challenged them to come up with pieces of art that combine words and design in the form of paper table-settings.

Why 26 exactly? Because the project has been organised by the national writers’ association 26, working with the Cornwall Design Forum and University College Falmouth.

You can read about our teams' adventures in the world of Cornish food in blog posts on their flavour pages, where you'll also find their finished creative pieces.
Full details are on the website
www.26flavours.com

WILLIAM DOBSON and JOHN OPIE

Did you see that wonderful programme about Civil War artist Wiliam Dobson last week?- and did you spot the Opies?
Of all those glorious Dobson paintings hanging in magnificent surroundings, a favourite must be the formidable First Lord Byron (not the poet) with the scar on his cheek.
When it was shown in all its magnificence at Tabley House, Cheshire, you may have noticed there were other paintings on the same wall. Immediately to the left was Opie's THE INFANT SAMUEL while to the right is his COTTAGE GIRLS BY THE FIRESIDE.
Sir John Leicester, who had his country seat at Tabley, was a prominent art collector who encouraged the idea of a National Gallery of British Art for London at a time when there was none.
He was a pallbearer at Opie's funeral.
Both Opie and Dobson are neglected artists today- and both artists had work selected by connoisseur Sir John Leicester!

We love these!

Laura Weston's prints have enormous charm- some are printed on paper made from banana leaves! They are proving very popular here at the Lander Gallery. They have an innocent fresh charm- adn they look great in their smart white frames.

DAVID GREENHALGH

No prizes for guessing the inspiration of this picture by DAVID GREENHALGH - showing in our current exhibition PAPER, SCISSORS, STONE.
David creates his collages with paper torn from coloured magazine pages. From a distance, the pieces of paper look oddly like paint.

The effect is particularly striking when the picture is based on a Van Gogh.

UKULELE SUCCESS

The UKULELE TEA returned yesterday- and gave us another afternoon of unclouded joy. There were music teachers and visitors, all happily strumming their way through a joyfully daft repertoire which started at traditional folk songs and managed to sweep through Leonard Cohen and Elvis Presley before the final "When the Saints Go Marchin' In".
Informally planning things as they went along, they were cheerfully asking for requests and rising to each challenge. They had us singing along to "Why must I be a teenager in love?" and there were young children dancing away among the paintings. The gallery was warmed with smiles.

Supremo was Jamie Toms- whose Ukelele is just one string to his bow. 
I'm afraid do now know the names of all the players, or of the front man whose singing and personality gave the event its unique quality.
  There is talk of a RETURN OF THE UKULELE TEA !
Additionally, Mr Toms may be persuaded to bring a group of youg guitarists back at Christmas!

CORNISH ART HISTORY COURSE FOR YOU!

Want to learn more about The Newlyn School of Painting?
Local author, Curator and NADFAS lecturer
Catherine Wallace- who works here at the Lander Gallery too-  is running an 18 week course on
Cornish Art History - The Newlyn and Lamorna Artists 1880 - 1940
at TruroCollege              Tuesdays 7.00 - 9.00pm
from 27th September 2011

TheCourse is also available at PenwithCollege
Mondays 2.30 - 4.30pm
from3rdOctober 2011.

So come along and find outwhat you can learn aboutCornishArt history.
TruroCollege Part-timeCoursesContact: (01872) 265800
Quote course number 1051
PenwithCollege Part-timeCoursesContact: (01736) 335000
QuoteCourseNumber 5062
or visitwww.trurocollege.ac.uk

UKULELE TEA- THE RETURN!!

FRIDAY 16th SEPTEMBER- next week
4.30pm
UKULELE TEA
 DO COME ALONG!!!

Jamie Toms is a young Ukulele Master who teaches in schools around the area. He gathers together a gang of friends who come in with their Ukes and spend an hour playing together.
If you have a Ukulele you are warmly invited to come along and join in.

Last year's UKULELE TEA was a great success- lighthearted, relaxed, informal, heartwarming.
This year we anitcipate a similar treat.
FRIDAY at 4.30pm

PAPER, SCISSORS, STONE

The new exhibition is just being set up at the Lander Gallery. Lots of good things on the theme of paper, scissors and stone. More to come on this, but look at this wonderful stone piece by Richard Holliday.

POG'S FATHER

Here is an idyllic rural scene by VINCENT PHILIP YGLESIAS. He was a London based artist who exhibited at the RA and various other prestigious establishments from the 1870s until his death in 1911.
This picturesque building with its half timbering evokes a yearning for the simple country life- it might be rather pleasant to live halfway between Larkrise and Candleford.
The name Yglesias is familiar here in Cornwall through the artsit's daughter Phyllis, known and loved as POG. She moved in the artist circle that included Laura Knight (who painted her) and she it was who had the Bird Sanctuary at Mousehole.

This VINCENT PHILIP YGLESIAS painting, in a handsome gold frame, is for sale at the Lander Gallery with an asking price of £1,800.