The one-week experimental workshops at the St Ives School of Painting, developed by its principal Roy Ray during the mid-eighties, became so popular that local demand for similar one-day winter sessions prompted him to create what became known as the Friday Workshops. Under the direction of the artist John Clark, these sessions enabled many people from all parts of the community to develop a more personal direction in their work. Following Roy's retirement in 2000, the sessions continued to evolve when John was joined by Ges Wilson and Marion Taylor.
The work exhibited by recent members of the Friday Workshop, now known as the Porthmeor Group, demonstrates a diversity of subject matter, direction and technique by those who meet once a week in winter to share and enjoy their creativity and to take risks in the pursuit of their artistic goals.
fourth annual exhibition
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The 4th annual exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints by members of the Porthmeor Group will open on Saturday the 13th of October in the Mariners Gallery (The Crypt), St Ives. The exhibition will be open until the 26th of October 2007. 10.30 to 5.30 pm daily There is an international flavour to the group with members coming from the USA, Holland, Germany and Ireland, as well as from the UK and of course locally from Cornwall. The inspiration for the work on show is as diverse as the artists' responses, from landscape, natural forms, the human form, and the narrative of human existence with its pains and pleasures. The artists use a variety of media to transform their experience into contemporary images that range from the figurative to the abstract. For her abstracted landscapes, Cornish artist Tamsyn Williams likes the flexibility and the possibilities of mixed media, whilst Doris Lindemann, back on colour this year, will show her personal response to features of the Penwith landscape, using texture and luscious oils in warm reds and oranges. The remote, enigmatic, pagan landscapes of Penwith is the source for Tony Sutcliffe's paintings, which he says represent nothing but themselves, whilst Reina de Weijer, also responding to the pagan landscape, has found that visits to the Halligye fogou have inspired an evolution in her work, from the very dark to the very light, from highly textured surfaces to calm quiet ones. |
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inaugural show
In 2002 Ges developed the idea for an exhibition by the regular participants of the Friday workshops, and successfully applied for funding to the Neighbourhood Renewal Community Chest, part of the Penwith Community Development Trust.
This inaugural exhibition by the artists now known as the Porthmeor Group took place in June 2004. It demonstrated a diversity of subject matter, direction and technique by those who meet once a week in winter to share and enjoy their creativity and to take risks in the pursuit of their artistic goals.
porthmeor group founded
Porthmeor, Cornish for big, sandy cove, is the name of the beach we overlook from the studio we work in in the St. Ives School of Painting. It is a fantastically beautiful beach at any time of day or year, and it is a miracle that we manage to drag ourselves away from the studio windows long enough to produce any work. It seemed an appropriate name for the group.
