YEW TREE GALLERY

www.yewtreegallery.com

'WILD ENERGY' exhibition

Keigwin Farmhouse

Keigwin, Morvah

Penzance

Cornwall

TR19 7TS

01736 786425

gilly@yewtreegallery.com

22nd June - 9th August 2014 Press Release

The vitality within the earth is brought out in glorious colour in the paintings of LUKE PIPER and also

in DENNIS FARRELL's hand-formed ceramics in the exhibition 'WILD ENERGY' at Yew Tree Gallery

from 22nd June until 9th August.

Travelling widely, with painting kit at the ready, Luke finds the more he observes the colour, light and

structure of his surroundings, the more it fascinates him until he "finally unearths the raw spirit of it all".

No better place to experience such a connection than on the Penwith Peninsula in West Cornwall -

with its network of ley lines and ancient history! This is where Luke has been drawing and painting for

this exhibition in wind and rain - and occasional sun - these past few months.

With grandfather John Piper and father, Edward - both artists of renown - Luke's inherent gift as an

artist could not be understated, although he studied Geography and Anthropology at University. The

wider breadth of understanding of the land and its peoples through his studies - especially whilst

walking and talking with Aboriginals in Northern Australia in 2000 and 2010 - has inspired deeper

insights into the nature of landscape and led to a new series of paintings following the St Michael line

from St Michael's Mount across England - an alignment of ancient landmarks and sacred sites.

Luke's first major show was at the CCA Dover St Gallery in 1992. He has exhibited at Messums,

Cork St; Beaux Arts, Bath; Bohun, Henley, among many others.

The passage of time, revealed in weathered layers in both coastal and rural landscaps is central to the

themes of DENNIS FARRELL'S clay-works. Light, line, colour and texture enfold his hand-built forms

through the application of engobes (modified slips), brushed on to the leather-hard clay like paint on

canvas. Marks on the landscape and the archaeology within it fascinate him and are interpreted in

masterly strokes on his tall vessels and shallow forms.

A professional member of the Craft Potters Association, Dennis has exhibited extensively during his

long career and his work is in many public collections in Britain.

Bright hued pastels of Andalucia by ROD FRIEND M.A. R.C.A. adorn the walls of the second gallery

room. A stained-glass designer maker of over forty years' standing, Rod's attraction to luminosity and

clear colour has led these past two years to this new direction - painting with the pure pigment of soft

pastels.

ARDYN GRIFFIN studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths and also the Ruskin School of Drawing. She finds the

transition from painting on canvas to the five sides offered by metal and wood boxes a liberating

influence for her narrative, descriptive themes.

Domestic slipware by ANNIE HEWETT, who trained as a graphic designer at St Martins, displays her

assured sense of line and playful use of retro colour in plates, mugs, jugs and bowls.

'WILD ENERGY' is open Tuesdays - Saturdays 10.30 - 5.00pm until 9th August. Yew Tree Gallery is

surrounded by gardens and outdoor sculpture at Keigwin Farmhouse between Pendeen and Morvah

(TR19 7TS) on the B3306 coast road from St Ives to St Just.

www.yewtreegallery.com 01736 786425 gilly@yewtreegallery.com

Gilly Wyatt Smith

5th June 2014