The Plymouth Colour Collective group of artists have taken inspiration from the Beatles’ connection to the city for their 2023 exhibition, which they’ve called All You Need Is Art.
The artists – Brian Pollard, Laura Edmunds from Serendipity Sea Crafts, Arth Lawr, Henry Sells and Lou C Fused Glass – all share the theme of bright colours in their work. The exhibition is at the Kaya Gallery in Southside Street on the Barbican from August 12 to 29.
Founding member Arth said:
“We’ve done a tongue-in-cheek play on words with All You Need Is Love to say All You Need Is Art to bring some colour and fun into your life, which is what we are all about.”
Arth, Brian, and Henry are all painters but with different styles; beach clean artist Laura creates collages from cleaned-up discovered items she has collected on local beaches; and Lou C Fused Glass makes highly visual glass wall art for the home. All five share a love of Plymouth, Devon, and Cornwall and much of their work celebrates the area’s most iconic landmarks and seascapes.
Arth said:
“By a happy accident, some of us have created the same scenes, so looking at the different ways we’ve done that will be interesting for people to see.”
Arth will be exhibiting his latest pieces in which he uses natural and chalk-based paints, and some of his ceramic work:
“I find I get more solid colours from chalk-based paints, and I’m intrigued by the environmental side of using them,” he explained.
For her new work, Lou C has ventured onto the water to capture the places which hold happy memories for her, such as Dartmouth, Salcombe, Slapton and the Plymouth waterfront: “I like to add a bit of history and my own personal take, drawing on my memories of these places,” said Lou.
“Because some of them have been done from a boat on the water, you can see these scenes from a different angle. And I think places look more colourful from the river or the sea, looking up at all the colours on the land. Plymouth is a great example, with Tinside Lido and Smeaton’s Tower.”
Like Lou, Henry is also presenting his unique perspective on places that having meaning for him. Among his major pieces of work are a 1-metre painting of the Barbican’s legendary pub, The Dolphin, and a related series of paintings of the Tamar River at Halton Quay:
“My mother’s house was near there, and we used to sail from that spot a lot, so it’s a special place for my family. And I love The Dolphin. Beryl Cook painted it, and Brian painted it, so I thought I’d be in good company. The cobble stones outside the Dolphin look fantastic and I’ve done a scene on a rainy day, so it has captured the reflection of The Dolphin in the cobbles. And Beryl was right, you can see all of Plymouth there.”
This year, Laura’s beach find collages are bigger, brighter, and more colourful than ever before, making use of found ceramics, sea glass and bits of plastic for her artwork:
“I’m also using more artistic licence so that although the places I recreate are still recognisable, they’re more technicolour than real-life. They’re happy pieces.”
Scenes include the River Tamar, Drake’s Island, Sutton Harbour, and The Barbican:
“I’m always at the beach or swimming or on the water in my kayak, so the views I create reflect that. We’re so lucky to have all these inspiring places on our doorstep,” she added.
Brian is exhibiting 14 new paintings, including some of places he’s never painted before, such as the Royal William Yard and Plymouth restaurant Cosmic Kitchen, named by Tripadvisor as the best vegan restaurant in the UK and the third best in the world.
When Brian co-founded the collective, one of the aims was to bring together artists from different artforms, and he takes great delight in seeing the other artists develop:
“When people come to our exhibition, they’ll see a fantastic contrast in how we present our work, and totally different interpretations – for example in the way that Laura and Lou use their techniques.
“And I’ve been trying to persuade Henry to paint the Dolphin for years, so it’s great to see how he’s done it. It’s a wonderful painting. Together with Arth’s own unique style of painting, the exhibition offers lots of perspective which I think people will enjoy, particularly children.”
The Plymouth Colour Collective exhibition can be viewed during the Kaya Gallery’s opening times, 10.30am to 4.30pm, seven days a week. www.kayagallery.co.uk Plymouth Colour Collective are on Instagram: www.instagram.com/plymouthcolourcollective
