Spring is in the Hare
Welcome to The Mulberry Tree We are one of the South Coast’s leading independent galleries, set up by four friends with a passion for all things beautiful and creative. Over the past 10 years, we are lucky to have forged close ties with some of the most talented artists and crafts folk working today. We pride ourselves on bringing new and established names to our expanding customer base to inspire them in making their homes more beautiful. Come and visit us to browse our collection of original paintings, limited edition prints, hand-crafted ceramics, glassware and textiles, as well as custom-made jewellery, stationery and a bespoke picture framing service. Our tastes are as unique as the individuals we serve so why not come and find that perfect gift for someone special, be it yourself or a loved one.
The Mulberry Tree Gallery invites you to:
Spring is in the Hare A mixed show with new work from:
Suzanne Breakwell, Stephanie Carswell, Helen Godfrey, Carolyn Pavey, Catherine Rayner, Gemma Rees & Mary Sumner
28th March – 25th April 2015 Join us for drinks on Saturday 28th March from 12pm – 4pm All work can be viewed at www.mulberrytreegallery.co.uk and is available for purchase on-line.
Gemma Rees What or who inspires you at the moment: Based in West Sussex and living only 5 minutes from the beach, I am inspired by walks along the beach and also across the South Downs, watching and recording in my sketchbook the many animals that I see. I have two little boys, Reuben, four, and Theodore, one. We take them to farms and wildlife centres, which also fuels my desire to make animal sculptures. I am lucky enough to have a studio space at my Aunty’s house, which is in the loft with wonderful views overlooking the park and downs. She makes fantastic bread and cakes so I am kept fed throughout my days working. She is a very creative person and I am always asking her opinion on new pieces of work, I value her input.
How long does it take you to create a piece of work? It takes about two or three days for a commission from start to finish. I usually research the animal online looking at the shape. Then I draw a simplified shape and make a wire armature. I build it up with paper and wire, then cover it with the paper clay and then add the texture and paint it.
What did you want to be when growing up? I have always loved art, at school it was my favourite subject. I had a wonderful art teacher who encouraged me to continue with my art after I had left school. I went on to spend the next seven years in art education.
Carolyn Pavey How long does it take to create a piece of work?
What is your greatest achievement?
I’m a painter as well as an illustrator, and whilst they overlap, there is a difference in working practice between the two disciplines.
I am most proud of my two girls. They are 28 and 30. One works in nursing and the other is a senior registrar in gynaecology and obstetrics.
I may spend up to three months researching and working on rough drafts in my sketchbook before starting the actual paintings. I tend to work on a set of about eight or ten at once. Sometimes I start with something that inspires me, perhaps a nature or beach walk, or I may start with a proverb or a saying as a starting point. ‘Over the Moon’ was a case in point. I happened to see a pair of hares running about and linked it with the title. That one event led to a whole series of work. My oils on the other hand can take up to nine months as I work in a very traditional way; underpainting and then building up the subsequent layers with glazes.
In artistic terms, it was definitely getting into the Royal Academy. They accepted a contemporary landscape of the downs on the Island. I had been walking with another artist friend and noticed that the trees were sculptured with the prevailing wind. The light and shadows were amazing as it highlighted the cattle tracks winding in and out of the trees into the distance. There was a ready-made painting right in front of me, so I rushed home and completed it from memory. The painting sold very quickly and yes, it did make a big difference to my work, mainly because it gave me a boost in both confidence and sales.
Catherine Rayner What or who inspires you at the moment? My own little one inspires me. He’s three and everything he likes and reads feeds into what I do. I have a horse and do a lot of riding in the countryside outside Edinburgh so I constantly see interesting shapes and lines and lots of wild animals, which inspire me. Elena Odriozola is amazing and Quentin Blake, whatever he draws looks so full of life! The energy in his artwork is infectious and inspiring. I just enjoy and love their work so much.
How long does it take you to create a piece of work? It varies so much. Sometimes I will do a drawing that happens really quickly and just looks right. Other times I’m drawing a sketch or outline
for days and doing bits until it’s right. The creatures I draw are characters themselves so it’s not just a case of doing a drawing and it’s done. It’s working out whether they have the right character and personality. If people are going to look at a picture day in and out, it’s great if they can give it a narrative of their own. I get emails from people years later with fulllength stories about what their hare or pheasant has been up to all this time. I think they make good company. There’s so much white space around my drawings. I think it gives the animal room to breathe and live within their frame. This helps people imagine their background and make it their own story.
What is your greatest achievement? I had a very difficult time in pregnancy and my son’s first year was very tough,
for many reasons. He’s now three and half and we are all still standing, I’m quite pleased with that! He is definitely my greatest achievement! Also, having a book published is a magic feeling, a dream come true!
Tell us a secret The reason that I’m really, really good at secrets is because I forget everything. Everyone thinks I’m a chatterbox but even if it’s juicy I just forget.
I am a bit superstitious though. If I have a solo show I like to put 13 pieces in. I settled on 13 as I had a few sellout shows with this number of pieces. It’s also enough to be a nice collection of work. At first I thought it was unlucky but it always went well. I lived at number 13 too.
Mary Sumner What or who inspires you at the moment? I have done quite a lot of work on gardens this year because I really like planned forms and formal gardens as well as cottage gardens. I like the patterns in the plants against hedges and things. I recently went to Great Dixter in Sussex, the family home of gardener Christopher Lloyd. It’s hard to know what to say because the paintings do that. The paintings are supposed to convey what I feel about whatever I am seeing. It’s about my response to what I have seen.
How long does it take you to create a piece of work? It’s difficult to say because I work on
several pieces at a time. I usually start one piece and that generates other ideas so I will move on to another one. I can be working on as many as five pieces. It comes from the same thought. It looks chaotic to anyone else who comes along; they are always changing and come together at different times with my mood. It can be a week, it can be six weeks, I have known myself painting a particular picture for over a year until I have got it right. The idea is people recognise what I’m seeing and they latch on to the rhythms in the landscape. It’s no more than that; I’m painting what I have seen.
Tell us a secret I have a passion for dark chocolate.
Stephanie Carswell How long does it take you to create a piece of work? How long is a piece of string? It depends on the mood I’m in when I’m making the piece. Needle felting is a long process, just a small piece the size of your hand would be a good 10 hours. One of the main hares I’m sending through for the show was more like 40 or 50 hours. I had a vision of it in my head and wanted it to be perfect. Just stabbing with one needle, it’s really labour intensive. I get the wool already prepared, I use only British wool in its natural state that hasn’t been dyed. I don’t sketch but I normally have some kind of vision of where I’m going. It’s a process of starting small and building up and out and a lot of the time the wool dictates where it wants to go.
What did you want to be when growing up? I always wanted to be a vet, I love animals. I just make them now as opposed to fix them. I grew up in a tiny village surrounded by animals and pets, very much a country upbringing.
Tell us a secret Something silly that nobody knows I do every day at work. I have a couple of studio assistants but when they aren’t there, I will sit down and eat my lunch in front of an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. That’s my guilty pleasure. It’s really quite cheesy and a bit of a soap but I can just have a brain break in the midst of running a very busy business on my own.
Suzanne Breakwell What or who inspires you at the moment? The natural world, contemporary craft, stories and myth, old buildings… I really love the work of Dawn Stacey, Claire Wiltshire, Mark Demsteader and Carne Griffiths to name a few.
How long does it take you to create a piece of work? If I condense the time, a small garden bird I’m familiar with making will take roughly five hours over the course of two to three weeks. I start with a strong wire armature and then cover it in a papier-mâché - PVA glue and newspaper, the Guardian actually, because it uses brilliant quality paper. I tend to do them in stages as they need to dry out thoroughly.
Once I have covered them in papiermâché, they will sit on the radiator for a few weeks and then I get into the decorating stage. I hand paint ink patterns and merge colours on to cotton rag paper to create feathers and fur. Once dry, I tear the pages and start to build up the bird or animal. This can take quite a while. It’s a bit of a jigsaw puzzle and I also like to use text from relevant books where possible. Finally, I mount the piece onto seasoned wood and spray the finished piece with a protective UV paper varnish.
What is your greatest achievement? I’m a mum of two girls, aged 11 and 13, so I would say they are my biggest achievement, I love them to bits and love being a mum. I have always loved making so it’s really lovely that my work seems to be
making others happy and heading in a happy direction for me too.
What did you want to be when growing up? I always wanted to be involved in art in some way. When I was very young, I was given the opportunity to show a piece in the Herbert Gallery in Coventry, where I’m from. It was a painting of a small hedgehog with lovely, little pink feet. I was about six. That was a really big achievement and helped me to focus on what I could possibly achieve when I got older.
Tell us a secret I like to keep secrets so I don’t know I can tell you any at the moment. Oh, I do have one and it’s a bit controversial, I really like sprouts! Actually another one, when I pass a cat in the street I always meow to it in hope of starting a cat conversation.
Helen Godfrey Who or what inspires you at the moment? I have always been inspired by nature, I was born & still live in the countryside & find inspiration all around me. I have recently discovered a love for photography & love to go out early in the morning to photograph the wildlife. The bird table just outside my window is also a constant source of inspiration.
How long does it take you to create a piece of work? It can take anything from a day to a month depending on what I’m making. I didn’t ever go to art school so am not sure of the “proper” way of doing things, I don’t make any preparatory drawings, I go straight in with the wire, & quite often things will decide for themselves how they will turn out. It’s a fairly harsh material to be working
with everyday, & my arms used to be covered in scratches, but after years of practice, that doesn’t happen very often now
What did you want to be when growing up? I remember when I was very young watching ‘Born Free’ & decided I wanted to have the same sort of life as Joy Adamson. When my own children were at primary school I often helped in school with their art projects & decided to do some papier-mâché with the children, as it was so enjoyable I started doing it at home & some of the first things I made were giraffes, cheetahs & guinea fowl, & that was the nearest I ever got to having that dream life of Joy Adamson’s! Eventually I began using wire for the armatures for my papiermâché work & over time the wire just took over.
Important Dates
at The Mulberry Tree Gallery and in Purbeck
5th Mar
Swanage Blues Festival
28th Mar
Mulberry Tree Gallery “Spring is in the Hare” Show
2nd May
Mulberry Tree Gallery Sasha Harding “A Brush with the Coast” book signing
23rd May Purbeck Art Weeks Festival 10th July Swanage Jazz Festival 18th July Mulberry Tree Gallery Summer Show starts 25th July Swanage Carnival 7th Aug
Swanage Lifeboat Week
27th Aug Purbeck Valley Folk Festival 11th Sept Swanage Folk Festival 19th Sept Swanage Walking Festival 1st Oct
Swanage Blues Festival
17th Oct
Mulberry Tree Gallery 25% off Framing (1 day only)
21st Nov Mulberry Tree Gallery Christmas Window
* Dates listed denote the start of each event
Get Creative
Competition Time! Your chance to win a limited edition hare print by
Carolyn Pavey worth ÂŁ115
Email us an image of your drawing, painting, photograph, sculpture, textile or any other medium of a hare. We’ll choose our favourite and the print will wing its way to your door.
Send to: info@mulberrytreegallery.co.uk *competition not open to professional artists. Closing date the 25th April 2015. Winner chosen by The Mulberry Tree Gallery
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t: (01929) 423141 e: info@mulberrytreegallery.co.uk
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