Rex Preston
British Landscapes Exhibition
Rex Preston Rex Preston was born in Yardley, Birmingham in 1948, but lived in various places around the Midlands until his family settled in Derbyshire when he was 15. He trained at Newcastle under Lyme School of Art and then Derby College of Art. This early training in life drawing and perspective proved invaluable to him. After college, Rex initially worked as a print designer, but never stopped painting in whatever spare time was available and soon began to sell several of his paintings. At the age of 21 he resigned from his job to concentrate on painting full time; a decision he has never regretted. In his early years as an artist, he painted a variety of subjects, but his interest in the countryside naturally led him towards landscape painting. In the 1990s, despite being a highly successful painter of traditional landscapes, Rex started experimenting with breaking the landscape down into simple colour tones, trying to see just the colour and not the detail. These more abstract paintings used all the same skills as his traditional ones, but focused on mood and colour. He continued experimenting but did not make any conscious decisions about his developing style; it just evolved over the years. ‘I went as far away from traditional as I could, almost abstract, and then came back to a style that is between abstract and representational. Maybe the label is semiabstract or abstracted landscapes.’ Today Rex Preston is one of the country’s leading landscape artists with a national and international reputation. Red Rag Gallery is delighted to be hosting this second solo exhibition of Rex’s work in Bath. “In the 2 years since my last solo exhibition at Red Rag, I have concentrated on painting the Lake District and Derbyshire with occasional trips to Cornwall and Norfolk.Walking in Derbyshire, whether in the dales and valleys or the high moorland areas, is a constant source of inspiration for my paintings, but many trips to the Lake District provide me with a very different landscape. The sun rising over the fells and lakes around Buttermere, or the sight from high on the fells of the early morning mist clearing over Windermere, were memorable days. A week with my son on the North Cornish Coast in spring became a week of painting vivid blue skies with bright yellow gorse, an exercise in capturing the strength of colour. I have painted poppies many times in Derbyshire, but the sight of so many poppies in Norfolk with the sea in the distance provided a completely different approach.” Rex Preston, 2016.
Cover Image - Dawn, Buttermere - 24 x 36 inches 2.
Rex Preston British Landscapes Exhibition 22nd May - 5th June 2016
All work is for sale on receipt of this brochure Open every day from 10 am. All works are Oil paintings.
3.
Porthmeor Beach, St. Ives 12 x 12 inches
4.
Woodland Footpath, near Seatoller, Borrowdale 12 x 12 inches
Mayblossom, Monk’s Dale 16 x 16 inches
Sea Lavender, Thornham Harbour, Norfolk 16 x 16 inches
5.
Warm Reflections, Monsal Dale 12 x 12 inches
6.
Forget-me-nots, Tideswell Dale, Derbyshire 12 x 12 inches
Sunny Morning, Norfolk Coast 8 x 8 inches
Narcissi at the Old Nurseries 10 x 10 inches
7.
Apple Blossom, Rosemergy, Cornwall 8 x 16 inches
8.
Cottage Garden 16 x 16 inches
Garden Flowers 16 x 16 inches
9.
Afternoon Sunlight, Crummock Water 8 x 8 inches
10.
Cottage by the Sea, Cornwall 10 x 10 inches
Clear Spring Day, Rosemergy, Cornwall 14 x 40 inches
11.
Summer Evening, St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall 8 x 16 inches
12.
St. Michael’s Mount, Marazion 12 x 12 inches
Early August, Burbage Moor 12 x 12 inches
13.
View from Burbage Moor, Derbyshire 20 x 20 inches
14.
Bluebells and Wood Anemones, Dovedale Woods 16 x 16 inches
Sunlight in the Valley, from Beeley Moor 12 x 32 inches
15.
Daybreak, near Buttermere 14 x 16 inches
16.
April Gorse, Crummock Water 16 x 16 inches
Shades of Autumn, Chee Dale 16 x 16 inches
Autumn Morning, River Derwent, near Calver 16 x 16 inches
17.
Sea Mist, Thornham, Norfolk 30 x 30 inches
18.
Clearing Mist, North Norfolk Coast 24 x 48 inches
19.
October Morning, Crummock Water 16 x 16 inches
20.
Autumn in Chee Dale 10 x 10 inches
Morning Light, River Brathay, near Elterwater 20 x 24 inches
21.
Heather and Willowherb, Curbar Gap 12 x 16 inches
22.
Sunshine and Cloud Shadows, White Edge Moor 14 x 40 inches
23.
Sunlight after the Rain, Crummock Water 24 x 24 inches
24.
Reflected Sunlight, Ullswater 24 x 24 inches
25.
Sunlight Through the Trees 16 x 16 inches
26.
Misty Autumn Day, Miller’s Dale 18 x 20 inches
27.
Early Morning, Windermere 36 x 42 inches
Red Rag Gallery 24 Brock Street Bath BA1 2LN t: 01225 332223 e: redrag@bathartgallery.co.uk www.bathartgallery.co.uk