Rex Preston
British Landscapes Exhibition
“Having carefully set aside a varied selection of my canvases painted over the last two years, I wanted this exhibition to illustrate my passion for the landscape. The Derbyshire Dales have been the main source of inspiration for this show, but no exhibition of mine would be complete without including the dramatic landscape of the Lake District or the rugged coastline of South West Cornwall.The tranquil atmosphere of a summer trip to the Thornham marshes and creeks in Norfolk provided a welcome contrast.” Rex Preston, May 2014.
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 semi-abstract 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 first solo exhibition of Rex’s work in Bath.
Cover Image - Autumn Leaves, River Derwent - 20 x 24 inches 2.
Rex Preston
British Landscapes Exhibition
18 - 31 May 2014
All work is for sale on receipt of this brochure Open every day from 10 am. All works are Oil paintings.
3.
Autumn Reflections, Dovedale - 40 x 40 inches 4.
October Colours, Buttermere - 30 x 30 inches
5.
Autumn Mist, River Derwent 8 x 8 inches
Autumn, River Wye, Chee Dale - 16 x 16 inches
November Colours, Chee Dale 8 x 8 inches 6.
Marsh Marigolds, Bradford Dale, Derbyshire - 30 x 30 inches
7.
Morning Mist, Wolfscote Dale - 30 x 30 inches
8.
Pathway through the Woods - 30 x 30 inches
9.
Field of Daffodils - 10 x 10 inches
Spring Sunlight - 20 x 20 inches
10.
Late October, Wye Dale - 16 x 16 inches
Daffodils at the Old Nurseries - 16 x 16 inches
11.
Early Autumn, Dovedale - 16 x 16 inches
12.
Autumn Sunlight, Biggin Dale - 16 x 16 inches
River Dove in Spring - 12 x 12 inches Reflections in the River Wye, Chee Dale - 16 x 14 inches
13.
Shades of Autumn, Chee Dale - 24 x 48 inches
14.
Autumn Golds, Beresford Dale - 12 x 12 inches
September Sunlight, Dovedale - 12 x 12 inches
15.
Sunlit Grasses, Totley Moss, North Derbyshire - 12 x 32 inches
Sunset, Derwent Moor, Derbyshire - 12 x 24 inches 16.
Late September, Curbar Gap - 16 x 16 inches
Morning Light, Ullswater - 24 x 24 inches
17.
Cotton Grass, White Path Moss, Hallam Moors - 20 x 20 inches
18.
Early Spring, Dovedale - 20 x 20 inches
Sunlit Grasses, Zennor Head - 8 x 16 inches
Dog Roses, Thornham Salt Marsh, Norfolk - 12 x 24 inches 19.
Calm Spring Day, Cornwall - 8 x 16 inches
October, Crummock Water - 8 x 16 inches 20.
Longships Lighthouse, Cornwall - 16 x 16 inches
Reflected Light, Thornham Harbour, Norfolk - 16 x 16 inches
21.
Summer’s Day, Thornham Creek, Norfolk 10 x 10 inches Afternoon Sunlight, Cornish Cliffs - 20 x 20 inches
22.
Sunny Spring Day, Trevean Cliffs, Cornwall 12 x 12 inches
Clear Blue Sky, Thornham, Norfolk 12 x 12 inches
23.
Hot July Afternoon, Thornham Marshes, Norfolk - 14 x 16 inches
Red Rag Gallery 24 Brock Street Bath BA1 2LN t: 01225 332223 e: redrag@bathartgallery.co.uk www.bathartgallery.co.uk