Sussex Arts Collective

Sussex Arts Collective COLLE CTIONS 2020 ONE The Cuckmere Room Crypt Gallery, Church Street, Seaford, Saturday 22nd February until Thursday 19th March 2020. Open 10am – 4pm Mon – Sat (closed Wednesdays), Sundays 12 noon – 3pm. FREE ENTRY to exhibition and medieval undercroft.

As the gloom of winter lifts and the buds of spring begin to shoot the welcome return of the Sussex Arts Collective to the Cuckmere Room at the Crypt Gallery will further cheer the heart.

Their ever popular small-scale events, which are a hybrid of craft fair and fine art exhibition, have proved to be a real hit, showcasing and selling artwork at affordable prices. The group will be back staging another eightmonth long COLLECTIONS 2020 exhibitions as well as two large-scale shows extending into the Flint Gallery for Artwave 2020 and in December.

Over the year you will be treated to a real visual feast of the highest quality hand-crafted art and craft works in wood, silver, oil and acrylic paint, ink, photography, glass, resin, stone and ceramics, all presented with flair in a way that only the Sussex Arts Collective knows how. On entering you will be warmly welcomed and put at ease in the relaxed and informal atmosphere of the gallery so you can take your time to soak up and enjoy the work.

Sussex has always attracted creative people who are looking for that spark of inspiration which they naturally find in bucket loads in our county. Amongst them is the Isfield printmaker Karen Potter, whose work will be on display in COLLECTIONS 2020 ONE and is the subject of this month’s spotlight.

COLLECTIONS 2020 ONE SPOTLIGHTKaren Potter Karen works in a contemporary style using lithograph and linocuts. Born in Maidstone, she moved to London in the early 1970s, abandoning a place at Maidstone Art College for a brief career as a dancer and the lure of London life. Moving to Brighton with her partner Brian, she raised a family and finally returned to studies to achieve her ambition to paint. Inspired by German printmaker Kathe Kollwitz, she enrolled in a course at the University of Brighton in the early 1990s and became completely hooked on the ancient art of printmaking.

Lithograph works on the principal that oil and water do not mix. The image is drawn on stone or a treated metal plate using a greasy crayon or ink. The image is fixed to the surface with chemicals; ink is rolled onto the stone/plate and will only stick to the greasy area. Finally it is transferred to the paper via the press. Layers of colour are built up working from light to dark.

Karen’s images have a strong sense of place inspired by the light, sea and landscape of Sussex and Connemara on the west coast of Ireland, where she makes an annual pilgrimage every September. ‘My partner, Brian, is a musician and plays at a wonderful Arts Festival in Clifden, Co Galway, where I am lucky to show my work too. We stayed for 3 months in 2018 overlooking Ballynakill Bay. I took my press and worked in situ. I love nothing more than being immersed in printing and responding to the wild surroundings, and capture it as soon as I can. Currently I am fascinated by moonlight on the downs and the wonderful Wolf Moons.’

Karen is not only a member of the Sussex Art Collective but also The Printmakers Council, BIP Art in Brighton and The Printhouse Fiveways Group.