Showing posts with label IOW Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IOW Culture. Show all posts

> LISA TRAXLER - DECADE

Quay Arts, Newport, IOW
2 October 2014 



Lisa Traxler - Celebrates a decade of painting on the Isle of Wight. We visit Quay Arts to find out how her life experiences have helped her to create some very interesting and beautiful abstract Art.

Lisa's paintings are bold abstracts, acrylic on canvas, which are reminiscent of the St Ives tradition of modernism. Her palette echoes the landscape: gull colour greys, warm burnt sienna and soft fluid blues. Her mark making is loose and broad with thin thread marks leading the eye as they weave through the painting.

Having previously been involved in the fashion industry in London as a Fashion Editor and Costume Designer the move to the Isle of Wight and a change of career as an artist was a brave move. Lisa's experiences of travelling extensively in her previous job have been a huge influence in her artwork and have made her more aware of the sense of where she is, hence her preoccupation with 'place'.
She does not plan her paintings but lets her subconscious mark making lead the way. It is this unknown that Lisa strives for in her work, a spontaneity without expectation.

Lisa has exhibited widely in the UK. Her work can be seen regularly on the Island at the Seaview Gallery and during Open Studios. She is a member of NAPA (National Acrylic Painters Association) and an Associate Member of The National Society (of Painters, Sculptors & Printmakers). She exhibits regularly with both groups.




With her move to the Island in 2004, Lisa has since produced a prolific body of work in a variety of studios across the Island: aboard a houseboat in Bembridge, an old warehouse in Wootton Bridge, Jubilee Stores studios in Newport, a Grand Design studio in Ryde to her present studio located on the south of the Island in a WWII Nissen Hut. It was fascinating to see how her studio spaces had shaped and influenced her work.

02/10/14 - I had the pleasure of talking with Lisa during the preview evening, she was very pleased with the way that the show had come together. She also said that gathering her past works and seeing them hung together with more recent pieces had been a very emotional journey.

Do make time to take a look at Lisa's website, where you can also enjoy images and words about her sculpture and works on paper. Exhibition runs Friday 3 October to Saturday 22 November 2014.




10 out of 10!


> CENTENARY SHOWCASE

Trinity Theatre, Cowes, IOW
20 September 2014 


Trinity Theatre - The iconic Theatre in Cowes celebrated it's 100th year by hosting two evenings of sparkling musical numbers and hilarious excerpts from headlining plays. We went along to show our support and to enjoy a brilliant evening of live theatre - in our own town.

We could not resist this opportunity to go and enjoy this Centenary Celebration! An evening to show our support to the cast and volunteers who keep this important Theatre living and breathing. A strong cast of regulars gave a wonderful performance to an enthusiastic local audience. Popular musical numbers from headlining shows kept our toes tapping, while hilarious - innuendo laden radio style renditions of sketches from 'Allo Allo' and 'Are you being served?' made us whoop with joy! Smutty and just the right side of rude!

Trinity Theatre has been the home of the Cowes Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society (CAODS) since 1897. The Society has a proud history of staging many successful musicals, operettas, plays and concerts... Long may this continue.

Thank you to Mark and Helen for helping to make this a very memorable eve out. I hope to make some time to volunteer with the team who keep the Theatre going. More details about supporting and membership can be found HERE




10 out of 10!


> JULIA MARGARET CAMERON

Dimbola Lodge, Isle of Wight
25 August 2014


Dimbola Lodge - The Isle of Wight home of Julia Margaret Cameron, the celebrity image maker of her time... 

Dimbola Lodge was the home of the celebrated Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron. It is now a Museum and Gallery dedicated to her life and work, which also showcases contemporary exhibitions from photographers around the globe.

Imagine this... It's a rainy Bank Holiday Monday, you have friends staying, you all like photography and an indoor culture fix is very much needed... What to do...?

Dimbola Lodge was the only option! During our visit we enjoyed a wonderful talk given by one of the enthusiastic volunteers. His name was John Evans and his forty minute conversation with us certainly helped to bring the photographic works, the Lodge and indeed the pioneering Julia to life. He was knowledgeable, passionate and fun... what a treat.

The two images below are 150 years old... They look so fresh, so now. Julia Margaret Cameron admired Renaissance art, you can see this in her work.  


 Ellen Terry photographed in 1864 by Julia Margaret Cameron

 
1867 "Iago, Study from an Italian" - Angelo Colarossi


Do go and visit this wonderful museum, it needs your support and it is well worth the £5 entry.



10 out of 10!


>VENTNOR FRINGE 2014

Ventnor, Isle of Wight
12 August 2014


The Ventnor Fringe 2014 - Celebrated being 5 this year and is gaining an unstoppable momentum. VF14 ran from 12th to the 17th August and was busier than ever! Lock-ins, take-overs and and pop-ups helped to create a buzzing creative vibe that could not be dampened by the typically shabby August weather. Long live VF!

Originally created by a team of local students in 2010 the festival follows the core principles of the famous Edinburgh Fringe that inspired it, in which any artist can take part. Since then, the Ventnor Fringe has gradually grown into one of the Island’s most exciting new festivals, attracting more than 300 performers in 2013 from all over the world. Where else could you enjoy a midnight 'lock-in' at the Library, 'pop-up' cinemas, basement bars, pianos in the streets, gigs in locals' houses, mystery tours, woodland sing-alongs and intimate shows in and around an eclectic hillside town?


Him and Her are the Ventnor Darlings!

The Ventnor Arts Club


The creative hub of the festival is the newly refurbished Ventnor Arts club. Once the High Street home of Barclays, this venue is really trending with it's vintage 1920's inspired decor and cool bar area. The club also hosts many interesting music nights and cabaret events. We purchased tickets to see the hilarious 'Ventnor Darlings'... this is what the promotion literature had to say... "Reunited after years apart, The Ventnor Darlings are proud to be back where it all began so very long ago. This largely unrecognised, trend setting musical duo have set aside their differences for an evening of song, tales of their captivating yet sometimes turbulent past, and to share the story behind some of their biggest hits. Join them and their host for a nostalgic look back at the career of the unintentionally innovative, musically adequate, and entirely fictitious Ventnor Darlings".

We had a great time and the show was very amusing... the high point was the spoken word piece about Ventnor charity shops... "A pair of pottery Otters anyone...?"

To allow us to make the most of this brilliant event, we stayed in Ventnor on the opening nite at the Eversley Hotel. Before the gig we enjoyed a delicious meal at the beautiful Hillside Bistro on the High Street.




10 out of 10!