[P]resently on show at Penrith and Eden Museum is a selection of works in various media by artists with local connections.
These were all acquired by the Museum in more recent years and were made by Sarah Jane Bellwood, Kate Bentley, David Boyd, William S. Cowper, Lorna Graves, Nick Jones, Julian Longcake, Jessica Mills, Phil Morsman, Stella Platt, Annabelle Smith and Alan Stones.
Photography is also represented in a selection of photographs by Bert Whalley from his ‘People of Eden’ series.
The watercolours of Sarah Bellwood, who specialises in minutely observed old kitchen utensils and insects are inspired by recollections of her childhood in the Eden area.
The drawings are shown alongside material from the Museum’s collection of bygones and curiosities including a mahogany case of butterflies and old ‘kitchenalia’ including some oblique bladed cake knives, survivals from the former Penrith Co-operative in Burrowgate; Kate Bentley’s work is a landscape ‘Storm Over Blencathra’.
There is also an limited edition paper bag by Mark Huit, part of the FRED event staged in 2004. This was part of a string of artists’ installations across the county which at Penrith and Eden Museum featured an unusual offer of a free limited edition art ‘Bag’. From outside the county there is an original political cartoon by Rowel Friers featuring Lord William Whitelaw which was gifted to the Museum by Lady Whitelaw.
From much further afield is an oil painting by the Australian artist Warwick Fuller. This was presented by Alderman Brian King, Mayor of Penrith, Australia, in June 1990 and is titled ‘Morning Shadows. Emu Plain’.
The subject is the landscape to the west of the Nepean River which runs through the City of Penrith. The gift commemorated the signing of a ‘Sister City Agreement’ on 23 November 1989 between Eden District and Penrith Australia. In 2012 Warwick Fuller accompanied His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall as their Official Tour Artist, during their tour of Australia.
The Prince of Wales was already familiar with his work, of which he is an admirer, through a gallery in London.
