Members of Green Door, the region’s longest-established artists’ collective, are heading to Grasmere for their first group exhibition of the year. The exhibition at Grasmere Village Hall will include a diverse and exhilarating range of 2D and 3D work from more almost half of the group’s 110 members.
“Changing colours, atmosphere and light over the course of a season, or even a day, just outside my front door have provided me with inspiration for the work I am exhibiting,” said Kath Lockhart. “My inspiration has come also from the many abandoned and disused barns around Dentdale and beyond. The weathered stones and painted door, there for decades, are testament to these buildings’ history.”
Ceramicist John Davenport is currently exploring the use of coloured porcelain slips over a craft crank body, resulting in a more ‘painted’ appearance and extending the range of colours available at stoneware temperatures. His stoneware pieces range from organic shapes, often drawn from the natural world, to symbolic, abstract forms with hints of ritual and ceremony.
Anne MacKinnon’s studio at Farfield Mill near Sedbergh in the Yorkshire Dales is set in the midst of magnificent countryside with an endless source of inspiration just outside the door. She often works outside, experiencing the changing skies, weather and seasons, and develops these paintings further in the studio to capture the changing moods, colour and light of these dramatic landscapes. In her painting ‘Moonlight’, she was captivated by how the vibrant colours in the landscape were highlighted by the moon.
Other exhibitors include Judith Horsley, Gordon Baddeley, David Pooley, Jamie Barnes, Delcia McNeil, Sally Bamber, Frances Winder, Ray Green, Jan Huntley Peace and Richard Light.
“Grasmere Village Hall is a new venue for Green Door – and an exciting one in the heart of the Lake District,” said Green Door Administrator, Janice Benson. “Unusually for us, this is an open exhibition – one with no theme – as we wanted to ensure that as many of our members as possible were able to exhibit their work. Our membership has grown steadily over the last few years and this exhibition will be a marvellous showcase for work from new and long-standing members. We hope that visitors will make the most of the spring weather and enjoy some of the best contemporary work from artists practising in Cumbria today.”
