Gwen Shackleton

 

 

Meet Gwen Shackleton, here above holding onto her work 'Tom Tom' which is a drawing of her son. Gwen came to hang the exhibition with her husband, John. They describe themselves collectively as 2D and 3D as Gwen paints and draws, and John makes jewellery and wooden items. John also brought a full tool kit to hang the works and they did all the work themselves choosing layouts and hanging the art. I just got to sit on the floor and ask them questions.

 

Gwen has a studio at Ribble Valley Art Studios, which is a new venture in the heart of Clitheroe, click here to find out more about them.

 

Gwen is a traveller and has lived in many places all over the world and this has influenced her art. Her and John have lived in Belgium, France, Indonesia and work on show has also been created in Mauritius, Spain and Clitheroe.

 

Gwen is inspired by colour and says she can "get quite passionate about colour" and it can take her in an abstract or a figurative direction.

 

So without further ado (I know I've made you wait for this), let's have a look at her work on display and in close up and talk a little more about the stories behind some of the pieces.

The work above is called 'Cirebon Sawah' and is available as a high quality limited edition print, unframed, for only £30.

After Dinner and A taste of Shellfish on display, close ups are further down.

Tanjung Lesung Sawah and Indonesian Sunset on display, both available as limited edition prints (unframed) for only £30.

 

The original of Indonesian Sunset is a very large work, about 8 foot by 6 foot, and now lives in Mexico.

Foret de Saou, above is an original acrylic on canvas and represents the view from Gwen and John's house in France.

Whalley Viaduct is a new work, an original acrylic on board, £300 and is an interesting new approach, the work is 3D (John's influence perhaps?) and all the aspects which are furthest away in reality are closest to you the viewer.

Sawah Sunset on display, again available as a high quality limited edition print, unframed, for only £30. Next to it is Colourful Mr Peake, and there is a close up below.

 

Sawah means rice paddy incidentally.

Slice of TL

Acrylic on Canvas

NFS

A Taste of Shellfish

Water Soluble Pencil on Paper

£100

 

After Dinner

Water Soluble Pencil on Paper

£100

Colourful Mr Peake

Pencil on Paper

NFS

 

The above work is inspired by Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels and Gwen created a sketch based on everytime he mentioned colour.

Tom Tom

Water Soluble Pencil on Paper

NFS

Visual Overload

Acrylic on Canvas

Original (NFS) but available as a high quality limited edition print, unframed, for only £30.

 

Visual Overload above was inspired by Gwen's arrival in Indonesia where she was blown away in the first week. It's a "painter's paradise".

 

The top work is a sunset over Jakarta where the sun sets gloriously almost every night.

 

The second section is vegetation, 'puncak' and was inspired by an area of Jungle which also included some residential space and was a favourite walk.

 

The third is the beach, the beach in question is on the west coast of Java, near Krakatoa and is where John and Gwen own a beach house.

 

The fourth, is a view of the Thousand Islands, which is a paradise for diving and snorkelling.

 

Ok, hands up who just moved Indonesia to the top of their dream holiday list? Me!

 The tourist information lot should employ Gwen.

 

Anyway, as always, try and come see the exhibition in person, the colours are so much more vivid in real life.

 

 

Ta Ra,

 

 

Kirsty