Georgina Fermer

Georgina was trained was at Hornsey College of Art, London, in the 1960's and she has been painting ever since.  The paintings evolve out of a slow, contemplative process, adjusting colours, shapes and spaces until she is surprised and excited by what is on the canvas. Her work enables her to be part of universal creative energy, giving her a chance to express through “feeling” the tensions and positive dynamic of life. Battered, stirred and moved by the strength of the impact and flow of life, the experience is moulded into images.

There are certain motifs that have arisen repeatedly over the years and not always from a conscious choice. Such themes are open landscape areas, forests and the sea, architectural spaces, and the vibrancy of colour itself. As the painting develops, the feeling and the energy it generates may move away from the original inspiration, making unplanned shifts until it finds its own dynamic.

Her hope is that the viewer is drawn into the surface of the painting and into its shapes and colours, enabling their imagination to find their own meaning or feeling about the work.

Contact details: 01300 348902 georginafermer@googlemail.com

David Marl

David Marl grew up in South Wales and South London. He originally trained at Kingston School of Art and the Royal College of Art as a designer in stained glass. Since then he has worked as a teacher and a non-stipendiary Anglican priest.

His paintings are, for the most part, small, and invite us into a world that is sometimes familiar and sometimes lies on the edge of dream. The influences on his work are far ranging, but include; Medieval English stained glass, Persian & Indian painting, early Renaissance altar pieces and the English visionary tradition of art, particularly William Blake, Samuel Palmer & Cecil Collins.

David paints regularly, but shows infrequently, most recently during Dorset Art Weeks 2012.

Contact Details:  David Marl, ARCA  Bow Cottage, Shute Lane  Iwerne Minster  DT11 8LZ  01747 812048  bowshute@tiscali.co.uk

Elaine Collett - Visual Artist

Elaine Collett studied Fine Art at the University of Reading and the Arts University College Bournemouth.  She is a painter whose practice explores the visual and emotional power of colour, distilling the atmosphere of layered memory and experience, by means of the painted mark.

Work is informed by painterly tradition and contemporary issues, is usually abstract and made in response to direct personal perception of landscape and environment, the rural, the urban; their juxtapositions, and the interaction of humanity on both.

The joyous nature of green in particular as perceived within a rural environment is explored in paintings that seek to translate feeling in their orchestration of colour and distillation of memory, thus evoking resonance, recognition and contemplation in the audience.

Contact details: t. 01258 472844 m. 07787 522597  e. emcollett@hotmail.com w. www.dorsetshire.com/emc

Mary has worked in a range of media over the years, including oils, acrylic, pencil, charcoal, pastels, ink, monotype and mixed media. She also uses fillers and collage materials, scraping and sanding away the surface to reveal the history of the artwork. A number of years were spent focussing on sculpture and ceramics, and printmaking techniques have been incorporated in her work. Invariably the work is based in drawing, although the finished product is often quite abstract in character.

Mary makes drawings from observations, occasionally backed up by photographs, and when working from the model likes quick poses.  She is interested in capturing rhythm and space in two dimensions, where drawings are useful if the speed, movement, mood, gesture and dynamic marks are evident.

Her work is impressive; she likes the emotive power of colour and is not afraid of it. The by-products of exploring a theme may become artworks in their own right. This exploration will invariably have used a range of media, techniques and materials.

Mary lives and works in Child Okeford, and has taught ceramics and painting.  Artists she admires include Max Beckman, Alexei Jawlensky, Gillian Ayers, Malcolm Morley, and Sigmar Polke.

Recent exhibitions include the following:

Stark Gallery, London, Deptford, London  Kerala, India, Salisbury Galleries  Art in Child Okeford, oole, Dorset  Slade Centre, Gillingham, Rook Lane Chapel, Frome  Eype Centre for the Arts, Brockley Open Studios, London  The Exchange, Sturminster Newton' Earth gallery, Portland  Blandford 400', Red Biddy Gallery, Guildford  Wills Art Warehouse, London, Woodlands Art Gallery, London

Contact details: Mary Tambini  Old Union Arms, Station Road, Child Okeford, DT11 8EL  Phone 01258 860516  Email postmaster@marytambini.demon.co.uk  Website www.marytambini.com

Ray Southwell  

Ray was trained as a painter and teacher and taught in schools in Hertfordshire and Nottingham and in colleges of education in Coventry and Oxford.

During this time it was important to become skilled in pottery and ceramic sculpture, screen printing and rug weaving, which he has continued to produce over the years.

His landscape paintings derive from something seen and studied in pencil, pen and ink or water colour. Still life images are from direct observation as are the figure studies in a variety of media.

Ray has worked very seriously and has been a full time artist for the past 25 years. Exhibiting widely in the South West and in France, where he travels and paints every summer.

Donald Melvin

Donald Melvin spent six years at the Glasgow School of Art, in the 1960’s, which he enjoyed immensely.   He painted, drew, looked at architecture, both inside and outside, made furniture, stained glass, jewellery and lots of other things besides.

When he was at the GSA a spade was always called a spade, or shovel if you like, and art was always described in clear terms. ‘If you look hard enough you might just be able to understand what you are looking at. Then, if you are lucky enough to be able to use your intellect, you might be able to produce an art work. Look, analyse, understand, describe and then jump into your imagination.’

Looking and trying to understand are what the little sketch book drawings are all about, the excitement of a new place and vision.

The drawings of Blandford try to give a personal view of what makes these buildings unique and enjoyable to look at and maybe they might make the viewer look again at the familiar scenes?

During his career, teaching a variety of subjects from Environmental Art & Design to Life Drawing and even Building Construction and I. T., in a variety of art schools, from Belfast to Lancaster and southerly to Bournemouth, it was the use of informed imagination that Donald tried to instil in his students.

After all this time he is still trying to do the same thing himself.