Patterns, Pots & Plants
4 - 30 July 2024
Lucy Mathers and Susan Webb became friends when they met at an exhibition where it soon became apparent they had a mutual love of pattern and patterns in nature. They also share a passion for collage and creating their own unique papers for their paintings.
In Patterns, Pots and Plants they display a cohesive body of work inspired by things they see around them alongside a little touch of imagination – everyday objects in everyday settings and, of course, patterns
FREE Gallery Entry Tuesdays to Saturdays 11:00am - 4:30pm
The Three Hares Gallery, Cowper & Newton Museum, Orchard Side, Market Place, Olney, Bucks, MK46 4AJ
Susan Webb
I have always been a creative person, but felt there was something hidden deep within me that I needed to ‘find’.
Seven years ago I went to a two hour watercolour workshop, where we all painted the same picture. I knew that style of art wasn’t for me, but it ignited a passion. I started on a journey that I hope never ends.
I joined a weekly art class that exposed me to different styles and media, and through that I found I was drawn to collage, patterns and colours.
I can become completely absorbed experimenting with paint and paper and make most of my collage papers myself. I build my work up in layers, never quite knowing where it is going. I like each piece to develop organically.
I feel inspired by the patterns of nature, and enjoy sketching outdoors to absorb the feelings of my surroundings.
Lucy Mathers
A gift I remember receiving as a child was a really long plastic packet of felt-tipped pens. So exciting to see all those colours lined up in a row. Another favourite was a pattern colouring book. Geometric patterns made of simple shapes like triangles and squares. About eight designs that repeated throughout the book. Hours spent at the dining table finding ways to use the pattern to create new shapes, and exploring colours, making sure each page was different!
Into adulthood the patterns took a different form: computing, data analysis, statistics – looking for patterns in information… and anomalies.
Now patterns are present in my paintings: almost a full circle back to those childhood days. I’m currently in love with experimenting and exploring the nuance in pattern. The familiar and the unfamiliar, unexpected changes or breaks in pattern. Patterns in places we might not expect. They help or hinder what we are seeing.
The body of work you see in this exhibition, alongside Susan’s, explores our shared love of patterns with still life, botanical and floral subjects: our pots and plants!
Stories about the exhibits
Here you will find snippets of information about some of the paintings in the exhibition, it might be stories about their process or the ideas behind their creation
Reflected roses
As part of Gabriella Buckingham's Experimental Still Life course I decided to work on some paintings of vessels at my parents house, on top of a background collaged with printed geometric patterns. This painting originally nick-named “me and my shadow” sat for a good year before it was finally completed. I realised it needed "something else", I increased the size one of the geometric patterns and gel printed it on tissue; it still needed more. I remembered my mum has a round stained glass piece hanging in (a different) doorway, and thought about our mutual love of Art Deco / Charles Rennie Mackintosh, there the idea was borne to do a reflection of a roses stained-glass design on the "wall" and the painting got it’s final title. Below are some images showing how the painting progressed.
Gel-printed pattern on tissue added
First pass “me and my shadow”
Final “stained glass” design in my sketchbook
Art-deco “stained glass” design ideas
Holding the painting perpendicular to the “stained glass” at the window
The “stained glass” - acrylic on plastic sheet
Forget all the other roses
The inspiration for this painting was a dried rose from flowers I received for my birthday. I made a more realistic painting of the flowers first but wanted to focus more on the rose: to add more pattern, more colour, more ‘me’! The title ‘Forget all the other roses’ comes from a quote by Matisse
— ‘There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.’
Tulip lasagne, Taking stock and Bursting radiance
Three tulip paintings exploring collage, decollage (removing collage through ripping or cutting) and re-collage (adding back pieces that have been removed). These multi-layered paintings also contain subtle tulip shapes using masks and ink glazes and patterned tissue circles and spots. The tulips themselves are created with a variety of painted or printed collage papers and inks.
Tulip lasagne was awarded Highly Commended in The Heseltine Gallery Open Exhibition, November - December, 2023
These two videos show parts of the process of Tulip lasagne in development. The first one shows me printing circle patterns on tissue paper, the second video shows me gluing some of the tissue papers onto the wood panel.
It also shows the glazing process - please excuse my head getting in the way and the dodgy camera shots while trying to glaze and hold the camera!
At the end of the second video you will see a quick introduction to all three paintings.
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