Creative ELEMENTS because of lockdown

by Alison Shelton Brown November 5, 2021

Elements exhibition Malthouse Gallery Lyme Regis

A contemporary art and craft exhibition in Lyme Regis

During the pandemic many people turned to art activities to stave off boredom or because they had more time. For Daniel Richardson and Hazel Dormer it was the chance to get creative again, thirty-five years after we had been at Middlesex Poly together. ‘Elements’ is the result of online conversations with me over the past few years to recover dormant skills as lockdown gave them both the space and time to experiment. This show has also provided a chance for other established artists to keep motivated and working when Covid closed galleries and outlets.

Here is an opportunity to look at paintings, photography and videos, try on jewellery, and handle a mug or bowl for real, all at affordable prices. Work inspired by the landscape of the Jurassic Coast, which was even more precious when we were unable to travel.

Jonathan Mulvaney

Jonathan Mulvaney, a participant in Sky Arts’ ‘Landscape Artist of the Year 2020’ gets up with the birds to patiently record the ebb and flow of early mornings by the harbour at Lyme Regis. Impressionist artists such as Monet and Whistler, inspire animal-lover Hazel Dormer to subtly layer brush strokes to achieve a shimmering multi-coloured view of local landmarks and inhabitants of the tideline. A pinprick of time is captured by Robin Shelton using a pinhole camera created from a matchbox. By using ancient photography techniques, he bypasses chemicals completely to create prints using plants and flowers.

Hazel Dormer Robin Shelton

Daniel Richardson, who worked with the late master potter, Robin Welch has thrown a new body of work for this show, drawing inspiration from another master of throwing Dame Lucie Rie. I met Charlie Salaman while studying for a Masters degree at Bath School of Art, since then he has developed glaze and textures to create simple vessels featuring layered surfaces with complex colours. If you've read any of my previous blogs you will know that I am ever mindful of the human impact on our natural world, and can often be found scouring the foreshore of beaches along the South West coast searching for materials to use in my environmental ceramic sculpture, jewellery and videos. Lyme Regis has long been regarded as a site of creative inspiration for novelists, artists and of course fossil hunters. I use ammonites found there to texture porcelain for my statement jewellery.

Daniel Richardson Charlie Salaman Alison Shelton BRown