artist – devizine.com

If you ever stopped to wonder how many artists live locally, drop into St Mary’s in Devizes, because you’ll be impressed by the annual exhibit of the Lawrence Art Society, currently running until next Thursday, the 9th July, and it’s a mixed bag of works from some of the finest local artists……

Named after Devizes’ most famous artist, Sir Thomas Lawrence, a child prodigy whose early career began here when his parents owned the Bear Hotel, in association, the Lawrence Art Society has been running since his time, but was formally established in Devizes in 1953. The Lawrence Art Society is a community of artists of all skill levels and media from Devizes and the surrounding areas. Membership of the group connects you to like-minded individuals, where you can share experiences and continue to grow in your chosen medium.

Much of the art on display at St Mary’s is up for sale, at reasonable prices, and there’s prints and greeting cards too. Browse through the pews, for while in previous years this showstopper was held at the Town Hall, now it is at St Mary’s Arts Centre on New Park Street. I must suppose there’s perhaps advantages and disadvantages to the new location. Starting with the positives, it’s a much more airy space where you can wander, and with the pews separating the artworks, encourages the viewer to focus from afar and, should they be tempted, cruise the canal between the pews for a closer look.

Obviously, you can also take a seat too, which you couldn’t do before! Yet herein lies one negative, St Mary’s needs some facilities, a tea & coffee hub would be ideal, then people would really be encouraged to sit and browse for longer. The one other issue I find is location, whereas The Town Hall may’ve given footfall from random passers-by, you’d have to know there’s a show on at St Mary’s; hence this article!

And, if you usually go to an art exhibition they generally run on a theme if not solely presenting one artist. The magic of this Lawrence Art Society, aside from the professionalism of all the works, is the variety on display. Mostly painting but of all movements and styles, there’s a few, and incredible I must say, wire sculptures of nature.

Some abstract, impressionism and expressionism, a few cubist, of varying and sporadic subjects. Lots of still life, imaginings and even satire, but mostly there’s some spectacular fine art in oils or watercolours, of landscapes you’ll recognise on local travels. The depictions of Wiltshire’s rolling downs and stupendous skies, alongside interpretations of The Market Place and other Devizes locations. It’s all magnificent and with such a wide variety, it maintains your attention.

While Simon Bishop and Alan Watters are two exhibiting who I know their works well, others by Stephen Benison, Brenda Loveland, Paul Oakley, Jean Perrett and over 16 artists make for an impressive show, but when asked to pencil down my favourite I stumbled at the choice on offer, and with such a wide variety of styles, it’s tricky! In the end I went with this fiendish yet evocative oil of Harlequin; it was probably the legs which did it for me, but I’ll say it was the mood of the brushstrokes!

I’ve taken snaps of only a fewest of the hundreds on display, and they do them no justice. So, take an hour off of town’s bustle, and browse this wonderful exhibit before it closes on the 9th July.

And if you’re an artist you might wish to sign up. The Society hosts monthly demonstrations, organises regular en plein air outings, weekly and monthly social painting get-togethers, an annual art exhibition, and provides links to local exhibitions and other art groups. But most of all, it provides a friendly environment where you can share your experiences and continue to grow in your abilities. This annual exhibition showcases precisely this ethos, and is worthy of your time.

Wondering where the time goes, it’s been near on a couple of years since we featured Devizes artist Bryony Cox, when she exhibited her paintings in Upstairs at Jacks. At the time Bryony had not long graduated from Falmouth Uni. Since completing her studies, she has travelled extensively throughout Asia.

“I’m now doing an MA in actor musicianship at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama,” she informed me to minor surprise, aware Bryony has performed and sung in local dramatics such as the White Horse Opera and Devizes Musical Theatre in the past. “But I’ve kept my studio in Trowbridge and still produce artwork alongside. Sometimes I have been able to use my visual skills exploring theatre making and performance.”

Personally, I’ve always been taken by her dramatic landscapes and fascination with mountains, yet I’ve always been a fan of Turner, and there’s something equally as expressive and unified in Bryony’s. There is, however, a variety in her enlarged portfolio since we last spoke, some figure and settings work inspired from her travels, sketched miniatures, and she has been using mixed-media, charcoal and pastel for example, and experimentation with college, even animation. And there’s no better time to browse Bryony’s website, as she offers 20% off and 50% on some of her older works, with 20% donated to the NHS. See for yourself on her website, here.

These connections between art and performing arts captivates me, aside the name arts, and primary school drama class where I had to pretend to be a tree! So, I asked Bryony if she thinks there are similar work practices in theatre to art, and in what ways.

“I’m quite interested in the crossover between theatre and performance art,” she explained. “I have started bringing film back into my work and my research on my MA has been about performing alongside film projections of drawings, animations and audio overlays. But I have always kept drawing and painting Wiltshire alongside because of the beautiful countryside and still keep drawing portraits from any travels that I have been on as I love to document different people and cultures.”

We are lucky to live in an area where artists feel their home is an equally inspiring subject as their travels. In this much I see a likeness to Clifton Powell’s work, another well-travelled local artist who documents his journeys through his art, yet returning to Wiltshire often produces some equally outstanding pieces.

It’s worthwhile bookmarking Bryony’s site as she frequently updates it with new work. “More recently I have been to Vietnam and Indonesia,” she told me, “so some of my more recent portraits that I am going to put up today are from that trip.” We look forward to seeing them!