Exhibitions
Of Land, Sea and Spirit
Colin Caffell, Mike Praed, John Piper, Jill Eisele & Paula Downing
‘Of Land, Sea and Spirit’ showcasing the work of five Penwith Society members with a passion for this ancient land – Paula Downing, Jill Eisele, Colin Caffell, John Piper and Michael Praed.
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Paula Downing
“Clay’s incredible versatility inspires, in most ceramicists, the creation of perfect objects – refined structures that defy clay’s organic spirit and control it for practical use.
I use it differently, taking it back to its genesis. Clay comes from the erosion and decomposition of rocks. Fascinated by this process, and living where I do, my pieces are to do with making fissures, splits, stopes and rugged monoliths. Volcanic finishes and deeply pitted layering mirror the ravages of weather and time, giving an inherently light material an intrinsically heavy feel and therefore capturing the nature of nature.”
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Jill Eisele
“The magic of the West Penwith peninsula, it’s landscape, light, history and geological wonders has for the last ten years been a significant source of inspiration for my work. I draw and sometimes paint ‘en plein air’ and in the studio seek a kind of alchemy between my drawings, place, light, pigment and memory. Ambiguous marks, colour and the wonders of oil paint can suggest moments of light and time. The exquisite balance between figuration and abstraction is a perpetual and intriguing quest, providing me with endless painterly possibilities.”
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Colin Caffell
As a sculptor, potter and writer, Caffell has always been interested in story and relationships; of the hand that forms the vessel and the vessel that drinks and pours the wine; of the eye that sees the horizon and also what lives beneath it. His memorial garden and statue at Geevor Mine in Pendeen is a sculpture that tells the story of Cornish hard rock miners and their long dispersal around world. Drawing on the elegant forms of classical pottery, his pots act as a blank canvas for his experience of the world around him.
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John Piper
Strongly influenced by the countryside of west Cornwall, John is well known for his paintings of the moors, carns, headlands and cliffs that characterise this landscape. More recently, traditional Cornish cottages and farm buildings have been predominant in his work. He applies paint in several layers, often with deeply etched lines allowing contrasting colours to show through. Looming skies or large expanses of moorland create a dramatic, often stark effect. John always works with oils, smaller paintings usually being on board, larger ones on canvas.
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Michael Praed
“Following my retrospective exhibition held at the Penwith Gallery in March 2024, my interest in textural representation has been reignited. I will be exhibiting early work alongside present work reflecting my journey in abstraction with mining as the stimulus and the shapes, light and form of boats at shelter. My long association with the Penwith Gallery, which started in the late sixties, has been vital to my development as an artist. The Penwith artists that have exhibited over the years have fed my journey and artistic life. Often the journey feels cyclical moving between abstraction and realism but always with my intense emotional response to the place I was born and belong to.”
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Paula Downing
“Clay’s incredible versatility inspires, in most ceramicists, the creation of perfect objects – refined structures that defy clay’s organic spirit and control it for practical use.
I use it differently, taking it back to its genesis. Clay comes from the erosion and decomposition of rocks. Fascinated by this process, and living where I do, my pieces are to do with making fissures, splits, stopes and rugged monoliths. Volcanic finishes and deeply pitted layering mirror the ravages of weather and time, giving an inherently light material an intrinsically heavy feel and therefore capturing the nature of nature.”
---
Jill Eisele
“The magic of the West Penwith peninsula, it’s landscape, light, history and geological wonders has for the last ten years been a significant source of inspiration for my work. I draw and sometimes paint ‘en plein air’ and in the studio seek a kind of alchemy between my drawings, place, light, pigment and memory. Ambiguous marks, colour and the wonders of oil paint can suggest moments of light and time. The exquisite balance between figuration and abstraction is a perpetual and intriguing quest, providing me with endless painterly possibilities.”
---
Colin Caffell
As a sculptor, potter and writer, Caffell has always been interested in story and relationships; of the hand that forms the vessel and the vessel that drinks and pours the wine; of the eye that sees the horizon and also what lives beneath it. His memorial garden and statue at Geevor Mine in Pendeen is a sculpture that tells the story of Cornish hard rock miners and their long dispersal around world. Drawing on the elegant forms of classical pottery, his pots act as a blank canvas for his experience of the world around him.
---
John Piper
Strongly influenced by the countryside of west Cornwall, John is well known for his paintings of the moors, carns, headlands and cliffs that characterise this landscape. More recently, traditional Cornish cottages and farm buildings have been predominant in his work. He applies paint in several layers, often with deeply etched lines allowing contrasting colours to show through. Looming skies or large expanses of moorland create a dramatic, often stark effect. John always works with oils, smaller paintings usually being on board, larger ones on canvas.
---
Michael Praed
“Following my retrospective exhibition held at the Penwith Gallery in March 2024, my interest in textural representation has been reignited. I will be exhibiting early work alongside present work reflecting my journey in abstraction with mining as the stimulus and the shapes, light and form of boats at shelter. My long association with the Penwith Gallery, which started in the late sixties, has been vital to my development as an artist. The Penwith artists that have exhibited over the years have fed my journey and artistic life. Often the journey feels cyclical moving between abstraction and realism but always with my intense emotional response to the place I was born and belong to.”
CREDIT
