A show packed with interest

Dad had several paintings in Yvonne Arnaud Art 2008. This is the write up in the local paper:

A show packed with interest

A new look Yvonne Arnaud Art 2008 is getting the Guildford Summer Festival off to a flying start.

Many of the artists and sculptors are exhibiting for the first time this year in the 200-strong show that continues until July 24. The show, sponsored by Baker Tilly, features some leading British talents and includes photography.

The most striking exhibit, a mighty mirror-polished stainless steel sculpture by prestigious Surrey sculptor William Pye, takes centre stage in the foyer of the Yvonne Arnaud.

An arching tubular construction that appears to flow up and over it was inspired by the Narcissus myth. The bright reflections and fluid movement conjure a sense of magical watery depths.

All the other exhibits are on show in The Mill Studio, where a smaller harp-like silver sculpture by Pye is also on display.

Nearly all this year's exhibitors are newcomers to the annual exhibition, although they are, on the whole, established artists.

One of the few 'regulars' is Judith Gardner, whose delicately executed atmospheric landscapes are among the most memorable exhibits.

Using sensitive flecks, dashes and washes of the brush and employing a sensuous appreciation of colour, she invests each composition with a slightly dream-like sense of heightened perception. A central radiance lifts her homely view of a garden chair in a thicket of vegetation to a higher level.

Altogether more surreal but imbued with a similarly gentle and dream-like atmosphere, are a series of mixed media paintings by David Brayne.

One of the most eye-catching is The Dressing Gown, in which a leaning figure adrift in a boat casts a sparkling fishing net.

Shades of Surrealism also give additional pictorial momentum to a group of oil paintings by Michael McLellan which inhabit a theatrical landscape dotted with dramatic cut outs.

Also noteworthy in a show packed with interest. is Paul Newland. His eagle-eyed and crisply painted watercolour and Gouache view across the roof-tops of London is beautifully executed.

The exhibition is open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 7.30 pm.

Beatrice Phillpotts
Surrey Advertiser 11 July 2008

See also http://www.michaelmclellan.com/