Stolen fish recovered!

The mystery of the stolen painting has been solved! According to the Cambridge Evening News, the painting of a" Duba Fish" was taken by a love sick teenager to give to his girlfriend. What strange things love drives us to do! On reading the newspaper's headlines over the theft,however, the aforementioned young romantic was filled with remorse and handed himself and the fish in. The artist chose not to press charges and , as the newspaper reported, the thief was "let off the hook!"
The artist in question rose to the height of stardom. A geophysicist working in Cambridge, she was however billed as a "Hollywood animator" and someone who had worked on "Gladiators" in London, much more eye catching than a trip to the Arctic! Where would we be without the sensational British press?

All in all a bizarre tale, worthy of any "soap".

Sam Motherwell's Exhibition

In previous blogs I have spoken both of charcoal techniques and working “en plein air”.
In his new exhibition at the Barnabas Gallery in Cambridge, Sam Motherwell manages to combine the two. There are over 30 charcoal drawings done on the spot in Iceland, Scotland, Finland, India, Nambia, Spain , Egypt and Greece

Dr. Sam Motherwell

Done quickly, Sam’s drawings retain a freshness and spontaneity that can so easily be lost when using charcoal as a medium. He has a very individual style which reminds me of the work of Paul Hogarth. Like Sam, Hogarth worked almost exclusively in black and white, illustrating books by Brendan Behan and also those on his own travels around the world. Both artists balance line and mass, shift perspective and create almost abstract patterns out of everyday scenes and people.

Sam and Pat Motherwell chat to Colin Hayes at the Private View.

Other guests.
As well as showing Sam’s drawings, this exhibition offers the rare opportunity to view a working studio and print workshop, and to discuss other processes such as lithography, etching and linocut.

Sam’s studio within the St. Barnabas Press.
Sam Motherwell’s Exhibition runs from 25th April- 16th May at the Barnabas Gallery, Coldhans Road, Cambridge CB1 3EW. Mon-Frid. 10-6, Sat. 10-4
Also worth checking out is Sam’s recent publication – “Mill Road stories without words”. It is a book of 114 evocative linocuts of Mill Road, one of Cambridge’s most colourful streets.
Finally, Sam in flamboyant mode. Behind him, a portrait I painted last year as his term of office as the President of the Cambridge Drawing Society drew to a close.