Green Water Preview

Laurence Smith the Arts Manager and Mayor of Solihull with Mark Tilley

On Thursday the Mayor of Solihull, Norman Davies, attended the preview of Mark Tilley’s Green Water Exhibition at the Arts Complex. The evening was a very lively affair, assisted by the imbibing of free wine, with spirited discussions about the work. Do many men dream about nuns?

Cabinets show nautical memorabilia

Mark will be giving a talk about his work at the G1 Gallery on Thursday 24th September 6-7pm. Jackie Mackay

Lickey Hills Sculpture Trail

Avril Elward is currently exhibiting with the ‘Out Yer Tree’ Organisation in the Lickey Hills Country Park. It was a fabulous opening day on Saturday with plenty of visitors and the 11 contemporary artists involved discussed their work during a walk around the sculpture trail in the Bilberry Hill area of the park .

Below are two works created specifically for the park by Avril.

Blobulous, wire paper mache, industrial paint, canes

Blobulous is about fun and individuality. Some obscure colourful objects are placed outside of a gallery space to observe how the colours interact with the space, and how it effects our perception of a space.

Totem Poles, wood, industrial paints

These poles pay homage to the deminuition of industry, the black bitumen paint references the production industry, and the bright acidic colours reference the colours of our contemporary cities. Painted in a quick spontaneous way to evoke speed of our cities growth.

If you would like to visit the show is on until 4 October at Warren Lane, Rednall. JM

A Sunny Artsfest

Yesterday I went to the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design MA show. The works were extremely varied and SAF member Caroline Pigden's work, which discussed the interplay between the brutal and the beautiful, looked striking in the foyer in Margaret St.

Birmingham Artsfest was in full swing and I popped along to the Museum and Art Gallery to see father and daughter duo Barry and Chloe Hunt perform in the Round Room. They were excellent despite the acoustics. I especially enjoyed Chloe's own composition 'Strikeout' - fantastic for an 18 year old. Listen to her on myspace. Jackie Mackay

Green Water Exhibition

Today I went to see Mark Tilley's autobiographical exhibition at Solihull Library Gallery. Several sculptures and artefacts were on display along with some fantastic large scale charcoal drawings on old navigation charts based on his dreams.

The Sunken Forest - made in ceramic
'I have stylised the sea - remembering those huge swells you meet off Ushant'

My favourite drawing was 'The Little Horse in my Green Suit' but you will have to trot along there to have the pleasure of seeing it for yourself. Full details are on the Solihull Gallery Website Link. Mark will be in the Gallery on Saturday 26th September as part of the Art Trail. JM