Spring green show at Otterton Mill

Flour milling machinery at Otterton Mill

We always enjoy walking north from Budleigh Salterton along the River Otter, learning slowly about birds as we go. An exciting moment came a few days ago when what I dumbly assumed was a flock of pigeons settling on the water meadows turned out to be a crowd of curlews.

And after a few miles there's the wonderful and ancient Otterton Mill to explore, with its restored mill machinery, flour milling, art galleries, shop, café and restaurant.

The Mill, run by Simon and Caroline Spiller, is proud of its strong traditions of local sourcing and environmental conservation so I wasn't surprised to see that last November it was one of four finalists in the Food and Farming category of The Devon Environmental Business Initiative (DEBI). This networking organisation, supported by bodies like the Environment Agency, The Met Office, Devon County Council and South West Water has been recognising Devon based businesses with strong environmental practices for almost 20 years.

So after being recognised again as one of the 'greenest' businesses in Devon it's only natural that the Mill is staging an exhibition of West Country artists who use recycled objects and materials to create their art. Taking what other people might consider to be rubbish, they use their inventiveness and imagination to produce something beautiful. "This is an exhibition that will open your mind," say Simon and Caroline.

Above: The Mill Gallery


'A bar in Berlin' standard lamp, an assemblage by artist Veronica Gosling

Exhibitors include Veronica Gosling who works with sculpture, assemblage and pottery decoration.

Veronica Gosling went to school in America and England, worked as a journalist for a short while, married psychiatrist Robert Gosling, brought up five children, and published five novels before the family moved from London to the Forest of Dean where she took up sculpture, assemblage and pottery decoration. She started and ran an informal gallery, The Barn at Hay Farm, inviting other artists to show imaginative and experimental work.

She now has GALLERY 36 in Exeter with similar emphasis but has added a sculpture garden. Her art is humorous, quirky and a real talking point, always imaginative and often experimental.


This well-known piece of work by Jane Perkins depicting President Obama is currently on display in a London gallery

Alongside Veronica's work will be that of Jane Perkins who describes herself as a re-maker who loves art with an element of the fun and unexpected. Having worked for 17 years as a nurse and 10 years as a Mum at home, she took a degree in textiles at Somerset College of Arts and Technology, graduating with a First in 2006.

Her richly decorated 'Memory Brooches' use broken jewellery, plastic toys and other small found objects.
"Inspiration came from festival headdresses from Ecuador discovered while researching my thesis on art from recycled materials. The headdresses, covered with all kinds of shiny and odd things, are bizarre and quirky, yet beautiful - I love them!" she says.

Since 2008 she has been making iconic Pop Art-style portraits of the famous, including Barack Obama, Madonna and the Queen, composed of thousands of bits of bric-Ă -brac foraged from recycling centres.

The exhibition runs from Saturday 6 March to Monday 19 April and is housed within the exhibition space of the Mill Gallery on the first floor of the historic Mill building. The artworks are displayed against the backdrop of the ancient Mill workings. Entry is free.

For more information about Otterton Mill, click on http://www.ottertonmill.com/
Jane Perkins' website is at http://www.bluebowerbird.co.uk/
For Veronica Gosling see http://www.gallery36.co.uk/ and http://www.insiderart.org.uk/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

People from the Past: 3. Reg Varney (1916-2008)

Image
Reginald Alfred 'Reg' Varney was an English actor, most notable for his role as a cheerful Cockney bus driver in the 1970s TV sitcom On the Buses . For ten years he lived at Dark Lane House on picturesque Dark Lane in Budleigh Salterton, seen above.  Millions of television viewers remember him with affection. He has been described as belonging to the old school of comedians, with his dislike of much contemporary television and his pride in never using swear words to get a laugh. Varney was born on 11 July 1916 in Canning Town, which was then part of Essex but is now part of East London. His father worked in a rubber factory in Silvertown and he was one of five children who grew up in Addington Road, Canning Town. He was educated at the nearby Star Lane Primary School in West Ham and after leaving school at 14, he worked as a messenger boy at the Regent Palace Hotel, pictured above. ...
Read more

AROUND THE TOWN AND OVER THE POND - 15. SALEM CHAPEL AT FAIRLYNCH MUSEUM

Image
  Continued from  https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2024/07/around-town-and-over-pond-14-looking.html AROUND THE TOWN AND OVER THE POND A walk around Budleigh Salterton to interest transatlantic visitors. Every so often there’s a diversion which may inspire you to visit places like East Budleigh, Exeter, Sidmouth, Colyton or even places in the United States and Canada.        The walk is set out in parts. Here’s the fifteenth part: 15. SALEM CHAPEL AT FAIRLYNCH MUSEUM  Summary: How East Budleigh’s Salem Chapel and the USA were founded on the same principles of freedom and diversity thanks to an Otterton man’s friendship with one of the Western world’s greatest philosophers. Top: Salem Chapel, East Budleigh. Centre: Portrait of John Locke in 1697 by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Lower: The 1823 facsimile of the final version of the 1776 Declaration of Independence East Budleigh’s Salem Chapel lies on the outskirts of the village, about 500 metres no...
Read more

WW2 100 – 23 January 1945 – A tragic accident in Burma: Captain Gerald Arthur Richards (1909-45), Royal Army Medical Corps

Image
Continued from 21 January 1945 FLIGHT SERGEANT RENNIE ARTHUR LOADER (1915-45) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR), 518 Squadron https://budleighpastandpresent.blogspot.com/2021/04/ww2-75-21-january-1945-forecasting-for.html         A photo of Gerald Arthur Richards sent to me by his daughter Louanne   Like a number of war dead whose names are not listed on Budleigh’s War Memorial,  Gerald Arthur Richards is mentioned by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) as having a link with the town through his wife Kirstine. It was difficult to confirm that link, but there were enough intriguing aspects to Gerald’s story to raise questions that I wanted to see answered. Further research led to more East Devon links – to Honiton, Exmouth and further afield. In a very roundabout way I finally made contact with his daughter Louanne, to whom I am grateful for providing information about the family, not least some family photos like the...
Read more