Edge is an exhibition of work by Borth Arts, artists who live and work in Borth and Ynyslas. Using a variety of media and techniques, this diverse group are connected and inspired by the unique environment of Borth - sea, beach, mountains colour and ever-changing light.

Both artists and location are literally on the edge, trapped between the sea and the mountains.

Borth Arts was established in 2016 from a desire to promote Borth and the artists who live and work locally through joint exhibitions and activities, providing opportunities for exhibiting their work, creating opportunities for the sharing of expertise and the learning of new skills. 

They believe arts and culture play an important role in the enrichment and well-being of the wider community.

 

Artist Statements

Bodge

Bodge lives and works in Borth. She paints using a variety of media and makes sculptures and murals. She is influenced by her immediate surroundings, cultural attitudes, and current events.

 

Phil Dalton 

Phil escapes from his Borth sea front guest house to indulge his passion as a wood turner.  Primarily using locally sourced woods for his creations, Phil is constantly experimenting with new techniques to expand and develop his repertoire of skills. Making functional and decorative pieces, Phil’s work is beautifully crafted and finished.  

Lynne Dickens 

I make Colourscapes, which are large colour sculptures made from translucent fabric, through which people walk and explore their perceptions. 

On a smaller scale, I make felt works using felt and paint and more recently a series of paintings on canvas and paper using acrylic and watercolour. These are exploratory in the sense of going where the work leads. I intend them to give an experience of light and space, which are essential in visual art. 

Living near the sea is inspirational, where light is in abundance and changes through a day and a season. 

 

Jonah Evans

Jonah Evans grew up in Borth, Ceredigion, but now studies art in Bristol.
His interests include painting and print making. He is inspired by the natural world and many of his printed images include animals and birds seen in the mid Wales area. 

More recently, since moving to Bristol, Jonah has been producing illustrations of urban life. He has begun his own design company called ‘Ratpeated’.

 

Stuart Evans 

Stuart has lived in Mid Wales near the sea for most of his life. Being a stones-throw from the beach at Borth and living on a cliff is an inspiration. He worked at Ceredigion Museum for nearly forty years and the stories and history of the county have influenced his work. He has been a member of Aberystwyth Printmakers since it began, and he completed an MA in fine art and printmaking at Aberystwyth School of art recently. Most of his lino cuts are hand coloured, making each one unique. More recently. He has been etching and continues to experiment with various printing techniques.

 

Annie Ferris

Annie lives and works in Borth where she runs a small (seasonal) gallery. Her work includes earthenware and porcelain jewellery, small bowls and small figurative sculptures made from porcelain, paper clay or stoneware.  

Her sculpture is often an exploration of her connection with Buddhism and the human condition.  

 

Heather Fletcher

I have created this piece for the ’Edge’ Exhibition, in memory of Peter Jones who was a valued member of our Borth Arts group. 

His favourite quote: “I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can’t from the centre” by Kurt Vonnegut was chosen as inspiration for the artists.

My vision for the piece was to create a sense of perspective for the observer, when I read the quote my mind was instantly drawn to the ‘centre’ aspect. As our thoughts and actions have influence on our surroundings, you the viewer, can see the different outcomes of your decisions. 

Although I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting Peter, this quote gives me an insight into the kind of man he was. The kind of artist he was. This quote leads me to think, to sit and ponder all the possibilities my actions and decisions caused. The ones I did not see. Not choose to experience. How can I sit on the edge without going over?

 

Mary Francis

My work is primarily painting, oils, acrylics, investigating portraiture and landscape. 

I have revisited my practice and learnt new techniques, branching in to print and techniques that combine paint with print. My work can be abstract, working to encapsulate the environment and to evoke the essence of that conversation with subject matter.

A recent project was one in which I wanted to capture our fragility within our changing environments and to find a form of stability. This led me to investigate different mediums, using mixed media, paint, print, sculpture, installation, to investigate my responses to environments. I do feel that art can heal, and it has never been so important to capture the essence of humanity in all its complexity. 

Art has helped me to heal, it is my stability, I continue to investigate through my work.  

 

Linda Henry 

Linda has always painted, drawn, and made "artworks". After Art School she continued to develop her interest in abstract art and, contrastingly, portraiture. 

Linda is a mixed media artist. She paints sometimes from life and sometimes more abstractly. She works with paint, collage, found objects, textiles, and ceramics. 

She is especially drawn to the use of vibrant colour and texture, drawing inspiration from travelling; places visited, experienced, and remembered. 

 

Neil Johnson

After a highly successful career teaching Art and Design in South Manchester, Neil Johnson returned to Wales in 2007 to concentrate on his own work and ideas.

Neil is a member of the Royal Watercolour Society of Wales, a founder member of Borth Arts, a member of the Room 103 group, a committee member at Mid Wales Arts and a trustee of the climate change charity Art+Science. He has exhibited throughout Britain and internationally, including a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art Wales and Aberystwyth Arts Centre.

‘In recalling a place or time we rarely remember a single image from a specific viewpoint. My work attempts to give a sense of ‘passing through’ a place or time: sometimes it is rhythmic and harmonious, sometimes discordant, and disturbing. The subject matter is drawn from observation, imagination, memory and, where necessary, secondary sources.

All my recent work is in the transparent medium of watercolour and uses no black or white paint.’

 

Peter Jones 

These pieces were a balance to Peter’s large sculptures of colour - Colourscapes -which are constructed of interconnected chambers made from translucent fabric in which visitors walk freely exploring their own journeys.

For over 30 years Peter developed the work exhibited, using coloured ink lines on board or photographic prints. They were inspired by the sea’s action on the edge of the land; observations of the movement of the tide and the traces left on a beach. The smaller works are a series called vertical horizons, photographs worked on with inks intending to change perception of land and sea.

Becky Knight

Becky uses found and recycled materials combined with traditional quilt making techniques to express particular emotions. Using layers of fabric and layers of meaning in an aim to be both accessible and intriguing. 

Sue Lee 

I grew up in Ceredigion and have always loved making things drawing and painting. I did an Art foundation at Carmarthen College and a Fine Art degree at Staffordshire university and exhibited quite widely whilst living in Cardiff in the mid 90’s for 8 years. This time was a rich experience, where I took the opportunity to travel whenever I could. India, and Rajasthan particularly, was a huge source of inspiration. With its magical colour, chaos, heat, maze like towns and temples, all of which appeared in my work at the time.

I have always been fascinated by areas where land meets the sea, coves and harbours, villages on the coast and the ever-changing beaches. This is the reason I have chosen to make Borth my home as I love the sea, the beach and hearing the rhythmic sound of the tides dragging pebbles back to the sea. Swimming through the year as the temperature peaks and dips is a favourite thing to do and noticing the changes the seasons bring to the village and the seascape.

Focusing on different perspectives and making things look simple and spontaneous is quite hard. Making work for me means letting go of any kind of preconceptions and trying not to think too much about what I am doing. Almost like going back to the child like state of playing when you don’t much care what happens. I start off with a background colour and rough idea of what I am going to do and gradually build up layers using pastels, acrylics, and coloured pencils.

The images in my work are often of houses and harbours, sometimes it is a particular place, although often it may be a memory of somewhere I have visited in the past or a moment intime, a misty morning or a high tide. I focus on trying to capture familiar places from a new perspective. Often eliminating detail to draw attention to other elements in the space such as pebbles, boulders, a few dwellings in order to try and capture the essence of the place, memory, or moment in time.

Diane Logan 

Frivolous – Fantasy - Flowers 

Re-cycling - Creating Art from practically nothing - most enjoyable

“Less is more “

 

Emma Maar

Emma Maar’s photography captures another way of seeing.

Distorting the ordinary and every day, manipulating it through reflections, dirty glass, different exposures, and blurred movement.

Making reality uncanny, the familiar - strange and dreamlike. 

She takes photographs of anything that catches her attention, birds from the bedroom window, the local landscape in the constantly changing weather and light, the moons phases rising over different structures, trees on windy days, reflections in puddles and shadows warped onto walls. 

 

Hannah Mann

Hannah Mann is a site-specific interdisciplinary artist living in Borth. She has a passion for abstract photography and armchair archaeology, time traveling through maps and the mechanical distortion of light through a lens.

Interweaving fact, story, and poetry to create visual and conceptual beauty. She photographs landscapes in places with specific historical interest, with the theory that a trace of all things remain in the terrain. Combined with her fascination with Welsh place names, toponyms that tell stories of our shared cultural history.

She reveals the interconnectivity of people and place over time. Layering times to capture the essence of a landscape.

Mike Mann

Mike Mann lives in Borth. His paintings, mainly in oil, are often a response to the landscape of the local area: the sea, the sky, and the mountains.....but also things felt, seen, and imagined.

 

Martine Ormerod 

Martine is interested in the instinctive act of making a mark, a stain that records a happening and its effect. The drawing is sometimes moving on, getting lost and attempting to redefine, creating temporary partial images when the whole picture can’t be seen. Nothing lasts forever, these drawings won't.

Some Images are drawn on pages from old books that were found in charity shops the text has no personal meaning although sometimes appears to resonate with the image.

For myself, a drawing is sometimes like a stain, recording a happening, picking up traces of the activity of those who once occupied the spaces and objects.

 

Sarah Pugh  

Sarah was born in Rhyl, North Wales, but has lived on the West Wales coast for most of her life. Her long association with the area began when she went to Aberystwyth University to study for her degree, and subsequently settled in Borth, where she has her own gallery at the Friendship Inn.

Sarah paints landscapes, seascapes, and interiors, working in a variety of media – oils, acrylics, pastel, collage, car spray, bandage, etc.

She has a strong compulsion to record and capture the atmosphere of the moment. The work varies from representational through to semi-abstract, gaining inspiration from her immediate surroundings: home, beach, and countryside.’

Sarah trained with the acclaimed artist, Roy Marsden RCA and also with the late Scott Nesbit RA.

 

Rachel Rea

I am an abstract landscape painter working from my home studio in Aberystwyth. My work has always been founded in landscape however I aim to capture the essence of my time spent in it rather than trying to replicate a particular scene. Responses to the light, shadow, shape, and colour play I see in the countryside that surrounds me have become major themes in my work.

I have painted, walked, and swum around Aberystwyth and Borth for the last 10 years. I have fallen in love with deep, cold dives into dark water and with golden storm clouds rolling across the sky. My paintings have developed out of frothy swims in winter waves, the calm of floating on the surface on a still day, and from quiet moments looking out over fields and hills from the studio window.

It's a privilege to be able to work on this exhibition with such a wonderful team of artists, and I am very grateful to Cathy for supporting Borth Arts.

 

Eve Smith

 Eve Smith lives and works in Borth, West Wales. She works mainly with oil on canvas, depicting the landscapes and seascapes of the area. She has a space in Artworks Aberdovey and Betws y Coed. Her work is mainly landscape or of the sea and sky.

Eve has exhibited widely and produced many commissions both for private buyers and public bodies.

Eve has run various workshops and Art groups, including various school classes and National Carers Association days. 

Paintings can be seen at www.evesmith.weebly .com

 

Dean Tweedy

My passion and profession for the past 30 years has been creating visual art in public places. I have pioneered modern day murals, resurrecting techniques created hundreds of years ago by the old masters but using modern day paint technology to add colour and interest to our concrete surroundings. Public art is for everyone, whether they want it or not. It can scream or whisper, excite or unite. It’s not going away. The demand is getting stronger!

This work draws on my experience of working in communities.

Jenny Williamson 

Jenny has been making ceramics on a part time basis for over 30 years, alongside her day job as a painting restorer. She has worked with all types of clay, using different techniques, and has exhibited at Beaux Arts, Bath; Albany Gallery, Cardiff and at the National Eisteddfod, Bala in 1997 amongst others.

Living in Borth for twenty years has subtly changed her work to include influences of the sea, the sky, and the weather. She is currently exploring form and glaze, striving to balance the two within a simple bowl.