Work of Rachael Dunn-Talbot, Ron McParlin, Nigel Talbot

Sat/Sun 6th Sept to 2nd Nov 11am-5pm. Open during the week by appointment.

Rachael Dunn-Talbot – Artist Statement:

I take photographs to use as inspiration for my music composition. Since childhood I have had an interest in shapes of structures, largely inspired by my father’s sculptures. I often see architecture as sculpture.

I am drawn towards the northern coast where nature and man’s struggles come together as ancient ruins in crumbling sandstone or more recent concrete and steel defensive structures enhanced by windswept sky and sea.

I prefer to use black and white film and to quote Peter Lindbergh, “Black and white has always been connected to the image’s deeper truth, to its most hidden meaning.”

Ron McParlin – Artist Statement:

At a very young age, my father taught me knife skills and how to whittle wood.

A few years later, brothers and their friends brought me wood off-cuts from shipyards and factories, predominantly teak. I developed a close attachment to wood that has remained with me to this day.

I am totally self-taught and continually re-examine my work, always seeking unachievable perfection. My work has been sold in galleries throughout the North East, including in the Biscuit Factory.

As an artist, nature, form, structure, and function are my greatest sources of inspiration, regardless of the medium I work in.

With a long career in horticulture, trees, plants, and the natural world have a profound influence on my work. I am captivated by the colour, vibrancy, intricacy, and structure of plants and their environments. This is especially evident in my photography.

Other interests, including sport, history, people, and the countryside, hold an allure that is reflected in my sketches.

Sculpture is my primary medium, particularly in wood, but also in wax, clay, stone, cement, plaster, and welded repurposed objects. I sometimes focus on extreme detail; however, much of my work is figurative and abstract. My preferred medium is direct carving in wood, a process guided by the material, with my eyes, hands, and heart working together to understand and shape the piece as it emerges. I never draw, sketch, or use computer-generated images; I explore the combinations of shape, grain, texture, colour and light, which always seem infinite.

Many of these works are then cast in bronze, in sizes suitable for home interiors or larger, more architectural pieces designed for landscapes. As a qualified Landscape Designer, this has always been a passion.

Nigel Talbot – Artist Statement:

I am reluctant to call myself a ‘proper’ artist. To me an artist is someone with knowledge of art history, art movements and has practised in their field for a significant time. I have little of that. I only began painting in 2016 so I am still exploring what I can and can’t do.

I have attended some courses at Newcastle Arts Centre, drawing classes with local artist Jenny Purrett and more lately, painting classes with another local artist Enrique Azocar at the Wall North Gallery. I would recommend them all by the way.

I have always enjoyed galleries and museums. Some of my work is influenced by renaissance paintings, especially the backgrounds.

Da Vinci took years to complete the Mona Lisa – at some point she must have got fed up with sitting there and gone home.

The model for Sleeping Venus may have felt that on that particular day, it was just too cold to be posing naked for anyone at all let alone Titian.

What if you arrived either too late or too early to see the Holy Family in Raphael’s paintings?

I also like still life paintings just for the calm and peace that they can represent.

I hope you enjoy my work.