Part 1 of this series featured 3 glass pieces of art from my collection. In the second part I take a look at some other forms of art, the first of which is a print from a Stroud based artist, Andy Kinnear.
I purchased this print at a Christmas fayre in Stroud in 2022. The artist, originally from Dundee but now based in Stroud, produces his own work as well as teaching printmaking in screenprint, woodcut & letterpress. The snake design is based on a fictional character called the “Severn Serpent” or “Sharpness Devil” (https://en.everybodywiki.com/The_Severn_Serpent)
A limited edition of 12 pieces, the print has a wonderful array of colours combined with an attractive snake / serpent design and I knew it was one to take home with me. “DWF” apparently stands for Dreamwax Foundation – a print ‘collective’ set up by Andy.
The second item is made from steel and hangs on a wall in our dining room, at the end of the dining table. It was created by Tilly Whittle, who along with her husband, Kerry, creates wall art and other art pieces made entirely from metal.
Readers may recall we purchased a horse’s head and a bespoke mirror from Kerry in early 2020 (see https://going-postal.com/2020/08/artwork-in-my-home-part-three/). Mrs Reggie spotted this item online at an art gallery in Scotland and following payment we received a rather large parcel a few days later (the item measures approx. 80cm in diameter). Unfortunately, it hadn’t been properly packaged up as several of the welds had failed and it was looking rather beaten up. I contacted the gallery and sent them a few pictures. To their credit they arranged a courier to pick it up the following day and it was returned to Tilly who carried out the necessary repairs. A couple of weeks later it was back at Reggie Towers and hung on the wall. We really love the variety of colours and the different textures of each circle, forming an overall very pleasing item.
Factoid – Kerry Whittle is a relative of Sir Frank Whittle, inventor of the jet engine.
The third and final piece of art is a reduction linocut print by one of my favourite artists, Joshua Mies. I’ve previously mentioned meeting Joshua on a short stay in Edinburgh, where he was a featured artist at one of the galleries on Dundas Street. His work is simply stunning, possessing an almost photographic quality. He often takes pictures of everyday things and turns them into masterpieces.
I spotted this print on Joshua’s Instagram feed and purchased it immediately. It’s still waiting to be framed but I hope to get around to this (and some other prints I have stored in cardboard tubes) later this year. I’m constantly amazed at how someone can create such beautiful prints from a piece of lino. I just wish I had 1/100th of his talents as an artist. Joshua’s website is https://joshuamiles.art/
Hope you enjoyed this article. In part three I’ll show you a few more of my favourite things.
© text & images Reggie 2024
