Trace: distilled nature. An exhibition of paintings by Helen Rawlinson and Sarah Seymour

Opening: 6th March 2020, 5:30-7:30pm,
On show weekdays 12:30-19:30pm until 31st March 2020
At Rye Creative Centre Gallery, New Road, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7LS
Free parking on car park next to venue

Both artists distil the aspects of nature that fascinate them by means of colour in order to depict the essence of their subject at its most fundamental.

The exhibition’s title ‘Traces’ has sadly received an extra layer of poignancy after the catastrophic wildfires ravaged the area Sarah Seymour’s Australian Bird series was inspired by when she visited in 2019.

Selecting only the birds Sarah encountered as a starting point, this recent work strives to encapsulate the essence of these birds by stripping away much of the form and leaving the colour to depict the species.

Sarah has been a studio holder at Rye Creative Centre since 2014. After a varied career including work with animals and conservation work, the natural world appears in much of the work she now produces. Sarah has previously created a series of works inspired by the landscape of Dungeness where she lives, concentrating on skyscapes to depict an emotional response.

Helen Rawlinson is showing her new body of work, inspired by looking at close up images of flowers combined with an obsession of the eroded layers of pattern and colour on walls and floors. In an organic process she builds colour and pattern using collage, print as well as oil with wax on canvas or board.

Helen lives and works in East Sussex with a studio at Rye Creative Centre.
She has worked in the design industry and education using all areas of textile design and making. Now painting in oils these textile print influences continue to emerge with colour as a major factor.