Gail Reid painting ‘Plein Air’ in Glastonbury
Gail is an exceptionally talented artist who can turn her hand to many mediums, subject matters and challenges. Her art practice involves study from life, whether it be people or objects and recently she came and spent some time in Glastonbury town centre to try and capture the essence of the high street.
“it’s one thing to set up a still life in the privacy of your home/studio, but it takes guts to set your easel up on a busy street. The monkey on my shoulder said “People will be judging your work. Shop owners will complain you’re obstructing the pavement. What if it rains? What if you drop all your brushes? Just go to a field and paint Glastonbury Tor”
It turns out, unsuprisinlgy, that she was very well received with pasers by excited by her creative endeavour. People stopped to chat, asked questions, took photos and returned to check on her progress. And we are very impressed by her end product.
Her painting of the George & Pilgrims is on display as part of the Summer Group Exhibition at Heart of The Tribe which opened today and will be showing until August the 21st.
Her next attempt at capturing the town centre was slightly less successfull as her efforts were dampened by the rain. But her ability to capture the atmosphere still shon through.
As a bonus for us, Gail also captured this beautiful glimpse of the Tor nestling on green land, in the late afternoon sun.
“The paintings turned out OK, which is always a bonus. I think you can tell they were painted from life, they preserve every dimension of the day, recorded as and when I experienced it (except the flies, which I fished out). Regardless of skill level, painting from observation produces an image imbued with life, depth, and a certain quirky ‘realness’.”
To read more about Gails adventures in art, please visit her blog where she elequently records her experiences.
We are honoured to have several new works by Gail featuring views in and around Glastonbury in our current exhibition, do pop in and have a look.
