Contemporary Passions ix

Eleven members of the South Hams Arts Forum present Contemporary Passions IX:
the ninth annual summer exhibition of painting, printmaking, glass, jewellery and sculpture.

The group celebrates its eleventh anniversary this year as a vibrant artists' collective with over 50 members.

The local landscape and coastline feature prominently in this show, with lively pastel paintings by Sarah Harcus, calm oil paintings by Hazel Strange, and Rosemary Bonney's panoramic Dartmoor paintings in acrylics and mixed media.

Maggie Smith bridges the divide between painting and printmaking with seascapes and more intimate garden studies, while Caroline Barker, with an academic grounding in Botany, draws on natural themes in her printmaking, calligraphy and hand-made books.

Summer in the garden is also a theme in Jane Elder's hand-made glass beads, which include silvered glass, brass, silver and copper. Inka Gabriel's tall, iconic lamps are inspired by the calm beauty of the South Devon coastline, and feature copper foiling and the simplest of embellishments.They stand elegantly alongside Lisa Smith's flameworked glass jewellery, and contemporary, organic fused bowls and lamps.

Sculpture is represented by Debbie Boon, who specialises in birds of prey, handbuilt in clay, each feather lovingly made and applied before the piece is glazed. Joanna Martins is well known locally for her cold cast bronzes of hares and other animals, and her more recent mixed media sculptures explore myth and symbolism.
Rosemary Moser's lively paintings and printmaking show the joy of life through dancing, contrasting the formality of the ballroom with the nightlife of Kingsbridge.

For more information visit http://www.harbourhouse.org.uk/gallery-SHAFCP911.html