This article first appeared as 'Artist left all at sea by changing tides' in The Press on 6 December 2016

With the news that ground-breaking textile designer and painter Avis Higgs (1918 – 2016) died recently, we’d like to share this watercolour of hers from our collection. 

This article first appeared as 'Artist chased the sun for the right light, warmth' in The Press, 19 October 2016.

This article first appeared as 'Mainland inspiration for Blomfield' in The Press on 12 September 2016

Commentaries on Doris Lusk’s work often talk about her ‘eye’; for telling details, for spatial complexities, for colour, for line. Many of those who met the painter personally remember her eyes too, but for a different reason, recalling how she would peer out inscrutably from behind thickly rimmed spectacles, with a gaze that was simultaneously intimidating and engaging. It seems appropriate then, that when Kevin Capon photographed Lusk in 1985 the result was this extreme close-up. After setting up his camera and lighting, Capon invited his subjects to approach the camera however they preferred, catching them in the act of looking back. Lusk’s face fills the frame, the black lens of her glasses creating a portal-like opening, connecting us with her in that moment and suggesting both her curiosity and her reticence.