May 2021 Creative Chronicle Edition 3 Front cover artworks from “The Islesolation Gallery”. Artworks by: Pamela Parker, Patrick White, Kerry Weston, Graham Reading & Trudie Wilson, Newport residential Home, Independent Arts’ Pebbles project. See the full exhibitions at: www.islesolationgallery.com HELLO Welcome to our third issue of the our very popular Anxiety Café which Creative Chronicle – the magazine offers crafty treats and helpful chat. aimed at mature readers on the Much of what we do has been offered Isle of Wight. It’s part of a project online and will continue through May called Digging Deep, created by & June. However, with Covid safety Independent Arts and funded via plans in place and regular testing, a grant from Arts Council England. we will be gradually reintroducing We hope you enjoy reading it half some of our programmes in a socially as much as we’ve enjoyed pulling it distanced way from mid-May, plus together! introducing some new ones too in the not-too-distant future. Our new The idea for this started late in head office, our Creative Hub, will be 2020, as a way for people isolated open from May 18th at 48 High Street, and possibly shielding due to the Newport, so do give us a ring on pandemic, to begin to find their way 01983 822437 if you’d like to make back to something resembling normal an appointment and come to find life again. We are hoping that you’ll out about what we can offer you, or find something in this magazine that someone you know. will interest you to find out a little more about the beautiful island we We are a small charity, with a friendly call home. So many of us have been team and lots of volunteering inside for such a long time, it’s almost opportunities too for those with time become a habit. to spend; the kettle is always on and a tray of biscuits never far away, so do There’s so much to see and learn come and see what we do. about right on our doorstep, the Isle of Wight is steeped in history and Keep creating! fascinating facts. Plus, the healing power of creative pursuits has helped Lisa so many people cope with isolation through lockdown, so we hope that Lisa Gagliani you’ll enjoy what we have to share in MBE these pages. Chief Executive Independent Arts Independent Arts has been changing Registered lives through the arts – from our well charity 297474 known SingAbout sessions that have run for many years across nine sites from Freshwater to Ryde, through to 1 News from Independent Arts ur new Creative Hub at 49 High Street, Newport is opening its Odoors on the 18th of May. We will be open from 10am – 3pm Monday to Saturday. Due to social distancing measures we may have to close when the space reaches capacity. Our first exhibition is Art and Identity, a portraiture exhibition part of our Time & Tide project. Some of our creative groups are now resuming face-to-face sessions and you can book a space by calling 01983 822437. We look forward to welcoming you to the space. 2 3 The Hay wain (1821) John Constable In this month’s Creative Chronicle I’ve been invited to talk about John Constable, arguably Britain’s finest landscape painter, and his masterpiece, The Hay Wain. This huge 6ft painting which can be seen at the National Gallery has appeared on everything from boxes of fudge to the humble tea towel. Scout any tourist shop across the land and you’ll see it disappearing from the shelves and winging its way across the world adorning coffee mugs, puzzles and key fobs. It is our greatest export and for many of us our quintessential vision of England. So what if you were to learn that when Constable unveiled his masterpiece in 1821 it was received as something of a flop, misunderstood, the colours found garish, and the subject matter (landscape) entirely inappropriate for a painting on a grand scale? What if you were to learn that Constable’s original title for the work was Landscape: Noon. 4 The Hay Wain The Hay In truth Constable’s painting the River Stour in Suffolk. was completely unexpected. Constable was born in Suffolk, Landscape as a subject matter his parents were mill owners, had previously been limited and it is believed that the to sketches or small painted stone work seen to the lower studies. Grand pictures on right of the painting is in fact the scale of the Hay Wain the corner of Flatford Mill, were usually the reserve which the Constable family of history, biblical or great owned. On the opposite battle paintings. The colour bank we can see a small palette too, was entirely cottage, home to a man called new. Landscape artists William Lot, a friend of the generally copied the palette Constable’s. of old master paintings from previous centuries where trees Look deeper into the and foliage appear muddier, background of the painting darker, closer to browns and and we can just make out buffs. In truth most of these some tiny figures (top right older paintings had hung for beneath the trees). These years in smoke filled rooms are field workers loading hay, with open fires, their surfaces so Constable is depicting a stained and damaged by the working landscape populated smoke. with lowly field workers and laborers. This is a deeply By contrast in The Hay Wain personal painting, Constable Constable uses rich vivid has taken us right to the greens much closer to the heart of his beloved Sussex, foliage of the great oaks and to his family’s mill, to the rolling countryside of the humble home of William Suffolk landscape depicted. Lot. This landscape isn’t still So, let’s take a closer look or undisturbed, this is busy at the painting. The scene working, agrarian landscape depicts a shallow ford on the nation’s granary. 5 Finally I would like to return to Constable’s original title for the painting, Landscape: Noon. This title may give us an intriguing clue as to why Constable placed his cart, his wain, resting there in the middle of the shallow ford. An obvious answer is that the horse would have needed to rest and drink, the less obvious answer needs a deeper dig back into 18th Century farming practice. In the 18th century carts were the only means of transportation for anything from goods to low fee passengers. Cart wheels would have been made by a Wheelwright. Traditionally they were spoked and encased in metal rims. As the carts rolled along the country tracks in the hot summer months, these rims would become very hot and frequently sparks were known to fly from the wheels as they hit flint and stone. The dry summer fields filled with piled hay acted like a tinder box and fires were a real risk. So, carters adopted the practice of taking their carts into the fords to cool the metal rims of their wheels. Perhaps it isn’t so surprising to imagine that in the midday heat of a beautiful Summer’s day in Suffolk this carter paused to cool his wheels and to let his horse drink and rest a while. Kerry Tindall 6 Art In Lockdown Thank you to residents of The Limes for sending in some of their work created in lockdown. We’ve heard so many sad stories linked with care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic, we felt it was important to share some of the positivity and creativity that is found in abundance in care homes too. We hope you enjoy the work and if you would like to see more, The Limes is planning an exhibition of work this summer in Bembridge Village Hall. All the artists have differing styles and subjects, many live with dementia or other additional needs, and some have never painted before. Their work is all created ‘in the moment’ with bright, organic and abstract styles. 7 Pencil Study – Jack Painting – Maureen Painting – Tilly 8 Painting – Joy Coloured pen – Julia About the artists creativity take over. She works quickly and passionately when Tilly has tried to avoid painting she paints. for most of her life but has Joy loves anything creative really started to enjoy it. She and is very social. She is always was a dancer in her younger up for trying out new things days and performed at the and very encouraging of the London palladium as a Tiller others. Girl! Julia is hugely creative and Jack was an architect, which spends most of her time perhaps leads to him being a drawing, colouring or painting. thoughtful and careful artist. She comes up with some Maureen likes to get stuck amazing abstract pieces full in straight away and lets her of colour and passion. 9 Michael Maybrick Music, Mayoralty and... Murder? n the western extension of Ryde would be right. But among the Cemetery, known as the ‘New 20,000 other graves and vaults in ICemetery’, stands an imposing Ryde cemetery, the full extent of marble tomb. Under the ornate his fascinating life is a story that top and multiple columns are is known by few! interred the remains of Mr. Michael Maybrick. Musical Prodigy This large vaulted grave is Born in Liverpool in 1844 (or situated right next to the main 1841, according to some sources), pathway through the centre of Michael Maybrick was the fourth the cemetery, and any visitors to of the eight children of William the burial ground are sure to walk Maybrick, an engraver, and his wife by it.