Friends of Our Earth
On the weekend of 7 - 8 September we had a show in the garden of the house J.M.W. Turner designed and built in Twickenham. Turner, the artist, was very conscious of how the industrial revolution was already changing the environment in the C19th.
We were trying to communicate
our increasing concern about
Climate Change and Biodiversity
in many different ways.
Nine of our artists showed 21 works.
Jane Oldfield www.janeoldfield.co.uk
There used to be Butterflies on the Buddleia and Sparrows everywhere in London. The Greeks warned not to mess with our sun in their Phaeton and the Sunhorses story. Perhaps People will evolve to Fly to escape a messed up World - but where can we go?
Maire Gartland www.mairegartland.co.uk
The petals act as Prayer Flags, a necklace of peace and love for the earth. which echo the colours of the setting and rising sun. A homage to both Turner and our brightest star. The petals can return to the earth and work their magic helping nourish the next generation of plant life.
Nicki Rolls www.nickirolls.com
Nicki explores plants and their importance and vulnerability in our changing environment. It differs from Turner’s work as, rather than highlighting the machinery and atmosphere of a changing world, she looks to the saviours and casualties of this momentous change.
Nicki's Dandelion is drawn onto newspaper articles about climate crisis, pollution, and carbon emissions. It highlights the underlying and worsening problems that nature has to cope with. Also Marsh Ragwort, but this is made with charcoal and acrylic paint on recycled plywood.
Her drawings on tubes (Nation of Wildflowers) give presence to these flowers. Given the importance of plants in sustaining all human life, Nicki wants to subvert plant drawings from being polite, framed, wall pieces and present them, rather, as important and unyielding.
Nicki's plaster casted Fossils in the Anthropocene, our epoch, in which human activity is having a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems. Man-made ‘stuff’ is forming a new stratum on the Earth’s crust.
Joanna Waddy www.just-glass.co.uk/joanna-waddy.html
Joanna's glass work shows that, despite the ravaging of our lush green landscapes, insects, birds and Nature can find a way to evolve and survive. It is down to everyone to act and fight for change to ensure the survival of our Earth.
Brian Deighton www.briandeighton.com
The warming of our oceans is killing living, colourful Coral leaving it Bleached. Turner, who painted sunlight, storms and the oceans would have been intensely concerned with these increasing climate catastrophes.
Camilla Brendon www.camillabrendon.com
Kelp Forests support many sea creatures and are a great carbon store, but huge trawl nets scrape everything off the ocean floor including the diminishing kelp. (Also see her Kelp Forest in the RA Summer Exhibition)
Lizzie Brewer www.lizziebrewer.com
Lizzie is concerned with our loss of biodiversity (All The Things We Will Miss). She is particularly interested in the living underground networks of fungi (mycelium) and roots in the earth (Page from Rust Book and the Furrow).
Of her 3 Globes - the black one shows mycelium, - the rust one refers to the Great Oxididisation Event & the rusting of the earth 2.3 billion years ago, - the last globe refers to cyanobacteria which first produced oxygen from energy absorbed from light.
Bridget Macklin https://bridgetmacklin.com
These Lizards Lounge on fragile porcelain ‘rocks’ from Blacknest Fields where they are conserved in Hampshire. Bridget uses this as a metaphor for the vulnerable state of our landscape and biodiversity.
Martin Hazell www.martinhazellartist.com
Horrified by seeing the results of a Bushfire in South Australia Martin was delighted to find a Humbug Scrub growing.