Star Brewery Gallery
SPRING SHOW
Susie Monnington
Evocative abstract paintings inspired by Outer Hebridean beach wanderings.
I never know what my paintings will look like. They emerge from an intense and focused practice, balanced with trying to be open to surprises, alert and ultimately inviting in a painterly playfulness: A found bottle top from the beach used to make marks suggesting bubbles in the sand. Seaweed crushed into sand to build texture.
Seaweed washed up on sand, deposited in lines resembling manuscript staves with dried kelp spore sacs, scattered like crotchets and quavers, pushed and pulled backwards and forwards with the tide’s ebb and flow. Shape-shifting sands blown across the shore by relentless winds. A never-ending dance along the shore.
Time marked out on rocks. Sometimes sanded and polished shiny smooth, sometimes geometrically precise with delicate traceries and occasional angry abstract gashes, scratched and gouged out like war wounds. A reminder of the sea’s power.
Paul Newland
'I studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. After a year abroad on a French Government Scholarship I established a studio in London, as well as teaching there and in other parts of England. During a year in Rome in the mid-seventies I took up the use of watercolour, which became my chief means of expression for many years. I became a member of the Royal Watercolour Society in 1990 and of the NEAC twelve or so years later. (At the RWS I served as Vice-President and as Honorary Curator.)
While a lecturer in painting and, later, art history at Roehampton University I travelled frequently across London, along the river east to west: the Thames and its embankments and the hills of South London gradually supplanted the themes of still life and figure which before predominated. Then, in the noughties I moved to East Sussex, to Lewes. Subject matter was extended and oil painting became important to me. There have been several exhibitions over the years, both in London and elsewhere and work is found in many collections here and abroad.'
Mark Munroe-Preston
Mark, originally from Yorkshire, studied photography at Wolverhampton Polytechnic before moving to London, where he worked as a still life photographer. His interest shifted to digital illustration and CGI, leading him to become a children’s illustrator. In 2001, Mark relocated to Sussex, where he rekindled his passion for landscape photography, particularly in Ashdown Forest and the South Downs National Park. By 2017, he began transforming these photographs into artwork for his first exhibition. After going full-time as an artist in 2018, he exhibited widely in the UK and beyond.
His work blends photography, painting, and collage to create atmospheric pieces inspired by nature. Focusing on trees, Mark captures their complexity and importance to ecosystems. His art often incorporates themes of windswept landscapes and interconnected natural systems. Each piece is titled with GPS coordinates to encourage viewers to visit and experience the locations firsthand, with works presented as limited edition prints on brushed aluminium.
Joanna Farrow
I am a Sussex artist, focusing primarily on landscapes and trees. I’m inspired by my surroundings such as the Ashdown Forest and my rural locality. Every time I’m out, something different catches my eye – it might be colour and structure, or the mood of a place which changes seasonally, as well as through the day. I walk and draw, or make quick paintings of whatever inspires me. I then develop the work in my studio, working from my drawings, back up photographs and sometimes memory. I am increasing embracing the elements and committing to working ‘plein air’ as the resulting work, whether painting or drawing, has an energy and spontaneity that can be difficult to recreate in the studio. I work mainly with oils, though I am increasingly incorporating different materials and processes. My work sells through art fairs, galleries and design companies, both here and abroad.
Rosie Good
Rosie lives and works in Lewes. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy Schools and has won several awards. She draws imagery from the landscape, both urban and rural and is interested in the way things change over time, including erosion and dereliction. In the last couple of years, she has spent time looking at well-known abandoned structures, including Shoreham cement works, the North Street quarter, Horsebridge Mill and Black Rock Gas works. These old industrial landmarks hold stories from the past and are monuments to a different time and ideas of change. She is also a member of Salt Edge Arts, an art group interested in depicting the changing coastline and area surrounding Cuckmere, Sussex.
Adele Scantlebury
“My inspiration springs from a practical interest in rural working life and natural history.
I enjoy working in woodcut because of its strong graphic content and inherent cleanliness of line. I aim to capture those fleeting moments of magic that are full of symbolism and, though everyday, go largely unnoticed.”
Adele lives and works in East Sussex and exhibits her pictures locally. She is currently working on a couple of other projects; producing a range of handmade tiles, and also facilitating and teaching workshops through Blackbird Arts.
Sarah Ruthven
Sarah Ruthven abstracts the landscape with colour. She is drawn to wild places like the west coast of Cornwall, the Sussex coast line and the undulating and expansive South Downs.. These landscapes inspire Sarah’s ceramic and painting practice, which feed into each other. Oil paints, palettes, slips and glazes all retain the flowing and malleable landscape she experiences.
As a ‘plein air’ oil painter Sarah will visit the same spots repeatedly connecting and tuning into the landscape. When back in the studio Sarah will give the paintings time to breathe and make decisions whether to work on the paintings further.
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Sarah's paintings are lyrical, hazy, luminous and are sensitive invitations into land and light. Sarah says,' I feel like there is this human yearning to reconnect and remember'.
Sarah’s artistic career has taken her from a BA Fine Art at Kingston University to a Marsters with Distinction in European Fine Art at Winchester School of Art and Barcelona. More recently Sarah completed Professional Landscape course at Newlyn School of Art.
Marc Gooderham
I find an attractive melancholy in street corners and buildings that exist within the urban landscape. Where we may pass by without a second glance, I am drawn to the unique architecture of the city, capturing the singular beauty found in buildings from another time as modern life continues to evolve around them. I try to create scenes that hold an almost cinematic quality. Buildings take centre stage, offering a glimpse into empty rooms through curtain-less windows, evoking a sense of loneliness that is inherent in any large city. But the stillness also invites contemplation, of the lives once lived here and the new lives that continue to do so.
Preliminary sketches are made on location. These drawings are then worked into larger paintings on canvas, wood panels and paper. My paintings were featured in a recent Sky Arts edition of Inside Art. The episode profiled the work of the East London Group.
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I am a member of The Society of Graphic Fine Art - founded in 1919, which is recognised as the only foundation in the UK dedicated to drawing.