Artists run wild with faces and places for inspired exhibitions

Running until October 19, marvel at a variety of media, styles and materials used by five established local artists all inviting visitors to indulge in a ‘Return to the Wild’.

The Malthouse Gallery exhibition includes nature-inspired paintings, ceramics, photographs and sculptures.

Mervyn West is a photographer who creates large abstract images on canvas, that range from hairy spiders and inquisitive ostriches to a large Frenchman playing boules.

Elizabeth Wilson blends representation and personal interpretation in sea and landscapes that express the mood and feeling of a place at a particular time.

Toni West has produced a series of playful sculptures of dogs in bronze resin that capture their spirit, movement and energy.

Drawing inspiration from her strong love of nature, ceramicist Linda Bristow creates hand-built flower sculptures using earthenware clay and decorated in coloured slips and oxides and constructs wall panels by pressing wild flowers into clay.

Trisha Hayman is a natural history watercolourist. Her fine art paintings show off the splendour of the natural world in exquisite detail.

‘Faces and Places’ will be taking over the Courtyard Gallery too as the exhibition brings together two Lyme-based artists to display their talents.

Russian-born Maria Barbashina has lived in Lyme Regis for 11 years. This exhibition, her first at The Town Mill, features work in oils: portraiture, still lifes and paintings from Spain and Portugal. These painterly pictures show Maria’s refreshing engagement with colour, personality and the brush stroke itself.

Australian-born Jennie Pearson has lived in Lyme Regis for over 30 years. Her training was in textile design, and this has led to current work in collage, dyeing and print, usually on fabric but also on paper and inspired by her local environment.

n Both exhibitions are free and are open daily from 10.30am to 4.30pm until October 19.