I was delighted to be invited to exhibit in a new venue for the 2022 South Hams Arts Trail, with four other artists, in the stunning home of Ann Yeoman, the current chair of South Hams Arts Forum. This venue may seem at first very isolated out on windswept farmland near the south west coast path, but the house is very familiar to the many hikers and dog walkers who traverse from the National Trust car park at East Soar, half a mile away, en route to the nearby coast, with its stunning cliffs. For the past three years, I too have walked past and been curious about this house, never suspecting that within a short time, I would be exhibiting inside, alongside its owner!
In the two weeks of the Trail we had nearly 500 visitors and sales were robust despite the current gloomy economic situation. Indeed my (current) favourite painting, (below) which was only completed for this exhibition, was snapped up on Preview night! And continued to generate interest – despite its red dot – for the whole two weeks. Visitors stayed on average for half an hour, and whilst there was indeed a lot to view in four rooms, (ceramics, jewellery, botanical illustrations, pastel paintings, prints and my watercolours), perhaps the cups of tea and flapjack encouraged the relaxed atmosphere and conversations with the artists stewarding. We met some lovely people, made good sales and the generous compliments definitely provide motivation to keep on painting.