History Through an Artist’s Eye

Along typically narrow, winding Somerset lanes, the entrance way can be found to the National Trust owned Dovecote in Bruton. A secluded petite hill holding aloft a structure akin to an architectural sculpture. Despite uncertainty about when the Dovecote was constructed (with the general consensus being between the 15^th and 17^th centuries) the tower could be mistaken for a modern art work with its lack of roof and aesthetic geometry; more suitable perhaps for the nearby Hauser and Wirth art gallery. It was this unique beauty that struck me on first viewing it.  An abandoned, ruined tower that somehow seemed to be inviting. The sunshine lit up the limestone to a cool ochre and the brilliantly white clouds glided around it, reminiscent of the doves’ feathers that once would have floated inside the structure itself.

Originally a watch tower, the imposition of doves and pigeons didn’t occur until around 1780. The interior still contains 200 pigeon holes, with six tiers of nest boxes, however, there could have once been four times as many holes as this. The Dovecote was situated within the deer park of Bruton Abbey, where the monks adapted the building from its origin of a gabled Tudor tower. After the dissolution of the monasteries, beginning in the late 1530’s, the estate including the Dovecote came into possession of the Berkley family. The National Trust acquired the Dovecote in 1915, from Sir Henry Hugh Arthur Hoare of the Hoare Baronets. The Hoare family’s seat is the beautiful Stourhead estate in Wiltshire. In 1961, the tower was listed as a Grade II building.  Throughout its history, the Dovecote has witnessed seismic change from being a refuge for the monks of Bruton Abbey to the practical use of farming doves and pigeons for produce. This change from refuge to practicality is now changing once more as the Dovecote begins to represent a new perspective in which to see the Somerset landscape. This is most striking on driving into Bruton, where the tower can be seen high on the green horizon, appearing like an other-worldly portal, mysterious enough to rival Glastonbury Tor.

As I walked up the buttercup stained hill, to admire the Dovecote and the kaleidoscope of fields around Bruton, I experienced this historic site as a centre to the tides of human change around it. The history, the construction of the building, and the surrounding landscape harmonies’ perfectly to create a special corner of Somerset. It is no surprise that Bruton is a hive for artistic activity: this environment is endlessly inspiring.  Being a painter I found inspiration from the form of the Dovecote and its roots within the landscape. This relationship between the history of the Dovecote and the natural landscape inspired me to create this painting (below). My use of abstract, colourful forms distorts the monument and the landscape, but in so doing heightens the intensity of perception I experienced on visiting the site.  At first the Dovecote seems to be a simple structure with a straightforward purpose, yet its complex history, combined with its understated beauty, creates a scene of pure spectacle worth visiting on many a day.

By Louise Wheeler

Louise Wheeler: Art and Soul

I haven’t written about my art since my A level art days, so now post-uni I find it’s refreshing to sit down and write about my paintings. I think this response encapsulates my approach to my painting: it’s something I do because I love it, because I need it in my life, and I’ve never really paused to think about what my work means as a whole or why indeed I enjoy it so much. Spending time painting has always just been something I’ve done, it is my way of self-expression. So I believe painting has a therapeutic value for me.

My love of art has grown over the years: during the summers of my A levels, and first years at uni, I converted the family shed into my ‘painting studio’ and quite happily spent hours in there working at my easel. I did lots of oil paintings during this time as the shed was a good place to accommodate the mess and smelliness of oils and turps. Unfortunately, now I don’t have the access to that work place so I work mostly with watercolours and acrylics. Watercolour in particular is my favourite: it is so supple and versatile. I love being able to move it around the page and to merge various colours into each other before waiting to see what the final colour will turn out to be.

As an artist, my work is concerned with form and expression. I have never consciously created a piece with any particular political or historical reference. The artists that have influenced my painting style are the ones who are primarily concerned with form: Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky, O’Keeffe. After a recent trip to Vienna I’ve become fascinated by the use of line, and the juxtaposition of the human figure with pattern and abstract forms, particularly seen in the work of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. I’ve recently begun to be inspired by Oskar Kokoschka’s expressionist style too.

I started by painting portraits, as I have always loved how the human face can be represented in so many dynamic ways. I became interested in abstracting a face by fragmenting it into almost broken shapes. In doing this I was trying to suggest ideas of how hidden away the interior mind is, and whether this hidden depth can ever be expressed on the surface of a face. By fragmenting a face I was trying to see if a person could still be recognisable, and what it is about a face that is so appealing to artists experimenting with form. My favourite of these portraits was one I painted of the musician Dan Croll. I was so pleased with the painting that I sent it to him, which he subsequently re-posted to his Instagram, something which was completely unexpected and very surreal!

Dan Croll, Watercolour

Indeed, my work focuses on the human form, and the expression of emotion through the use of intense colour. I find it something hard to explain in words, which is probably why I have to paint it. My compositions are nearly always abstract, and consist of the figure with lots of colour, shapes, and one or two other recognisable motifs. I find I work best, and most honestly, from my imagination, or from the memory of an emotion.

I enjoy drawing and painting from life (I recently painted two watercolours, one of an orchid flower, and the other of a still life of yellow courgettes with red chillies) but I’m not really interested in realism or trying to copy things to such an extent that the painting becomes a photograph. My main concern is to explore how the body responds to certain landscapes and environments, and how perception of surroundings can be expressed into certain abstract forms to offer a new perspective on a lived experience.

I’m always looking for the lines of certain shapes, be this a field, or a face, or a flower, and then abstracting these lines together. But most of all I love painting bold colours-if I could paint every blank wall with bright colours I probably would.

Have a look at my Facebook page for more pictures of my work:

https://www.facebook.com/louisewheelerart/