Giant Bear Steps for Head to Art
The impressive and beautifully located Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury, is set to welcome back the artists’ collective group, Head to Art, for another exciting exhibition following on from their 2024 success, which will feature a Meet the Artist special event on Saturday, 8 February.
The exhibition itself runs from 2 to 15 February and will present works in a variety of media, including those inspired by Shrewsbury’s famous son, Charles Darwin.
Two of the presented Darwinian inspired paintings are by group leader, Paul Holmes. A renowned wildlife artist who has recently moved into portraiture, Paul chose to focus on Darwin as part of his contribution to the exhibition for a special reason.
“I was inspired to do portraits of Charles and his wife, Emma when they were young,” he says, “because everyone imagines Charles as an old man.”
But, as Paul points out, Darwin was only 22 when he embarked on his five year epic journey of discovery on HMS Beagle in 1831 and it was only three years after his return that he married his first cousin, Emma Wedgewood. The prolific portraitist, George Richmond, was commissioned to create a matching pair of watercolour portraits in celebration.
The originals remained amongst the very few images which existed of Darwin at the time. Until the success of his Origin of Species and Descent of Man books, he showed himself seldom in public. He did not give lectures, teach in a university or hold a senior position in any public institution, so when fame arrived at his door, along with it came an insatiable demand to know what he looked like and all about the man himself.
Paul’s work is based on these portraits. In a pre-photography age, he has had to create an interpretation based on the watercolours themselves. Both are in pastel on velour paper.
“Pastel is my preferred medium,” Paul explains, “because of the range of effects I can achieve. Pastel can be both immediate, producing vibrant sketches or considered and painterly. Although it is mainly used as a dry medium, it can also be used wet, using water, alcohol and even oil to give an almost limitless range of effects.”
There is an open invitation to visit the gallery on Saturday, 8 February for a special Meet the Artist event running 11am to 2pm when there will be the chance to talk further with Paul and his fellow artists. All work is for sale.
Bear Steps Gallery is located in St Alkmunds Place, Shrewsbury. Opening hours are 10am to 4pm Mon–Sat, parking is within easy walking distance, entry is free. For more info, visit: Facebook Bear Steps Art Gallery / Head to Art.