Serious point to art (From Stroud News and Journal)

Serious point to art

THE WORLD seen through the eyes of a mother and daughter will go on display at the Subscription Rooms on Saturday, May 3.

An exhibition of paintings by Stroud artist Marianne Hellwig John and daughter Sarah John marks the beginning of the 57th Stroud and District Arts Festival.

The show, which includes illustrations by Sarah for a New Internationalist magazine calendar and paintings by Marianne about the Iraq war, will run until Wednesday, May 14.

It is open from Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Sarah, 43, is a painter and illustrator who regularly works for New Internationalist.

She produced pictures of people around the world for the magazine's calendar. They were printed alongside international recipes.

Some of these pieces will be on sale in Stroud together with a selection of landscapes created with one of the world's oldest painting materials, egg tempera.

Sarah, who now lives in London, was strongly influenced by growing up in an artistic household.

Her father David, a sculptor, has created pieces for churches around the world and recently designed a jubilee sculpture for a Cheltenham park.

"I was very inspired by my parents," Sarah said. "I would be taken round galleries and watch them working. "It had a strong influence on me."

Marianne will be showing a new collection. Most of her works are abstract but they will include a number of paintings about the war in Iraq.

One features the words 'Your marks erased' - the opening line of a poem by Marianne about the war.

She said she was inspired to break away from abstract work by the seriousness of the situation.

"You start to imagine things when you hear the news," she said. "You may paint abstract works but that doesn't mean you're cut off from ordinary life."

Marianne and Sarah hope to be at the exhibition on Saturday to talk about their paintings. For information about the festival call 01453 884922.