Both Anthony Garratt and Frances Hatch paint the outdoors in all weather and times of year, including natural materials in their work. Anthony Garratt explores the political and emotional evidence of the human within the landscapes he paints, alongside the nature of the paint itself. Frances Hatch invites conversation with the stuff of each place, the dynamic exchanges in light and weather she experiences on the land, allowing the rain and environment to engage with the paint and radically change her work. Petter Southall responds to superb natural timber in furniture designs that combine exciting fluidity with tactile strength.
Anthony Garratt lives with his family on Dartmoor where the evidence of abandoned human efforts draw his fascination. He is interested in land and seascapes that emphasise the vulnerability of man. ‘There is beauty in the knowledge that humans are not all powerful and in control of the planet. We are at the mercy of it. If my paintings are able to communicate that beauty, perhaps that is what I am striving for.’
Frances Hatch is acclaimed for her radical and innovative approach to landscape painting.
Frances grew up on Fenland at the edge of The Wash. Its black earth and Siberian winds shaped the fundamentals of her practice. Plein air painting offered a means to respond to experiences that were marvellous to her in her solitary meanderings—mundane miracles that stopped her in her tracks, literally, and still do.
She continues to seek out time ‘in nature’, preferring to work under the bowl of sky rather than the confinement of a roof. Nowadays, her way of being with the land is multi-sensory and whole-bodied—hands-on and messy.
Petter Southall’s handmade furniture and garden features are available to view at the gallery and on the website below. Commissions are welcome for existing or new designs. Some furniture is the garden features are available to buy now from the gallery.
Restless Earth is open from 18 January – 9 March 2025
at Sladers Yard, Contemporary Art & Craft Gallery, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL. Open: Weds to Sat 10–4pm.
All work can be viewed on www.sladersyard.co.uk
Telephone: 01308 459511 or email: gallery@sladersyard.co.uk.
