After the great success of their previous collaborations at the Malthouse Gallery, Alison Summerfield, Liz Vonberg, Susan Paradise, Lynsey Pickwell and Lesley Hook are very much looking forward to their 2024 return this July. A diverse quintet of Devon artists, each of them brings their own unique style, personality and expertise to the group. This exhibition is guaranteed to be full of variety, colour and fun! 

The exhibition runs from Monday 1 July until Thursday 11 July and is open daily from 10am until 4:30pm. Admission is free of charge.

Alison Summerfield BA (Hons) SWAc Hon

Alison paints in oils, although charcoal and inks are often employed in her work. She revels in the physical and instinctive process of working with the paint, using both knife and brush. Her paintings are predominantly an emotional reaction to nature, the landscape and the coast. She works from sketches, photographs and memory. Alison paints intuitively and her spontaneous, energetic approach is apparent in her paintings.

Liz Vonberg

With her paintings on silk Liz brings together the colours and patterns of the natural world and her passion for textiles. Inspiration comes from both coastal Devon and travels abroad. She trained as an illustrator, so Liz’s works are detailed and accurate. The French dyes she blends together produce vibrant, pleasing pieces for framing as pictures or for wearing as garments and silk scarves. Each piece is unique.

Susan Paradise

Susan likes painting a range of subjects and particularly enjoys painting the figure and seaside scenes, and setting up a still life. Most of her paintings have people in them and she invites the viewer to imagine the possible story behind the scene. She loves arranging things into a pleasing composition, whether it’s people on the beach or objects for a still life painting. Susan paints in both acrylics and in oils. Her most recent work is mostly inspired by people having a good time in the sunshine.

Lynsey Pickwell

Lynsey’s work is inspired by her great respect and admiration for the natural world and the creatures we live with.  Her canine family members feature heavily in her work; they are a constant source of amusement and fascination. To make her artwork, Lynsey uses a series of printmaking processes that create marks and effects that can’t be achieved through painting. Each original hand-pulled print is an individual piece and although the same blocks or plates are used each time, the process of laying the ink and putting them through the press brings new elements to each one making them unique.

Lesley Hook

Lesley is a mixed media artist, building up layers of watercolours, acrylic paints and inks, collage, crayon and pastel, to create paintings full of colour and pattern. These reflect her love of textiles and her home nestling in Devon’s green landscape, just a stone’s throw from the coastline. Her paintings can be a blast of colour, inspired by nature while allowing her imagination to wander and create. Lesley’s still life paintings include her collection of vases and bowls filled with flowers and fruit. She develops her paintings with a splash of imagination and a nod to her love of tapestry, patchwork and embroidery.