There’s always a strange quiet after an exhibition. Not just the unpacking back in the studio – like dirty laundry after a great holiday…it’s more than that. So to keep the mood going why not plan a visit to this West Wales artist’s studio..
One minute it’s full of voices, laughter, people leaning in close to read the backstories…
…and the next, the walls are bare again.
The ‘Lock up your Grandads… the girls came to Cardigan’ exhibition at the Corn Exchange brought exactly what I’d hoped — and actually more besides.
People came in expecting a bit of fun…
…and left a little quieter, it wasn’t just slapstick there appeared to be poignancy too.
The Owd Lasses did what they do best — pulled people in with humour, then there’s a bit of a shift.
Stories were shared.
Memories surfaced.
More than once I heard:
“This is serious art.”
A comment I’ll take every day of the week… especially when it comes with a laugh first.
One visitor said ‘ I need to go away and process all this…’ we’d been discussing the invisible older women we get annoyed with in the Post Office Queue at lunch time…why men are known by their former occupation and some women by who they were married to…
Alongside them, the Rural Lives paintings struck a different chord especially on Barley Saturday —
recognition, nostalgia, and that familiar sense of “you’ve got that exactly right.”
From sheep pens to quiet farm mornings, from coastal stillness to unspoken routines —
these aren’t supposed to be postcard scenes… they are rugged lives.
What I Really Loved About It All
It wasn’t just what was on the walls.
It was what people brought with them.
Stories left on the wall.
Half-finished poems.
Laughter in the dress-up corner.
Quiet moments stood in front of a painting.
It’s the reason I do this.
So… What Happens Next?
If you meant to come and didn’t quite make it — you’re not alone.
(Barley Saturday swept folk away…)
But this isn’t the end of the road for the work.
From May 9th, I’ll be opening my West Wales artist’s studio by appointment.
A chance to see the paintings in the place they were created —
away from the rush, a bit more space to look, chat about the inspiration, and take it in properly.
Some of the pieces from the exhibition will be there, alongside new work in progress —
including developments in the Owd Lasses series and Rural Lives collections.
It’s a different kind of experience.
Quieter.
More personal.
(And yes… the kettle will be on – might dig out some custard creams too.)
