Shelley Burgoyne and Barry Cook

July 3rd – 31st
Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat. 11am – 5pm

In January 2018 Shelley Burgoyne and Barry Cook spent two weeks as artists in residence at the Staithes Studio which was the beginning of a long process of creating pieces inspired by the area and culminating in a new body of work shown for the first time at Staithes Studios Gallery. For Shelley experiencing natural and wild places is central to the work she makes.

“ I am looking for visual connections with my experiences and the objects I find. The process of beachcombing and collecting on the shoreline of the Cleveland coast and around Staithes especially has triggered this new series of works. The drama of the seashore has for many years held my attention. Wonders are revealed with every tide and then washed away with the waves and the changing days.”

Shelley explores and invents with printmaking media using watercolour paint as a print medium combined with collaged print.

In contrast to Shelley’s fluid and organic pieces Barry’s artwork inhabits an imaginative, dream like place but always has its roots in the real world. Using an imaginative palette of colour the images are representational and recognisable with glimpses of the fishing huts at Port Mulgrave.

Barry recalls first seeing the huts whist on his residency,

“I stumbled upon the fishing huts at Port Mulgrave. I was intrigued by their variety, their shapes and textures and colours. It was an adventure each day to return there. I climbed and slid down the frost covered cliffs to draw the huts on the shoreline with their natural backdrop of blackthorn under azure skies. I admired the peace and beauty of the huts in this hidden oasis. I pondered on the history of the huts and the stories they could tell. The sketching needed to be quick before my fingers froze.”

Shoreline 3 Watercolour Monoprint – Shelley Burgoyne

Shoreline 1 Watercolour Monoprint – Shelley Burgoyne

Cowbar Nab 18cm x 30cm – Barry Cook

Barry Cook