The Aardvark Blog

So pleased with our 'Take Five' Exhibition
7/08/2016

This morning when I was putting on the lights in the exhibition I was again knocked out by how strong 'Take Five' is. Sometimes when you are preparing and launching an exhibition you don't  get a chance to really look at the work, and I am particularly pleased to be showing two such strong and contrasting ceramicists as Rob Fountain and Basil Titford.

As you will see from the pictures here they are both technically very proficient and artistically inspired. To me Basil seems to be taking some form and palate inspiration from the great Sung revivalists at the beginning of the 20th century such as Staite Murray. I have a late piece at home by Denise Wren ( another of that group) and Basil's work shares some of the solidity that they achieved. This is not light as air porcelain, it is statement work that demands attention and space.

Living with the art you buy is one of the great pleasures of human existence. As I said in my opening words yesterday, one of the plus points about prints and ceramics is that superb works can be purchased for relatively small sums. At our last Shropshire Art Week for example I bought a small jarlet by Nancy Frost and looking at it again yesterday morning when I was pulling the blinds in the sitting room, I was struck again by what a small marvel it is. 'Take Five' is only on for a week ( I am afraid that our August schedule did not allow for the usual two week duration), and it is a show well worth coming to see.

After art and some attempts to make myself useful in the accounts department, I am today returning to my great task of putting books into stock. Lots more art books, Folio volumes, fiction and history to go on to the shelves ( which have been freshly re-ordered as part of Katy and Hattie's great re-organisation project upstairs) and many more life-changing reads to be found. Outside the bookshop as we drew up this morning the cows were all lying down in a living replica of one of Cuyp's great pictures of the fields around Dordrecht. As ever at Aardvark there is art on the walls, and even art in the fields outside. If you are at a loose end this week why not come and visit one of Britain's most scenic - as well as largest - independent bookshops.