We at Spacious and Gracious have been known to splash about a bit  in the sea. This painting, by David Lay, of a young man purposefully striding into the water, could almost represent a member of FOWSC (Folkestone Open Water Swimming Club). So we will be interested to see his exhibition of images of the sea, currently showing at the Chimera gallery, in Tontine Street. The show is called “Not Waving”, and it runs till 4th Oct. Go to his website www.davidlay.org for more details, or use our link to The Chimera gallery for opening times.

(I have a feeling my colleague at S&G ‘Prince Vince’ will love this Owl lino cut)

Further information below :

Annie Soudain … “Birds – Flowers – Fruit ”

An exhibition of Paintings, Linoprints and Heritage Toys 2nd to 31st May

Born near Dover in Kent she studied for four years at the then Canterbury College of Art. Taught art in Brighton, left to have three children and lived for several years on boats in England and France before settling by the sea in Sussex.

Following an exhibition at Folkestone’s Metropole Arts Centre, Annie was one of several artists from the South-East selected to contribute work for the cabins of a refurbished Saga cruise ship, the Saga Rose. She was also commissioned to paint three large panels for a bar area, and later, when the ship underwent further refurbishment, three even larger panels were commissioned and installed, depicting ‘Birds, Flowers, and Fruit of the World’.

Commissioned to decorate a life-size fibreglass cow for CowParade London 2002. ‘Dawn Cowrus’ (Annie covered the cow with birds) stood in the grounds of the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood throughout the summer and autumn of that year. It was voted ‘CowParade Champion’ in a Farmer’s Weekly poll and was later auctioned at the Royal Smithfield Show to raise money for charity.

The basis for the piece was to provide facts about the much unloved birds, and offer information about the evolution, ethnology, natural history, environmental status and folklore of these remarkable animals. A handy pocket guide was also available, from the bowels of this oversized gull, offering more instruction to hopefully change the minds and opinions of the non gull lovers.

The work gathered mixed opinions from locals and visitors alike, some thinking it was stupid and a waste of money to others revelling in the concept and asking questions to the on-board experts.

But now our gull has fallen on hard times, languishing in a gated off car park by the now empty coastal watchtower, gazing towards the Burstin Hotel, the future looks bleak for our once famous artwork.

Don’t fret, we have a plan. We want the gull to take up residence in a new home, and have been scouting out locations in Folkestone, to find somewhere beautiful where she can relax and enjoy the view.

We really think this could be an excellent attraction/talking point for the town, and would put a good use to this piece of work, before possible vandalism or the tides of time take their toll.

Find below a few of our ideas for a potential new home :

How about on the top of the multi storey car park just above Asda?

Or possibly atop the Saga building just by the bus station?

The apartments above Pelosi’s could also be an excellent location.

How about above Phones4u, keeping an eye on the centre of the town?

Or my favourite, at the very top of the stairwell on top of Number One The Leas. To me, it’s the perfect location.

Do you have any other locations where our gull can reside? Please do send them in.

There is some interesting and enjoyable work in the collection. Some personal favourites were woodcuts by Monica Poole, a linocut by Peter Ford ( based on a superb engraving by Bruegel, of an artist and connoiseur, that I once used on a business card), a Fred Cuming mono-type of a wave, and some Alice in Wonderland prints by Peter Blake. I was also pleased to see a watercolour and pencil study of Sandgate Castle, by Kevin Hennessy, my old art teacher, and an etching of a redstart by David Koster, who taught me on foundation at Medway.

Surprisingly, the large Carel Weight painting was a disappointment. Partly because Weight’s thin scratchy brushwork seems less impressive to me now than when I enjoyed it as a student, partly because it is in poor condition, which must surely be due, to some extent, to the conditions it has been stored in(?), and partly because it was not displayed to its best advantage in the drawing room of the Grand.

This last point highlights the biggest issue to come out of the show for me. The Grand is a superb building, lives up to its name as a fine place to go for a meal or a drink and some rowdy converstion, but with the best will in the world, it is not a fitting venue for a serious art exhibition.

All of the glazed works in the Palm Court were difficult to see through the complicated reflections, and there is just too much (understandable) restaurant ‘clutter’, to see the works properly.

In the drawing room, the bird of paradise wallpaper fought against the paintings hung against it, and there was an inescapable sense that the larger paintings were squeezed into the only spaces they would fit, regardless of how well they looked.

The problem is, that with the closure of the Metropole Galleries, there is no venue in Folkestone capable of housing an exhibition of any scale and stature. The Triennial succeeded by using the whole town and its environment as the venue. But with the Metropole collection having been fought for and saved from being sold off, and (reluctantly?) taken on by the creative foundation, what is the future for it? Is it to be a stagnant collection, or will it grow, and either way, will there ever be a space in Folkestone, fit for it, and other larger shows, to be seen in?

The pieces of artwork from the 2008 Folkestone Triennial which will stay put have just been announced, with additional news that Andrea Schlieker has been appointed curator of the second Folkestone Triennial in 2011.

The eight are :

· Adam Chodzko’s short film Pyramid and accompanying documentation sign

· Nathan Coley’s illuminated light structure Heaven is a Place Where Nothing Ever Happens

· Tracey Emin’s seven small bronzes representing Baby Things

· Patrick Tuttofuocco’s multi-coloured F O L K E S T O N E sign on the harbour arm and accompanying film

· Mark Wallinger’s Folk Stones, containing 19,240 numbered beach pebbles

· Richard Wentworth’s Racinated, a series of ten text plaques

· Pae White’s Barking Rocks, a rustic dog park

· Richard Wilson’s 18 Holes, a series of three beach huts

Good selection I’d say, although it seems some damage has occured to Richard Wilsons beach huts piece, I hope this can be fixed to keep it in it’s full glory.