Merville Galleries is delighted to present the first major solo exhibition by the Lancashire born painter and sculptor Jill McManners at the Mall Galleries near Trafalgar Square from 17th February to 1st March. ‘Basalt’ will include almost sixty recent watercolours and prints exemplifying the principal theme of her work for the last decade, an extraordinary group of tiny Hebridean islands in the Minch, north of Skye, called the Shiant Isles, and their spectacular geographical formations.

Millions of years ago in the “deep heart’s core” of the earth these rocks were forming. Volcanoes erupted high into the atmosphere and intruded underground becoming rivers of magma: as they cooled they solidified into a root like intrusion of basaltic sills and dykes. Dolerite columns similar to those of the Giants Causeway and Staffa, rise sheer out of the sea to a height of over four hundred feet. Although the word Shiant derives from a Gaelic word meaning ‘enchanted’ these can be inhospitable islands even on the calmest of summer days.

Jill Mc Manners first began working on this series of paintings in 2006/7 after first visiting the islands some years earlier having been inspired to do so by Adam Nicolson’s book “Sea Room: An island Life”. She and her family have a home on a small island in the Sound of Harris, an island of sandy beaches, machair , low rocky outcrops and shallow but racing tides and currents. In contrast , the majestic scale, imposing physical presence and terrifying impact of the Shiant Isles has never abated even after many visits. ‘I don’t love the Shiants; I didn’t then and I don’t now. They are frightening like the sea, very wild’. As Richard Cork refers to it in his introductory essay for the catalogue ‘this alarming yet irresistible location’.

In a previous chapter of her life Jill had spent ten years in a fine art bronze foundry working with many prominent sculptors. The volcanic atmosphere of the furnaces and pouring metal were always exciting days in the foundry, something which she could recall in the atmosphere of the rock and the cliffs, the crusty layers of lichen, moss, coralline dulse , barnacles, weed , and slime.

The paintings have architectural titles, are quotes from books and poems, or are lines from rock songs. The islands are on the edge of the British Isles, they are defined by the life that exists on these edges, the weather and the sea that erodes them, the taught skyline viewed from below and the edges of your emotions that are assaulted by being there.

She likes to paint from the view point of being on a boat to get the atmosphere of the cliffs, the sea and the tide. To get as close to the cliffs as possible, to smell the blood iron of the rocks and feel the overpowering scale of confrontation.

The paintings take a few months to do. There is nothing sketch like or immediate about them as you might associate with a watercolour. They are constructed by first making a drawing, tracings and templates. The colour is laid down in a series of washes, some opaque, some transparent. Granulating or staining to give the living layers of life on the rock. The flickering qualities of the watercolour help to bring the rock to life and enforce its relative instability. The daunting presence of the cliff face is never far away- one shares the artist’s trepidation when visiting and photographing the islands in a small boat. The results are spectacular; large scale watercolours on heavy Italian handmade paper to which numerous layers of wash are applied to achieve the end result. As Richard Cork says ‘her handling of watercolour, both meticulous and free, gives the sombre cliffs an equally remarkable vivacity’.

The Flowers of Basalt are Giclee prints made on 100% cotton Somerset Enhanced Velvet paper. Using her extensive record of trips to the islands she has digitally created these images. They are named after ‘flowers of sulphur’ a condensation of the sulphurous vapours deposited at the edges of volcanoes. She is a keen gardener and has an extensive knowledge of flowers, their colours and shapes which she has drawn on to create this series of prints.

Mall Galleries
The Mall (by Trafalgar Square)
London SW1 United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)17 98865848
thl@mervillegalleries.com
www.mervillegalleries.com

Opening hours
Daily from 10am to 5pm

*Related images
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  1. Jill McManners, Curtain Wall with Screes
  2. Jill McManners, Wilderness Triptych
  3. Jill McManners, Above us only sky
  4. Jill McManners, No hell below us
  5. Jill McManners, Gold on the Ceiling
  6. Jill McManners, Roller Coast