Here’s a show to banish the gloom of a damp and chilly winter! Mihangel paints obsessively, devotionally – as if his life depended on it. These paintings are overflowing with light and warmth and energy.

They are full of vigour even when born of stillness. Full of the excitement and joy of creativity as hands become many and blurred, and wonder at the sheer luck of being here surrounded by unquenchable life, and being able to experience it all. So we see vines encroach as musicians search for the moment of perfect expression, sparse interiors become suffused with the patterns of leaves, and shadows threaten to break free and dance on their own to the music and the chirruping - all hot and alive.

Mihangel was born in mid-Wales, and after training in London, and working very successfully as an illustrator, he returned to Wales to paint. He lives near Dolgellau North Wales.

We are also very pleased to be having a show by Gilly here at last! Her work is acerbic, witty and accessible.

These paintings come from a strange internal world that’s a little bit frightening and a little bit funny. It is full of strange perspectives; the light can be harsh creating deep, sharp shadows. There is a dreamlike quality, but also a fierce focused clarity.

Here the artist is the outsider, forced to observe her own predicament: at once yearning for connection and treasuring isolation; constantly torn between abandon and control. So while the work has an ambivalent streak and a strong whiff of introspection, it is also washed is irony. And while there is humour, there is seriousness and considerable skill in her skewering of the pain, contradictions and absurdity of our inner lives.

Gilly is the circus knife-thrower. And the knife-thrower’s assistant! She lives near Bangor and is a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy. Her work appears in many collections.

Ffin y Parc Gallery
Betws Road, Llanrwst
Conwy LL26 0PT United Kingdom
Ph. +44 (0)14 92642070
ralph@welshart.net
www.welshart.net

Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday from 10am to 5pm
Sunday from 11am to 5pm

Related images

  1. Mihangel Jones RCA, Alhambra Fandango, 58 x 83 cm
  2. Mihangel Jones RCA, Big Piper, 58.5 x 83 cm
  3. Mihangel Jones RCA, Lilly Field Jig, 58 x 83 cm
  4. Gilly Thomas RCA, The Disquieting Muse, oil on calico on panel, 76 x 106 cm
  5. Gilly Thomas RCA, The Fourth Wall, acrylic and oil on linen, 46 x 61 cm
  6. Gilly Thomas RCA, Straying That Bit Further from Being Fixable, oil on calico on panel, 76 x 106 cm