Preview: Spring into Colour, Tobacco Factory

Bristol artists Mary Price and Jo Whiteland celebrate the new season at the Tobacco Factory in this joint exhibition, featuring boldly coloured batik art and intuitive acrylic paintings.

Jo is exhibiting a collection of new batik paintings including British fauna, colourful exotic birds and ‘patchworks’ reflecting the elements and colours of spring and summer. “I want this to be a visual cornucopia of colour to move away from the bleakness of winter and celebrate the start of spring, and to compliment the vibrancy of Mary’s wonderful paintings,” she explains.

An example of Jo Whiteland’s beautiful bird-themed batiks: this one is ‘Three Goldfinches’

For her part, Mary is showing a new series of paintings inspired by a walk in Mallorca’s Tramuntana Mountains in June 2018. “My starting inspiration was a single tree with spreading branches in a perfect meadow alive with spring colour,” she explains. “I have used this image as a motif and created a whole range of variations where I intuitively represent how the experience made me feel.

“In many ways this series of paintings is about the celebration of one perfect morning in paradise. The collection reflects my mood on that day, filled to brim with the joy of finding a place that was beyond beautiful.”

Mary Price’s colourful, effervescent paintings are inspired by a magical day in the Mallorcan countryside

Jo Whiteland discovered her passion for batik whilst working with artists in Kota Baharu on the east coast of Malaysia in 1991. On returning to the UK she moved to Bristol and developed her own style of batik, repeating motifs to give the works life, depth and a sense of movement. “The natural world provides an unlimited source of inspiration – the dynamics and tensions between different animal and bird groups are often a reflection of human social interactions,” she explains. “I work on white cotton fabrics using traditional wax pens, wax and dyes building up layers to give depth and colour.”

Jo Whiteland, ‘Magpies in the Magnolia’

Mary Price creates colourful acrylic and mixed media paintings inspired by travels, the natural world and her imagination. Her paintings reveal an emotional response to subject. She said, ‘When I paint I am not looking to portray the world as it is seen in a representational sense but to show how my choice of subject makes me feel. I rarely start with a fixed plan and this gives me freedom to explore landscapes and subjects to tell stories, express emotions and exploit marks and colours intuitively.”

Another of Mary Price’s exuberant scenes from nature

The artists last exhibited together over 15 years ago at Gloucester Road’s Cafe Unlimited. “We lived on the same street back then and Jo was fast becoming an established artist so I was delighted when she invited me to exhibit with her,” Mary explains. “We have both continued to make art and show our work over the years and we felt it was high time we joined forces again.

“The Tobacco Factory is such a great space and we will be exhibiting large originals and a selection of beautifully frames giclée prints filling the main bar and snug with a burst of colour to celebrate the beginning of the new season.”

Jo adds: “Although we use very different mediums our work looks fabulous together as we both love to create imagery in bold colours and we take our inspiration from the natural world.”

Small originals, giclée prints, lampshades made with custom fabrics designed by each artist and art cards will be available to purchase at the preview on Thursday, March 7.

Spring into Colour Tobacco Factory cafe/bar, March 6-April 2. Meet the artists / exhibition preview, Thur, March 7, 7.30pm. For more info, visit www.jowhiteland.co.uk, www.artistintheshed.com and tobaccofactory.com/whats-on/spring-into-colour