Lupe Cunha originates from Brazil from where her colours are inspired. She started her artistic life over 40 years ago first in Chicago where she started her art studies and was inspired by the Abstract Expressionists. When she settled in the UK in 1981, Lupe found that artists like Peter Lanyon and John Hoyland added a new dimension to her work while our milder weather served to cool her colours down and added the contrast and expressive mark-making of her present style. Here, she completed her BA and then MA in Art at the University of Hertfordshire and then a Certificate of Education at the University of Greenwich. She has taught for 20 years and continues to do so at Cuckoo Farm Studio, Colchester, where she has her studio. In the last year, she has primarily returned to the pure Abstraction of her youth. Like Kandinsky before her, she associates the movements of her paintings to instrumental music. In this she is possibly influenced by her new musician husband as she now riffs in her abstract painting as he does on the guitar. Abstract art to her is like the improvisations of music, explored, developed and fine-tuned until it clearly expresses the variations of her thoughts and emotions. She welcomes the freedom provided by abandoning the constraints of subject matter as recommended by Patrick Heron. Using colour,mark-making and value to provide her with the music sheet on which to build her compositions, allows her to more clearly explore the many nuances of the inspiration for each of her pieces of work. Lupe Cunha lives in Sudbury and is part of Suffolk Open Studios as well.
Nicholas Rowe is an established woodturning artist/craftsperson based at Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester and a Licentiate Member of the Society of Designer Craftsman. At Cuckoo Farm he continues to develop his skills and forms, remaining concerned with the sustainability and provenance of his locally sourced green (wet), seasoned and reclaimed woods. He finds pleasures in turning both green (wet) and seasoned woods. He decides on an initial shape but is often pleasantly surprised by hidden voids, cracks, spalting lines or ripples. To make sure these natural features can be admired he often amends the final form. Creating a seasoned piece can be a quicker process with finer finishes achieved. Nicholas is also passionate about turning green (wet) wood as it generates different challenges. Controlling the drying process can take up to 18 months, minimizing cracking or failure. The wood is allowed to deform naturally contributing to the final result, usually transforming into an oval form with undulating rim and tactile grain. Nicholas aims to create work of integrity, evocative of locality, celebrating the materials’ aesthetic and tactile qualities, where past and present materials and communities are honestly referenced. By intending his work to be appreciated as art and utilized every day generating a worth that goes beyond material value.
