Artists who go with the flow

THREE artists from Oxfordshire will be joined by a Surrey silversmith for an exhibition showing how their designs come together at the Old Fire Station Gallery in Henley next weekend.

In “Confluence: A celebration of creative diversity”, textile and mixed media artist Victoria Squires, painter and mixed media artist Liz Gascoigne, ceramicist Joanna Oliver and silversmith Fenella Watson will showcase a shared exploration of colours and textures, in a selection of pieces that work in harmony and complement one another.

Born in the UK and raised in America from the age of six, Victoria, who lives in South Moreton, says: “I’ve been here a long time, 38 years. I met my husband in New York and my mother is British so I had been back and forth.

“I was working in the knitwear design business and he was selling wine.

“His family lives in Stonor, up the road from Henley. So we ended up getting married at Nettlebed Church and ended up moving to this area.

“My in-laws always helped with organising Henley Festival, my father-in-law, Christopher Squires, worked on the festival organisation. He was also head of the Conservatives for a long time.

“He was such a lovely man, he also did the Royal British Legion and he was such a great volunteer, so I got to know Henley fairly well.

“So, that’s why I thought, well, let’s go down to Henley.”

Victoria drew on local friendships to gather the group of artists together.

“I have known Liz for 34 years,” she says. “Joanna Oliver’s sister lives in Henley but she was already booked to do something else but she said her sister also does beautiful ceramics so we got in touch with Joanna and she said yes, as did my friend Fenella, who does beautiful silverwork.”

Victoria, who primarily works with textiles but also enjoys mixed media, creates highly textured pieces. She applies hand and machine embroidery to her painted and printed linen and felted home accessories.

“I adore the natural world and get much inspiration from being outside,” she says.

“The flowers and fauna in my garden continue to give me wonderful images to create my textile and paper art and then in turn help me with designing wonderful items for interiors. I also enjoy creating artistic and textural pieces which can be practical in the home.

“By creating tea towels, table runners, cushions and napkins, I find that clients always seem to find a unique piece of art to fit within their home.

“I feel my unique take on screen print with embroidered stitch brings individual personality to each piece.”

Working at Clumps Orchard Studio, Liz, from Little Wittenham, is a contemporary visual artist whose work explores abstract forms through bold colour and layered texture.

“I have known Liz from when we had our children,” says Victoria. “We met because somebody invited me to this working women’s group.

“Liz used to work for Oxfam and she travelled all over the place and I travelled a bit as well, because I worked for a textile company.

“We would all get together and say ‘Oh, how is it for you, leaving your children?’ Anything that working mums had problems with, we all got together.”

All in their sixties, Victoria, Fenella and Joanna each have three children.

Fenella, 34, brings a contemporary flair to silversmithing in her designs. Based at the Old Dairy on Pierrepont Farm, near Frensham Little Pond in Surrey, she is expecting her first child.

“Fenella is due in August,” says Victoria. “I have done a lot of art teaching and textile teaching at different schools and she was actually a student of mine at St Mary’s Wantage. Then she went on and did a degree in design and silversmithing. So I have known her a long time, since she was 11. She is so creative, she is amazing, I was really pleased she could join us. She does a lot of exhibiting all over the place. She does a big show at the Rothschilds’ house and then she does Wisley. She is a go-getter and she has won various prizes.”

Joanna, who lives in Watlington, works in stoneware and porcelain, mostly wheel thrown, and with a simplicity of form complemented by beautifully coloured, homemade glazes.

Having started out at Standpoint Studios in Hoxton, under the guidance of Nicola Tassie, she later set up her own garden studio.

Creating beautiful and functional pieces, Joanna uses glaze recipes that have been around for hundreds of years, many of which are oriental, and are shared between potters. She has a particular affinity for ash glazes, for which she collects wood from the countryside and reduces it to ash in her stove. The exhibition’s theme of confluence was inspired by the River Thames as well as the similarities running throughout the artists’ designs.

“We thought it linked with the fact that we all have very fluid lines and our pieces flow, and also the river, living in the Thames Valley,” says Victoria.

“Liz does a lot of circular, wavy lines and some of mine has a similar linear quality. Fenella has a lot of circles and S-shapes in her work. Joanna pours the glaze on to her plates and then manipulates it so it has similar soft lines moving across it.

“Last year, Liz and I did a ‘Floribunda’ course and it just inspired us more with just drawing from plant life and what happens in the summer. Liz’s work uses a lot of organic shapes and a bit of rhythm. She draws a lot from nature and a little bit of architecture and her travels.

“I look at what the colours are at the moment in decoration but I also draw a lot from nature and the beauty of the English garden.”

l “Confluence: A celebration of creative diversity” is at the Old Fire Station Gallery in Upper Market Place, Henley, from Thursday, July 24 to Sunday, July 27, open from 11am to 5pm daily. There will be affordable art and gifts in a variety of price ranges and the artists will be available over most of the weekend to talk to visitors about their work. For more information, visit www.victoriasquires.com, www.lizgascoigne-art.co.uk, www.joannaoliverceramics.com or www.fenellawatson.com