Selected Visitors' Comments

Engaging with the audience through a series of questions:

Question One:

How does this exhibition make you feel about the environment?

Selected answers:

'Paradoxically, although the works highlight the negative impact on the coastal environment, they make me feel hopeful. Maybe the thoughtful, creative attention given to this issue in these works is a metaphor for positive environmental action.'

'Actually positive - noticing found objects and their impact on the environment and the sea is the beginning of something good.'

'The exhibition illustrated to me the depth of the beauty around us and the importance of having a regard for this and that there is an onus on us to protect the environment.'

'Some of the paintings make me feel hopeful and others made me feel anxious about the future of the environment. The painting 'Expired' looks like Mother Nature lamenting the death of our beautiful planet.'

Question Two:

What words would you use to describe the exhibition/paintings?

Selected answers:

'Ethereal, beautiful, mysterious and delicate.'

'Alluring, deep and full.'

'Ephemerality, loss, texture, depth, reclaim, repurpose.'

'Amazing, inspiring.'

'Wonderful, stimulating and a pleasure to see.'

'Inspirational with a spiritual element.'

Question Three:

Is there one particular painting that you like? Why?

Selected answers:

'Expired - a very tonal painting.'

'Frayed Rope - for its aliveness, delicacy and beauty.'

'Expired - subtle, yet dark tonal contrasts indicate death/life, hope/doom.'

'Frayed Rope - the colours and composition are inspiring.'

'Ghost Plastic - for its sense of movement and sinister presence.'

'Frayed Rope - the colours give it a particular life as if it is a creature moving through water.'

Question Four:

Do you prefer the drawings in the Sketchbook Images booklet or the paintings? Why?

Selected answers:

'I prefer the paintings - very rich.'

'Probably the paintings, but would treasure the drawings as evidence.'

'Definitely love the paintings, but would love to see the sketchbook images on a wall.'

'I find the drawings very enjoyable in their own right, but there is greater depth in the paintings. I love the shades and textures that have been worked with and worked on in the paintings.'

Selected General Comments:

'I want to compliment the artist on putting together an excellent exhibition. The works of art are professionally hung and the brochures and invitation cards are of the highest quality. Through her work, she highlights a coastal terrain in flux and awakens in the individual an awareness of the destruction of our coast.'

'Congratulations on your outdoor research and observations on coastal erosion and environmental decay, the impact of pollution, of discarded stuff, and your process of bringing it all together in such a strong visual way. Your visual research and visual documentation underpin and inspire your work with strength of process.'

'Very interesting to see all the objects you collected on the beach and how they inspire you - an amazing exhibition.'

'Your paintings are amazing and inspiring - taking ordinary objects and making them into something creative, yet conveying a very deep meaning.'

'Interesting exhibition and relevant to contemporary concerns about the environment. Frayed Rope and its organic connections is an interesting exhibit. Colourful and slightly weird perspectives on coastal life.'