Gothic Fantasies - The Paintings of Anne Sudworth

GOTHIC FANTASIES
by Anne Sudworth
pub: AAPPL: Artists And Photographers' Press Ltd.
by Mick Mercer

ANNE SUDWORTH is a name familiar to many of you by now, being our main Goth creator in the art field, and a lot of you will doubtless see her pictures exhibited at Whitby shortly. The quality of her work is often breathtaking and it seems only natural to see it housed in a book collection of sumptuous beauty itself. Now, I am not a book pervert but this was so lovely I even smelt it. You know how some printed things have that special smell? This does. It smells polished.

As well as recently allowing Lynda permission to use images in the background of a concert, Anne sent us two prints of Whitby Abbey, but we haven't yet found frames worthy of the actual images! We open the box, look at the images in a hushed 'they're ours!' way, then shut them away again mournfully. We actually have a framing shop down the road, where all their frames are simply too naff. More bizarrely, we have a quite separate framing service which has a weekly stall in the shopping centre, and their frames are naffer. It's as if this age of ours doesn't recognise quality! That's why this book is such a delight, as it is total quality. We're going an auction to do a Lovejoy. (Buy two old paintings, for the frames, throw the pics away, then take those frames in!)

Having exhibited widely and had a book out before, ("Enchanted World ~ the art of Anne Sudworth") this marks further recognition of what she has on offer. Her introduction makes clear how early on as a child she was struck by folklore and mythology, and that's evident in many images with winged creatures of all sorts, and being a traditional gurly girl in one obsession, there's horses, and a unicorn.

By moonlight then, most fittingly, landscapes are uncovered, and I like the smaller detailed scenes as much as the wider horizons. The Enchanted Tree, a filmic Winter, In Flames and The Forest are all beautiful, as she's big on trees, even naming some in (I assume) Celtic fashion, Bethan Igert, Gowrethrim, and I like the gravestones Night, The Path, Angel.

Some look places which you wouldn't ordinarily welcome, like Into The Tangled Wood or Widdershins, and others naturalistic in all cosy ways like Dreams And Whispers. Ghost is unexpectedly funny, providing (ahem) you have someone to point it out to you, and The Man Under The Tree takes some spotting, but it's good some are unusual, often in a strong fantasy manner. The woman stroking or quelling movement in a chunky panther (Stay), a potentially threatening Black Horseman, The Sorceress distracted, a woman accompanied by an otter in Daughter Of The River, two children in the remains of an Abbey, the small boy casually holding a dagger (Waiting), and tall stunted outcrops of Sanctuary, The Guardian not necessarily looking up to the task.

Actual places, like Avebury, Buttermere, and Castlerigg stone circle, are given a modern magical veneer and in the case of her stunning Crummack Water she may easily have just painted what was there, the view ghostly and naturally imposing.

I'm not big on dragons, but hers are quite cute or dutiful, especially Out Of The Light, and The Sea Dragon is unusual. The only ones I don't warm to are those which are closer to the Metal side of fantasy or Pagan than Gothic (Shadow, The Lair, Merlin, Shaman, The Castle, The Vigil) and in The Path To Secret Places the woman seems a bit vibrant alongside what I think may be a snow leopard.

Looking at these images on the website they can be charming but in this format they glow like the originals, because that's what pastel's giving you that oils don't, a breathing moisture, an intangible living quality, and I found the 88 pictures in this book take you back. It reminds you of that something which ignited your senses as a child, in my case from the books of E. Nesbit, John Masefield and Alan Garner, to Moonfleet and Dr. Syn; where you were agog at ideas and places, intrinsically knowing that these experiences were superior to what was around you. Turning the pages becomes quite a dreamy experience.

You can buy a normal padded version, with its squashable (the actual term being 'padded') cover and gilt-edged pages, with a limited edition collectors edition of 500 in black suede, signed and boxed, and at http://www.annesudworth.co.uk/books.htm they have an initial special offer.

Alternatively, Anne will be at the Pavilion to sign copies on Saturday, 28th April (12 noon - 3pm) at her stand in the Bizaare Bazaar, with a long exhibition at Square One Gallery, Chelsea, London: 29th May - 16th June 2007.

Treat yourself.

Gothic Fantasies
From: Whitby Gazette

Reviewed by: UKSF BOOK NEWS
http://www.uksfbooknews.net/2007/05/30/anne-sudworth-on-her-new-gothic-fantasies-art-collection/

Anne Sudworth on her new Gothic Fantasies art collection

Anne Sudworth's second collection of mesmerising paintings is available now from the Artists' and Photographers' Press.

Gothic Fantasies brings together over 80 of her pastel paintings of magic, ancient beliefs and, of course, nature and trees. The pictures are grouped together into haunting chapters like 'Darkness', 'Ruins', and 'Spirits' and each picture is accompanied by a short piece of poetry or prose.

"I wanted the book to be quite simple and uncluttered with a very minimal amount of text," said Sudworth. "I decided I only wanted one painting on each page with either a few lines by myself or a poem to go with a certain number of the paintings.

"The poems are all favourites of mine which have a gothic or darkly romantic mood. It was easy to choose which poems would go with certain paintings as they're poems I already associate with particular paintings. "They were in some cases already connected directly to the paintings. 'Dilly's Tree' is a painting of the oak tree, under which my horse is buried and Wordsworth's poem 'The Haunted Oak' has always reminded me of it. Likewise, his poem about Long Meg and Her Daughters is about a famous stone circle in Cumbria that I've painted many times.

"My painting called 'Stay not on the Precipice' is named after one of the Chaldean oracles of Zoroaster, thus the lines appear with that particular painting. I love poetry, particularly eighteenth and nineteenth century works and I have a large collection of very old books."

All of Sudworth's paintings capture the atmosphere of the scene but does she get inspiration from seeing photographs of gorgeous landscapes or by visiting them in person? "I don't really get any inspiration from looking at photos at all," she said. "I have to visit a place myself, though quite often one hears wonderful things about a particular place prompting a visit which proves to be inspiring.

"I tend to do studies of lots of trees and stones and landscapes in general but quite often I'll use these to make up my own scenes, so many of my paintings are not actually real places anyway. I also walk a lot, especially at night as I'm fascinated by moonlight. I really do think one has to experience a place to feel its power and energy and to be inspired by it."

A recurring theme in Sudworth's work is her depiction of the 'earth light'. "It's a symbolic, almost spiritual light which represents the power and energy which the earth holds. I like to explore the idea that the earth has a darker, lesser known side, perhaps one of which our ancestors were more aware.

"It's most evident in my 'earth light tree' pictures, a continuing series of paintings which I'm constantly working on and developing. These paintings show trees, forests and woodlands glowing with their own light and life force. In ancient times it was believed that particularly sacred places were protected by guardians and had a special energy or perhaps magick. "This energy would manifest itself in the form of a light, often coming from a particular tree or stone or sometimes from a stream. It's something I'm very interested in and it's become the focal point for much of my work."

Gothic Fantasies is a gorgeous book with sumptuous content and excellent production values (there's a padded cover, silver pages edges and top quality printing of the images themselves). The publishers are offering the book with a $10 discount + shipping to US residents at their special website here. This is also the only place to buy new copies of the Collector's Edition, again at a substantial discount.

A major solo exhibition of Anne Sudworth's work is planned for 2007 at Square One, Chelsea, along with a solo exhibition at The Pannett Art Gallery in Whitby in October 2007, which will coincide with the UK's largest Goth festival.

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