Visiting Glynn Thomas RE

On Tuesday I went to visit another of the artists exhibiting at this year’s Lexden Arts Festival. I was delighted when Glynn Thomas agreed to exhibit with us, as I have admired his work for years and have quite a number of his etchings around my house.

After quite a few wrong turnings, and a very confused satnav I found Lodge Cottage at Capel St Mary. Glynn led me in to a room hung on all sides with his work, like a small gallery. More etchings, framed and unframed were in drawers and boxes all around. It was really difficult to make a choice, but I think we have ended up with a lovely selection of pieces from Suffolk, Essex, London – including a wonderful, huge etching of Tower Bridge – and Cambridge.

Glynn’s upstairs studio runs the complete depth of the house, looking out onto the lane at the front, and at the back onto the garden and open fields. It is dominated, of course, by the big etching press, with its huge metal wheel. Glynn showed me some of his sketchbooks, full of detailed ink drawings which he uses to piece together his idiosyncratic fish-eye – or sometimes bird’s-eye – views  which magically capture the essence of the place.

The view from the studio is very far reaching, and I could just make out the rhythmic glint of the turning wind turbines out to sea, which Glynn said are 27 miles away! Glynn is a keen birdwatcher – though not a ‘twitcher’ he told me! – and he has a wooden bird watching ‘tower’ built on the boundary of the garden. Often, he said, a barn owl will fly right past him, again and again, as it quarters the field, hunting, while he is on his tower, watching.

I am really looking forward to hanging Glynn’s work in our exhibition. To get a preview go to www.glynnthomas.com

Glynn Thomas in his etching studio

Tickets for all the Festival events are now on sale on the website www.lexdenartsfestival.org.uk or are available to purchase from Red Lion Books in Colchester High Street. Tickets for the two textile workshops, (which are available from the website only) – Hand made felting, and Rag-Rug making- are very limited, only 10 and 12 places available respectively, so if you are interested don’t wait too long!