Ilkley-based artist Graeme Willson reviews the Ilkley Art Club Annual Exhibition at The Clarke Foley Centre

AN EXTRAORDINARY variety of work by the Ilkley Art Club will greet the visitor to their Annual Exhibition at the Clark Foley Centre. By that, I mean both in terms of subject matter and the range of media employed

I am glad to see an increasing amount of mixed-media work, if only because this way of working can bring about the unexpected. A good example of this is Paul Shaw’s ‘Box Tree Junction’, where the bold use of charcoal together with small touches of acrylic has resulted in a curiously dark, but not unattractive, mood.

By contrast, Helen Barnes’ work ‘Spirit of India’ displays a vibrant delicacy of touch in which the immensely varied patterns have an almost hieroglyphic quality.

Look out for Tricia Hardie. Her painting of minarets and domes is reminiscent of Paul Klee’s work, but her ‘Winter Moon’ is a more sophisticated and original piece: an evocation of landscape in which the balance of figuration and abstraction is just right. Likewise, the work of Elaine Brown: again, these are suggestions of landscape but also feel like molten marble in the making. I sense that this is due to her working methods, a personal and intriguing use of ink on Yupo paper. The limited palette of muted greens and purples has been beautifully judged.

David Walker’s ‘Revelation Through the Arches’ is, again, an exercise in muted colour using soft brick reds and newspaper collage in a mixed media piece. The gothic building combined with newspaper is intriguing, as is Anita Rowell’s ‘Working the Land’, a collage in gentle pastel colours, exploiting a range of textures and techniques.

Barbara Davey’s pastels are always very accomplished and her ‘Wild Flowers’ positively sings with colour, the delicate forms dancing across the sheet. Also reminiscent of dance is the small but clever collage by Pauline Sweet in a range of greys, white and sparkling patterns, exploiting the rhythms of a fan shape.

Well done to all involved; and to members of the public do your best to see this show before it closes in December.

by Graeme Willson