The Coming Storm
£625.00
Oil on linen
40x40 cm
Framed, 44x44 cm
The Coming Storm Ann Johnson
Ann’s paintings begin with ‘place’. In this exhibition, Ann references structures and terrains which harbour and nurture rich cultures. Wild weather drives winds, waters and cloudscapes over shifting horizons, and the feel and sound of gales on hills and seashores contribute to atmosphere.
Researching Celtic Memories Ann says: “Visiting Anglesey and St David’s, I became enchanted with these enigmatic lands of Welsh history, much of which remains at rest beneath our feet.”
In Anglesey, Eflyn Owen Jones, the daughter of William Owen Roberts, head groundsman of RAF Valley told Ann the story of her father who, in 1943, discovered a Celtic trove when he was overseeing ground being cleared for a runway extension. Some of these paintings include veiled, suggested fragments of Celtic art.
Above ground in Pembrokeshire, the surviving, emotive Neolithic remains of the Carreg Sampson burial chamber near Abercastle, stand sentinel overlooking the Irish sea. Constructed 5,500 years ago, who were those people who struggled to assemble these massive stones to mark the passing of their kin, with such respect, sensitivity, and hope for the afterlife? At nearby Whitesands Bay, St David’s, excavation of the little-known medieval Capel Patrick has revealed a burial ground and below the beach is a Mesolithic submerged forest, which apparently appears following very rough seas
Meanwhile, the rivers Usk and Wye continue to flow from the Welsh mountains at Plynlimon, travelling past abandoned castles, crumbling monasteries and the shadows of forgotten lives. Memories like these appear in random forms within these paintings.