The exhibition was up for a month, which included a couple of bank holidays. The gallery is in a public library that used to open until 7 p.m on Monday and Friday. Now it closes at 4 p.m as the latest opening hours.
I decided not to have any information next to the pictures. Viewers had time to enjoy the show without distractions. Original prints are signed, with name, date and type. The watercolours are signed, too, reasonably well camouflaged as far as possible. When I’m visiting a gallery I find myself reading the descriptions while not looking at the work properly.
It’s obvious which marks are portraying trees and which ones show swans, isn’t it? It’s also obvious that each picture took a lot of time and effort. I could make a grumpy ‘art gallery bingo’ card; people will always ask if I’m a trained artist and whether I can draw hands.
It’s been forty years since I had a solo exhibition. At this rate I’ll be 103 when the next one starts. Maybe I’ll have finished some more drawings by then.
Venue: Pembroke Dock Library SA72 6DW. Open 10 a.m – 4 p.m on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m – 1 on Thursday; 10 a.m – 12.30 on Saturday. Exhibition is there until the last day of April 2026.
Four watercolours on display boards Two watercolour skies exhibited within view of a window Linocut white poppy
The white poppy has been a symbol of pacifism for decades. The Peace Pledge Union has promoted nonviolent alternatives to violence since 1934.
It’s a family friendly exhibition, with nothing to upset anyone. However, the pictures could be propaganda for a better environment. Viewers so far have been pleased with the light and shadows in the trees. Showing pictures of an ideal world is easier than nagging everyone to plant more trees to keep flooding at bay.
A watercolour and a linocut on display Linocuts and watercolours
PVA glue around the edge of a jar lid will print a nice circle on a piece of paper. Add more glue for more visible parts of the moon. Sprinkle glitter before the circle dries. Add a few paint and/or crayon clouds to the sky.
Picture of waxing crescent moon Crescent moon picture from above Glitter shining in the sun
A fabric tree with a linocut card and two knitted geese
I printed a midwinter card but didn’t send many copies out into the world. Here it is with an appliqué tree from a few decades ago. The knitted geese are made of aran yarn, too thick but the thinner yarns weren’t available in the colours I wanted at the time.
Drawing of trees on the gallery wall Linocuts in the gallery
I enjoy making stuff but pricing and sales are completely alien. Maybe bartering with pictures could become a trend? There are times I wish I made useful items instead, although customers would have to wait a while for their second glove or sock.
Map of the open studios art trail Small linocuts in a window display
I enjoyed making the background wallpaper for this window display. It’s inspired by a house move when I was about three years old. The new house’s wallpaper was all atomic design; my bedroom had pink and yellow ovals on a grey background. The kitchen was red, yellow and black. That was the first room to be redecorated with pale blues etc, but I preferred the original patterns.
My studio is whichever space is available at the moment, not particularly welcoming for any visitors. Pondering how to put a window exhibition together made me a bit nostalgic for previous studios. The lingering scent of dead pigeons in the roof; tin baths catching the raindrops falling from above. Sharing printing presses with people who left fingerprints on everything(!) There was a lot of admin to help out with in a studio building, the office area was usually warmer so it would be a haven of bustling activity.
There’s also the notion of being a local artist. That’s quite a difficult term, often used as an insult. I’ve lived here for 25 years but I’m not really local. A Radio 4 programme about blood types informed me that I’m part of the same group as some historic invaders. This area is known as ‘The Little England Beyond Wales’, even though the incomers seemed to be Flemish. I’ve never heard any Belgian people chatting around here (so far).
Anyway, these prints gathered together made me realise how many feature hands. Someone asked me if I could draw hands, so I drew a few. Then they asked “but what are linocuts used for?”, so the wallpaper design was to make that clear. What next? I might attempt to put my novel into the right order. It’s about an artist moving to Wales, even though their friends say that’s the same as being dead…
When this lino block was first cut, a long time ago, it was going to be printed in pale subtle colours. Something on the news the other day while choosing inks made me reach for scarlet and emerald green instead.
The block is similar to an unfinished print from even longer ago. As a teenager I liked the idea of nature reclaiming damaged land. Maybe it’s still a nice idea. The white poppy has symbolised pacifism for nearly a century. Weapons are presumably more profitable but mediation and peaceful resolution has a preferable outcome.
berry daines 