Dancing Light Gallery, West Linton, Peebles

"Mothers of daughters are daughters of mothers and have remained so, in circles joined to circles, since time began." Signe Hammer

The idea to have an exhibition of work by mothers and daughters was sparked by Linda Kinsman-Blake when Helen Bell and her mother, Helen senior as she prefers to be called, first visited Linda and her daughter Robyn to discuss exhibiting their work at Dancing Light Gallery.

That meeting was over a year ago and in the intervening period, the two Helens have enjoyed a hugely rewarding time opening and running the Gallery.

The artists who have been brought together for this exhibition are all known and respected in their own right in their chosen disciplines which include painting, collagraphic printing, glass, textiles and jewellery. Some of the mothers and daughters work closely together but in different media; some work in the same discipline but from different locations; others live distant from each other and work in completely varying areas of art.

By bringing their work together here we can identify common influences between the artists; we can share their experiences and acknowledge tensions, and we can celebrate the rich rewards of this special relationship and the art which has been created.

Jane Butler-Cole

Jane gets her inspirations from nature and interprets her sketches colourfully with a varied amount of abstraction and visual texture.

"When my daughter Emma became a professional artist, I became aware that my ceramic decoration and glazing techniques began to change. So if there was any influence from one to the other it was from daughter to mother."

Emma Butler-Cole Aiken

Emma studied at Edinburgh College of Art specialising in stained glass. She is intrigued by glass in many ways - a solid liquid with many colours, textures and bubbles.

"Having an artistic mother (and father) has meant that I have always felt understood. I suppose I took this for granted until I met people who didn’t!"

Catherine Hughes

Catherine Hughes has had a lifelong interest in arts and crafts from evening classes in weaving at Edinburgh College of Art to painting in oils and water colour. At present, her love of drawing, designing, stitching and textiles have combined to produce pieces of work in mixed media.

"I am at least the third generation of women who have sewn - my maternal grandmother, on being widowed at the end of the 19th century, started a dressmaking business, and my own mother had the same love of beautiful textiles and sewing which I have."

Rhona Petrie

Catherine's daughter Rhona Petrie works in painting and jewellery. Her work is influenced by a variety of sources including the surrounding landscape, cityscape, and the figures within it. During the latter part of her degree, her jewellery work became influenced by research into the Paisley pattern and from this she develops patterns which she uses for jewellery items and small silversmithed pieces.

"This is the first occasion my mother and I have exhibited together. The body of work I have created for this exhibition has been based on the motifs from Irene’s research drawings for her Rosslyn Remembered pieces, translating these into silver to make brooches and earrings. My own daughter is a musician but with a strong interest in art also - so who knows...? "

Helen Kemp

Helen Kemp studied Ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art followed by Post-Graduate study of slip-cast work at Glasgow School of Art. The inspiration for her work originally came from Mexican and American folk art and Victorian Staffordshire figures. She aims to create a whimsical or dreamlike feeling in the work through facial expressions, body language and sometimes with the use of narrative. She hand-models in earthenware and uses underglaze colour with transparent glazes and gold lustre.

"Collaborating with Lindsay is rewarding for me - we share a sense of fun and the use of whimsical, quirky imagery. It has been interesting to see how well her illustrative style works in ceramics. Her unique, finely detailed style of painting ceramics complements and adds another dimension to my modeled pieces."

Lindsay Grime

Helen’s daughter Lindsay Grime also studied at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating with First Class Honours in Illustration in 2009. She is drawn to a folk art aesthetic, and takes delight in depicting flora and fauna as well as figures in antiquated or carnival dress, creating intriguing and quirky images in her ceramics and illustrations.

"My mum’s expertise and creativity have been a great inspiration to me, especially when it comes to ceramic work. Our approaches, though distinct from one another, share affinities in terms of imagery so it seemed a natural pairing to work collaboratively, my detailed painting combining with the boldness of her sculpted figures to create playful functional pieces."

Linda Kinsman-Blake

The shapes which Linda Kinsman-Blakeshe creates are not only pleasing to hold but also display and complement the surface decoration. Brushwork over a white tin glaze is a particularly exacting and demanding technique calling for an extraordinary degree of confidence and spontaneity. The immediacy found in the decorative process of these ceramics is also expressed in Linda's delicate watercolours of flowers and vivid landscapes.

"A second opinion is always helpful and, other than Robyn disappearing when the Archers comes on, we enjoy working alongside one another!"

Robyn Kinsman-Blake

Robyn Kinsman-Blake is an Edinburgh College of Art jewellery graduate and was nominated for the 2010 Jolomo Arts and Crafts Awards. An interest in circus performers has led to a new range of work in which lively figures convey the excitement and beauty of circus performance. These pieces are highly wearable with the simplicity of silver highlighted by gold, coloured silks and precious and semi-precious stones. Robyn’s jewellery workshop is tucked into a corner of Linda’s studio and she and her mother have collaborated to produce some work especially for this exhibition.

Ellen McCann

Landscape provides Ellen with endless opportunities for artistic response, and her focus is on points of change such as decaying wood, flowing water and fragile forms in nature. The artistic challenge is one of capturing a dynamic, inevitable process at a particular point in time, and representing that in a static form while retaining a sense of transition. Ellen sculpts mainly in welded steel, working directly with the material after initial drawings.

"Iona went to art school and it was there where she found her own voice. I have to admit I found her emerging work challenging but never doubted her commitment and her talent. In finding that voice, she had also found something to say and that was confirmed with success in her degree."

Iona McCann

Iona graduated in Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design. Her current work is exploring the constructed notions of femininity and masculinity and through printmaking, painting, and drawing she sets out to question and challenge these accepted stereotypes.

"My parents have always been supportive of my artistic career. Having a mum exhibiting widely and constantly developing her practice has inspired and motivated me in my own artwork. Having instilled an interest in art in me from a young age we have now become art contemporaries; able to provide each other with invaluable advice, encouragement and feedback."

Inger Helene Smith

Inger is a graduate of The Oslo Kunstskole where she studied drawing and painting. After living in Kenya, London, and Edinburgh she now lives in Tain, finding her inspiration in the wonderful Highland landscape.

“A few years ago I followed my daughter Ingebjorg to Tain in Ross-shire, in the heart of the beautiful Scottish Highlands. We don’t paint together, but do go on sketching trips as we are both fascinated by landscape in different ways, and although we share a good sense of colour our styles are rather different."

Ingebjorg Smith

Ingebjorg uses an interesting mixed media technique to focus on wildlife in a landscape. Her work is described as "stunning landscapes of birds and animals, beautifully evocative, tactile and thoroughly magical. They have a sense of place and time that is beyond their subject and a spirit that renders them magnetic."

"Although we never thought much about it at the time, mum was a huge inspiration throughout our childhood. We both must have watched mum painting or sewing from a very early age. I got my first paintbox when I was 2 years old and I was just beside myself with excitement."

Ondine Smith

Ondine graduated in Design from Edinburgh College of Art and uses soft tweeds from the north of Scotland to produce beautiful cushions, tote bags, tea and coffee cosies, lavender hearts and tweed covered note books, all complemented by colourful cottons and embroidered vintage fabrics.

"I’ve always been attracted to beautiful fabrics. Even at an early age I would spend hours trawling through my mother’s sewing box searching for the perfect combination of coloured materials, silk threads, beautiful vintage glass buttons and, using my grandmothers ancient Singer sewing machine, would spend hours creating ‘bespoke elegant‘ garments to adorn our long suffering Labrador."

Mothers and Daughters

We look forward to welcoming you with a glass of wine at the opening of "Mothers and Daughters" on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March from 12 noon until 3pm.

The adjacent Whitmuir restaurant is of course open for snacks and lunches. To be sure of a table at lunchtime it will be best to book by calling the restaurant direct on 01968 661 147, especially on Sunday 3 April which is Mothers' Day!

Helen and Helen (mother and daughter!), and Kirsten