Isle of Arts Festival: Follow Our Arts Trail

The Arts covers a wide variety of disciplines. As well as Music, Comedy, Theatre, Dance and Poetry there is also Art! So as you’d expect, The Isle of Arts Festival will be featuring art over the next three days. Ed

We have assembled a stunning collection of work by Island artists.

Sponsored by Style of Wight, our free Arts Trail starts at Ventnor Youth Centre and can be seen at various shops, cafes and other venues around the town – just look out for our red Island sticker in the window.

The Arts Trail kicks off in Ventnor Youth Centre where young Islanders from six Island schools, supported by artists Chris Jenkins and Tim Johnson, have created an exciting structural sculpture using natural and recycled materials.

Sponsored Outreach Programme
The work is part of our Outreach Programme, sponsored by Liz Earle, Npower and Pabulum, to provide young people with access to local artists in order to inspire their creativity and encourage them to use their talents and skills to become positive contributors to their communities.

Nine Island artists will be exhibiting in Ventnor Youth Centre and art works will also be on display throughout the festival at Bizzy Lizzy’s, the Crab & Lobster Tap, Hillside Bistro, Inspirations, Phileas Foggs restaurant, and Tramezzini deli.

Fiona Austin creates mosaics influenced by nature and enjoys exploring movement, bold colour and images. (Youth Centre)

Phil Caponʼs work is mostly still life focused on light, shade and form, which he has always found challenging and interesting. (Youth Centre/Tramezzini)

Kate Christie is a marine artist. Working exclusively in oils, she captures the essence of the sea and of yachting using palette knives to layer the paint for greater movement and texture. (Bizzy Lizzyʼs)

Freya Conway travels round the Island taking photos and making sketches before making more detailed drawings, which are then interpreted in acrylics. (Phileas Foggs)

Edna Coatsworthʼs favourite medium is charcoal and she like to depict the human form on a large scale. (Youth Centre)

John Hunter specialises in portraiture and works in oils, acrylic and pastel to record Islanders at work or at play. (Youth Centre)

Chris Jenkins makes his sculptures from discarded pieces of old machines and instruments that are normally considered outmoded or junk. (Youth Centre)

Marion Large has returned to mixed media paintings, many using rubbed marks of encaustic wax with acrylic inks on western and Chinese papers. (Crab & Lobster)

Zara Linington has created a selection of paintings with nail varnish with a variety of vibrant effects. (Youth Centre)

Martin Swan is an accomplished landscape painter and marine artist, interested in the abstract qualities of shapes, lines, angles and colours. (Youth Centre)

Neil Tregear creates highly original, hand-thrown pottery inspired by the rugged South Wight landscape. (Inspirations)

Tony Trowbridge is setting up camp in Pier Street, half way between the town and the sea front, on Saturday 21 April to demonstrate fine art from an aerosol can.

Jamie Vans is a figurative sculptor working in wood and stone, mainly based on variations of the human figure. (Youth Centre)

Judy Vans aims for a readable image with a strong focal line to lead the viewer through the work and with an intricate paint surface to reward closer attention. (Youth Centre)

Celia Wilkinson is particularly drawn to the harsh lines and sense of being against the elements of the Island’s winter landscape. It has inspired her new work. (Hillside Bistro).

Image: © Celia Wilkinson