Captivating narrative scenes printed from wood engravings by a Suffolk artist have gone on display at a Saxmundham gallery.
Work by the late Linda Holmes is on show at the Ephemeral Gallery from today until May 1.
All proceeds from sales of prints will go towards funding repairs to the roof of Cratfield church, near Halesworth, which was stripped of lead by thieves last December.
Mrs Holmes, who died last year, had a strong connection with St Mary’s Church, where she and her husband, David, established a series of chamber concerts, held every summer for the last 26 years. The church’s first concert of 2015 was dedicated in her memory.
Born in Sutton Coldfield in 1950, Mrs Holmes trained as a journalist with the BBC and went on to host Newsnight from 1980 to 1983.
It was at the BBC that she met her future husband, who was political editor for the organisation at the time. On his retirement in 1981, the pair retired from London to Walpole, in Suffolk.
In 1989, Mrs Holmes attended Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (now Camberwell College of Arts) to study wood engraving under Simon Brett and Yvonne Skargon. She would later start to build a reputation as printmaker – exhibiting in Europe and the USA, before adding oil painting to her artistic skill set in 2007.
Her engraving experience allowed her to make swift progress in classes at the Theberton studio of portrait painter, Jack Stephenson – her tutor and friend, who has put together the exhibition of prints from wood engravings at Saxmundham High Street’s Ephemeral Gallery, owned by Ruth Purchase. She said: “We’re very excited about the exhibition, which works will with the intimacy of the gallery.”
Mrs Holmes died of pancreatic cancer last February, aged 65 – a year after the death of her husband.
Editioned prints, produced by John Craig, will be available framed and unframed at the gallery, where the exhibition is curated by Suffolk sculptor Stephen Hicklin, and on show from 11am-5pm up to and including Sunday, May 1.
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