Tag: fine art

Designer Desire: Dmitry Kustanovich

Montage of Dmitry Kustanovich paintings
Dmitry Kustanovich (b. 1970) is a Russian fine artist/painter. He was born in Minsk and currently lives & works in St. Petersburg. He attended the Belarusian State Pedagogical University, where he graduated in 1996. He has exhibited regularly and widely in Russia as well as internationally – including France, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands and Portugal.

It was his paintings of bumblebees that I saw first (Four pictured in the montage above) and admired. I love the way he captures the movement and energy in his subjects. He has a very personal style; sometimes impressionist, sometimes quite cubist, other times a bit Fauvist.

He layers his paint on to the canvas with palette knife rather than brush. His colour palette can be both bright or subdued and his subject matter can range from insects to flora & fauna to cityscapes and portraits.

His work – both prints and originals – can be purchased from Absolute Arts, Saachi Art and Pixels.

Portrait of Dmitry Kustanovichcredit

All images Dmitry Kustanovich ©

Designer Desire: John Knapp-Fisher

Montage of John Knapp-Fisher paintings

John Knapp-Fisher (1931-2015) was a Pembrokeshire-based landscape painter. His subject matter often included boats, harbours and Welsh vernacular cottages.

He studied in Kent and lived in London before moving to West Wales in 1965 where, two years later, he opened his studio gallery in Croes-goch, on the main road out of St Davids.

Prints of his work are readily available from a number of outlets, including his own website, the Martin Tinney Gallery, Oriel Mimosa Gallery and Collectors Prints and also – on occasion – at auction.

His works are in the collections of the National Museum and Galleries of Wales, National Library of Wales, Swansea University and BBC Wales amongst others.

There are also a number of books available either about, or actually written by, Knapp-Fisher including John Knapp-Fisher’s Pembrokeshire, Pembrokeshire Churches and John Knapp-Fisher My Life – All the Little Things.

Portrait of John Knapp-Fishercredit

Additional image credits:
Collectors Prints | The Blank Card Company

Designer Desire: Denys Short

Montage of paintings by Portrait of Denys Short

Born in Bideford in 1927, Denys Short studied painting at Goldsmiths during the 1950s. He won the Gold Medal in the 1958 National Eisteddfod.

He’s primarily known for his sculptures, but it’s his paintings that really resonate with me. I love the ordinariness of the Welsh streets and interiors that he depicts in his works.

He has exhibited widely, including at the Serpentine Gallery, Hyde Park, London; Margam Sculpture Park, Neath Port Talbot; and Bishops Palace, St David’s.

He created a sculpture garden on the two acres around his house which he open to the public each summer. He lives – with his wife Eirian, a quilter – in Dinas Cross, Pembrokeshire where they’re both members of their local Fishguard Arts Society.

Portrait of Denys ShortAt the opening of the ‘Generations’ exhibition at Fishguard Library in 2016 – Denys Short is standing on the far right
credit

Additional image credits:
Art UK

Designer Desire: Muriel Delahaye

Montage of Muriel Delahaye artworks

This summer, we made a couple of day trips out to the seaside visiting Borth and Ynyslas; this week’s highlighted Designer Desire artist lives & works on this part of the Welsh coast.

Originally from Oldham in Greater Manchester, Muriel Delahaye moved to Borth around 50 years ago.
She described herself as a figurative artist.

In the mid 1970s, Delahaye won the MOMA Tabernacle Art Competition the theme that year was “The Sea! The Sea!” The subject of her winning painting was from the 7-part Greek book, Anabasis by Xenophon. It’s one of the paintings she has kept in her own possession. It was after this success that she began to concentrate on figures in a coastal landscape; she can actually see the beach from her studio.

Growing up in Oldham, our trips to the seaside were always a great event. I have always loved the sea, and the landscape around Borth is fantastic. It’s such a change from living in Oldham, which was full of people and had no landscape whatsoever. In an industrial town you don’t stop and say, ‘Oh what a wonderful sunset.’ You’re surrounded by people all the time; people coming from work, going to work, people talking about people. Coming to Wales I’ve found I have the best of both worlds – I’ve got the background of people plus the wonderful landscape to incorporate with it.

A lot of Welsh artists concentrate on landscape without figures but for me the figures are important. I’m interested in figures in the landscape, and how they’re reacting to that landscape or to whatever situation they find themselves in.

I concentrate on the people – they give me my ideas – but the sea often sets the atmosphere. I live opposite the sea and that’s the first thing I see in the morning when I get up and its always different – I love looking at it. Walesonline

Original works can be bought from Oriel Mimosa Gallery in Llandeilo and Oriel Tir A Môr Gallery, Borth. Prints and greeting cards can be bought from Delahaye’s own website.

UPDATE: Muriel passed away peacefully at her home in Borth on Friday 4th December 2020.

All images: Muriel Delahaye©

Additional image credit:
The Wales Weekly