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TRAVELS

NOVEMBER EXHIBITION 2006
Saturday 4th November - Sunday 26th November
Lavenham Contemporary Gallery

"This year has found Paul Evans in the happy position of celebrating 30 years of full-time painting: he graduated from Eastbourne College of Art and Design in 1976 and has made his living from painting ever since. During this time there have been several places to which he has returned regularly for inspiration, and this past year has been no exception: in this collection of new work you will find paintings from among others, his favourite counties of Sussex, Kent, Cornwall and Suffolk.

Whilst he enjoys developing his work through a deeper knowledge of a few regular haunts, he has also made the decision to increase breadth of his experiences by travelling more widely, taking basic supplies of paper, pencils and watercolours with him to try and capture the essence of each new place. He is always drawn to the sea and coastline, and a visit to Northern Ireland proved very inspirational. The coast road meanders and hugs the sea, giving wonderfully dramatic viewpoints. Paul's visit ended, naturally, at the Giant's Causeway. Back in the studio he worked his studies up into a series of coastal pieces inspired by this area, and he definitely wants to return there to explore further, from the Giant's Causeway along the the coast of Donegal.

Despite all the many years visiting Cornwall, Paul had never managed to get to the Scilly Isles, but this year finally reached Tresco for a few days' painting, and intends to go back many times to experience the place during other seasons. Away from the British Ilses he made visits to Majorca and Tuscany, where the quality and strength of light of each place certainly brings a different element to painting. Although there are many more places Paul wishes to see, certainly those that he has travelled to this year have proved very inspirational, and he intends to revisit them all for further study.

This past year has seen the publication of Paul's second book - "Coasts" - which coincided with a television series on East Anglian coastal artists. The cover painting used for the book was one he worked on while being filmed for the Aldeburgh episode of the series, which was broadcast in April / May of 2006.

Paul is also delighted to announce, in partnership with his brother Peter, the acquisition of the Alfriston Gallery in East Sussex. His association with Alfriston and the Cuckmere valley goes right back to his student days at Eastbourne, when he would regularly take the train to Berwick station and then walk down to Alfriston, painting and drawing as he went. The Alfriston gallery was founded in 1979, and has always been Paul's main outlet in Sussex since then. He took over ownership of the gallery for a while during the late 1980's and early 1990's, before selling to friends on his move to Suffolk. In 2006 Paul and his brother were given the opportunity to reacquire the gallery, which has given Paul the added incentive to retrace his earlier steps around the Cuckmere valley, revisiting well loved subjects with a considerably wider experience and technique. You can find Paul's paintings at both Alfriston and Lavenham and will be assured of a warm welcome in either place.