The Great Atlantic Galleries

jonathan middlemiss
spirit of wilderness

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Lapland 03 - Sodankyla 1
20 x 16” £500

Jonathan Middlemiss found his Spirit of Wilderness in Ruska, Lapland and the discovery has had a profound effect on both his artistic outlook and output.

“Lapland is vast, and when you are here you feel its vastness. There is no sound, so its silence is also vast. In the taiga or forests, there is an endless continuousness, thickets sprouting shoots from fallen trees which have rotted and degraded into the bog land, recycling and renewing. Trees predictably do the impossible - holding on to thin rocky scree, taking huge weights of snow in winter. Hills are low, rolling, rocky glacial moraines and it is easily possible to imagine the glaciers in this timeless landscape because somehow it wasn’t very long ago. The trail they left hasn’t had time to erode, age, or become an old geology. Lapland has a different scale of life, a different time line which has little to do with human activity. To be here is to be an observer of a different reality. Painting this landscape is a challenge. It is not obviously photogenic, dramatic or picturesque, but it is captivating, seductive, raw and sensational so the challenge is to paint my way out of its haunting grasp.

“In the height of the summer in the Land of the Midnight Sun the woods are alive with birds, animals and millions of insects. The green summer does not last long, and because it is a twenty-four hour frenzy, things are on short fuses. The desperate speed of the breeding cycle is amplified by unbroken daylight. I saw a Redwing collapse into some bushes at midnight as though it had lost any routine or control, mindlessly, feverishly feeding young. Reindeer run straight into your car on the roads to avoid being eaten alive by insects. People walk their dogs at three in the morning. And then one day, the autumn blows in on an icy wind and trees immediately respond by turning to the most extraordinary range of colours. Silence descends; the bird life is leaving. The insect party is over. Ruska is an onslaught to the senses.”

Jonathan Middlemiss is an internationally acclaimed multidisciplinary artist. He studied fine art at college and then concentrated on producing ceramics for over thirty years. These started as functional pottery but then developed into individual ceramic sculpture, vessels and design.

His ceramics are in public collections and museums in Europe and the Far East and have been recognized through international awards. Exhibitions have been held in Britain, U.S.A., Europe, Middle East, Japan, Korea and New Zealand, and his work has been featured in magazines, catalogues, dictionaries and other
publications.

Recently he has returned to concentrating on projects to do with landscape. These have taken the form of land art, painting, mixed media and sculpture.

Awards:
Gold Medal - 13th Biennale, Vallauris (France) 1992;
Silver Medal - Kutani International Ceramics Competition (Japan) 1997;
Honourable Mentions - Mino Triennale, Zagreb Triennale, (Croatia) 1993.

Collections:
The Keramion, Kestner and Cologne museums;
The Het Princessehof, Leeuwarden, Netherlands;
The Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro;
The Taipei County Yingko Ceramics Museum, Taiwan.

Positions:
Member of International Academy of Ceramics - Prague 1994-2005;
Lecturer - Falmouth College of Arts, Ceramics (BA Hons) 1996-2005 and since 2005 is Lecturer - University College Falmouth, Contemporary Crafts (BA Hons).

“Last night I celebrated my return to Lapland with a delightful meal of local salmon, vegetables, and goat’s cheese served up on a bed of poisonous mushrooms... apparently they look like small elves ears before they are cooked but are fine afterwards. Everything is magical around here isn’t it...? Northern Lights magic, incredible autumn colours magic, Santa Claus magic and mushroom magic.. well why else would he have flying reindeer and come down chimneys? I have been told it all relates to the historical shamanic practices of Lapland. My first observation has been to notice that the energy of the colour is about very close chromatic, tonal and textural combinations set against completely contrasting ones ... so all the subtle yellows, pinks and ochres of birch and aspen which harmonise together lead to black twigs and branches turning to white trunks, set in dark woods of deep greens, blacks, blue greys. These are then, surprisingly, poised above a carpet of wine, purple and the maroons of bilberry leaves! Walking in a wood is like being bathed in different glowing lights, luminous and ethereal. It isn’t just the springy turf underfoot that makes it impossible to judge your height from the ground ... your energy seems to change, your senses open and close, you can even feel light headed.... and all without the mushrooms!”

All words in italics are by Jonathan Middlemiss.

Please call 01326 318452 (gallery hours) or 01736 786016 (evenings and weekends) to reserve the work of your choice.

Paintings may be collected by arrangement or we can arrange delivery from as little as £20 depending on size and distance. Money back if not entirely satisfied (provided we are informed within 3 days of your work being collected/delivered). Cheques and all major credit cards accepted. Colours may vary between the original paintings and the printed reproductions. All paintings are framed.

Paintings are in dry media (pastel or conté) on watercolour paper, watercolour and oil/acrylic on canvas.