The Carmarthen Degree show at Coleg Sir Gar, Jobswell Campus this year was great, and while there were only five painters amongst the fine artists they had a strong show. A. Scott’s work explored the human mentality by layering paint to form the insides of old buildings. On looking at these images, the delicate use of light touching the sleepy colours and forms are envokingly beautiful in their own right but on reading the artist’s statement a whole new meaning takes hold. In these ‘forgotten’ interiors now layered with dust, there lies a palimpsest of the homes and environments they once were. We can forget to really look and see who ourselves and others really are. Scott brings the hard hitting reminder of the significance of mental health with her gentle yet un-missable paintings.

Another of the painters I noted was D. Bruton’s tribute to Welsh Heritage. It was impossible to miss the connections with the rugged landscape colours of Wales. There is beautiful skill in the artist books which tell the story of the accompanying paintings. Somebody once told me the best results in drawings and paintings still show the struggle the artist has endured and by pairing the workings out with the final pieces demonstrated a both a brave and vulnerable side to the artist

Other artists I would like to briefly mention are K. Owen and E. Finnegan. Owen designs and makes beautiful customisable jewellery that is easily personalised. I wish I had some! And E. Finnegan as one of his photographs contained one of my handmade business cards from when I was a student. Well, that may be a little bias of me – I’m not even sure if he knew!

I went to Swansea Metropolitan’s Degree show too! Really liked the paintings that were in the entrance by Elliot Mud, they were a little bit Mary Lloyd Jones. The information about all the students were in a guide they had designed. I liked Lily Giiles Untitled Series of head portraits based on homemade films. Carys Evans’s portraits were really great too! Happy to see some strong painters!

Some shots of some of the work can be seen below this post along with a few links.

More of my own work coming soon!

Thanks for reading!

A. Scott

E. Finnegan

C. Evans