DRIFT Journal

Words by Mercedes Smith Finding a renewed sense of connection to self, memory and emotional response through the work of Jack Davis. My first thought on viewing Jack Davis’s work is that it has something of the late 19th century about it. I am thinking particularly of St Ives artist Julius Olsson RA (1864–1942), who painted marine works that captured the mirrored energy of sea and sky, emphasised by compositions that split the canvas cleanly in two at the horizon line. There are no ships or...

Words by Mercedes Smith Simeon Stafford at 70 marks another milestone in a prolific life in painting. Inside Out! Polzeath This summer, British art celebrates the 70th birthday of an artist who began his long career as something of a child prodigy. At the age of 14, Simeon Stafford was exhibiting at galleries across his native north of England, and he had already been selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London. Since then, he has become one of the UKs most beloved painters,...

Words by Mercedes Smith Inspired by the landscapes, literary poems and stories that ignite the imagination. Bessy’s Cove Lesley-Ann Eaton paints landscapes that connect to the wildness and freedom of her childhood in rural Ireland and the raw beauty of Cornwall, where she has spent much of her adult life. Through her rich use of colour and a semi abstracted approach to painting, she explores her sense of belonging to these twin Celtic landscapes, and the ways in which a particular landscape...