Devon exhibition to look at the bigger picture of the colour blue

BBC News

4 days ago

Describing them as never-ending "jigsaw puzzles", Jane Perkins creates huge collages out of tiny found items.Plastic toys, buttons and everyday things are recycled and carefully placed to make striking portraits or recreate grand masters.Meanwhile, artist Gillian Taylor has collected 2,000 pictures of the sky every day since the Covid-19 lockdowns.And they are both taking part in a new exhibition called The Coolest Colour - dedicated to the colour blue - being held at Powderham Castle in Devon.
Jane realised she had a talent for making the collages after making a picture of Queen Elizabeth II. Portraits of other famous faces including Adele and Ed Sheeran followed. Jane said making pictures of recognised people was a sure fire way of making sure the collages worked.She said: "It's a bit addictive. I just keep thinking I will put in one more piece, one more piece."It's so hard to stop... it's taken over two bedrooms."Each picture reveals a carefully curated world of tiny objects; some nearly new, some vintage, but all with their own story.Take a step back, and the pieces combine to create a recognisable face, or famous work of art when viewed from further away.She said: "I used to think I had to do famous recognisable people, so people would get the humour of seeing someone really familiar but created in an unusual way."
It was a commission from Time Magazine of the singer Taylor Swift, to announce her as their Person of the Year for 2023, that marked Jane's work out as having an international reputation.She said: "It was top secret at first... I was just bowled over I couldn't believe I had been contacted by Time Magazine."They wanted all the things that she was known for included in the portrait; things from her songs, that her fans would recognise."So I included, amongst other things, a clock set to midnight, a red scarf, and a seagull."
As well as portraits of famous people, Jane has also recreated the work of old masters.Two of her collages can be seen at the new exhibition.Her art replicating the work of van Gogh and her portrait of the current blue-eyed Earl of Devon are all in the exhibition.Jane said: "People enjoy identifying things. Also some people give me things they'd like included."
Looking carefully at the portrait of Charles Courtney (in the gallery above) and there are little nods to his life.The picture includes a fallow deer often seen on the estate, and even a Powderham Castle pass.He said: "Lots of the paintings we have at Powderham, even the grand ones by people like Thomas Hudson and Joshua Reynolds, were from Devon."Devon has a long tradition of great portrait artists, with Jane joining it, despite her being very modest and shy.
The exhibition is in partnership with artist Gillian Taylor, whose love of the colour blue is also evident in the photos she took of the sky every single day since the Covid lockdown. Collecting nearly 2,000, the most vibrant form her piece Sky News, making up a window in the castle for the exhibition.She said: "I took a photograph of the sky and it was a perfect rectangle of blue."I posted on social media and said at least we have blue skies and I got lots of comments."I did the same the next day, and the next, and I just sort of got addicted to it."
Both artists have been collectors of either many images or objects to create their pieces and concentrate on their favourite colour blue.Gillian continues to take photos of the sky daily and Jane now has to professional collectors seeking out and finding items to include in her collages.The Coolest Colour exhibition is on at Powderham until the end of October.