Edinburgh Art Fair 2024

Most sculptures are fabricated entirely from sheet metal but some introduce mixed media in the form of salvaged or drift wood to enhance the representation of nature.  Others are made entirely from scrap metal: reusing materials and reforming them into a beautiful piece of art which reflects nature and which, somehow, seems a fitting way of demonstrating the ongoing worth of the materials often so readily discarded.

Many of the artist’s pieces are an observation of nature, using this man-made material to capture the unique movement, character and alertness for which animals and birds are so much loved and which makes these sculptures such a popular personal art choice.

Clare Maria Wood, Where the Wildings grow, Acrylic on board, 60x60cm Framed £600

Clare studied Fine Art Painting at Wimbledon School of Art in the late 1980s, continued with post-graduate studies at Goldsmiths University and more recently completed the Curwen Printmaking Diploma. She exhibits in galleries around the UK as well as at art fairs. She has paintings in collections in the US, Australia and around Europe. Clare’s work has been selected for shows at the Royal Academy of Arts, The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours and the Society of Women Artists. Clare was awarded a residency at Brisons Veor, Cornwall. 

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Clare’s abstract landscapes and seascapes are her expression of ‘place’, which range from journeys around the craggy Cornish coast, rugged North Yorkshire Moors – where she was brought up – and more recently the wide-open Sussex coastline. She recently moved to Knaresborough in North Yorkshire where she works from her home studio. Her finished pieces evoke the energy of a living, breathing landscape. 

Clare Maria Wood, Tales from the Blue, Acrylic, collage and drawing on board, 76x76cm Framed £1100

I am attracted to places with a strong sense of history. It is impossible to visit these places without imagining what has happened there. Immersing oneself in the landscape and feeling the weight of what has gone before can be a very powerful and emotional experience. It is this that I try to convey in my paintings, rather than a literal depiction of the landscape.

The Glencoe works were made in response to walking in The Hidden Valley, Glencoe.

June Studied for a BA(HONS) Drawing & Painting at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and graduated in 2001, she then won a British Council Scholarship to spend a Postgraduate year at The Academy of Fine Art, Budapest. Following this she completed an MA In Barcelona and Winchester at Winchester School of Art, this was followed by an Arts Management Certificate from Sussex University. As well as being a practicing artist June is Director and Chief Curator of Frickleton Fine Art whose clients include Prologis and Cripps LLP.

June Frickleton, Coire Gabhail (The Hidden Valley, Glencoe) XXII, Oil on canvas 90x90cm, £1250

June Frickleton, Coire Gabhail (The Hidden Valley, Glencoe) XXI, Oil on canvas 90x90cm, £1250

 Hubcap Creatures, Greyhound, Recycled material, 115cm long, £8000

Hubcap Creatures is actually Ptolemy Elrington. 

Ptolemy was born in the south of England but grew up in the north. He studied art and design to degree level at Bradford and Illkley Community College in the mid eighties. He has travelled extensively and has worked at a variety of jobs. These have included theatre set design and construction, stage design and construction, assorted large scale community art sculptural projects and all whilst pursuing his own artistic agenda.

Within his work he concentrates on creating sculpture of natural forms from found and re-cycled materials. At the moment he is working with a variety of materials including shopping trolleys, scrap metal and car wheel trims which he re-shapes into a variety of life forms.

Past clients include DEFRA (formerly MAFF), The Eden Project, Kenwood, the R.S.P.B., The Environment Agency, WWF, Essex County Council, Brighton County Council, Ronseal, Anglian Water,  East Coast Trains, Ecover, DHL and Flora.

TV appearances include Richard and Judy, Blue Peter, Smart and Art Attack and Collectors Lot.

Printed media appearances include The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Sun, FHM, The Observer and numerous local papers as well as many international magazines and papers.

Hubcap Creatures, Tang Dynasty Horse, recycled material, 60cm high, £3000

Clare Maria Wood, Where the wildings grow, acrylic on board, 40x40cm, £600

I see my paintings as a way of conveying an emotional connection to the land, sea, and sky. I use sensitive mark-making to transcend the viewer to space beyond physical sight, or human knowledge. Perhaps a place of nostalgia, of joy, of what it is to be human.

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I walk through the countryside or by the coast each day, in all weathers, with my dog, Poppy. To be at the edge of the elements, where light shifts and dances; reliant and yet independent of the darkness, is what inspires me to paint.

​I work intuitively, to begin with, on several pieces at the same time, which allows me to see what is working and expand on ideas. I don’t have an endpoint in mind but see the development as a journey of rhythm and space. I build up glazes of paint, drawn marks and hand-painted collage and then sand into the surface to reveal glimpses of hidden marks and suggested shapes. As each piece develops, I then take a more critical approach, refining areas whilst keeping the energy of the initial marks. When the balance and harmony feel ‘right’ then it is finished.

​My day usually ends with another walk at sunset which gives me food for thought for tomorrow’s developments.