Simonsbath
Click through the gallery below to discover two artists’ responses to the landscaped woodland featuring the highest beech plantation in England
Though the woodland at Simonsbath (Exmoor National Park) has an ancient feeling, it was created in the 19th century as part of a landscape project by the businessman John Knight. He paid £50,000 for a wild, uninhabited area of moorland, then moved there with his wife and six children in 1820. His ambitious vision was to reclaim the 16,000 acres, untouched since the Bronze Age, and transform them into a great estate with a mansion at its heart. The project was never completed, but the woods he planted of beech, pine, sycamore and oak have survived as a beautiful reminder of his dream.
Simonsbath, Mike Dodd 
Simonsbath, Tim Craven
Simonsbath Wood – the Chaos of Light
Watercolour, 42 x 91 cm
Jo Minoprio lives high up on Exmoor where she has a studio and gallery space. Beech trees and hedges are her passion, and she captures them using watercolour, ink and woodblock printing. ‘We think of our Exmoor landscape as being natural and wild, when actually the endless miles of hedgerows have been modelled by man, forming exquisite sculptures of our time.’
Jo Minoprio lives high up on Exmoor where she has a studio and gallery space.
Beech trees and hedges are the artist’s passion, and she captures them using watercolour, ink and woodblock printing.
Minoprio says: ‘We think of our Exmoor landscape as being natural and wild, when actually the endless miles of hedgerows have been modelled by man, forming exquisite sculptures of our time.’
The Edge
Acrylic and ink on clay board, 28 x 35 cm
Mike Dodd experimented with new forms to develop artworks that reflect the great complexity of Exmoor’s natural environment. His artistic process involved applying ink and acrylic to clay board and sraperboard, then scraping through the media to reveal the support below. The challenge of working on these surfaces was an exciting new departure for the artist.
Mike Dodd experimented with new forms to develop artworks that reflect the great complexity of Exmoor’s natural environment.
The artistic process involved applying ink and acrylic to clay board and scraperboard, then scraping through the media to reveal the support below. The challenge of working on these surfaces was an exciting new departure for the artist.
Sentinel
Acrylic and ink on clay board, 18 x 13 cm
Mike Dodd experimented with new forms to develop artworks that reflect the great complexity of Exmoor’s natural environment. His artistic process involved applying ink and acrylic to clay board and sraperboard, then scraping through the media to reveal the support below. The challenge of working on these surfaces was an exciting new departure for the artist.
Mike Dodd experimented with new forms to develop artworks that reflect the great complexity of Exmoor’s natural environment.
The artistic process involved applying ink and acrylic to clay board and sraperboard, then scraping through the media to reveal the support below. The challenge of working on these surfaces was an exciting new departure for the artist.
Gallery
This exhibition was supported by
