Messums

Three of my works have been accepted into the Messums international open call and will be exhibited at Messums London alongside 9 other artists in a group show that focuses on human’s connection with the natural environment:

‘Messums is pleased to announce its second international open call exhibition for painters exploring our relationship with the environment. Opening at Messums London, 28 Cork Street, in November 2025, before expanding to the 13th-century tithe barn at Messums Wiltshire, this curated exhibition reflects on how artists respond to the landscapes around us. Through contemporary painting, it examines changing ideas of beauty, ecology, and sustainability, as well as themes of place, memory, and identity, revealing how connections to the natural world can inspire both understanding and hope.

To begin we are thrilled to announce ten artists selected for the London exhibition, previewing on 18 November. These artists are Cas Campbell, Noelle Gallagher, Eric Butcher, Jonathan Freemantle, Elle Jackson, Heidi Lampenius, Liz Elton, Peter Matthews, Cassie Vaughan and Meredith Owen.

This exhibition marks the first part of two shows. The second installment will take place in Wiltshire in January 2026, featuring an expanded presentation of works by 38 artists.

Further details on the full artist lineup for Wiltshire will be announced soon.

The curatorial approach considered alternative and varied perceptions of landscape through the eyes of artists who experience, observe, and appreciate the environment and ever changing ideas of the natural world. This includes our new understanding of the environment in a contemporary world. The selection aims to show how understanding through observation can encourage viewers to rethink their own relationships with the environment.

The selection process focused on materials, working practices, and subject matter, aiming to showcase a diverse range of approaches to painting. It engaged in conversations about landscape in the 21st century, exploring how our surroundings and collective wellbeing reflect one another. Above all, the exhibition celebrated the deep and enduring connection between humanity and the environment through a medium that has long shaped how we see the world.’

‘The world yawned open’ II - Robert Macfarlane

‘The beat of the placed and lifted foot’ Nan Shepherd

‘The woods were waiting for me with with their breath of leaves and moss’ II -

Edward Thomas

Bevere Gallery, Worcester

‘The wood has ears, the field eyes’- Robert Macfarlane.

‘Blazing almost as if it burned’ D.H Lawrence

The idea for this project first came to me one evening, as we travelled around the UK in our van with our two year old daughter in the summer of 2021. It was the evening, and I was reading The Old Ways by Robert Macfarlane under the light of a head torch. I have always loved reading about adventures on foot. I was still working on my previous show at the time ‘This Island’ documenting the beauty of the changing seasons and the British Isles. The thought came to me in a flash, I knew as I was reading his words that my next step would be to celebrate the act of walking and all it means to me.

I have been lucky to travel extensively in my life so far and have walked wherever possible in order to process my surroundings at a meaningful pace. Before Covid I had always ventured far seeking out the wild places by hiking in Patagonia, Mongolia, other areas of Asia and Europe. The environmental implications mean travelling further afield is a less favourable option these days, and since the arrival of my two children, now six and two, I have found so much joy in walking in the UK; in particular Cornwall, Wales, Gloucestershire and Western Scotland. Therefore the British Isles are the subject for this show.

For the past two years I have been reading books and essays that reference or are solely about walking, as a way of broadening my understanding of walking as a practice, and what it represents to people all over the globe. From pilgrimages to exploration, research trips to self-discovery, walking holds a special and irreplaceable space in so many people's lives.

I would like my paintings to invite the viewer to slow down, to consider the details in nature that we so often overlook. ‘And The Landscape Watched Us Leave’ offers a chance to reconnect with the rhythms of the land and to honour the transformative power of walking through nature.

All the titles for this show have been taken from readings and research during this project.

After the show, I am meeting with makers who have influenced my practice and who themselves take inspiration from walking and nature. I will walk with them and record our conversations. We will collect an object each from our walks, and these will be displayed in my next show in a few years. This is an ongoing project, and I hope it will lead me on a nourishing and fulfilling journey, just as a walk is capable of doing.