{"id":1583,"date":"2014-09-01T13:02:21","date_gmt":"2014-09-01T12:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodvale.co.uk\/?p=1583"},"modified":"2014-09-01T13:02:21","modified_gmt":"2014-09-01T12:02:21","slug":"the-decorative-the-observed-the-imagined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/the-decorative-the-observed-the-imagined\/","title":{"rendered":"The Decorative – The Observed – The Imagined"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lyme Regis artist Hugh Dunford Wood<\/strong> talks to Katherine Locke<\/h2>\n

Anyone who can remember being a child waiting for Christmas morning will relate to Hugh Dunford Wood\u2019s story. \u2018Apparently, Cezanne was so excited about getting up to go to work the next day,\u2019 he says \u2018that he would wake his wife up in the night and play chess with her until dawn. I often feel like that when I have a new idea, or something I am really involved in\u2014impatient for the new day\u2019.<\/p>\n

Hugh\u2019s enthusiasm for art is infectious and he is passionate that art should be open to all. \u2018If I can do it, anyone can\u2019, he says. Growing up in a very conventional, non-creative household\u2014his father was in the military and his mother from a family of medics\u2014he says that he would have been \u2018gobsmacked\u2019 had he known the life he was going to lead. \u2018We didn\u2019t know anybody who worked for themselves. We had a very ordinary life\u2019. When Hugh was fourteen he read a book about Modigliani and thought \u2018that sounds better than the army\u2019, and the seed of a creative career was sown.<\/p>\n

At eighteen, he attended the Ruskin School of Drawing and it was there \u2018I met my tribe\u2019, he says. He started to mix with other artists and became inspired by stories of people escaping the mundane to go on to create extraordinary things. \u2018David Lean is the perfect example\u2019, he relates, \u2018He lived with his mother and worked with his father in a solicitors office. He would dread going home to dreary suburban life, and in those days they showed shorts at Waterloo Station, so he would watch films until the last train home. His brother, Edward, was a very successful academic and one day a friend of his mother\u2019s stopped by for tea. His mother was busy boasting about Edward\u2019s many successes\u2014the books, the articles etc. And what about David? the friend enquired. Well, there isn\u2019t much to say about David. Looking around, the friend noticed all the trashy Hollywood magazines and said, \u201cHe should go into the movies\u201d. The rest, as they say, is history.<\/p>\n

\"The-Elements-52x93\"<\/p>\n

Hugh is full of stories that inspire\u2014stories that tell of those who have taken the extra steps to become exceptional. He is a man who thinks big and refuses to be weighed down by the dreary. His work is as exuberant as he is and he has taken many paths during his career\u2014never afraid of a new challenge, or to adopt a flexible approach. For example, during the 1980\u2019s he started a very successful hand painted tie business after making a silk scarf for his first wife. \u2018Everyone loved the scarf and began asking where they could buy one. It started with that one piece and ended up with twenty-four painters working for us. We sold ties all over the world. Paul Smith was a regular client\u2019.<\/p>\n

After selling the business in the 1990\u2019s, his next venture took him down a different route altogether. After being asked to create a design for the National Trust, his thoughts turned to handmade wallpaper. Realising that decorative papers were coming back into fashion, he decided to dip his toe in the water with a few of his own designs. \u2018We took a stand at Decorex\u2014the design exhibition in London\u2014to see how the patterns would be received and were amazed by the reaction. We had designers clustering around the stand and had enough interest to start a whole new venture\u2019. Hugh\u2019s wallpapers designs continue to sell well and the hand printed technique, using small blocks, makes the walls of any room stand out.<\/p>\n

His very latest project came about after he made his daughter a cat cushion\u2014printing the design onto Scottish linen. The cushions are made in Bridport, hand printed and hand sewn, and will feature in next month\u2019s World of Interiors magazine. He has expanded the range to include hares, owls and squirrels.
\nAll this whilst still carrying on his own creative work. Hugh loves portraiture and thinks that the work should be a collaboration between the artist and the sitter. \u2018So many portrait painters work in silence and make the whole thing a very sombre affair\u2019, he says, \u2018I like to work in front of a mirror, so the sitter can see the work as it develops and therefore be a part of it\u2019.<\/p>\n

He is also about to exhibit a new collection of work at Chelsea Arts Club. \u2018I am very excited about the new work\u2019, he says. \u2018I call then Collinos, as they are a fusion of collages and linocuts. I believe they include all the elements of art I am interested in\u2014the decorative, the observed and the imagined. They also have a sense of humour, or a lightness, that I am enjoying\u2019.<\/p>\n

Hugh is surrounded by creativity and immersed in the possibilities of a creative life. His house in Lyme Regis is a riot of interesting objects, works in progress (not just his own, but also other family members, or young artists he is encouraging) and has its own impressive creative history. \u2018Sir Laurence Whistler lived here\u2019, he says. \u2018He was a poet and an exceptional glass engraver, who was frequently commissioned by the Royal Family\u2019. Laurence Whistler (brother of Rex) engraved several of the round windows in the house, which makes the property extra special\u2014that and the jaw dropping views of Lyme Bay.<\/p>\n

In his own inimitable style, Hugh has founded the National Gallery of Lyme Regis, described as \u2018a lively and curious collection of contemporary work from artists around the country\u2019. As part of Hugh\u2019s commitment to encouraging enjoyment of the arts, he also shows occasional short films about artists and relishes discussion about the work.<\/p>\n

Hugh acknowledges that he is extremely fortunate. \u2018I have been doing what I want all my life\u2019, he says, \u2018I don\u2019t have a private income and have worked hard to build my creative work, but I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. My life continues to be exciting and work is never a burden to me\u2019. How wonderful!<\/p>\n

All of Hugh\u2019s work can be found at www.dunfordwood.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lyme Regis artist Hugh Dunford Wood talks to Katherine Locke Anyone who can remember being a child waiting for Christmas morning will relate to Hugh Dunford Wood\u2019s story. \u2018Apparently, Cezanne was so excited about getting up to go to work the next day,\u2019 he says \u2018that he would wake his wife up in the night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-1583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts","tag-katherine-locke"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.marshwoodlife.com\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}