'Ellyn: A Tale of Contemporary Art' is a collaborative artists’ book that celebrates the Isle of Man’s culture, nature, heritage and more in the form of fine art. Coordinated by our Arts Graduate Intern, Olivia Savage, the book aims to create a physical experience for artists and readers.
We now have all of our confirmed invited artists working hard on their artwork for the collaborative artist book, “Ellyn” coming out later this year. We will continue to announce our invited artists one by one, every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday of the week, so keep a look out both here and on our social media for our latest announcements. Below we are sharing artists 17-31 over the next few weeks, updated weekly.
I can’t wait to see what the hidden artistic talent on the Island has to offer!
Olivia Savage, Arts Graduate Intern
Head over to our “Projects and Partnerships” page to find out more and see the project brief.
Meet the Artists: 17-31
Please note: Announcements are made every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday evening on our social media and we update this page weekly.
Darren Jackson
Born in Sunderland in 1974, Darren Jackson studied model making and design with 1st degree honours. He then went on to work in London model making/special effects and as an ice sculptor which lead to competing in international competitions and symposiums representing the UK and the Isle of Man.
Meeting Stephanie Quayle on a Latvian ice symposium in 2008, we teamed up to compete together and moved to the island in 2012 to start Farmyard Studio, we have created large scale works; Manannan, Loaghtan Ram for Manifest Music Festival, the bronze “when I grow up” sculpture outside the RNLI shop in Ramsey, Centenary Bull, Wildlife Park Elk, giant TT bike and many ice sculptures for events here in the island.
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"The Ellyn project is a great way to bring attention to the art on the island and how important it is to have a creative hub here."
Kate Jerry
"My obsession is with 'surface’ no matter what shape or form, I work between abstract and illustrative styles and many different mediums. The heart of my practice is experimentation and process. The inspiration for my artwork comes from all areas of my life, emotion and philosophy. Simple print illustrations begin with a quote from literature (a book, play or poem), and other work evolves from a walk, a memory, an emotion, seasons, cycles and responding to these patterns, an appreciation of natural form and the environment. "
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"When I first learnt of the Ellyn Project, I felt that this was an incredible opportunity to create with freedom and without constraints. I generally don’t like to work to a set theme, time spent creating is precious and I have plenty of ideas I wish to explore. The project felt inviting and open to ones own interpretation.
The wildness and wilderness of the Island is something that beats at the heart of living here. Growing up on the Island, provided me with the opportunity to appreciate the beauty and rawness of the natural world. With the biosphere in mind, I grew up to recycle, reclaim, reuse, appreciate the environment, so this resonates with me and will be an important element of what I create for the project."
Rob Jones
Robert Jones is a sculptor working in the Isle of Man. He works in steel, wood and stone, and has recently worked almost exclusively in upcycled steel.
Robert is passionate about public art and educating the next generation in art and sculpture techniques and has taught hands on metal sculpting in secondary schools.
Robert is also experienced in sculpture restoration and maintenance and has carried out restoration work on the sculptures of leading Manx sculptor Michael Sandle RA.
When not sculpting Robert is a specialist in traditional building restoration and has worked on many of the Island’s historic buildings.
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"I have lived on the Isle of Man for most of my life and the landscape and history of the Island has inspired my artwork from the beginning. I feel a particular connection to our rural heritage having grown up helping out on farms in the north of the Island. I’ve spent most of my life working in towns, villages and countryside of the Island and I’m inspired by our nature, our buildings and the ever changing light and skies. The Biosphere is important to me because it captures the juxtaposition between people and landscape, which I hope is what my work does too. I’m excited to be part of this important art project."
Petrina Kent
"As an artist I am essentially driven by my experiences both visual and felt. I have come to appreciate that living in the Isle of Man with it’s incredible light and beauty has defined my work. It would be fair to say that I have devoted most of my working life as an artist to expressing its beauty.
"With subtleties of colour and a prolonged working process, my aim is to evoke a response from the viewer and an opportunity to lose themselves in the vastness of the landscape, whatever the size of the work."
Janet Lees
Through my work I’m exploring what it feels like to be human in an age when humanity is having a catastrophic impact on the ecosystems that support life. I am a poet as well as a visual artist, and this shapes the way I see the world. I think of my camera as a storytelling machine as much as a documenting device. Each image or piece of film is a visual haiku, a fragment that speaks to a much bigger story. Abstracting these fragments and making them into something new is a kind of recycling of perception; finding wonder not only in nature but also in wounded urban spaces is a way for me to be in the world without turning away from devastation. My work is where I put a personal and universal sense of loss, longing and broken belonging as well as enduring joy; an honouring of the indestructible poetry that lives at the heart of everything.
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"I feel incredibly fortunate to live in such a beautiful place as the Isle of Man and to be part of this unique island community. My grandfather Harry Corrin was a Manxman and we came to the island every summer for our holidays; it was my dream to live here. Similarly, it’s great to be part of the creative community involved in the Ellyn project. I’ve always experienced the island as a place of magic and wonder, and I know that the book will be full of these things, as a permanent record of a very particular time, seen through the eyes and hearts of different artists."
John Mulvey
"In my work I strive always to achieve movement, joy and humour. Capturing the essence of the
subject with a simplicity of form and an economy of line.
I consider myself to be a very lucky man spending my life working at a job I love.
Returning to the Isle of Man to live, where my career started in the 1970's, is the icing on the cake."
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"I see the Ellyn Project as a celebration of the amazing talent and creativity present on the Isle of Man."
Jeremy Paul
“I originally trained as a marine biologist at Port Erin, but have been a professional wildlife artist for over 30 years. During that time I have been lucky enough to travel the world and witness some spectacular wildlife. However, the majority of my paintings are from experiences here on the Island."
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"There are few places in the world with such a variety of landscape and rich history – much of which is visible in the land. It perhaps is not surprising that many are inspired to be creative and for a small Island we have some incredibly talented artists. ‘Ellyn’ is a great way to show how the Island’s creative talent reflects life in this special place."
Stephanie Quayle
"I draw in clay. Willing the mud beneath our feet into life. Each sculpture summons the animal and the wild. Clay is amazing elemental stuff, it captures every mark and moment. I just have to stop before I ruin it.
To make with earth is as old as mankind, something of the animals nature is rendered solid. A moment in time, raw and primordial.
I hope the sculptures return our gaze and remind us of our own inner animal, our connectedness with all things and our place within nature.
With my better half Daren Jackson we are The Farmyard Studio, we make sculpture inspired by the awe of nature."
My thoughts on Ellyn…
"Together we can celebrate this special place we call home and help inspire the young artists coming behind us that Art is so vital and enriching, so grounding and healing, in ways more important and more relevant than ever before.
I feel very lucky to make sculpture on Manx soil and honoured to contribute to Ellyn, hopefully it’s only the start for the Island’s art and its artists."
Graham Rider
"I have been a painter for over 40 years, most of that has been spent painting Beach and Landscapes. I particularly love the dunes and skies of the hinterland between land and sea. I try to capture the feeling of what it is like to be there, he rush of the light and colours, the crashing of the waves, the end of the anticipation of getting there to the sea. The style is more impressionist than photographic, the softness of the sand and the rustle of the grasses is what I like. I have also painted commissions of Liverpool St Station for Railtrack (three large paintings for their boardroom that are now in the National Railways Museum), Covent Garden for Guardian Royal Properties and I have paintings in National, Corporate and Private Collections in the UK and abroad."
My thoughts on Ellyn:
“This project offers a chance to the talented and distinctive artists of the Island to demonstrate to not only the people of the Isle of Man but beyond that there is not only something unique but also worth developing and nurturing. In a world of ever competing agendas with ever increasing turnover of styles and hype the chance to to just listen and look needs to be reaffirmed.”
Michael Sandle
Michael Sandle is widely recognised as one of the finest sculptors in the world, and as a brilliant draughtsman and printmaker. Born in Weymouth in 1936, Michael studied at the Douglas Isle of Man School of Art 1951-54. He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art 1956-59 and worked as a lithographer in Paris in 1960. He lived in Germany 1973-99, becoming Professor of Sculpture at Pforzheim in 1977 and then at Karlsruhe from 1980. Michael was elected a Royal Academician in 1990 and again in 2005. His most notable commissions include the Malta Siege-Bell Memorial at Valletta 1988-92 for which he was awarded the Henry Herring Memorial by the US National Sculpture Association and The Seafarers’ Memorial (2000-01) in London.
Thoughts on Ellyn:
"Having the good fortune to have grown up in the Isle of Man entirely due to my father who was in the Royal Navy being posted there has had some positive effect on my life as an artist - the ever changing light because of being surrounded by the sea and the colours of the landscape along with its often dramatic rock formations has always had a permanent place in my psyche. As far as the Ellyn exhibition goes - anything that can focus attention on the visual arts is to be welcomed.”
Eileen Schaer
Eileen is a self-taught visual artist creating one off pieces. Her magical paintings depict a colourful and dreamlike world. She has been a full time artist for many years and has exhibited both on and off the Island. Her work is represented in Arts UK and Manx National Heritage Collections.
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"It’s so good to be included in the Isle of Man Arts Council and Biosphere IOM forthcoming book ‘Ellyn’. A project celebrating our beautiful Island."
Michael Starkey
"I’ve been working on new paintings especially during Lockdown . Just before Lockdown I travelled to parts of Maughold and the lower parts of the rivers to study how the Island drains into the sea after heavy rains. This is an essential part of the biosphere as the rivers and streams join up in the hills and race down to the open sea. I particularly liked the river near Cornaa. .... The quality of light on the Island gives me the inspiration to paint strong shadows and intense light and I try very hard to capture it."
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"The idea of a book showing the wonderful artists on the island will show how hard everyone works with different styles and techniques."
Kate Summerville
Kate Summerville is an artist and designer from the Isle of Man. She studied Fine Art at The University of Leeds, graduating with a BA(Hons) in 2007. After spending nearly a decade living and working in Australia, Kate returned to the island in 2018 with her young family.
Working primarily in watercolour, ink and acrylic, much of Kate’s work is an exploration of the sea and it’s inhabitants. Colour, pattern and recurring motifs all play a part in her vibrant underwater seascapes.
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"I am thrilled to be included as I am passionate about our island and natural environment. As someone who has lived all around the world, the Isle of Man has been ‘home’, near and far, for my whole adult life and it is an honour to be a part of a project celebrating and shining a light on our thriving arts community."
Jade Boylan
We are delighted to share with you our final invited artist, Jade Boylan! Jade is an Isle of Man Arts Council Member and Head of our Visual Art and Literature Panel for funding.
Jade has been working freelance as an artist and designer for 12 years and is also a dedicated member of the Isle of Man Arts Council and the board of Culture Vannin. Since graduating she has worked with clients and brands all over the world and over the years has seen her designs sold via places like Topshop, ASOS and Selfridge’s. Jade also runs her own online business, the Candy Doll Club, selling products featuring her illustrations and designs to customers all over the world and she regularly ships her products to every continent except Antarctica (so far). Recent years have seen her collaborate with more local companies, creating bespoke merchandise for clients including the Gelatory, Peggy’s, IOM Creamery and Isle of Pride. Although nowadays her work is mainly digital, Jade remains a painter at heart and would gladly spend her free time painting, if she ever had any free time!
My thoughts on Ellyn:
"The Ellyn project is a wonderful opportunity to showcase some of the Isle of Man's most brilliant creative minds. For such a small island we have a veritable wealth of talented artists on our shores and this project will show the island and the world, just how richly creative the Isle of Man is. We are incredibly lucky to live in such a beautiful and endlessly inspiring place and I am particularly looking forward to seeing how the island has uniquely inspired each of the artists included in this project."
