Artist of the Month:  Whyn Lewis

                                             by Ken Noakes, collector and Primary School Headmaster



    I sit in my living room surrounded by my dogs; three living breathing beings (two cocker spaniels and a black lurcher), inevitably

    sprawled out fast asleep on floor and sofa and five others who watch me from the wall. The five who look at me are in three

    paintings by   my favourite artist, Whyn Lewis. One portrays a white dog standing on its hind legs, like a horse, about to leap into the

    future,

                                                    
                                                      'Onward' 41 x 51 cms oil/panel   2011

   in another are two pale dogs (Running Dogs) with long sinuous bodies racing each other after an invisible prey and in the

  third is the eponymous black eyed dog who sits in front of, dominating and partly obscuring, his companion, a white dog.

                                                 ‘ The Long Run ’ 33 x 54 cms oil/canvas  2009

   I love Whyn’s paintings because I have an affinity with the subject matter; dogs, deer, rabbits and hares, birds and hedgehogs.

   Having lived with a variety of animals over the years, particularly dogs, its lovely to find an artist who captures their moods and

   movement, their grace and power. Whyn’s animals, stylised rather than accurate depictions, are full of beautiful lines and curves

   with immaculately and painstakingly painted bodies usually set against plain backgrounds. They are beautifully executed and convey

   so much emotion. The title Whyn gives her painting often encapsulates the feeling she is portraying through her animals.

   There are many times I see an expression in my lurcher’s face which has been captured by Whyn in her dog paintings.

   Another of her paintings in this room is of a huge black stag leaping with majestic power above my head and almost bursting out

   of the painting in its anxiety to move on; its immense strength barely contained by the frame. While in the room opposite, by contrast

   is a gentle white deer about to perform a difficult feat, leaping forward while looking behind her. Such exquisite movement!

                                                          ‘Houndedhart’ 50 x 61 cms oil/panel  2010

     Whyn's paintings, through her animals, always say something about the way Whyn was feeling or her view on life at the

     time she was putting paint on canvas. I never tire of looking at them. They are a joy to own and have become a part of me now.

                                                          ‘Hartsleap’ 51 x 61 cms oil/panel 2009