Press and publicity

Dartmoor and Beyond
devontoday magazine   Article from February 2004 issue by Alison Sumner.
 
IN THE FAMILY
A visit to Monks Withecombe Gallery introduced me to the oil paintings of Katharine Lightfoot.  Large atmospheric canvasses depicting sheep and ponies on windswept Dartmoor sat alongside canvasses emanating the energy of racehorses.
 
I was fascinated to learn that both her brother James and uncle John not only share the Lightfoot name but are also respected artists.  All three artists have their roots in Devon - John and Katharine recently returned to live and work in the Westcountry, whilst James paints from his studio in Brighton.
 
Unlike Katharine's windswept moorlands John's paintings almost always have a religious theme.  His fascination with theology, particularly Catholicism, is probably the influence of his education by the Jesuits in the 1940s.   As a child exposed to the violent images in The Bible, John has explored and successfully tackled controversial subjects which manage to combine both sex and religion.  His intention is not to be blasphemous, but his paintings do provoke intellectual stimulation with the onlooker.
 
Fundamentally, John is a colourist and it is his instinct for colour that is perhaps the most striking in all his paintings.  They are visually pleasing whilst challenging the viewer with controversial themes.
 
In contrast, Katharine's work is less challenging in terms of subject, although the relatively large canvasses do require decent sized rooms in which to appreciate them.  Her paintings of sheep and Dartmoor ponies are far from sugary.  Preferring instead to portray their stubborn ability to survive the elements on the hostile moorland, she also manages to skilfully convey their individuality and and inquisitive nature, as well as capturing the tension generated by their uneasy stare just before they characteristically turn and run.
 
Sadly, painting her favourite subject was curtailed for a considerable time during the foot and mouth disease, so during this period she began to produce seascapes of the North Cornwall Coast.  This was a change in both direction and style; she used minimal colours to evoke overcast, misty winter scenes, and the swift-changing moods became essentially the heart of her work.  her brief move to Orkney saw the continuation of these moody, dramatic seascapes and expansive skies.  She enjoyed the different seasons and the obvious contrast in light and colour of the islands and painted large canvasses, capturing a sense timelessness and space.
 
Once again returning to Dartmoor, she is now painting the Dartmoor ponies again and her beloved sheep.  She exhibits regularly at the Monks Withecombe Gallery in Chagford.
 
James, her elder brother, also loves to paint large scale.  Avoiding the painstaking small details, he prefers to work expressively and imply detail in his brushwork.  He loves to observe a mixture of patterns and textures, and paints almost in metaphor rather than being too literal.  His recent work includes ambitious swimming pool scenes and rooftops, which are heavily influenced by his past abstract work but follow his current interest in landscapes, seascapes and figurative work.
 
James likes to make great play of the different lights and how they affect the viewer's perception of the scene.  Major influences on his work have been Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Lucien Freud, the latter particularly noted in his portraiture.  James' first solo show was at the Arndean Gallery, Cork Street, London in December, which incorporated paintings from his recent trips across France and Italy.  It followed a joint exhibition with his sister in the same gallery a year before.
 
A significant link between these three artists is that honesty reigns over aestheticism in both their approach, choice of subject and execution of it.
 
"Dartmoor and beyond": An exhibition of works by James and Katharine Lightfoot can be seen at Monks Withecombe Gallery, Chagford from February 2- 29.  Follow gallery directions from A382.  Tel: 01647 432 854 for further details.
 
Article from the Saturday January 31 2004
Brother and sister join artistic forces   
Like so many artists, Katharine Lightfoot was forced to subsidise her fine art income by working as a painter and decorator for a while, after graduating in Fine Art from Exeter College of Art & Design.  During this period she was unable to exhibit her work and yet the collapse of the dotcom bonanza in London which made her brother redundant, has enabled him to return to art and now the siblings are uniting in a joint exhibition at the Monks Withecombe Gallery in Chagford, starting Monday.
 
This has followed a brave move to hold an exhibition in Cork Street, London, in November 2002, which although a difficult financial decision at the time, has now proved to be the springboard they needed to launch their individual careers and both James and Katharine are now able to concentrate on painting full time, with enough commissions and ongoing exhibitions to keep them afloat.
 
Katharine paints mainly on Dartmoor where she lives, gaining inspiration from the barren but beautiful moorland around her as well as the creatures that roam it.  Her works are acutely sensitive to her surroundings with no attempt to disguise the harshness of the moor.  This brutal almost dangerous nature of the high moorland only compels her more deeply into the heart of the moor, as she strives to capture everything in sight.
 
James lives in Brighton but spends a lot of his time visiting his family on Dartmoor where he also paints.  He has recently travelled through France and Italy, providing him with plenty of subject matter including rooftops scenes of Sienna and some dramatic swimming pool vistas.  His favourite subject matter remains the surprisingly lush valley running from Manaton up through North Bovey, where his family still live and the exhibition will bring together some of these varied themes, to form an intriguing and refreshing exhibition.
 
The gallery is open from 11am to 6pm daily and the exhibition runs until Sunday, February 29. 
 
 
  "A talent to behold"   Article from January 2004
An opportunity to view and own a wonderful piece of local art.   
 
THE work of James Lightfoot can be enjoyed throughout January, when the talented Brighton artist holds his Open House studio sale.  Pieces include recent portraits (for which he takes commissions), local and foreign landscapes and rooftops and figurative swimming pool scenes.
James recently had his first solo show at the Arndean Gallery in London, featuring recent trips across France and Italy.  Artistic talent runs in the family, as can be seen on www.lightfootart.com which features the work of James' sister Kat, and uncle John.  Call James on 01273 208 699 for a free admission open studio.
 
 
  article from December 2003
 
Paintings from Home and Abroad
Young British artist James Lightfoot opens his first solo exhibition this week in London featuring a series of landscapes, seascapes and figurative work from his recent travels to France and Italy.
by Arabella Youens
 
'New Works by James Lightfoot' - his first one-man exhibition - is made up of 29 oil on canvas works. While the exhibition explores two main themes of water and rooftops (of the somewhat improbable mix of Brighton and Siena), the collection also extends to rich West Country landscapes and bold portrait commissions.

The Devon-born artist, whose sister and uncle are also in the profession, was initially drawn to abstract painting while studying Fine Art at Reading University. Latterly his work has moved on from the fascination for abstract, however at the core that interest remains. 'My inspiration has always come from light and from ambiguity. For instance I like looking both at water and through water: I love the way water distorts the swimmer.'

Trained in Exeter and Reading, 34 year-old James Lightfoot came up to London in the mid 90s and only returned to painting two years ago when his job in publishing came to an end. 'I took up painting again while I was wondering what to do next. Two years after having decided to take control of my own destiny, I'm here with my first solo exhibition.'

James Lightfoot's exhibition is currently on at the Arndean Gallery, 23 Cork Street, London W1 (until December 6, 2003). For more information, telephone 07771 711860 or visit www.lightfootart.com.
 
 
Article from Saturday October 4 2003
Gallery opener features moor
Country Life in February this year decided Devon was the best county in which to live, and all that was wrong with the area was a deficiency of art galleries, but this is soon to be rectified with the opening of an architect designed gallery just outside Chagford.
 
The Monks Withecombe Gallery has been converted from large granite farm buildings with sensitivity and regard for natural light to display artwork at their best.
 
Starting today will be an exhibition of the work of Katharine Lightfoot, the Cornish born artist who graduated from Plymouth (Exeter College of Art and Design) with a degree in Fine Art in 1995.  She moved to Dartmoor three years later, immersing herself in the landscape and animals that live there, and especially the ponies and sheep that have ventured into her work, appearing a mite curious or fearful, yet ready to scatter at a moment's notice.
 
Katharine held an exhibition in the Arndean Gallery in Cork Street, London, last November and was thrilled with excellent sales and an enthusiastic response to her paintings.
 
Having achieved success in London, Katharine is delighted to have the chance to show her paintings in the Westcountry.
 
"I have received such loyal support from local collectors that that it will be wonderful to have the chance to meet them and show them my new paintings" she said. "Due to the positive feedback I've had selling my work so far, I'm sure this exhibition will be a great success."
 
It was during the outbreak of the foot and mouth epidemic that Katharine turned towards more traditional studies and began work on a series of seascapes around the coast of Devon and Cornwall.  Forced to change both direction and style, she started to limit her palette to a few colours, exploring this restriction to explain the greyness of her surroundings while including the animals, quietly grazing throughout it all.
 
This is the uplands as only those who live there know it, showing the rapidly changing moods and colour of the high moor, while also including the tenderness of sheep, inquiring from the viewer their business.
 
For the summer and autumn of 2002, Katharine moved to Orkney where she continued to paint moody, dramatic landscapes  and large skies.  She depicts the seasons, revealing contrast in the light, colour and subtleties of the islands, which have inspired a sense of space and timelessness.
 
In this current exhibition Dartmoor Landscapes, running from today until Saturday, December 13, Katharine has produced a vibrant series of new paintings of the moor, the sheep and ponies, which will resonate with all who know and love the South West.