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Artist Spotlight - ImpsAndThings

22/5/2019

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Driving along the A48 towards Newnham, the signpost marked ‘Bullo Pill’ has always rather intrigued me. So last week I set off there to visit Pete Simpson’s studio. He is an art teacher, phot­­­ographer and sculptor of ….imps and things.

I park under some old railway arches and Pete greets me, leading me through to his lovely garden studio.
​
The shelves are crammed with all kinds of goblins, imps, trolls and elves. Pete tells me that his interest in creating  fantasy sculpture started over 30 years ago when he first saw the work of Brian Froud in the animated fantasy adventure film, ‘The Dark Crystal’.

I am fascinated by the level of detail in these polymer clay creatures : their warty faces, clothing, dirty looking toenails and tiny accoutrements. The fabrics are found materials – old dyed dishcloths, scraps of leather, hessian and muslin.
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Although the characters are mainly male, I’m told that their collectors are frequently female. I enquire whether Pete has vivid dreams.

‘Not really’.

I think about sculptor Anthony Gormley’s ‘moments of lived time’ (see my February blog), and how these 30cm high beings might reflect aspects of existence. With my therapist’s wondering, I ponder the Froud/Freud connection. Pete also mentions the influence of  H. P. Lovecraft (I thought they were a 70s band ?).

​​He also works to commission and is currently making a giant tooth which will be covered with special cleaning imps for a dentist’s surgery in Canada.
​

Think less cute tooth fairies?
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Pete attends various fantasy markets and gatherings for example, the Faerie Festival in Glastonbury, a Fantasy Forest event  in July at Sudeley Castle. 
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And of course, he will be opening his studio as part of farOpen 2019, Venue 24.
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As I took my leave, Pete said that I hadn’t asked him the two questions that he’d most expected:

‘How long do they take to make?’
‘Had you thought of creating a film?’

You’ll have to visit Bullo Pill yourself to get the answers. It’s almost under a bridge, and you’ll certainly encounter a few trolls.

Later, as I was looking up H.P. Lovecraft, I came across the following quote:

“Pleasure to me is wonder—the unexplored, the unexpected, the thing that is hidden and the changeless thing that lurks behind superficial mutability. To trace the remote in the immediate; the eternal in the ephemeral; the past in the present; the infinite in the finite; these are to me the springs of delight and beauty.” 
― H.P. Lovecraft

A.T. April 2019 
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    Charlotte Keating 
    ​farOpen Marketing Lead

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  • HOME
  • ARTISTS/MAKERS
  • About
  • How to join
  • Contact
  • 2019 BROCHURE PDF, TRAIL MAP
  • ARTISTS/MAKERS LIST
    • &bookishbooks
    • Alison Edgson
    • Anita Louise Davies
    • Anna Fine Jewellery
    • Annie's Haul
    • Antony Dufort
    • Art@Oaktree
    • Art by Maryanne Hawes
    • Art by Monique Oliver
    • Art by Philip Stockley
    • Bews Gorvin - Sculpture for Public Sites
    • Birgitta Engel
    • Carmen & Stuart Rooksby
    • Carolyn Black
    • Casey Art
    • Cat's Eye Carving
    • Charlotte Keating Abstract Art
    • Christine Waygood Contemporary Textiles
    • David Broadbent
    • Deborah Harrison Sculpture
    • DelARTful Designs by Sarah Delahoy
    • Dorota Rapacz
    • Doug Eaton
    • Drawing on Nature - Victoria Burton-Davey
    • Eleanor Kercher
    • Elizabeth Heather Engel
    • Fellows Framing
    • Garden Shed Textiles
    • Impsandthings
    • Issi Lammas
    • Jane Brooks Long Border Studio
    • Jane Foot
    • Jane Spray
    • Jeanette Hannaby Enamel Artist
    • Laura Liddell
    • Leah Robinson Art and Soul Evolution
    • Leigh Sladen Glass
    • Lindsay Reid Art
    • Lisa Dear Artworks
    • Little Orchard Studios
    • Liz Duff
    • Mary Edwards
    • May Hill Wool
    • Marie-Clare Mawle
    • Melanie Clarke
    • Michael Donnelly
    • MissFire
    • Mollie Meager
    • Nichola Goff
    • Nigel J Street - Just Watercolour
    • Patricia Homewood
    • Patsy Hodgkinson
    • Pigsty Studio
    • Priddis Pots + Paint
    • Rebecca Weissbort
    • Sara Rickard
    • Sara Ulyatt
    • Sarah Trenchard
    • Sew Forest of Dean
    • Sue Carr
    • The Little Gallery in the Forest
    • Uschi Arens Price
    • Watercolour Puddles
    • William Robson Glass Artist