Exhibition; Mystical Patterns
An exhibition of vibrant energy art from a creative practice that inspired a social justice campaigner to develop from artist to activist
Anna Fauzy-Ackroyd often describes her work in terms of what it isn’t. “There’s no particular technique or skill in it,” she says modestly, and “it’s not political art”. Yet Anna’s ability to remain open to influences beyond those of the material world are quite unique to her, and both the process of putting down paint and the resulting images have drawn her into spheres of action and positive impact that she could never have dreamed of. Anna Fauzy-Ackroyd, through her art, is making a material difference to people’s lives all over the world.
“I have no idea, no pre-plan of what I’m going to paint. I just go with the flow of the oil beneath my fingers” says Anna. The movement of Anna’s fingers through the paint against the canvas add a physicality to work which has a decidedly spiritual dimension. Afterwards, she will go over the painting with a brush, bringing definition to the forms that have appeared. Unearthly, ethereal figures, shapes and faces emerge unbidden from the gentle swirls of vibrantly colourful oil paint.
“I have no idea how I make a particular painting, so I couldn’t reproduce any of the images.”
The element of activism in Anna’s work is not obvious in the art itself which is not dictated by any political views or campaign.
Interestingly, it has been the other way round. Some of the boldest steps Anna has taken in her life as a campaigner for global justice originated in something that emerged through one of her canvases that stirred her to take action. Anna describes her work as an artist and activist as being “like walking in the mist. I take a step and the path unfolds”. She is very interested in the way unseen realms can influence human action in both artists open to what the universe has to channel through them, and the people who view the work.
Thinking about her campaigns for justice, Anna muses: “Was I painting just for this movement? “Was that the purpose behind my drive to paint?”
Rosemary Lawrey, curator
All works will also be showcased in our online Art Market, extending the life of the exhibition beyond the gallery space
Here we explore pattern as it appears in nature, in our homes, on our bodies and in the rising of the tide and the setting of the sun. We have beautiful work on our walls from Dee Young, Jenni Harrison, Carole Morgan, Rai Barker and Pollyanna Bareham, as well as clothes and lovely patterned home furnishings. Come feast your eyes.
For some the absolute star of our pattern-themed gallery is this gorgeous abstract by Dee Young @deeyoungartist. Jacob’s ladder is a high-impact oil painting and contrasts wonderfully against the more regular, disciplined patterns in the work of Pollyanna Bareham and Jenni Harrison. Come and enjoy all these mind-expanding patterns for the next three weeks at The Art of Wonder. We also have tic tac toe games, books, clothes, curtains and lampshades all in the patterns theme, and a jigsaw to do while you wait for a coffee or hot soup.
As part of our exploration of pattern, we have some beautifully drawn tiger stripes in the children’s book written and illustrated by Denise Hennessy-Mills about Zoppa and Natasha, two tigers at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary. Denise’s book-signing took place at the animal sanctuary on Wednesday and her book, in support of the sanctuary, can be purchased at The Art of Wonder. All images will be featured in our online Art Market, allowing the exhibition to live on beyond the walls of the gallery.
Exhibition: Where Land Meets Sea
'Where Land Meets Sea' is a photographic exhibition by Jim Elston.
The work examines the littoral — where the land meets the sea — exploring human interaction at this shifting boundary. Alongside more traditional viewpoints are counterpointing views that invite reflection on how we use and regard this unique environment.
All works are printed on high-quality art paper, framed and ready to hang. Photographs will be available for sale at the exhibition or can be ordered as part of a limited-edition print run.
Although the exhibition is only in the gallery for a few weeks, all images will be featured in our online Art Market for longer, allowing the exhibition to live on beyond the walls of the gallery.
Listening to Jim Elston talk about ‘The Edge’ - his exhibition of Isle of Wight coast photographs at The Art of Wonder in Ryde, I noticed two words kept cropping up: “typically British”.
People coming into the gallery have identified the places in the photos with complete certainty. Almost all have been completely wrong. These are all scenes from around the Island’s shores, unique scenes each with a very personal and often poignant story attached yet they are all, somehow “typically British”. The scenery is different, but the feel is familiar. The Shanklin seaside shelter, more than 200 years old now, is a prototype for the shelters that dot the promenades and esplanades all around our coastline. A mother and daughter pass by it, preoccupied and oblivious of the photographer waiting patiently to capture the moment of their passing. They are oblivious too of all the comings and goings, of the countless personal seaside stories, that ornate seat has witnessed over its two centuries. Figures unidentifiable through the murk of the shelter windows, they are unaware of their starring role in ‘The Edge – where land meets sea’.
If Jim Elston had consciously taken “typically British” as his theme, perhaps he wouldn’t have waited at 5:30 am for the perfect shot of a mysterious mist-laden Wootton Creek, or focused in on the outline of refinery stacks, jagging up into the sky like a pack of (Player’s?) cigarettes with one glowing white cherry against a red sunset, a lone man on a pebble beach gazing, perhaps wistfully, out towards a passing cruise liner, or a tent pitched long-term under a pier. All these could only have been taken here, yet ‘here’ could be on any stretch of British coast.
The Edge is a series of personal moments in time caught on camera by a photographer narrator with a story to tell that is often at odds with the apparent subject. My eyes rolled upwards when I spotted a row of bright coloured beach huts at the head of a line of otherwise brooding, gritty and, for want of a better word, edgy shots. But “Look”, said Jim “They are photographed from the back”. I look more closely. They are not in the usual cheerful washing-line formation, but at an angle that leads the eye straight into a thicket of trees, dark grey shadows between the huts marching too in rigid formation, the perfectly painted planking desperate in its perfection. The typically British seaside idyll these beach huts represent is an exclusive one, well padlocked, vastly expensive and, says Jim, “quite sad”. The theme of ownership, of claims staked and protectionism, recurs in this exhibition. A gorgeous rocky strandline invites us to paddle off into the distance, but our way is blocked by a large notice “private property, keep out”, a transit van in a garden rusts quietly into the ground, but is still savagely protected by coils of barbed wire. It has been there for ten years or more – “ten years of a life”, says Jim. Southern Water’s chunky sewage pipeline is pictured in one jolly black, white, red, green, orange and sky blue photograph in this series, my particular favourite for its industrial appeal. This pipeline formed an imposing gateway to Ryde beach for many months. Southern Water has laid its own claim on the Solent, forcing two Olympic teams who used to train in its waters to move out of Portsmouth because of the pollution it has caused, Jim tells me.
Technique and layout reinforce meaning. Positive is never quite clear cut and is always followed by a negative. Jim Elston’s monochrome sunset scatters the sky with an infinity of tones; here there is every shade of grey. Along the sharp serrated line of a groyne reaching out into the Channel between Shanklin and Sandown, perching seabirds, barely discernible, hide in the shadows. In the oil refinery sunset, Jim explores how reds affect a black and white photograph. In many of these photographs, colour transitions into monochrome, echoing perhaps Jim’s preoccupation with the transition of all things over time – nature affects matter but it is always there. In a hundred year’s time, the van will have rusted into the ground, but the matter remains.
Rosemary Lawrey, Curator, The Art of Wonder.
Exhibition: Dreamscapes
A new exhibition exploring imagination, myth, and quiet wonder
Step into a world where dreams gently blur into waking life. Our new exhibition, Dreamscapes, opened in the gallery on Monday 5th and runs until the 17th, offering a short but enchanting window into imagined landscapes, inner worlds, and stories that linger long after you leave.
At the heart of Dreamscapes is our featured artist, India Raphael, whose work sets the tone for the exhibition. India is a self-taught artist whose practice is built on experimentation with diverse traditional mediums, including watercolours, oil paints, intricate black pen drawings, and handcrafted inks made from foraged natural materials. Her inspiration is deeply rooted in a fascination for heritage crafts and the natural landscape, often incorporating scenes of Celtic folklore, Nordic myth, and vivid dream imagery.
Alongside this, we are delighted to show work by Rai Barker, including the acrylic-on-canvas paintings Mystic River, Quiet Window, and Acrylic on Art Paper, I’ll Come With You.
The exhibition also features a striking digital artwork by Clare Short, titled St Melangell and the Hare. The piece is available as an A3 framed print in either white or gold, as an unframed A4 print, or as a greetings card. Clare has a 25-year background in digital design and specialises in sacred art and machine embroidery. Her work is recognised internationally and has even been presented to Pope Benedict XVI in Rome for his 90th birthday. As Clare describes it, her computer helps organise the chaos in her neurodiverse brain, acting as both her living paintbrush and her magical needle and thread.
The artwork draws on the beautiful Welsh legend of St Melangell, a 7th-century Irish princess who fled to Wales to escape an unwanted marriage and chose a life of solitude in the Pennant Valley in Powys. According to tradition, a hunted hare once sought refuge beneath her robe, causing the pursuing hounds to stop in their tracks. Moved by this moment, the local prince granted Melangell the valley as a sanctuary for prayer and the protection of wildlife. She later became an abbess and was venerated for her devotion, becoming closely associated with hares and the natural world. Her shrine still stands at St Melangell’s Church in Pennant Melangell and continues to inspire visitors today.
Adding to the atmosphere of Dreamscapes, the gallery also features beautifully made lampshades by Sharon Poole, a bench filled with books to stimulate both adult and children’s imaginations, and delicate hanging suncatchers created by local maker Monique, which catch and scatter light throughout the space.
Although Dreamscapes is only in the gallery for a couple of weeks, all artworks and items will be featured in our online Art Market for longer, allowing the exhibition to live on beyond the walls of the gallery. We invite you to visit, explore, and let your imagination wander.
Exhibition: Old World Icons - In person and virtual display
To complement the in-person display, a virtual exhibition is available, offering the chance to view and purchase these remarkable icons online. This virtual showcase will continue into the new year and can be accessed here. The gallery exhibition runs until 15 December, while the online version will remain open until 15th March.
With Christmas on the horizon and the shops filled with ever-more inventive festive merchandise, at The Art of Wonder we seek to get back in touch with timeless tradition and craftsmanship, while not losing sight of the lustre and mystery of this season. An expert with the paintbrush, gold leaf and the bandsaw, Vio Vlad has spent decades mastering his craft as an iconographer, depicting sacred images with devotion to detail and traditions handed down through many generations. Starting in Romania, Vlad’s story is one of adventure, versatility and resourcefulness. We hope that you will come and enjoy his wonderful “windows to heaven”, learn about the techniques, symbols and colours they encapsulate, and the spiritual significance they hold.
A word from Vio Vlad: “I have been painting icons for over 30 years now, although not as a full-time icon painter. I’ve always believed I need to be in a special mood—perhaps inspired by Divine guidance—to create something I truly love and hope others will love as well. I paint in the antique style, avoiding the slick, shiny appearance of modern icons, aiming instead to capture the timeless beauty and authenticity of traditional sacred art.
I’m proud to say that my icons are part of private collections in the USA, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Romania. One of my glass icons was even purchased by Princess Alexandra of Romania 30 years ago. Over the years, I’ve have painted several icons and decided to share my work more widely, hoping it will be both successful and appreciated.”
These icons are treasures in themselves. Vlad’s jewellery boxes, crafted in wood with just as much meticulous care, make beautiful gifts for keeping precious items safe. We hope that you will come to the Art of Wonder to meet Vlad, hear the story of how he came to be here on the Isle of Wight with his collection of icons, and pause a while to contemplate the mystique of this special time of year.