Susan Isaac – Market Place, Newark-on-Trent

My solo exhibition, ‘Newark Townscapes’ is now on at the Spotlight Gallery in Newark Town Hall – until 13 Nov. For this exhibition, I set about creating a series of contemporary views of Newark inspired by the structures and textures of the town as it radiates outward from the Church of St Mary Magdalene.

Susan Isaac – Kirk Gate, Newark-on-Trent

In my compositions, I sought out street furniture and market stalls to be as much a feature of the paintings as the stonework of castle and church and the red brick and timber frame of town buildings.

The elongated portrait canvases in particular are intended to convey a sense of the eye being drawn along narrow streets and alleys or through market stalls, leading on towards the Church spire, rising commandingly above and between the Medieval and Georgian townscape.

By contrast, Newark Castle unfurls its pierced elevations in elongated landscapes, whether seen from the modern gardens interior or from the banks of the river Trent, flowing as timelessly now as it did when the castle was first constructed.

Susan Isaac – Newark Castle

There is a long history of artists depicting the town and alongside the exhibition is a series of panels (by Michael Trueman) examining and highlighting aspects of that history.