onionbagblog

To the splendour of Jardine on Monday evening for a private viewing of an exhibition by Lee Thomas, the latest local artist to proudly make use of the superb space situated amongst all the coffee, cupcakes and fine cuisine.

I say private viewing, but it was pretty much a free for all, once a polite email had gone the way of the good @jojocolchester. I have been greatly impressed in the way that Jardine is being used on Monday evenings, the one day of the week where the bistro takes a breather.

It may be the day of rest for the restaurant, but Christian and his staff regularly welcome into the restaurant local artists, philosophers and book club types in this most intimate of venues.

On Monday evening and it was the turn of Colchester based artist Lee Thomas. Working out of a studio by Church Walk in the town, Lee is a most interesting hybrid of photographer meets graphic designer, mixed in with a more traditional approach to artwork.

With a CSE Grade 3 in Art (me, not Lee) that’s probably the best artistic definition that you are going to get.

Lee has far more credible artistic credentials having studied at the Colchester Institute. He described to me how this unique local mix of the industrial backdrop around some of the old Colchester, mixed in with the wildlife found around Wivenhoe, has heavily influenced his work.

Upon walking into Jardine and you are immediately struck by the sheer size and detail of each piece of art. For the untrained eye it appears that it must have taken an age to intricately produce such a series of fine sketches.

I don’t think I’m giving away too many trade secrets when I tell you that a combination of digital meets the more traditional freeform style of artwork is more the reality. The black and white imagery hangs supreme amongst the similar contrasting interior colours of Jardine.

Monday evening drew a supportive crowd to Wivenhoe for the exhibition launch. With informal connections with @creativecoop, it was good to see many familiar @15QueenStreet faces also coming out to support Lee.

This was something best described as very much of a Wivenhoe evening; Ady Johnson was playing a *shhh* secret gig down at the Black Buoy later on - fine art and fine tunes extended the Wivenhoe weekend.

Many thanks to Lee for agreeing to the @audioboo catch up below. His exhibition runs at Jardine on the corner of the High Street and Belle Vue Road throughout March.