Welcome to this, my final newsletter as “ the benign dictator of Coombe Farm Studios. I’m thrilled to be able to write that some of you who came as students as long ago as 1983 are still attending courses and continue to enjoy painting. This has not only realised our dreams in setting up the studios as idealistic thirty something year olds, but continues to excite us we hand over to the next generation.
When we arrived at Old Coombe Farm in 1979 with Mark 8, Antony 2 and Lara at only 6 months old, we had big ideas, boundless energy and black hair!
None of our friends in the neat surroundings of Twickenham could understand why we should swap a perfectly lovely house with a garden and central heating for a derelict pig farm in the middle of nowhere. Jokes and Giles style cartoons abounded in the architectural office where Paul worked.
The fashion world in which I was involved, threw up it’s hands in horror muttering “she’ll be back – but at least dungarees are in fashion!”
Over the next two years living in the Nissan hut with no WC and a bath behind a curtain there were indeed moments of near despair but no regrets.
There were also wildly happy family moments including the arrival of my parents Mimi and Milo.Our new friends included architects, photographers, farmers, writers, potters and the Dartmouth artists. We could never have predicted the diversity of the community around us which sustains and inspires us to this day.
Four back breaking years later we opened Coombe Farm Studios and, thanks to all our students and friends we have been able to offer hundreds of people the time and tools to realise the excitement of the creative process for themselves.This year is another big birthday year for the Riley family as eldest son Mark will be 40, Mimi will celebrate her 90th year in November and I shall hit the “ it’s Ok to retire” age of 65. So, as many of you already know, we’ve decided to start the process of stepping back and I am now officially out of the office.
As for Paul we’re not letting him off just yet but it’s time to concentrate more on his painting so that he’ll be able to move forward, experiment more and have something new to share with you in the years to come. He also still has a house to finish building so we can both enjoy creating our final and special home.
The building has bought back together many of the people who, as mere teenagers, helped us with the restoration of the original Coombe project and who are now successful builders sometimes employing their own sons to help as well!
The last stage will also give us both an opportunity to enjoy all the facilities at Coombe making our own pots, woodburning stove, textiles and artefacts! When it’s all done we’ll look forward to inviting you in for a drink. As well as all the activities here Paul has a solo exhibition of watercolours happening in Prague this coming September and we are organising a 10 day painters trip to Prague and Southern Bohemia to coincide with this event. It’s a trip we’ve done and enjoyed before but not in recent years. If any of you would like to join us we still have a few places and I’d be happy to send you details.
In the future we have plans to return to Bali, look at new locations in Sardinia, Corsica, Tunisia and Portugal and return to some of the old favourites France, Croatia and Venice. If there’s a special place you’ve enjoyed painting in either on a personal holiday or with another painting group it would be really good to hear about about it.You can always write, send me an email tina@rileyarts.com or call me for a chat 01803 722 352.
Now that Lara has taken over Coombe Farm Studios you’ll notice that there are some different courses and new young tutors whose work you may have seen in the gallery during your last visit. Notably James Stewart who has a solo show at the Dartmouth gallery at the moment.
If you’d like to learn to paint in oils do visit www.coombegallery.com and take a look. We are also running ceramic courses again as you’ll see on the timetable with celebrated potters Jill Fanshawe Kato and Laurel Keeley both running short courses with great results from the students. if you have access to the internet do see these and lots more on the Coombe blog.
For those of you interested in printmaking I’d like to draw your attention to Kate Marshall’s course in September and Paul’s Japanese style woodcuts in November this year.
Finally, have you ever wanted to write or perhaps put words to something you’ve painted or illustrated? If so you’ll now be able to come to Coombe and learn to write creatively whilst still enjoying the food and ambiance you may remember from before.
We are very lucky that we have Sally Bond in the kitchen turning out truly excellent meals from hopefully a wider amount of good organic produce from the vegetable garden and the chickens that I’m entrusted to deliver! It’s still early in the growing season but at least salads and radishes are already on the table and mange tout are not far off.
Paul and Bettina’s courses are as popular as ever but there are still some spaces on all courses this summer. As Paul is so well known for his vibrant colour and if you love colour yourself and want to enliven your own work do look at Being Bold with Colour July 4th-8th.
Many of you receiving this paper version of the newsletter will have been to Coombe or on a foreign trip at some time and of course we’d love to see you again. However, we are well aware that this may not be possible and if you’d prefer not to receive further letters from us please let us know. If you can now be contacted by email and are happy to receive news and updates from Lara please give us your details and we’ll delete you from the snail mail and save postage and trees by contacting you electronically.
For those of you planning to return, and we sincerely hope you do, much will be comfortingly familiar but with young faces and enthusiastic new tutors we’re sure there will be a energy about the place. You’ll still see Eva, but she’ll be singing in the garden instead of the kitchen, and I’ll still be in the vegetable garden as often portrayed in Paul’s paintings over the years. Callum will be wielding the strimmer laying the hedges and creating new ones from willow.
At Coombe Gallery in Dartmouth, Mark has just confirmed that there will be a Peter Blake exhibition in August. That’s a great coup for a small gallery and we are really proud of his achievement.
Antony has also just changed jobs and is now working for a charity setting up photographic exhibitions and an interactive photographic website. This is all very new so not much to tell you yet but when it’s all up and running we’ll let you know so that interested photographers can log on.
Everyone has been asking what I’m going to do but the truth is I shall still be curating two big exhibitions here at the Studios with Lara organising the foreign trips and finally starting to sort out and catalogue Paul’s paintings…… and that’s after enjoying more time with Mimi and starting to consider my own creative work once more.
Over the last 12 years Gina has become an honorary member of the Coombe family and you’ll still see her here at times as she will still be involved in various Coombe activities. She has recently moved to her first own new house in Cornworthy so is almost a neighbour.
In the meantime the house build goes on. We are watertight, the underfloor heating is in, and my greenhouse has a lemon tree!
And so Coombe goes on thanks to the next generation. We are completely confident that Lara and Martin with Mark and Liz, Antony and Malin will ensure that the quality and integrity we have strived for will continue for you all to enjoy in future.
In the meantime the old folks here will be on the
top of the hill directing newcomers down from the
car park – look out for us!
