A Slice of Rural Welsh Life Preserved in Paintings for New Book Earth Meadow

Earth Meadow is a unique collection of 53 paintings created retrospectively from memory by artist Eironwy Llewellyn whilst in her seventies. Depicting rural Welsh life in West Wales between 1930 and 1944, the paintings have been organised by Eironwy’s daughter, Sara, and preserved alongside Eironwy’s writings to create a fascinating record of this period in words and pictures.

Born in 1930 in Aberystwyth, Wales, Eironwy Llewellyn trained at Swansea College of Art (1946- 1951), receiving a NDD (National Diploma in Design) in Modelling & Sculpture and the ATD (Art Teacher Diploma), as well as being an Associate Member of the British Association of Art Therapists.

The jaunty, naive style of the works conveys Eironwy’s early life as remembered ‘through the eyes of a child’. From taking trips in the first family car, an iconic black Ford Model 8, to visits to relatives at the seaside, taking part in looking after livestock on the farm and time spent with family and fondly recalled members of the community, the pictures capture personal memories, age-old traditions and the simple joys and challenges of the everyday during the artist’s early life.
 

Each painting is accompanied by commentary by the artist on its context and the people recorded in them, creating a uniquely personal and insightful record of rural Wales.

Sara Llewellyn says of compiling the material for the book: ‘It’s an odd thing, discovering the first fourteen years of your mother’s life in full colour and with so much written detail when she’s not there anymore! So began my own Herculean task: to curate, collate, capture, compile and edit the prolific, bursting-at-the-seams work of Eironwy.

‘A trained, highly skilled sculptor, here she was coming to the last stages of her life and giving two of her worn-out fingers, in all their workish glory, to the ‘establishment’ and deliberately painting in a contrived naïve style. Her dazzling chosen colour palettes and pelted brushstrokes are grounded in emphatic emotion pouring out of her very being – who she really was, at last revealed! Producing this book has been heady stuff for me, the messenger of that surprising Welsh Mam of mine.

‘The title, Earth Meadow, is my choice, an instinctive one for something simple on the surface but complex and layered, joyous and sometimes quite dark. The paintings and their accompanying stories have already resonated with thousands of individuals around the world, from different generations and all walks of life. Through Earth Meadow I hope they will reach and be enjoyed by many more.’

Further information and downloadable images are available on the Graffeg media page.

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