FOLLOWING their highly enjoyable visit last year, the Rollin' Clones are back at The Wharf, Tavistock on the evening of April 13 at 8pm.
It promises to be a marvellous show, complete with their gorgeous backing singers, the Clonettes and featuring the one and only Nobby Keys on saxophone.
The Clones offer a unique evening of entertainment full of classic Stones songs, colourful costumes and plenty of tongue-in-cheek humour. Not to be missed.
Wharf box office (01822) 611166.TAMAR Valley painter Mary Martin packed her passport alongside the paintbrushes for her latest exhibition.
She travelled from her usual artistic stomping ground and journeyed to the South of France seeking fresh inspiration. The result is a dazzling array of images that celebrate the delights of Provence.
A fine show of these paintings can be seen at St Dominic Parish Hall for a week from Easter Sunday. To mark this, her second exhibition of French paintings, she is launching her new book 'Olives, Lavender and Vineyards — A Cornish painter in the South of France'.
Here she has captured the essence of that landscape — depicting the delicate balance between the influences of nature and man. Olive groves, apricot orchards, vineyards and lavender fields make an interesting alternative to the artist's more familiar Tamar Valley subjects.
St Dominic-based Mary always paints outdoors and never works from photographs. The rapid brushwork captures the fleeting light and mood of her subject — be it a distant view or an alfresco table decked with sumptuous edible delights.
Standing at her easel she paints quickly to depict the scene before her. In Provence she was so determined to do justice to the scintillating early morning light falling across the lavender that she ended up working on three canvasses at once.
At home her subjects celebrate the seasonal cycle of the Tamar Valley with its Spring-time awakening of nodding yellow daffodils and clouds of apple blossom, luxuriant summer foliage and the russet textures of autumn. But for this exhibition there is a subtle change of palette. Emphasis is on the purple end of the spectrum with its depiction of lavender in all its glory, and the blush of peach blossom. Sunflowers, vineyards, shimmering ochre landscapes and blue distant ridges give a strong flavour of this part of France.
These fresh vistas are all treated to the familiar bold and easy brush strokes favoured by the artist. Here is a landscape painter who revels in her chosen subjects — celebrating and evoking nature in such a way we can all share in her delight.
l The exhibition at St Dominic from March 31 to April 7 is daily from 11am to 6pm. The book — featuring more than 90 colourful illustrations of canvasses can be bought at the exhibition price £15 or ordered from bookshops. It can also be ordered by post (£17 to include post and packing) from Virginia Spires, West Brendon, St Dominic, Saltash, PL12 6TB. Tel: 01579 350696.
ROGER MALONE