Tuesday 7 May 2013

Ravilious in Capel-y-Ffin

Eric Ravilious, Waterwheel, 1938 (Brecknock Museum)
Early in 1938 Eric Ravilious spent several weeks at the Welsh hamlet of Capel-y-Ffin, previously home to artists Eric Gill and David Jones. You can read all about his experiences in 'Ravilious in Pictures: A Travelling Artist', but I thought I would post a few pictures of the place. You have to imagine the constant sound of rushing water and the sense of being somewhere close to the edge of the world...


Possibly painted here...

More haybales than houses... Y-Twmpa (Lord Hereford's Knob) in the background

Rav stayed here - there wasn't much competition

St Marys Church, the approach from Hay-on-Wye

Eric Ravilious, Wet Afternoon, 1938 (private collection)
He wasn't quite so lucky with the weather.

St Mary's Church

The gravestones in the churchyard seem to have been hand-picked...

Close-up of stone above

Sometimes the lichen makes the lettering clearer

The monastery, home in the 1920s to the Gill clan, including David Jones



Baptist Chapel, with gravestones and Y-Twmpa...
Capel seems to have more ecclesiastical buildings than houses, hence its name I suppose

It's go go go in Capel-y-Ffin

'Ravilious in Pictures: A Travelling Artist' is published by The Mainstone Press.

3 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Valerie Greeley suggested I look at your blog.
What delight! I have been delving in to it all day.
As an English person living in New York it was wonderful to revisit the lost world of twentieth century England.
Of course I'm familiar with Eric Ravilious' work, but had not thought of him recently until I saw a post on Julia Fogg's wonderful blog (chalk man) and then Valerie said that an American artist I posted about reminded her of ER.
Anyway, I will put your blog on my sidebar so I will see your posts as they arrive.

Thank you. Thank you.

Julia Fogg said...

I'll be in the area this summer so thank you for pointing this out. Do you know Clive Hicks Jenkins? I think maybe you do.

James Russell said...

Thanks Elizabeth - delighted that you've enjoyed delving, and thanks for pointing me to Julia Fogg's blog...

And thanks Julia - no I don't know Clive Hicks Jenkins, but I think I should! His work looks incredible.