Following the Light

Dalham PCC was pleased to welcome an exhibition of oil paintings ‘Following the Light’ by Magaret R Head to the church St Mary the Virgin in Dalham, Suffolk. The paintings were generously offered for sale in aid of this fine mediaeval church after expenses were deducted.

Margaret ‘Meg’ R Head is an accomplished artist who has exhibited in England and the United States for over twenty years. Her work in graphite, watercolour and oil is unified by her drive to capture the nuanced play of light across natural and built forms.

It is therefore fitting that a study of JMW Turner’s method by Martin Kinnear drew her to learn oil painting at the Norfolk Painting School. Drawing on her experience of studying past masters and contemporary artists during the NPS Diploma course, she melds the ephemeral quality of light (captured through traditional oil painting techniques) with the immediacy of impasto contemporary work.

For Meg, plein air painting inspires a marriage of place and emotion within the painting. One of the hallmarks that guides her vision is the belief that art and its expression is cumulative; that a vignette of a place opens a window for the imagination to dwell and travel — whether in the act of painting or in the act of observation.

Following the Light ran between 28-30 August 2021 at the church of St Mary the Virgin, Dalham, Suffolk CB8 8TB.