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EMILY BALL AT SEAWHITE‍

CONTEMPORARY DRAWING AND PAINTING COURSES‍

Image: The Artist Uncropped (John Skinner)‍

“La Joie de Vivre”

A retrospective exhibition of

paintings by John Skinner

Atrium Gallery, Emily Ball at Seawhite

Opening event Saturday May 25 2024, 10am – 4pm

Cakes and Refreshments Provided‍

“As an artist, mentor and friend John Skinner has inspired, supported and helped me beyond measure.  He has been instrumental not just in inspiring me, but hundreds of artists.  The title for the show is a recognition of this as it a refrain that John has often made to artists attending his Master Class at the Seawhite Studio -  to embrace ‘La Joie de Vivre’ of making paintings.” ~ Emily Ball

Dear  ‍

"La Joie de Vivre" is an exhibition that has been curated by Emily as a surprise gift for John Skinner to mark his 70^th Birthday.   The show contains 30 pieces of specially selected works that span three decades of an extraordinary and prolific career. It is a beautiful and important show of work by a brilliant painter, celebrating the exceptional range of work that he has made – and continues to make.

This newsletter is not only an invitation to attend the opening event of the show, it is also an opportunity to find out more about John Skinner; his character as an artist, his philosophy as a painter and influence and inspiration as a tutor and mentor.  It contains personal reflections from both John and Emily together with detailed stories about some of the exhibited works.  To get the full picture you’ll need to see the exhibition in person – we look forward to seeing you there!‍

Images:‍  Three of the Eight Heads for SH, charcoal  on paper 2002 (John Skinner)‍

John Skinner: Tutor and Mentor‍

Image: ‍John Skinner painting at Burton Bradstock, Dorset

Emily first met John in 1995 when she attended a course at his studio in Abbotsbury in Dorset.  Over several years, she continued to attend John’s courses and his mentoring had a major impact on her development as an artist as well as her philosophy as a painter.

“My first experience of John’s teaching was uncomfortable but transformative.  He introduced me to the idea of using all the senses to generate a language of marks.  He also introduced the concept of searching out an image.  He is really good at asking questions that make you dig deep, put more of yourself into your work. As a result  my work moved to a whole new level.” ‍ ~ Emily

Image: John Skinner ‍

“As a tutor, he is tough because he understands the necessary engagement you must have in order to make paintings that really embody a personal and poetic connection with a subject. You do not compromise or take the soft option for your work. So although he pushed me hard as a student, it was another level of joy.  I’d come away feeling more open, braver and inspired by the possibilities for my paintings. Returning over many years to attend his courses I found I was stepping into my space. I found my way, my language, my focus.

“I had never been taught by anybody else who worked in this way, or who was so articulate, passionate and fun too. It is very rare and special to find such a brilliant mentor.” ~ Emily

Image: John Skinner takes La Cornichienne to the Edge‍

When John and his wife Mary moved to France in 2005 it was both an end of an era and the start of a new chapter.  Their departure from Dorset and the Abbotsbury Studio coincided with Emily’s arrival at the Seawhite Studio.  By this point, Emily had grown in confidence as a painter and was ready to take on the challenge of scaling up her business and running her own studio.  It was an endeavour that John supported wholeheartedly, donating studio equipment and his extensive studio library to ensure the Seawhite studio was well- equipped and full of resources from the start.‍

John Skinner - a True Artist

A Profile by Emily Ball‍

Image: ‍ La Cornichienne Braves The Storm To Go Skinny Dipping - oil on board 2004 -5 (John Skinner)

"John Skinner is a Romantic. Whatever the subject of his paintings he brings it close to him, he works with the materials and imagery to create work that gives both a physical and emotional response. However, there is nothing sentimental about his work or his approach to the subject. There is a tenderness, a physicality and directness that cuts through the crap. He links past and present and brings images into being that articulate what it means to be alive: breathing, touching, moving, embracing the now. His wife Mary is also hugely important. She and John discuss and deliberate over his work and discuss his ideas. Their relationship is a fantastic partnership based on strong mutual respect, support and love. 

Image: Ateliers Victor Hugo,  Mots Muraux live (photo Christy Puertolas 2020‍)

"Primarily a painter, John also writes text and prose connected to his work, and more generally about art and painting.   He has written eloquently  about ‘The Silent Language of Paint' - a theme which later became the focus of  a brilliant talk he gave at the Study Gallery in Poole to coincide with a stunning exhibition he had of large paintings.  And in 2020, John wrote powerfully about his fundamental belief that ‘Art is not Optional’ in a  Seawhite Studio newsletter." ~ Emily

Click on the button below to read the newsletter with John's writing from 2020:‍

Image: ‍John Skinner in Portugal writing about 'The Silent Language of Paint.'

"La Joie de Vivre"

Selecting the Works to be Exhibited

Image:  Homage To Helen Chadwick, oil on canvas, 1996-7‍ (John Skinner)

The work that Emily has selected for this show are taken from the large archive of John’s paintings and drawings that Emily has catalogued, cared for and stored since John and Mary moved to France in  2005.

“A lot of these works I feel that I have grown up with – in a painterly sense.  The selected works span over 30 years and I have known John for most of that time. When I started visiting John in Dorset, I saw many of the works exhibited on his studio walls and as work-in-progress.  He was very generous in the way that he shared what he was doing, what he was thinking, what connections he was making and what he was inspired by as he painted. So when I look at them now they resonate with that time and place.” ~ Emily

In the following sections of this newsletter Emily and John provide some insight and context for the creation of several of the works in the show. 

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Composition for Cello‍

Images: Composition For Cello 3 oil on canvas 1996 (John Skinner); Composition For Cello 4 oil on canvas  1996 (John Skinner)

“The earliest works in this exhibition, the 'Compositions for Cello' are from a collaboration I had with the virtuoso cellist Chas Dickie, we worked together for over two years – he would play and I would paint then he would improvise responses to what I was doing and I would respond to what I was hearing. The paintings developed into the long thin scroll format and are meant to be played from top to bottom, Number 1 has 'start' written at the top. Chas played a concert at my studio in front of the paintings with his back to audience. I was sitting at the back in the dark. This was the culmination of our collaboration.” ~ John

Air, Sea and Hills‍

Image: Air Sea and Hills 3 1995 oil on canvas (John Skinner) ‍

“There are two big 'Air, Sea and Hills' paintings exhibited in this show. They are really dramatic. The intense blue and feeling of hovering above the land makes you want to dive in. The paintings take their inspiration from looking down to the sea from a hill just on the edge of Abbotsbury in Dorset. I have stood on this same hill and remember the sensation of leaning into the wind, with the horizon falling away from you and the immensity of the sky being revealed." ~ Emily

Ice Cream Trees

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Image: Strawberry & Chrome Flavour Ice Cream Tree  oil on board 1997 (John Skinner)

"John is  a master of invention and reinvention.  Every body of work he creates is distinct from the one that has come before.  Each has a new feel and impetus, requiring different materials, expertise and thoughts.  In this show I have grouped six 'Ice Cream Tree' paintings together.  Three of them are illustrated here. The glossy empty

spaces add to the strange beauty of the images. Creating portmateaus - slamming together elements that would never normally occur - is a brilliant poetic tool that John uses to superb effect: opening up the possibility of accessing new sensations and heightening  pre-existing ones.”

~ Emily

 Images: Blood & Twigs Flavour Ice Cream Tree, oil on board, 1997 (John Skinner); Favourite coat flavour - ice cream tree, oil on board, 1997 (John Skinner)

“The 'Ice Cream Trees' paintings came partly from a joke with Sylvia Justice Norman who had done a painting called ‘Duster Tree’ and partly because I was experimenting with a new painting surface called ‘Palite’ which had a very shiny surface and also allowed all unwanted paint to be removed. The trees were ice cream, they all had to have flavours, hence 'Strawberry & Chrome Flavour Ice Cream Tree' This led to an award from South West Arts and a whole series of very glossy and very minimal paintings on ‘Palite’. It also encouraged me to title my works with words that came to me whilst I was making them. Such as ‘Look Sunshine, There Are No Fat People In Capbreton’ or ‘Switch off the Light and Let Me Try On Your Dress’ which also became the title of a book and an exhibition.” ~ John

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Figures Imposés

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Image: Figures Imposés - Coup de pied a la lune - oil on canvas - 2012 (John Skinner)‍

“One day in 2010 I saw a poster in Sète advertising the French Championships of Natation Synchronisée  - now called Natation Artistique - an Olympic Sport. Mary and I went along and spent hours sitting on concrete benches watching the most amazing spectacle of Synchronised Swimming.  I was given permission to make studies whilst the Dockers Club Sètois team practiced. Thus a two year project began of working with one of the best Nat Synchro teams in the country!‍" ~ John

Image: Nat Synchro, repetition a sec, Atelier Quai de Bosc, Sete 2011

“After seeing some of the early work the director of sport invited me to exhibit during the championships of 2012 to be held in Sète. The paintings of the Figures Imposées are some of the smaller works and the subjects are tests of the swimmers techniques. With wonderful titles like ‘Coup De Pied A La Lune (Kick The Moon). The swimmers were dedicated and the trainers friendly but ruthless. I drew and painted full of wonder, at the revelations of what I was feeling.” ~ John ‍

Ecstatic Revelation ‍



 Image: John Skinner

“Emily has supported me hugely with genuine friendship over the years and I have nothing but admiration for all she has has achieved at Seawhites, proving that artists can cultivate a real culture where painting can thrive.  With this exhibition Emily has surprised me once again with the choices she has made. Ecstatic revelation writ large, and in my view this is what painting is about.” ~ John

To find out more about John Skinner's work, visit his website:

www.emilyballatseawhite.co.uk‍ | Contact |  ‍Unsubscribe ‍