7:00pm Wednesday 26th September 2007
By Ceri Rees
PURBECK artist Carlotta Barrow is creating an artists' trail in Swanage.
She got the idea for the Swanage Art Project while on a trip to Dieppe in France and decided that the area's strong ties with nationally prominent artists justified further investigation.
She has already attracted funding for several boards in the town, each of which includes a biography and a portrait of a featured artist.
She said: "The idea was to do a painting using the specific trails the artists painted from.
"Paul Nash began his surrealism in Swanage in the 1930s. I also discovered that Augustus John had stayed in my house in 1901 with Charles Condor, while on a painting trip, and Mark Gertler, who was part of the Bloomsbury set.
"There was a big arts movement down here at one time.
"The first three art boards are of Walter Field, Charles Conder and Paul Nash and I am preparing the display boards for Augustus John, Mark Gertler and Graham Sutherland."
She added: "We are still waiting to hear back from Swanage Town Council regarding the siting of the trail."
Carlotta, a painter and sculptress, is hoping to secure full planning permission for the location of at least 10 boards.
She has already secured funding from the Scarman Trust and the Community Champions Scheme to the tune of £1,670.
The project, unofficially launched at Peveril Point earlier this month, could - if Carlotta gets her way - be extended to incorporate a Purbeck or Swanage art week and a summer arts competition, which has involved a team of dedicated artists.
Among the collaborators are local photographers Paul Angel and Richard Jeffery, co-ordinator Nick Goulding, writer Peter Cooper, Harry Bell, who owns the Mulberrytree Gallery, and writer Janet Watts, who has written biographies of Charles Condor and Mark Gertler.
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