INSIDE CORNWALL - JANUARY 2005

ART AND INTERIORS

In the spirit of pure innovation, Melanie McDonald has closed her Pydar Gallery in Truro and in future will be displaying her work within two of the family's furniture stores - Celtic Pine + OAK, in Wadebridge and Penzance.
"The whole idea behind combining my gallery with our furniture shops is art and interiors. Earlier this year, I noticed more and more of our Celtic Pine + OAK customers complimenting their purchase with a painting. A passing remark from someone commenting on how much more exciting it would be to put the furniture and art ideas together, led me to develop the concept," explains Melanie
A huge step - closing down a conventional gallery to implement a brand new concept for the selling of art, Melanie admits that she had early moments of self-doubt.
"When I closed Pydar gallery last June, after three years of trading, the first month after that was very emotional for me, but by the end of that first month I knew I'd made the right decision."
From its beginnings as a small Cornish furniture-making business, Celtic Pine has gone from strength to strength and now has four outlets. Started in 1996 by Melanie and her husband, the success of the business lies in its ability to combine style trends with accessibility and affordability - the reason for introducing art and oak furniture into the shops this season.
"Throughout the year I have been painting prodigiously for our opening shows. The new paintings are nearly all figurative with my trademark painterly textural quality and many depict a small child (Melanie's own) and adult wandering through a park, feeding the ducks or looking at boats."
Alongside the figurative works Melanie also focuses on the characterful buildings in the locality - such as The Old Custom House, The Abbey Hotel, The Summer House - all in Penzance.
"Places that I've been desperate to paint. All my paintings are very atmospheric and hopefully conjure up those feelings of being with young children and living in a place that you like."
To compliment her own work, Melanie has invited two other local artists to display their work; the soft, subtle and sensitive contemporary local landscapes of Steve Slimm and the equally wonderful but bright, flamboyant works-French and Tuscan, as well as North Cornwall landscapes - of David Wheeler.
"I've gone out of my way to take the paintings and put them together with the furniture to create a considered environment. To me this is just as exciting as laying out my artists' palette." The exhibition at Celtic Pine + OAK will continue until 31 January. Open daily 10am to 5pm.