In the Field | Adele Pound at Sunburst Gallery, Ards Art Centre

In this lively, vibrant and colourful exhibition, Adele Pound presents a selection of fieldwork sketches of the biodiversity of insects and spiders in her garden, making for a fun and interesting subject for a summer exhibition.

Speaking of her work, Adele says:

“In this exhibition I would like to take the opportunity to share work that began life as a response to the Covid 19 pandemic. As lockdowns began in 2020, it became clear that I would be unable to make my usual trips out to draw wintering birds. But as the initial shock of the situation subsided and the good weather settled in, I decided to experiment with sketching insects in the garden.

The experience proved eye opening, challenging and refreshing. I was amazed at the variety and abundance of insects and spiders sharing relatively small areas of foliage. The challenges were many. Firstly even seeing animals so small was difficult. Clip on magnifiers and a hand held magnifying glass were promptly ordered online.

Secondly, I know nothing about entymology, so everything I was drawing was new to me and I was unable to put a name to any of the species. I was forced to dig deep into my seeing and drawing skills to try to make sense of the constantly moving tangle of legs, antennae and wings. At the same time this was liberating. Unencumbered by knowledge or preconceptions about the animals before me, I was free to explore what I was seeing and express my excitement at this new experience.

As 2021 brought more lockdowns and yet more warm weather, I was back in the garden with my magnifiers, pencils and watercolours braving bites and sunstroke and discovering that bumble bees do indeed have a sting.”

With a greater awareness of the invertebrate life all around us, Adele has started to explore the role of invertebrates in the ecosystem, their importance for soil health and thereby for carbon storage.

The exhibition will mainly feature fieldwork. Existing works from 2020 and 2021 will be displayed alongside new work. Finished drawings rub shoulders with half realised studies abandoned as the subject abruptly departed. However, they convey the excitement of experiences in nature that studio work can never capture. This in itself will make for an unusual exhibition.