Paintings of Stowe

21 March 2019

Fine artist and textile designer, Penel Kirk, daughter of former Stowe Housemaster, Michael Kirk (Former Staff 1963-1978), has worked and travelled internationally for most of her adult life, but her latest series of paintings bring her back to a time of childhood innocence, growing up in the spectacular grounds of Stowe School in Buckinghamshire.

As an 80s fashion graduate from Central Saint Martins, her design work took her from London to India, New York, Hong Kong and finally Melbourne where she set up a studio designing collections for swimwear brand Rip Curl, amongst others. This colourful Aussie life was a million miles from the bygone era of Stowe aristocrats and the ‘finest gardens in England’ rivalling even the royal gardens of Europe.

The North Front oil painting 150cmx75cm

There can be few other landscapes as iconic as Stowe Landscape Gardens, bursting with Baroque and Palladian temples, lakes, cascades, lawns, grottos, canals, pyramids, obelisks and tree lined avenues leading to the ostentatious Stowe House, the grandest temple of them all, designed in a commanding classical style. It is the memories of these vistas and landscapes that have stayed with Penel all her life, and which she is now voraciously painting.

It is this heady mixture of architectural lines and natural planting that inspires Penel’s work. There is both strength and fragility in each piece. They recall a time of youth and innocence, of sunny days idling away hours in the company of Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, Homer and Socrates – no matter that they were 18th century statues! “It feels like I’ve found my signature style.... like I’ve been somehow formulating these paintings for years,” she insists, without any hesitation, “the reaction to my work has been amazing.”

Penel’s Father, Michael Kirk, was a teacher at Stowe then Housemaster of Walpole from 1972-1978, her mother was a matron and art teacher - both were busy working parents, leaving their children to freely roam the grounds. Penel remembers these as halcyon years, an enormous playground for her and best friend Rebecca to explore, eating picnics at the Temple of British Worthies, sneaking into the school shop during the holidays and their favourite spot, The Palladian Bridge, supposedly haunted by The Grey Lady. The girls cycled everywhere, through the woods to the stables, to the Grecian Valley and the Elysian fields – the names alone conjure an English idyll. “When we lived there, many of the monuments were overgrown and in desperate need of repair. I remember a wilder Stowe with a magical air of decay and a fairy tale like quality, which I’ve tried to portray in my paintings.”

The Gothic Temple oil painting 95cm x 65cm

The techniques she uses are central in creating the ‘dream like’ effect that has become her signature style. Pencil drawings are carefully plotted onto a washed and dripped oil base layer, then more layers and textures are gradually added, splodges of oils, metallics, dripped turps, palette knife mark making. It’s a time consuming process, not least because of the drying time. But the finished paintings are a clever mix of strong architectural lines and romantic visions. Her pencil drawings are no less dramatic and she makes best use of liquid graphite, moving it around, spraying and adding water over intricately drawn originals, “That’s the exciting part – mistakes can happen!”

Her riverside studio in the heart of Chalford has a reassuring air of turpentine and glass cabinets are filled with varnishes and primers, “I love painting in here, especially in the Summer months. What I really like about my work is that there’s plenty to look at – there is texture, marks, sometimes poems. You have to really look closely.” She is referring to the many monuments with political and social inscriptions that were popular at the time, one in particular dedicated to his faithful hound ‘Signor Fido’.

Each vista and monument she depicts is iconic. The Oxford Bridge, designed by Earl Temple features eight decorative urns on each parapet and is a firm favourite with old Stoics. Even a luddite couldn’t fail to be mesmerised by these scenes created by the most talented architects and garden designers of the age, the two most feted being Capability Brown and William Kent (his photograph in the National Trust guidebook depicts him in a rakish red velvet turban, such were the fashions of the time)! Her paintings are bought by not only Old Stoics, but garden lovers, those with a connection to the place and to the special architectural landscapes.

What was it like to grow up in such palatial surroundings? “The view from The South Front down to the Octagonal Lake and beyond is a very strong memory. I remember taking the school bus from Boycott Pavilions, nicknamed The Pepperpots, to Chackmore Primary School. We spied on the Stowe boys as there were so many places to hide. We didn’t really appreciate how lucky we were.”

Penel muses on her painting of the Rotunda a heady mix of deep teal and heavily layered gold oil paint. Peeping out from beneath the rotunda is the Medici Venus, also known as the ‘Cypriot Queen’ - the Goddess of Sex. Designed in 1720, this life size gold statue still reflects the sun and shines brightly. As with all her paintings, Penel has captured this ancient creature in a very modern light.

To see her work, information about original oil paintings and works in progress   head to

www.penelfineart.com

Greetings cards and fine Art Giclee Prints of her paintings are also available from her website. The prints are limited editions of twenty five, signed and titled, prices start at £60. They are beautifully photographed by the Steve Russell Studios showing the texture of the paintings and printed on Hahnemuhle paper using archival inks.

Penel welcomes visitors to her studio by prior appointment.

By Sarah Edmonds aka Word Bird