The Art of Ray Howard-Jones
In an exclusive extract from his new book, David Moore explores the divine inspiration of the work of Ray Howard-Jones at a time of reappraisal for the West Wales artist.
I first encountered the work of Ray Howard-Jones in 1983 at The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, during a touring retrospective exhibition with West Wales Arts. Two years later I started work with Pembrokeshire Museum Service and realised that the artist was a local celebrity.
The curator, Robert Kennedy, had supported her with two substantial exhibitions in the 1970s and the museum’s collection included several of her paintings. Intrigued, I visited her 1985 exhibition at Nashdom Abbey and bought a drawing, Young Shearwaters by the Pond [fig. 1], and a gouache, Carn Meini [fig. 2]. It was late autumn 1987 that I learned that the artist, then in her eighties, was seeking someone prepared to drive her to London in her own vehicle after a season of painting at Martin’s Haven. Robert wondered whether I might be interested and, before realising what was involved, I had been volunteered. I would, eventually, drive her back to London four times. This was usually in November and, for the last time, in 1991. Only later did I discover that others had supported her in the same way. Ray was remarkably adept at persuading people, particularly men, to help her.
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