ARTIST Sarah Pye is holding her largest ever exhibition of original paintings in Goring
village hall next month.
“A Life Less Ordinary” is named for the artist’s ability to see the positives in life.
Sarah, who ran the Artistry gallery in Henley from June 2021 until May this year, says: “This will be the largest collection of my work seen in one place that I’ve ever shown.
“The title of the exhibition is not really about my life being less ordinary, it’s about the way I view the world.
“I do have an ordinary life but I think when I paint I view the world in an extraordinary way.
“I’m a home bird, my life consists of a good cup of Earl Grey tea, a large slice of cake and really good chocolate.
“People, like my other half, Aussy, tell me on a regular basis that I always see the world through rose-tinted glasses. When I paint, I paint the world in quite a perfect view, so I will always paint things probably slightly more beautiful than they actually are. The skies will be slightly bluer, the seas will be clearer.
“The light in my woodlands is a little brighter and the gardens are just a little more wild and frivolously full with this excessive profusion of every flower under the sun.
“There is immense pleasure in painting, something that you hope will make people smile and give them joy for years to come.
“For the surreal ones, the ones that are slightly funky, again they will always have just maybe a view of the world that is a little bit extraordinary.”
When Sarah took up painting, she found herself drawn to doing big canvases.
“I very quickly gravitated towards large-scale pieces because for me, my work is like a window to the world, which is why I use these very simple white frames.
“I like to think that when you hang one of my pieces on a wall, it’s almost like looking out of a window. The scale of it, even if it’s something that’s funky, I like to think it gives that feeling and, if it is a scene, like woodland or a seascape, I like to think it’s like you’re stood at a window and you’re looking out at the view.
“There’s so much dark, sad stuff in the world, but that’s why I think the Henley Standard is great, because it is very good at putting in the good, positive and happy things, like the pages with the flowers on that people send in.
“I think that’s really lovely and it’s informative and educational. When I open the paper and I see a page of flowers, I’m like, yes, flower power, we will win! The exhibition is about trying to look on the bright side of life.
“I walked Elvis the dog in Harpsden Woods this morning. Even though I got wet and it was a bit muddy, the leaves are changing colour and the air was fresh and that’s a really good positive thing, it’s a lovely way to start the day.
“I do it every day and it’s that brief time where you breathe in and I’ll think about what I’m going to be doing through the day. I’ve shown at Goring village hall on many occasions over the years with a small group of artists but for this show I will be flying solo — almost.”
The artist, who grew up in Shiplake and has a studio in Sonning Common, will be joined by guest artist, Anthony England, who is exhibiting for the very first time.
“Anthony is a talented musical director, composer and pianist,” she says. “His art is completely inspired by music, in fact his sheet music forms the base of all his artwork.
“I met Anthony when I was 17 or 18 years old and I started up a cleaning company called Henley Domestic Services. This was after I trained as a hairdresser, but I used to go out at half past four in the morning and clean offices and one of them was Maltin Porsche, a garage in that was in Newtown Road. Anthony was the service manager there and he’s been a friend ever since.
“He has produced a lovely body of work and I really hope it’s a nice introduction to him for people. Nobody will have seen his work before because he’s never exhibited.”
Anthony, who lives in Caversham Heights with his wife, Bridget, and children, Sam, 19, and Oliver, 17, is a musical director, arranger and pianist.
He went to sixth form at King James College (now The Henley College).
“I really cut my teeth as a young musical director at the Kenton Theatre for which I will be eternally grateful and have very fond memories,” says Anthony.
“Inspired by my late father, Gerry, I have always had a great interest in engineering and woodwork and making and fixing things.”
Anthony remains down to earth, despite having worked alongside artistes including Barbara Windsor, Cilla Black, Anita Dobson, John Barrowman, Gary Wilmot, Brian Conley, Les Dennis, Roy Barraclough, Bobby Davro, The Krankies, Sooty, Jason Donovan, Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood, Anton Du Beke, Christopher Biggins, Diversity, the Hoff, the Fonz, the Nolans, Limahl, Sonia, Sinitta, Gary Kemp, Marti Pellow, Luke Goss, Sheila Ferguson and Gwen Dickey.
He has been Bonnie Langford’s musical director for more than 25 years and has written an arrangement for her to perform at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on November 5. Anthony says: “I had been voicing my desire to do something more creative for quite a while and Sarah said, ‘Oh, just come and drink coffee and just have a play around in the studio’ and that really kicked me off this year and I haven’t stopped since.
“Sarah’s energy is infectious and she is so generous and encouraging.
“I dedicated most of 2023 to writing more than 30 piano compositions, which are gradually being released on Spotify, so I had a library of sheet music which has become the backdrop to all my artwork. All my work starts with canvas or board covered in my own piano music over which I paint or stencil gold leaf, or bolt on piano keys etc.
“For no particular reason I had been collecting old piano keyboards and clock faces and had kept all my old tape reels from my recording studio from the Nineties, all which I could now see a use for in my art, upcycling.
“My abstract work is all about colour and visual balance and my piano key pieces are arranged in a sine wave pattern — the most basic wave-form of sound. There is a natural connection between the 12 semitones in music and the 12 hours on a clockface.
“I actually used my own sheet music in this and I made the joke to Sarah that I’d only make anything of my music if I ripped it up, stuck it down and painted over it.
“Sarah said, ‘Oh, come and be my guest artist’. I’m taking a baby grand piano along and I will be in the back playing some tunes for a few minutes.”
Anthony has worked with the good and the great, including in annual panto.
“Craig Revel Horwood is an absolute sweetheart, he’s absolutely wonderful,” he says.
“He used to take everyone out and pay for lunch. He gave everyone a bottle of champagne and a copy of his book, obviously, but I was off with covid.
“The day I got back he came to find me and gave me a bottle of champagne and his book, he’s not like his public persona at all.” Anthony is also close to presenter and comedian Sandi Toksvig.
“Bonnie and Sandi are very good friends. Sandi was going to take QI on the road and get Bonnie to come and sing in the interval, because we did a tour together called Short and Curly, for which I just drove and played the piano.
“Debbie McGee’s a very good friend of mine, I’ve worked with Debbie and we have the odd coffee together. I worked for Henley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society doing Guys and Dolls and they were lovely, absolutely adorable.
“That was when I first started to be a musical director. I was probably terrible but it was a very safe environment and lovely.”
• “A Life Less Ordinary”, an art exhibition by Sarah Pye, featuring guest artist Anthony England, is at Goring village hall on Saturday, November 9 (10am to 7pm) and Sunday, November 10 (open 10am to 5pm with a two-minute silence at 11am to mark Remembrance Sunday). Sarah will give a percentage of any sales to a charity in Goring. For more information, go to www.sarahsart.co.uk or anthonyengland.art and to listen to Anthony England’s music, search for his name on Spotify.
