Wednesday November 1, 2006
By TJ McNamara
(excerpt)

With great skill Jonathan Campbell has cast exact replicas of household objects in a way that establishes them as sculptural evocations of a generation past.

There is a special kind of magic realism in weighty bronze copies of enamel electric jugs and those big teapots that had an extra handle at the front for pouring the tea at big gatherings.

The exhibition is also graced by a lemon exerting weight on a bronze cushion, an old-fashioned bronze telephone and even a bronze power-plug on the wall. Giving soul and spirit to this show are raucous squawking birds perched here and there, all equipped with a big key like a wind-up toy.

This is both magic and sculpture. These objects, even down to the tags that give each one its title, are the transitory bits and pieces of life made to last for ever.

To add to the gaiety of nations, in the small gallery at Orexart is a delightful exhibition of painting by
Claire van der Plas.

As background to her work she deftly recreates paintings by such eminent Old Masters as Constable and Stubbs and against them places modern people and animals in a way that combines wit, observation and excellent draughtsmanship.

Whether it is a big pumpkin or an aging axeman combined with a pony and a girl dressed for a party - and whether painted on wood or on a trivet - these delightful paintings show both skill and a highly individual point
of view.