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"Soul
Seeding a retrospective of Robin Coventry's life work"
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Robin Coventry,
painter, poet and professional hermit passed away in 2002 at the ripe
young age of 57. He was
much loved by all who knew him and his genuine compassion, unique
personality and creative wizardry will be missed.
He enjoyed philosophizing
by candlelight, composing eloquent letters over strong cups of tea and
working in his vegetable garden. Most
of all he enjoyed living a quiet secluded life where he could envelop
himself in the meditation of his art work.
When he worked on his pen and ink water colors, he withdrew from
time and space and entered a world of archetype, myth and magic.
Born
in
Edinburgh
,
Scotland
, Robin Coventry attended the Glasgow School of Art. After becoming the
youngest artist to have his work hung with that of Rembrandt in the
Glasgow
Art
Galleries
, he also exhibited at the
Royal
Scottish
Academy
, The Glasgow Institute of Fine Art, and in
London
before moving to the
California
in 1972. Having trained his eye on the decaying
Glasgow
tenement buildings, he used his talent to create intricate etchings of the
aging homesteads, the enchanting wildlife, and the ubiquitous coastline of
Big
Sur.
Midway
through Robin’s career, he took a bold step turning away from the
realistic landscapes that he had become known for, and began focusing his
energy on his own “lyrical abstract” vision. Rooted in a technical
ability to capture the smallest detail, Robin reached to convey a deeper,
more intangible side of reality. Influenced by Paul Klee, Morris Graves,
Mark Tobey and the Japanese Zen masters, he attempted to express eternity
through the cycles of nature and the ages of various cultures - the
ancient and the unborn all found in the miraculous moment of the Now.
“I’m trying to beat the computer!” he exclaimed, as he balanced his
command of technique with his secret love of chaos. Within his nine by
fourteen “wee gems”, which could take up to a month to finish, he
communicated the lost beauty of rusted machinery, decaying bits of tree
bark, or the forgotten wing of a moth.
His use of line, color and depth show that he possessed a wise
understanding of his medium as he weaved the patterns of nature with the
simple poetry of the abstract conveying a distinctive impression of the
Spirit that moves behind all things.
Over the past
thirty years, Robin Coventry’s contemplative and evocative water colors,
drawings, and etchings have attracted an international following among
collectors. He was never able to part with his best works, however, and
held back a collection with the hopes to someday make lithographs. With
his passing, his son Jamie Coventry inherited this legacy of Robin’s,
and he has plans to make prints, a book of his art and poems, and a CD of
his poetry set to music. Robin lives on through his art, and though he has
passed, his spirit still dances through each piece that he has left
behind. Some fifty original
art paintings and prints will be showing at the Big Sur Gallery in
Carmel
, spanning some 35 years of his work.
The retrospective is presented as part of a celebration of what
would have been Robin’s sixtieth birthday and the time he spent on this
planet with us. Please join us
in sending off this peaceful warrior of the paintbrush to a poet’s
Nirvana of eternal bliss!
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