Augustus John described the work of Mary Jewels as 'remarkable in the intensity of their earth feeling' (Vogue/The Woman Artist/August 1928). Appropriately on Earth Day, this is a detail from Flowers in an Earthenware Bowl, a recent addition to our Art Shop.
Sven Berlin had just returned from his service in France, Belgium and Holland in WWII and was living in Porthgwidden Studio in St. Ives. His friend John Wells took him to see Mary Jewels in nearby Newlyn in 1945 and already intrigued by the work of naive artist Alfred Wallis, Berlin was immediately drawn to the strength of her colourful and direct style of painting - 'the rough, unadorned quality which makes paintings so rich and naif' he wrote.
Our painting can be seen here...