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The Stage is Set

With rich red curtains rippling in a wind which is swirling through a dreamy, moonlit landscape, this miniature stage set complements the proscenium arch of the television cabinet made for Maud Messel by her son Oliver Messel. The set is composed of three layers, textured red glass is used for the curtains, the scene is painted on a clear glass with a slight shimmer and there is integral back-lighting behind the blue and clear glass.
Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2016

The Vision of Maud Messel

Inspired by an old, desilvered mirror, this piece is a tribute to the remarkable achievement of Maud Messel who remodelled the Nymans in the style of a mediaeval West Country Manor House. The impression of Maud emerges from a mist of stippling on sparkling glass and the dragons on the frame are painted on dimpled golden glass and backed by mirror glass.
Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2016

The Dragon Panel

All of the images in this panel are drawn from scenes in the porcelain collection at Nymans. A quail from one of the large platters in the collection has strayed into the path of a dragon, witnessing the beginning of the metamorphosis of a carp into a Chinese Dragon which is composed of the elements of nine different animals from the nose of a bullock to the scales of a carp.
Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2016

A Midsummer Night at Nymans ...

With reference to the painting of this view by Oliver Messel at Nymans and the costume he created for an Old Vic production of Titania in 1937, I enjoyed adding a theatrical touch to the fountain and shifting the position of elements in the original painting. This piece was painted on two layers of glass, the crimson glass contains traces of gold.
Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2016

The Frog Triptych

As part of my Dreams Behind the Scenes exhibition at Nymans, I provided an 18th century Chinese earthquake detector, in the form of a ceramic frog, with the dramatic backdrop of a volcanic, oriental landscape. Deep amber and clear glass was backed with glass with swirling greens, blues and touches of burgundy . The front layers of glass were painted on the back and the three panels were hinged and illuminated with LED lights as an integral part of the framing. The frog's connection with his homeland is represented by a tiny amphibian painted on the edge of a smouldering , fiery void in the right-hand panel.
Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2016

Suggestion of Doves

When I painted the dovecote as a detail of the Glimpses of Nymans panel, it was suggested that the blue/violet swirls in the sky glass looked like the ghosts of the long-departed doves. I decided to revisit the theme using pale outlines of doves, otherwise leaving the colours of the sky to speak for themselves and spill across the roof-tiles.
Copyright © Elizabeth Lamont 2014

Italian Fountain

The three pieces were designed around the touches of gold and terracotta which I found in streaky "antique" glass. I backed the piece with a layer of sapphire and clear, swirled glass to represent the water flowing around, through and finally spraying out of the fountain bowl against the spreading cedar.
Copyright © Elizabeth Lamont 2015

Ruins at Dusk

The Gothic window was painted on clear, slightly shimmering glass, the density of the masonry was built up gradually, allowing the colours of the sky glass to shine through. The night clouds were painted as a series of very thin layers between kilnings to keep the glass colours vibrant and retain translucence.
Copyright © Elizabeth Lamont 2014

Roses Through the Ruins During a rare viewing of the ruins form the inside, I was captivated by the swathes of roses reaching for the sunlight. I painted the roses of clear, crackled glass with a ripple of deep pink and backed it with pale green , shot with blue.

Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2015

Impression of Bluebells

I selected some deep blue and green streaky glass layers to echo the shifting colours of the bluebell woods. The trees were painted on the glass and the bluebells, grasses and ferns were scratched out of dense, stippled undergrowth with a bamboo stick.
Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2016

Fountain on Water Glass To reflect the delicacy of the fountain at the heart of the Rose Garden and the water flowing through and around it, I selected rippled water glass as a backdrop and had my painting fired at several stages as I gradually built up the form of the sculpted leaves with layers of stippling.
Copyright (c) Elizabeth Lamont 2016

Glimpses of Nymans

Selected for Nymans 2013/2104 Exhibition, this panel draws together some of my favourite aspects of Nymans National Trust Gardens in Sussex. The other images on this page form part of a Nymans-themed collection on display in Nyman’s shop until end February 2015. I am enjoying exploring further strands of the Nymans story as I add to the collection.
Copyright © Elizabeth Lamont 2014