Echoes of Time: Two Artists, One Ancient Landscape at Oriel Canfas
This April, Pembrokeshire’s ancient landscape finds new voice and form through two complementary exhibitions at Oriel Canfas Gallery. Opening on 11 April, Presence in Time by Gillian McDonald and Quiet Remain by Nicola Beattie invite visitors into a shared dialogue between painting and sculpture—each rooted deeply in the same terrain, yet expressed through distinct artistic languages.
Gillian McDonald’s Presence in Time rises, quite literally, from the earth beneath our feet. Her paintings draw inspiration from the standing stones that punctuate Pembrokeshire’s landscape—silent witnesses to centuries of human passage. McDonald captures their enduring presence through luminous surfaces that seem to hum with memory and myth. There is a rhythm to her work, a sense of cyclical renewal, as if each piece breathes with the slow turning of seasons and the persistence of place. Her canvases don’t simply depict; they evoke—offering viewers a moment to pause and feel time stretch beyond the immediate.
In contrast, yet in quiet harmony, Nicola Beattie’s Quiet Remain explores similar themes through sculptural form. Her works balance strength and fragility with remarkable sensitivity, creating objects that feel both grounded and transient. Inspired by the same ancient past, Beattie’s sculptures hold a stillness that is almost reverential. They speak of endurance not through monumentality, but through subtlety—through the delicate tension between what lasts and what fades. Each piece seems to carry its own memory, inviting reflection on the beauty of what remains after time has passed.
Together, these exhibitions create a compelling conversation—between solidity and light, permanence and transformation, silence and expression. Visitors are encouraged to experience both as part of a unified exploration of Pembrokeshire’s cultural and natural heritage, where the past is not distant but deeply present.
To mark the opening, a drinks reception and “Meet the Artist” event will take place on 11 April from 13:00 to 15:00, offering a chance to engage directly with both artists and gain further insight into their processes and inspirations.
In bringing these two bodies of work side by side, Oriel Canfas Gallery offers something more than a pair of exhibitions—it presents a meditation on time itself, and on the enduring resonance of place in shaping artistic voice.
The Exhibitions run: 31 March-25 April, you can find out more here.
