On frequent visits to Mid Wales Arts at Caersws I am inevitably drawn to a ceramic bust of “Melangell and Hare”. I’d long admired it for the joy it gives. Its talismanic attraction emanates from the beauty of the sitter’s expression, as the artist has captured the love and tenderness found in many depictions of the Madonna and Child down the ages. Its ambience is akin to that found at Melangell’s church in the Tanat Valley North Wales, where only the stone-hearted would fail to be moved. I was informed by Cathy Knapp, the indefatigable founder and owner of the arts centre, that the artist was Jo Mattox who lives at Church Stoke on the Welsh/Shropshire border.
Many historic portrayals of the Madonna and Child see them gazing front-on to the viewer. The strength of Jo’s Melangell and Hare is that they are visually involved with each other, totally absorbed in the moment, incandescent with love and adoration. This reflects Jo’s view of the world made divine by its Creator, which is the wellspring of her art.
Using clay as a medium for Christian religious imagery flourished in Italy in the hands of the Florentine Luca Della Robbia 1399-1482, who founded a family business specialising in terracotta sculpture, using a white glaze for the figurative elements against a blue background.
Comments