Medora Heather BENT
Born in North Kilworth, Connemara, Medora spent much of her early life at Erisslaanen (Connemara) which gave her the title for her autobiography. She was educated in England and studied at the Slade with Randolph Schwabe (1930-33) , and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts where she studied stained glass. She worked on Sark, in Ireland at Errislannan, and in Cornwall (St Ives, during WWII).
She was noted at a 1944 exhibition by the St Ives Times for "her war pictures." Buckman comments that she was much influenced by the places where she lived, including Connemara, Sark, and St Ives. As well as paintings, she produced sculptural models depicting religious scenes, and painted furniture. She moved to a new studio in St Ives in 32 Fore Street in 1947. She moved to Wareham in Dorset in the mid-1950s, and died in Poole.
media
Painter, sculptor, stained glass-maker; furniture painter and potter
works and access
Works include: The Island, St Ives (1958)
Published Paintings of Some of the Historic Homes of Purbeck 1958
Errislaanen (1992 illus)
exhibitions
LG; SGA; SWA; NS
Lanham's Summer Exhibition 1943
STISA 1945, Winter Show 1947, 1949 and 1951 Festival of Britain Touring Shows
memberships
Lanham's Gallery c1943 (Associate 1944)
STISA 1943-53
references
Ancestry.com
Errislaanen, Reflections from an artist's life (illus) 1992
Buckman (2006) Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945
Hardie (2009) Artists in Newlyn and West Cornwall (p314)
Tovey (2003) Creating a Splash;
Whybrow (1994) St Ives (1921-1939 list pp 219-21)