Angela C Smith returns to this year’s festival with her gorgeous stone sculptures. Last year, access to Angela’s exhibition was very limited due to Covid restrictions, especially at concerts. In 2021, disappointed audience members had to return to their prescribed seats when they were wanting to view Angela’s carvings. Angela’s return to the festival will give those who missed out a chance to get ‘up close and personal’ with these wonderful pieces. This exhibition brings a select number of stone sculptures to the radiant transept of St Leonard’s Church, Hythe; a perfect space to display their beauty, vitality and poetic forms.

Angela writes:
“My interest in stone carving began when I was very small. I thought that rocks, cliffs and rocky landscapes were wonderful and then I discovered that people made things from the stone by carving it. I spent a lot of time gazing into funeral directors’ windows at gravestones and the stone artefacts made for graves, marveling at the beauty of the stone and the idea of being able to carve it. I was also fascinated by shape itself and by abstract art. The sculptures you see are where those early preoccupations led me.

The images come from the ideas formed in my imagination from looking at the shapes of things and the space around them and appreciating their beauty, vitality and poetic qualities. I carve the works by hand and my love of the natural materials I use is especially important.

It is an honour to have my work on show in the ancient and sacred architecture of St Leonard’s Church. It gives my spirits a lift to see the light from the stained-glass windows dancing across the sculptures.”

For more information, please visit: angelasmithsculpture.co.uk