The Emergence of Creativity in an Industrial Setting

By D. Roger Lewis MA, June 2024

It does not initially appear that the physical and social environment of Dowlais was conducive to the development of any creative skills.

The constant noise, smell and overpowering and overwhelming presence of industry, day and night, was ever present

Industry existed to generate wealth for those already rich and who cared little for the health and well-being of their workers who lived in the most basic of conditions.

Pollution was everywhere, with little thought for the environment or the future. It was an era where wealth creation was king and the workers struggled as best they could and had no say in the way their lives would or could unfold.

Against such a background the fact that talent emerged was remarkable to say the least. To find an escape from the daily toil and drudgery was an essential part of survival.

There was a realisation that culture not only gave respite from daily toil but could provide a permanent pathway out of such an existence. This was achieved in a number of ways. The chapel was an obvious choice leading to a study of music through choirs, orchestras and drama groups. Art and literature were fostered by libraries, art groups, reading rooms and Sunday Schools.

Organisation was needed, so educational community groups were established. One such group was the Dowlais Settlement, set up by John Dennithorne and other Quakers in the 1930s. These engaged hundreds of people in arts and crafts and in 1944 the Merthyr Tydfil Arts Society was formed, forerunner of the current Dowlais Visual Art Group.

Artists with connections to Dowlais include: Heinz Koppel, Robert Alwyn Hughes, John Uzzell Edwards, Dewi Bowen, Cedric Morris, Esther Grainger and Arthur Giardelli.

These were all instrumental in bringing art into the south Wales Valleys.

Appendix

• Heinz Koppel – Merthyr Blues
• Robert Alwyn Hughes – Dowlais Top Station
• Ivor Williams – Portrait of John Dennithorne
• John Uzzell Edwards – Penydarren
• Dewi Bowen – Glowr Bach, Little Collier Boy
• Cedric Morris – Dowlais from the Cinder Tips, Caeharris
• Esther Grainger – Portrait of a Miner’s Wife
• Arthur Giardelli – Winter Sea

Dowlais Visual Art Group – About us

Dowlais Visual Art Group

Pauline Evans

EVANS, Pauline, Wash Day in Caeharris © Pauline Evans

I started learning how to paint in the summer of 2020 through an online art academy. I prefer using acrylics in the loose impressionist style focusing mainly on seascapes and landscapes.

The Pembrokeshire coastline where I grew up has provided much inspiration as has the rugged landscape of the Brecon Beacons close to where I now live in Pantysgallog, Merthyr Tydfil.

Since early retirement, after 26 years of teaching art/craft to primary school children, I am enjoying sharing my passion for art through delivering beginners acrylic workshops at a local art hub and to ladies' groups and painting for charity fundraising.

Becoming involved in the Valleys Re-Told Project at the Dowlais Visual Arts Group has opened my eyes to the work of many Welsh artists, new subjects through looking at old Dowlais photographs, exploring pen and pencil drawing and lino printing.

All of which I have experimented with in a sketchbook to run alongside this project.

Mair Gwynedd Smith

SMITH, Mair Gwynedd, Dowlais Steel Furnaces, 1903 © Mair Gwynedd Smith

SMITH, Mair Gwynedd, Progress © Mair Gwynedd Smith

SMITH, Mair Gwynedd, Coke Ovens Ifor Works Dowlais, 1926 © Mair Gwynedd Smith

Mair loves working with delicate watercolours & acrylics. She is interested in creating mystical, spiritual paintings that show a sensitivity to her subject matter.

Not surprisingly she is an excellent wordsmith, and she displays her poetry along with her images to creating a deeper response to her work.

Claire Hutter

HUTTER, Claire, Dowlais Chimneys © Claire Hutter

The love of colours and drawing led Claire into the world of watercolour painting at a sad time of life. Being creative at a difficult time helped her get to a more peaceful place. Claire comes from Newcastle upon Tyne and moved to Wales in 2004, she has lived in Merthyr Tydfil since 2016.

Claire is a Christian, wife to Alex, and home school mum with 3 girls. Claire paints to express her joy and certain hope at seeing the Lord's light and beauty in creation. In the words of a song, 'Colours are meant to bring Glory to the Light, Glory to the Throne'. She enjoys painting various subjects including flowers, landscapes, and townscapes.

Through watercolour painting takes a lot of practice, it is absorbing and fascinating to learn. The joy of creating and watching colours flow and mix is exciting and Claire enjoys sharing her love for watercolour.

Claire teaches at the Bothy and runs a Bible-inspired art class at Park Baptist church, Merthyr. Recently Claire has exhibited locally in group and open shows, at the Bothy and Cyfarthfa Castle in Merthyr, Dowlais Library, the Orbit Centre and Queen Street Gallery in Neath.

Please contact Claire for commissions and further information through her website clairehutter.co.uk

Lily Hutter

HUTTER, Lily, Dowlais Library © Lily Hutter

Lily Hutter is a fourteen-year-old aspiring artist. She lives in Merthyr Tydfil and has always enjoyed being creative.

She is currently studying GCSE Art.

Lily loves drawing from her imagination. Her favourite mediums are pencils and acrylics.

Angela Lennon

LENNON, Angela, Dowlais - Reflections Old & New © Angela Lennon

Over the decades, Angela has managed to capture the essence of the South Wales Valleys, at the source of the River Taff and in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, through to the town of Merthyr Tydfil. She uses colour and technique to produce the lively rhythm and flows that are a trademark of her landscape style. Each dab, dot, scrape and scuff helps to turn a liquid, such as oil or acrylic, into a story of movement and light; take a closer look and see that the wildlife is always present to create a sense of life, living and breathing in the natural environment. During her lifetime, Angela has had work in solo/open and group exhibitions, has run projects and workshops in the local community and has continued to support the thriving arts culture within the area. Angela has always maintained close relationships with the local tourist industry and has a number of works in the private collection at Cyfarthfa Castle Museum & Galleries.

Community work has played a major role in Angela's life, teaching in both Community and Further Education. In June 2016 Angela completed the commissioned Pontsticill Village Mural, depicting the importance of people, history, buildings and surroundings that have deep-rooted effects on the lives of people living in a small village of the South Wales Valleys.

Christine Lewis

LEWIS, Christine, Dowlais Fashion Icons © Christine Lewis

My name is Christine Lewis, née Underwood, and I was brought up in Penydarren with strong Dowlais connections. Since retiring from teaching, I now live in Cardiff.

I attended Gellifaelog Primary School and at the age of 10 I was awarded a certificate by the Royal Academy in a competition they organised for primary schools nationwide.

I then went to Cyfarthfa Grammar School and after the first year or two I had no connection with art as a formal subject. After A Levels I went to Swansea University where I gained a BA(Hons) degree in Geography. I have worked as a Careers Officer, University Lecturer, Home Tutor and finally teaching at a specialist unit.

My interest in geography and history has led to a study of the surroundings in which I grew up and I am also very interested in natural history.

I have enjoyed working with textiles and being a child of the 1950s I was brought up in an ethos of ‘waste not want not’. I have always applied this to my artwork, recycling and reusing as much as possible and linking all my interests together.

Roger Lewis

LEWIS, Roger, Dowlais Opencast Mine © Roger Lewis

My name is Roger Lewis and I was brought up in Dowlais although I now live in Cardiff. I attended Gellifaelog Primary School and Cyfarthfa Grammar School before becoming a teacher, head teacher and university lecturer and I was the first member of my family to gain a university degree. Although I studied Art at school with Dewi Bowen, and later a college course with Charles Burton, my background is in the Sciences. I particularly like watercolour painting, pen and wash and pencil drawing. I have developed a specific interest in photography, and I am an Associate member of the Royal Photographic Society. My work centres around the natural and industrial landscapes of south Wales which I have been documenting since the early 1970s. Most of the male members of my family worked for the Dowlais Company, miners, blacksmiths, traction engine drivers and even an ostler. This has given me a lifelong interest in the social and industrial history of the south Wales Valleys. I have linked my artwork and photography with oral family history to help me more fully understand late 19th-century and early 20th-century ways of life. My photographic panel for the Royal Photographic Society depicting the indigenous population of China and Tibet further helped my understanding of everyday life for working people.

Christine McCarthy

McCARTHY, Christine, Houses in Dowlais © Christine McCarthy

Founding member of Dowlais Visual Arts.

When I retired after 40 years from the nursing profession, I needed to find some new interests where I could meet new people.

I first enrolled in a art class run by the WEA based at the Dowlais Library.

When the funding for this course finished, I approached Sian Evans, the head librarian, and she agreed that we could continue with the art class there, provided that it would be open to all in the community who were interested.

We started in September 2014, and it was very successful with an average of 12 to 20 members attending every week.

Much praise and gratitude must be given to Sian Anthony and the library staff for their support and encouragement over the years.

Vicky McKenzie-Rumble

I am the Royal British Legion Merthyr Tydfil Branch Poppy Appeal Organiser and Poppy Craft Group Founder Member. I have had a lifelong love of photography art and the natural world. Leaving Pen y Dre High School in 1980 at age 17, work took me to London and the New Forest before returning to Merthyr Tydfil in 2000. Art became part of my life due to the Covid pandemic. As a volunteer in our community, I initiated and helped with Poppies in the Park. This was a 4-week outdoor display at Cyfarthfa Park, Merthyr Tydfil. It was a practical solution in helping those suffering from loneliness and isolation, asking folk to use their time creatively, so that many others would be uplifted and motivated through what turned out to be a long pandemic.

With over 8000 handmade poppies donated a new group Poppy Crafters was born.

The success of this has now been followed by four more large indoor displays all done with participation and help from the community. I have used my limited skills to help raise funds for various charities. I joined the Dowlais Visual Art Group with a desire to learn, be taught how to paint and to try new skills. My first attempt at painting in lockdown was inspired by a Janet Bell (North Wales Beaumaris artist) drinks coaster; one day I hope to produce my own.

Jennifer Willcock

WILLCOCK, Jennifer, Laura Ashley Tea Towel on Washday © Jennifer Willcock

I have enjoyed painting and drawing for as long as I can remember. As a child one of my favourite pastimes was doing anything creative, a hobby that continues to this day. As well as painting and drawing, I have always enjoyed cross stitch, making scrapbooks, and various other art and craft activities.

I took Art for GCSE and managed to obtain Grade B. Working on projects for my Art GCSE never felt like work, and was a welcome relief from heavier subjects, such as Maths and Science. In addition to this, I found making art to be a very cathartic process and an excellent stress reliever. For many years after this, however, I very rarely found the time to indulge in this passion, despite wanting to get back into creating art again.

In 2010 I moved to Merthyr Tydfil from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, to take up my first post as a Speech and Language Therapist, a role I continue to work in to this day. My job involves a certain level of creativity; however, I was still keen to get back into painting, drawing, and other forms of art/craft.

In 2013 a friend from my church, Park Baptist, noticed there was an art class running in the upstairs room of the church and asked me if I would like to go along with her. For a few years on Friday evenings, we went to the class together and enjoyed honing our painting and drawing skills, as well as enjoying and benefiting from the company of the other group members.

Sadly, the group's membership dwindled over the years, and the class folded when the pandemic hit. As we re-emerged from lockdown, I looked around for another art class that I could go to and was pleased to note that I was able to attend the Dowlais Visual Arts Group class. Having opportunities to paint, draw and engage in other forms of art-making once again has been an excellent way of helping me to combat stress, develop my artistic abilities, and most importantly make new friends along the way. Being part of the Valleys Retold Project has provided me with opportunities to try out screen printing for the first time, and also make lino prints again, something I hadn't done since school! In addition, it has opened my eyes to the rich cultural, social and industrial landscape of the area I have called home for the last 14 years.

Since the Valleys ReTold project, Dowlais Visual Art Group has grown in number. We are always pleased to welcome new members and you can join us by contacting Dowlais Library. The group meets on Wednesday afternoon at 2pm-5pm at Dowlais Library.