Tales in Sombre Tones
Karen Ruffles, Sean Walter
10-11 May 2019
Karen Ruffles and Sean Walter, ‘Tales in Sombre Tones’, 2019, installation view
‘Tales in Sombre Tones’ is a collaborative project between British artist Karen Ruffles and American author Sean Walter. To celebrate the publication of their illustrated anthology of gothic horror stories, they are putting on a fully immersive touring show to bring the audience inside the stories to experience the wonder and the horror for themselves.
In addition to the twenty-four original illustrations, the show features live readings with sign language interpretation and stop-motion animated sequences using Ruffles’ desk models to ‘show what it’s like living with monsters’. The result is an inclusive, entertaining event designed to ensure the audience have as much fun as the pair did creating it all.
Drawing in Dark, Unconscious Mistakes, 2019, charcoal pencil and carbon on Fabriano Artistico, 45.5x30.5cm
Karen Ruffles lives in Whitby on the North Yorkshire coast, a perfect location for an artist with a love for the gothic side of horror. She specialises in charcoal and carbon pencil drawings, covering a wide range of subjects but her first love is the monsters who wander into her studio and in some cases, take up permanent residence. Karen has shown at solo and group exhibitions in the UK and her work is collected internationally. She also curates the biannual Art D’Morte show of gothic artwork, book readings and film screenings in Whitby. Her work can be seen on her Drawing in Dark website.
Drawing in Dark, Hunted, 2018, charcoal pencil and carbon on Fabriano Artistico, 45.5x30.5cm
Sean Walter lives in the city of Portland, Oregon, on the west coast of the USA. He has been writing about all things strange and twisted as a hobby since he was eight years old, and professionally for the last decade or so. The myriad of jobs he’s had in his life – from manual labourer to emergency medical technician, bartender to bodyguard – lend realism and experience to his dark stories.
Drawing in Dark, To Spite the Living, 2019, charcoal pencil and carbon on Fabriano Artistico,
On Friday 10 May, 6-10pm, there will be special event featuring readings by Sean Walter throughout the evening and other entertainment. Video of seleted readings by Walter with BSL and Captions can be viewed at www.talesinsombretones.com/readings
Take a video tour of the exhibition
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