gofod: root & tide exhibition
22 Oct - 22 Nov 2026 | Thurs & Fri 12-6, Sat 9-6 & Sun 9-4
Matthew O’Sullivan and Steffan Ebsworth beautifully capture the atmosphere of West Wales’ landscapes and seascapes.
We’re excited to be hosting these two local artists - and art teacher colleagues - for their first joint exhibition, root & tide.
Join us on Friday 6 November, 7pm for an evening with the artists and live music from their band Rum Shunk. Save the date!
Matthew O’Sullivan studied Fine Art at Kingston University and has continued to develop his practice alongside a long career in art education. For the past 19 years, he has taught Art at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman, working alongside fellow artist and teacher Steffan Ebsworth, with whom he is exhibiting in this show.
O’Sullivan is a colourist landscapist whose work draws on the expressive traditions of the Fauvist movement. Rather than seeking to reproduce the landscape realistically, he responds to it through colour, tone and atmosphere, using heightened and often unexpected colour to convey a sense of place and experience.
Much of his inspiration comes directly from the woodland surrounding his home in Golden Grove, in the Towy Valley. His paintings are rooted in this familiar landscape, but rather than depicting it literally, he paints tonally, allowing colour, light and mood to shape the work. The result is a personal interpretation of the landscape that sits somewhere between observation and abstraction.
His ceramic work is similarly connected to the place he inhabits. The clay used in his pieces is dug from a natural seam running through the woodland surrounding his home, creating a direct physical connection between the land and the objects that emerge from it.
O’Sullivan regularly exhibits his paintings at Studio Cennen in Ffairfach. This exhibition brings together his painting and ceramic work alongside the work of Steffan Ebsworth, reflecting both artists’ longstanding connection to art, education and the landscape of West Wales.
Steffan Ebsworth originally trained as a graphic designer and for the past 18 or so years has worked as a secondary school art and design teacher. During this time he has always had an urge to create, splitting his spare time between producing artwork and writing and performing music in various bands.
When painting, Steffan works mainly in mixed media and focuses on Welsh landscapes and seascapes. He has always been drawn to the Welsh coast and open spaces, spending time experiencing the ever-changing and often extremely contrasting climate. Catching the 'feel' or atmosphere of what he is painting is important to him, and the weather and time of day play a major role in achieving this. Many of his pieces are therefore expressive and experimental depictions created on location, often semi-abstract in quality and purposefully gritty, multilayered and tactile, varying greatly in scale and dimensions. The textures within the artwork are just as important as the subject matter itself, and hopefully add to the richness of the visual experience.
In recent years Steffan has worked more with ink, and as well as abstracting the landscape, he often creates sketched ink pieces on location.
Next year he will be exhibiting his work in a solo show at Ivy House Gallery in Llandeilo, where he currently shows his artwork. The exhibition will showcase a slight change in direction through new pieces and subject matter, focusing more heavily on street scenes from Llandeilo and the surrounding areas.