Life on the farm has always been an inspiration for Anwen Roberts.

The daughter of a farmer who married a farmer, she has spent years capturing the real life drama of Anglesey’s rural life on canvas.

In between feeding the animals and looking after her two young sons, Anwen, a fine arts graduate, makes time to paint.

Her work is so good that she is one of about 40 artists who have been selected from 400 North Wales artists to have her work shown at an exhibition due to open at the Oriel Ynys Môn Gallery in Llangefni.

The exhibition is being organised in conjunction with Anglesey Arts Forum and the Helfa Gelf/Art Trail, which form the North Wales Open Studios Network.

There will be a Private View on March 2 when some of the artists will be present between noon and 2pm  and the exhibition will  then be  open to the public until April 14.

The exhibition will show selected works by artists from the North Wales Open Studios Network –  who regularly open their private studios to the public.

The Network is part funded through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007 – 2013, which is financed through the European Union and the Welsh Government.

Anwen, of Bumwerth, Trearddur Bay, was brought up in South Wales and went to college in Pontypool and studied fine arts at the University of Staffordshire. But her father was raised on Anglesey and her late grandparents’ home is opposite the farm where she now lives.

“I studied fine arts and always wanted to be an artist,” said Anwen. She met husband Iwan during her final year when she returned to Anglesey for a family celebration at her grandparents’ home.

She and Iwan married in 2000 and settled at his Trearddur Bay farm where they have two sons Cai, 11, and Osian, nine, and where they keep a few hundred sheep and some cattle and chickens.

“I had a few jobs and worked part time for a while at Coleg Menai pre-vocational centre. But then I thought I wanted to paint again and concentrate on that. I thought if I don’t do it now I will regret it. And I was right. I love what I do,” said Anwen.

Iwan has to fit his farming around full-time work at Anglesey Aluminium. “Iwan goes to work and I have to split my time. I do my chores and feed the animals and when I’ve finished I can spend time in the studio painting and then I have to pick the boys up from school.

“I have to allocate my time because when the boys come home it would be difficult to concentrate on painting.

“I always carry a camera with me and when I visit a farm or an auction I like to take photographs which I can work from later.”

Anwen used to use acrylics but now works almost exclusively in oils. “It’s a very different medium. Acrylics dry so quickly but with oils you work on a few things at the same time while you wait for one part to dry.

“When you’re working on the farm you cannot stop to set up and draw things, no matter how much I would like to. But with my dad being a farmer and Iwan a farmer I am here experiencing it and not just observing as a passer-by. You see the seasons change and watch the start of lambing. Sometimes I can take my sketch book into the lambing shed.”

Anwen is on the voluntary committee which runs Anglesey Arts Forum. Its two main events in the year are the Anglesey Arts Weeks, two weeks in Easter, which includes the Anglesey open studios events when 52 artists on the island – like Anwen – open their private studios and invite the public to view and discuss their work. The Forum also organises Anglesey Performing Arts Weeks during October-November.

Chairman of the Forum Mike Gould, said: “To coincide with the Oriel exhibition, which includes work from across the whole of North Wales, we also have exhibitions of work by Anglesey artists at Ucheldre and Beaumaris galleries.

“The arts scene in Anglesey looks healthy but it is very difficult for people to make a living. One of the important points about the Open Studios programme is to promote our local artists to a wider audience, and get people to see and have the opportunity to buy their work.”

The Anglesey Arts Forum exists to promote the arts on Anglesey. Membership of the Forum is free and anyone interested or involved in the arts in any way is welcome to join.

North Wales Open Studios Network Project Co-ordinator Sabine Cockrill said: “Anwen’s work is an example of the fantastic array of artistic talent in North Wales and our mission is to raise their profile by giving them a platform to display their work.

“North Wales is an undiscovered gem in terms of its art and the North Wales Open Studios Network brings it to the public attention at exhibitions like this and with the open studios events run By Helfa Gelf and Anglesey Arts Forum.”

For more details about those taking part in Open Studios and Galleries Weeks (23 March – 7 April 2013) check out details on http://www.angleseyartsforum.org/or http://www.helfagelf.co.uk/

A bittersweet film about ageing opera singers provided a training day with a difference for over 100 care practitioners.

The group from the Pendine Park care organisation decamped to the Odeon cinema at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre, in Wrexham, to watch the critically acclaimed movie, Quartet.

Appropriately, the film is set in a retirement home and the problems and pleasures encountered by the musical residents were used as part of Pendine Park’s training programme.

Quartet was directed by Oscar winning screen great Dustin Hoffman and features a stellar cast including Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins and Billy Connolly.

The private screening was the idea of Pendine Park Director Gill Kreft and was organised by their teaching care centre, Smartcare,  and Odeon Manager Andy Elvis.

Mr Elvis said: “Quartet is set in a retirement home and I am sure some of the situations depicted within the film form an ideal training package for care practitioners.

“I’m delighted to have been able to work with Pendine Park in putting the training day together and arranging the private screening of Quartet. It also gave me the opportunity to explain how we can accommodate people with disabilities in making cinema available to everyone.”

Mr Kreft added: “Quartet is set in Beecham House, a fictional retirement home. It’s a wonderful film and Dustin Hoffman and the cast have done a remarkable job in capturing the emotions of life in a care home community.

“The film highlights many of the issues we face in providing the best possible care for our residents.

“At Pendine we talk about the six senses of care, achievement, belonging, continuity, purpose, significance and security, these are wonderfully portrayed in the film and I would recommend that all care organisations should use the film as a training and development resource.

“Being able to treat our staff and Smartcare trainers to enjoy watching a fantastic film such as Quartet helps us to get our message of just how important enrichment is to our residents and clients.”

He added: “I’m a firm believer that art, and music, makes us feel special, makes us feel human.

“We are involved in a long-standing collaboration with the Hallé orchestra and we are also Welsh National Opera Gold Community Champions.

“Within Pendine Park we are trying to make those little things important so that every moment counts.

“We are striving to provide the very best and in our discussions after the film ended it was clear staff who watched understood why characters reacted to certain situations and why they responded in a particular way.

“One thing I certainly took from the film is that the younger characters and the older ones all spoke the same language about their different musical tastes, their age was irrelevant.

“It has been a very worthwhile training day and something we will certainly consider again in the future. Andy Elvis and his team at the Odeon Cinema have been wonderful hosts.”

Danuscza Jensen, who has 21 years’ experience as a care practitioner, is team leader at Pendine Park’s Bondlondeb care home, a centre of excellence for dementia care.

She said: “Watching the film was a great training tool – it certainly made me think.

“There were situations in the film that had me wondering how I would deal with something similar. It also highlighted the importance of personal choices and how it is vital everyone we care for has to have a future life and a sense of belonging.

“Coming to the cinema for a private screening was certainly a great idea and a tremendous way to train staff. There were lessons to be learnt that I will certainly remember for a very long time.”

Jeanette Whiteley, a care practitioner with Pendine Park’s domiciliary care company, Independent Living, also felt it was a great training exercise.

She said: “It definitely made me think about how we care for our clients. There were situations within the film that were very real and had me wondering whether I would have handled them the same way.

“I think I understand more now the importance of having that sense of belonging and needing to feel secure. I certainly took a lot from the film.”

Housekeeper Carol Bowen added  “I really enjoyed Quartet and took a lot from it.

“It made me think how even little conversations with residents are really important and how vital it is to provide a homely environment for our residents to enjoy.”