The Slung Low team outside The Holbeck Slung Low in Leeds
LEEDS theatre company Slung Low are to
open a new art gallery with a difference this month.
Based in Holbeck, South Leeds, the
company will be setting up the LS11 Art Gallery to showcase the best
paintings, drawings and photographs created and chosen by the people of Holbeck
and Beeston.
However, instead of displaying the
images on gallery walls, they will be placed on lamp posts for all to
see.
Slung Low have asked people from the
two Leeds areas to email their image to the theatre company. Slung Low will
then arrange to come around and take a copy of it and then print the images on
special plastic board for display on lamp posts around Holbeck and Beeston.
Artistic director Alan Lane says: “Our
instinct at Slung Low is always to be useful and kind. For the last few weeks
that has primarily been about delivering food-bank parcels and helping people
get their prescription.
“We know that a hungry soul will find it
hard to be creative, to find joy, so the first part of our response has to be
making sure that people have their basic material needs met: and we will
continue that work until this is all over.
“But as
theatre makers we also understand the importance of storytelling and that there
are different ways to be useful.”
Alan continues: “LS11 Art Gallery is us
telling the story that this area – like all parts of this nation – is full of
creativity; that in every house are people who are brilliant, creative and
capable of profound beauty. We need to make sure we keep telling that story in
these challenging times.
“We’re going to open an art gallery on
the lamp posts of LS11 and the people who live here will make what we exhibit.
Let’s cheer ourselves up a bit.”
Founded in 2000, Slung Low specialises
in making epic productions in non-theatre spaces, often with large
community performance companies at their heart.
The company has relocated to The
Holbeck in South Leeds, the oldest working men’s club in Britain.
There, they run the bar as a
traditional members’ bar and the rest of the building as an open development
space for artists and a place where Slung Low invite other companies to present
their work that otherwise might not be seen in Leeds. All work presented at The
Holbeck is Pay What You Decide.
In Autumn 2018, Slung Low launched a cultural
community college based in Holbeck; a place where adults come to learn new
cultural skills, from stargazing to South Indian cooking, from carpentry to
singing in a choir. All workshops, supported by Paul Hamlyn Foundation, are
provided on a Pay What You Decide basis.
Slung Low are now volunteer guardians
of the city wards of Beeston and Holbeck, taking referrals from the Leeds City
Council Covid-19 helpline (0113 378 1877).
In turn, with help from the staff of
other arts organisations in Leeds, including Opera North, they are
delivering food and medicine to the vulnerable, elderly and those in
isolation.
How to take part in the LS11 Art
Gallery:
IF you live in the Holbeck or Beeston
areas of Leeds and want your drawing, painting or photograph to be featured,
please take a picture of it.
Then send it to Slung Low by email at theholbeck@slunglow.org or by text
on 07704 582137. Slung Low will then arrange to come around to take a copy of
it for you.
YORK Open
Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April
weekends, has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However,
with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event,
CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and
makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital,
illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture
and textiles skills.
Each day,
in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open
Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and
craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home.
Addresses will not be included at this time.
Toffee Tin, Elephant And Blue Glass, by Ruth Beloe
Ruth Beloe, painting
RUTH Beloe finds equal fulfilment
in figurative sculpture and still life paintings in oil.
She trained for three years at Charles H Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy, a fine art school modelled on the ateliers of 19th-century Paris, where she studied portrait and figurative drawing, painting and sculpting, using the “sight-size” technique.
On opening her studio in Ely, she began accepting portrait commissions in both charcoal and clay and was appointed artist-in-residence at the King’s School, Ely. She then worked in an artists’ foundry to better understand the processes and practicalities of lost wax casting for bronze to inform her own work in bronze.
Ruth Beloe at work by the window in her studio
She returned to Florence in 2009 and 2010 to develop her oil-painting technique at Studio Santo Spirito. Now she works from a studio in York, taking inspiration from Chardin and William Nicholson as she explores the inherent beauty of everyday items and objects from nature.
Note the reflective qualities of surfaces, the use of directed light to form appealing shadows and the play of refracted light in her paintings. Discover more at beloe.biz.
“My aim is to awaken the feeling of wonder and awe,” says printmaker Milena Dragic
Milena Dragic, printmaking
BORN in Zagreb, Croatia, and now
living in York, polymath Milena is a printmaker, animator and performing artist.
She studied printmaking at Zagreb’s
Academy of Fine Arts, from 1971 to 1973, and combined arts at Brighton Polytechnic’s
faculty of art and design, from 1973 to 1976. Residencies and placements
ensued, along with more than 20 solo shows
in Britain, Croatia, Germany and Switzerland and participation in print exhibitions
in Britain, Poland, Brazil, Spain and South Korea.
“I perceive my work as a
dynamic representation of forces underlying physical reality and their
manifestations within everyday life,” says Milena, who prints on hand-made
paper. “My aim is to awaken the feeling of wonder and awe that I have
experienced during the process of gathering ideas and executing them in the
prints.
“My colour prints are all
relief prints: woodcuts, wood-engravings and linocuts. I like the simplicity of
the process. I print without a conventional press. My colour prints are done by
a reduction method, which means that all the colours are printed from the same
block. At the end of this process there is no lino left, so the edition is
truly limited.”
Her contemporary, colourful
abstract work combines relief prints, animation and mixed media. Wearing her
other hats, she has worked as an art director and animator at Leeds Animation
Workshop, now works for Artlink West Yorkshire and is part of the York Dance
Collective. Paint the full picture at milena-dragic.co.uk.
Expressionist interpretation of York Minster, by Russell Bailey
Russell Bailey, mixed media
RUSSELL invited putative York Open Studios 2020 visitors to expect “a range of expressionistic interpretations of York Minster in mixed media”.
“The main work results from over
12 months’ work on cathedrals – York Minster in particular – involving many
site visits, plein air and studio-based work,” he says.
Favouring charcoal and mixed media, Russell embraces experimental ways of working and gestural mark-making. “Working expressively with freedom of marks with more considered drawn elements is key to how I process my experiences artistically,” he says.
“The work I do is often experimental, often part destroyed and then re-created,” says Russell Bailey
“The work I do is often experimental,
often part destroyed and then re-created to produce a very personal
interpretation. In that respect, the work tends to reside in the hinterland
between the literal and pure abstraction. Mixing media seems to have become a
natural way through which I express myself.”
Russell
has exhibited previously at York Open Studios, the Great North Art Show, Kunsthuis
Gallery at The Dutch House, Crayke, and Blossom Street Gallery, York. His
latest artwork also embraces small abstract pieces based on beliefs and others
from art retreat locations. Take a look at russellbaileyfineart.co.uk.
Barcelona skyline, by Anthony Chappel-Ross
Anthony Chappel-Ross, photography
ANTHONY is a familiar face behind the camera around York and beyond for his photojournalism for The Press, York, where he was an outstanding staff photographer, and other print media outlets too.
Since leaving journalism college in Sheffield in 2002, he has been shortlisted for more than 20 regional and national press awards: testament to his truly eye-catching talent.
Anthony Chappel-Ross: A face more often to be found looking through a camera lens
For the past few years, he has
started to work for himself, choosing his clients and commissions. “This
freedom has allowed time for my own personal photographic interests to be
explored,” says Anthony.
For his second York Open Studios
exhibition, he had selected photographic images, predominantly in black and
white, that explore the contrast, form and pattern of Barcelona, Antoni Gaudi’s
Catalan Modernist architecture et al.
Check out
anthonychappelross.co.uk…and snap to it.
Silver stone, by Helen Drye
Helen Rye, jewellery
JEWELLERY designer and maker
Helen Drye works full time from her studio south of York, her designs inspired
by nearby Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve.
Establishing her Silver and Stone
Jewellery Design business in 2012, Yorkshire-born Helen’s collections have
their roots in this woodland, especially the birds and hares, her favourite
mushrooms and the moonlight.
While much of her work is made in
sterling silver, some is designed and carved in silver clay, adding unusual
features to the jewellery.
“My imagination is sparked
by the woodland and common beyond my studio, wondering what the ancient Bronze
Age people did, or the farmers grazing their sheep on the common land, or the Second
World War pilots who trained here before going off to fight their battles in the
sky,” says Helen.
“My imagination is sparked by the woodland and common beyond my studio,” says Helen Drye
“I try to imagine those
people walking between the trees, through that same mist, in the morning light
or the moonlight many years ago. I reflect this as though looking through my
windows; ‘windows’ that look through the woodland, the trees and the birds and
make you wonder what else is through there.”
Helen, by the way, also runs
jewellery-making workshops and wedding ring workshops. More info can be found
at info@silver-stonejewellery.co.uk.
TOMORROW: Jill Ford; Danny Knight; Carrie Lyall; Alison Spaven and Kevin McNulty.
Easter activities organised by Scarborough Museums Trust are going online. Picture: Tony Bartholomew.
SCARBOROUGH Museums Trust is taking its fun Easter activities online.
Amid the Covid-19 lockdown, the trust has had to suspend its usual drop-in activities at the Rotunda Museum, Scarborough Art Gallery and Woodend, instead making them available via its website, scarboroughmuseumstrust.com, and on social media.
From Thursday, April 9, you can have a go at making your own “Roarsome”
Easter bonnet to wear with pride.
The Rotunda Museum, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
From Wednesday, April 15, you can gain inspiration from the trust’s
springtime artworks and make a flowery print to decorate your home.
Scarborough Museums Trust’s learning officer, Christine Rostron, says:
“All the activities are inspired by our collections and use everyday art
materials.
Scarborough Art Gallery. Picture: Tony Batholomew
“We hope you have fun making things at
home and would love to find out how you’re getting on. Please share your
creations with us on social media: @Scarboroughmuseums (Facebook), @scarboroughmuseums
(Instagram) and @SMTrust (Twitter), using the hashtags #MuseumFromHome
#loveScarborough.
“We’re really going to miss seeing all the families
and children who normally visit our venues over the holidays. Sending us
pictures is great way for us to keep in touch.”
YORK Open
Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April
weekends, has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However,
with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event,
CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and
makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital,
illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture
and textiles skills.
Each day,
in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open
Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and
craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home.
Addresses will not be included at this time.
Academia, by Zosia Olenska
Zosia Olenska, painting
ZOSIA finds inspiration in
everyday landscapes, looking to find beauty in our daily surroundings. This
translates into “optimistic representational art” across the mediums of pen and
ink and acrylic painting.
“Most of all, I would like people
to come away from looking at my work feeling in some way uplifted,” says this
self-taught artist. “Painting, for me, is a self-reinforcing cycle of noticing the
beauty around us, then looking more to find it.”
Zosia Olenska: Likes her art to be uplifting
The daughter of two artists, Zosia
came to work as an artist gradually through illustration, developing her
practice by experimenting in different media. She has exhibited at the New
Light Prize exhibition in North Yorkshire and with the Society of Women Artists
at the Mall Galleries, London, in 2018 and 2019. Last year too, she was a heat
artist in the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2019 competition.
In another string to her bow,
Zosia designs hand-drawn pen-and-ink illustrations for the eco-friendly Niche Snowboards.
Head this way for more info: zosiaolenska.com
Anna Cook: paper cut artist
Anna Cook, paper cuts
ANNA is a self-taught paper
cutter with a background in design and printmaking, whose work captures the
personalities of the natural world’s inhabitants.
Layering intricately cut sheets
of paper that she folds and sculpts and presents in deep box frames, she
continually challenges herself to achieve more detail with each piece.
When creating a new design, Anna
seeks inspiration from contemporary surface and pattern design and old
botanical illustrations, as well as “the magical world of nature”. Contact her
via a.cook77@yahoo.co.uk.
Cloisonne enamel lotus bud earrings, by Leesa Rayton Design Plus
Leesa Rayton Design Plus, jewellery
AFTER many years of working in health research,
Leesa has made the leap into becoming a full-time jewellery designer. Now a
member of the Guild of Enamellers and British Society of Enamellers, she would
have been participating in York Open Studios for the first time this month.
“I use time-honoured
techniques to design and create unique pieces of jewellery from precious
metals, vitreous enamels, gemstones and beads,” she says. “My designs are
inspired by architecture and the natural world.”
Leesa Rayton: Inspired by architecture and the natural world
Leesa is always seeking to expand her knowledge and to learn new
techniques at York School of Jewellery, where she has studied over the past 12
years.
She is also a director of the Beautiful Splint Company CIC, a Tadcaster
business that makes orthotic splints for fingers. Check out leesaraytondesignplus.co.uk.
Blue topaz necklace, by Karen J Ward
Karen J Ward, jewellery
LOOKING to escape the world of finance and return to her passion for creating art, Karen finally found her calling six years ago, re-training with Nik Stanbury and Julie Moss at York School of Jewellery, where she is now based.
Jewellery designer Karen J Ward
Working with precious metals and
gemstones and using traditional skills, she first takes elements from her
drawings to then transform flat sheets of metal into “beautiful wearable art”
inspired by nature’s textures, shapes and curves.
Like Leesa Rayton (see above),
she produces orthotic splints for hands, wrists and fingers in her work as co-director
of the Beautiful Splint Company. Head to karenjward.co.uk to discover
more.
Mark Azopardi at work in his studio space
Mark Azopardi, painting
MARK works mainly in pure watercolour, on occasion incorporating other media to produce highly detailed paintings and drawings.
His main inspiration comes from the colours and textures of all elements of the natural world, sometimes finding beauty in the simplest of things. Discover him via markazopardi@gmail.com.
A fleet of feathers, by Mark Azopardi
TOMORROW: Ruth Beloe; Milena Dragic; Russell Bailey; Anthony Chappel-Ross and Helen Drye.
YORK Open
Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April
weekends, has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However,
with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event,
CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and
makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital,
illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture
and textiles skills.
Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.
Analogue photographer Claire Cooper
Claire Cooper, photography
CLAIRE’S work explores women represented through the medium of analogue photography, screen print and intaglio printmaking techniques.
“Portraits are special because, by definition, there are at least two people involved in their making: the artist and the sitter,” says Claire.
“Neither has complete control
over the other; portraiture becomes a negotiation between parties, a dance of
wills that results in a collaboration of sorts.”
Trudy, Hove, 2012, photographed by Claire Cooper
Claire, who completed an BA in
Photography in 2000 and an MA in 2013, uses sitters both known and unknown in
her experiments with different formats of photographic portraiture.
She has shown work in group shows
across the country, and away from photography, she has a background in the
community arts sector, predominantly with DARTS in Doncaster. Find
out more via missccooper@gmail.com.
Portrait Of A Friend, by Zoe Catherine Kendal
Zoe Catherine Kendal, painting
ZOE is a multi-disciplinary
artist and jewellery maker from a family steeped in artistic pursuits.
Great-granddaughter of Bernard Leach,
“the father of British studio pottery”, she attained a BA in jewellery design from Central
Saint Martins, in London, the city where she was raised before moving to York.
Her York Open Studios show would
have focused on her paintings: works that combine experimental, abstract
approaches with colourful, contemporary representations of portraiture,
seascapes and cultural heritage, capturing feeling, narrative and identity
across varied material and media.
Zoe Catherine Kendal: Capturing feeling, narrative and identity
Overall, her experimental practice is material-led, combining pastel and paint on canvas, paper and wood; precious and non-precious metals, ceramics and beads with leather and yarns.
Zoe’s paintings have been exhibited at According To McGee, York, and Bils & Rye, Kirkbymoorside; her jewellery at CoCA at York Art Gallery, Lottie Inch Gallery, York, and Kabiri, Marylebone, London. Cast an eye over her work at zoekendall.com.
Flying Low, by Cathy Denford
Cathy Denford, painting
BROUGHT up with wild nature in
New Zealand, Cathy trained and worked as a director in theatre and television
in England.
Since settling in York in 1998, fine art has been her strong focus, shaped by
initial study in printmaking with Peter Wray and painting with Jane Charlton at
York St John University and later at Chelsea College of Arts and the Slade.
First exhibiting at York Open
Studios in 2006, she creates oil and mixed-media paintings suggestive of movement,
set against stillness, often of birds in landscape.
Cathy Denford: “Movement, set against stillness”
Combining figurative and abstract
styles, with elements of Cubism, her work explores space and time passing.
Cathy’s paintings have been shown at galleries in Leeds, Scarborough and Leeds, Zillah Bell in Thirsk and the Norman Rea Gallery and music department at the University of York. More info at cathydenford.info.
Milet plate, by Hacer Ozturk
Hacer Ozturk, ceramics
HACER is a Turkish ceramics and
iznik tiles artist from Istanbul, now settled in York, where 2020 would have
marked her York Open Studios debut.
Her work combines traditional and contemporary free-style Turkish ceramics, both formed with the same techniques that were first applied thousands of years ago.
Hacer Ozturk: artist and researcher
Latterly, she has started painting, drawing on traditional iznik tile motifs. Aside from her ceramic creativity, she works as a researcher in Istanbul. Seek out hacer.yldiz@gmail.com.
Yorkshire, by Chrissie Dell
Chrissie Dell, printmaking
CHRISSIE is a printmaker inspired
by the environment, making multi-layered monoprints, monotypes, collagraphs and
Moku-Hanga (Japanese woodcuts).
She uses such techniques as
collage, chine collé, viscosity, stencils, natural pigments and materials to create
textural prints that interpret the forms,
colours and textures of the natural world.
Chrissie Dell at work in her studio
Growing up in Edinburgh and on the west coast of Scotland, Chrissie first studied printmaking in the early 1970s at the Froebel Institute, London, but only set up her studio in 2013 after further study at Leith School of Art and Edinburgh Printmakers, her studies taking in painting, drawing, artists’ books, printmaking and creative textiles.
Chrissie has exhibited in Edinburgh, as well as at Blossom Street Gallery and Pyramid Gallery in York, and she is a member of York Printmakers and York Art Workers’ Association.
2020 would have been her third participation in York Open Studios. Still in the diary, however, is the York Printmakers Autumn Print Fair at York Cemetery Chapel on September 26 and 27.
TOMORROW: Zosia Olenska; Anna Cook; Leesa Rayton Design; Karen J Ward and Mark Azopardi
I predict a quiet night: Kaiser Chiefs will not play Dalby Forest after all on June 26
DALBY Forest’s summer concerts, featuring Leeds band
Kaiser Chiefs on June 26 and a double bill of Will Young and James Morrison the
next night, are off.
Indeed, the entire Forest Live series presented by
Forestry England nationwide, has been cancelled, yet another summer calendar
regular chalked off by the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Ticket holders will
be refunded automatically.
A Forestry England statement released today explains: “We are sorry to disappoint the Forest Live fans who were hoping to see bands in the nation’s forests this summer, but we have cancelled Forest Live 2020 to keep everyone safe, in line with recent Government guidance on the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak.
“We really hope that everyone’s support to fight COVID-19 means the situation will have improved by the summer. However, as well as our valued customers, we work with a large number of volunteers, artists and contractors, to make these concerts happen and have taken this decision in the interest of safety for everyone involved.”
Will Young: double bill with James Morrison
The statement continues: “Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to reschedule our concerts. Ticket holders will be contacted by their point of purchase and will be automatically refunded. We ask for your patience and understanding at this busy time.
“We would like to send our deepest apologies to everyone who was hoping to see a Forest Live 2020 show. We were very excited to welcome you into forests across England to see some incredible live music.
“Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to welcoming you back to Forest Live in 2021.”
Nationwide,Forest Live 2020 would have featured headline performances by Madness, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Keane, Jack Savoretti and Rag’n’Bone Man, as well as Kaiser Chiefs, Morrison and Young.
James Morrison: No Forest Live return after June 27 cancellation
These June concerts would have been spread between Dalby Forest, near Pickering; Bedgebury Pinetum, Kent; Cannock Chase Forest, Staffordshire; Sherwood Pines Forest, Nottinghamshire; Thetford Forest, Suffolk, and Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire.
Income from Forest Live concerts helps to sustain Forestry England’s woodland for people to enjoy, wildlife to flourish and trees to grow.
Forestry England, an agency of the Forestry Commission, manages and cares for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests, welcoming 230 million visits every year and shaping landscapes as England’s largest land manager. For more information, visit forestryengland.uk; for further Forest Live details, go to forestryengland.uk/music.
Did you know?
KAISER Chiefs previously played Dalby Forest in 2016; Will Young in 2012 and James Morrison in 2007.
A cyclone of cyclists rushing by in Tim Pearce’s painting
YORK Open
Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends,
has had to be cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However,
with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event,
CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and
makers, who would have been showcasing ceramics, collage, digital,
illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture
and textiles.
Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.
Tim Pearce with one of his sculptural ceramics
Tim Pearce, mixed media
AFTER a fulfilling career in art
education in South Yorkshire schools, Tim latterly has expanded his own
creativity to include ceramics as well as painting, all supported by academic
degrees in the history of art and the visual arts at MA level.
His paintings and sculptural
ceramics are both informed by a Cubist sensitivity to form, colour and rhythm,
displayed in studio, house and garden.
Since moving to York eight years
ago he has held four solo shows, in addition to exhibiting regularly across
Yorkshire with Leeds Fine Artists. Head to timp360@btinternet.com for more info.
Fuselage, by Linda Harvey
Linda Harvey, textiles
INSPIRED by frequent trips to the
Yorkshire Air Museum, at Halifax Way, Elvington, York, Linda’s latest work
explores rustic textures and pattern in framed textile art pieces, wall
hangings and handmade cards.
Linda Harvey: Gaining inspiration from days out at the Yorkshire Air Museum
Linda, who studied textiles and surface design, graduating in 1994, often will work on several pieces at a time and enjoys an expressive and experimental way of working. She layers, rust-dyes, prints and distresses her fabrics and adds embellishments to create abstract one-off pieces.
Linda has taught textiles for more
than 20 years and is a member of York Textile Artists. Contact her at lindaharvey18@sky.com or via
facebook.com/LindaHarveyTextileArtist.
Furniture maker John Watts in his workshop
John Watts, furniture
JOHN has been designing and
making contemporary furniture since 1996 for both private and corporate
clients.
Working from a 3,000 sq.ft workshop
on the outskirts of York, he uses a wide range of materials, predominately
sustainably forested hardwoods from both England and abroad, while often
incorporating glass, metals and resins too.
Garden furniture by John Watts
Undertaking domestic and
commercial projects, he hand-builds pieces of furniture of longevity and value.
“My main aim is to create interesting, individual and well-crafted furniture
that satisfies customer requirements,” says John, who has a bespoke service
available.
“My design influences are many,
having a history in antiques, fashion design and design education,” he adds. To
knock on wood, head to johnwattsfurniture.co.uk.
“Design should be fun,” reckons furniture maker Wilf Williams
Wilf Williams, furniture
DESIGN should be fun ,
interesting, practical and beautiful, says York furniture maker and designer
Wilf Williams.
Bristol-born Wilf studied furniture design after moving to York in 1996, since when he has produced hand-made furniture inspired by traditional cabinet making, Scandinavian furniture, contemporary clean lines, modernist architecture and minimalist sculpture and art.
Walnut sideboard, by Wilf Williams
Wilf has worked on all manner of commissions, designing and crafting distinctive, bespoke free-standing and fitted furniture, using a diverse range of materials, predominantly sustainable forested hardwoods. Visit his website at wilfwilliams.co.uk.
Galilee No 3937, collage, by Jerry Scott
Jerry Scott, collage
JERRY constructs small and medium-sized
abstract collages from printed paper originated by the artist, then pasted on
to cartridge paper, using conservation-grade wheat starch paste. Sometimes, he
applies hand-colouring too.
“I started making collages
about five years ago, in parallel with painting,” he says. “I’ve always been interested in surface pattern
and all sorts of decoration. With the freedom and sophistication of modern
digital technology, it is now possible to produce single sheets of high
quality, crisp and colour-rich printed papers.” Cue collages.
Collage artist Jerry Scott
Jerry moved to York 33
years ago. Earlier he had studied theology
briefly at Cambridge University, then fine art at Norwich School of Art and St
Martin’s School of Art, London, where he lived and worked before heading north.
He has a variety of abstract
prints for sale too. View his work at jerryscottpaintings.co.uk.
TOMORROW: Claire Cooper; Zoe Catherine Kendal; Cathy Denford; Hacer Ozturk and Chrissie Dell.
Hull Truck Theatre: building closed, but the theatre invites you to be creative at home
CREATIVITY cannot be closed down, says
Hull Truck Theatre, as it launches an At Home community hub from April 6.
Over the coming weeks, Hull Truck will run
a programme of drama and creative activities to keep audiences and communities
entertained and inspired during the Coronavirus lockdown.
This will involve a stream of “engaging
and accessible content”, ranging from A Play A Day and Writing Workouts to 3 Minute
Theatre, Educational Resource Packs and Screening past shows, all to be found
on the new page hulltruck.co.uk/hull-truck-at-home/.
The theatre’s statement says: “Hull
Truck Theatre are passionate about the positive and transformative power of
theatre and believe that having the opportunity to take part in
creative activities is good for everyone’s wellbeing, outlook and
self-esteem.
“The team have prepared activities to
help with home schooling; opportunities for all ages to learn and
develop writing skills, and we’ll be streaming some of our past shows to
be enjoyed from the comfort of your sofa.
“Hull Truck Theatre hope that taking
part in them will help participants to feel creative, connected and part of our
online community hub.”
Matthew Wilson and Nicola Stephenson in Jim Cartwright’s Two at Hull Truck Theatre
Here is a
guide to the Hull Truck Theatre At Home programme:
A Play A Day: Play-reading activity for all
ages
EVERY weekday from April 6 to 24 at
10am, a short play will be released, written by local
playwrights. The plays were commissioned by Hull Truck for various projects
over recent years; the theatre is delighted to share these with a wider
audience now.
Participants can read these plays on
their own, out loud with the people in their household or with friends by phone
or a video-conferencing platform. Each play will come with notes to help
the reader, so, even if they have never read a play before, they can enjoy
it as much as a theatre professional.
First up will be Lydia Marchant’s 2009,
written as part of a youth theatre project, Ten, and performed in March 2019 by
55 members of Hull Truck Theatre’s Young Company.
Ten celebrated the ten-year anniversary
of Hull Truck moving to Ferensway and featured ten ten-minute plays, each based
on a year in the decade 2009 to 2019.
The next four plays lined up were part
of Ten too: Ellen Brammar’s KidnappingNick; Lydia Marchant’s 2011; Josh Overton’s 2012 and Marchant’s 2013.
Writing
Workout with Tom Saunders: Daily tasks for writers of all ages and
abilities
NEW writing is a core part of Hull
Truck’s artistic programme, the theatre working with writers at any stage
of their career and regularly staging or presenting world premieres, new
adaptations and cutting-edge new writing from around the country.
From April 6, associate director Tom
Saunders will post a daily blog with a writing activity for people to
complete at home. Writers of any age will be encouraged to complete the task,
and, if they wish, can share footage of themselves reading their work on social
media.
“Even though our doors may be closed, we hope to continue inspiring people to enjoy the arts from their own home,” says Hull Truck Theatre artistic director Mark Babych
3 Minute Theatre
FOR those still needing their “fix of great theatre”,
Hull Truck Theatre is asking some of its associate artists to record a short
monologue from a play of their choice, to be shared across Hull Truck’s online
channels.
Nicola Stephenson, from the cast of Jim Cartwright’s
Two, Hull Truck’s 2020 co-production with Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre,
and writer-performer Hester Ullyart have shared their monologues already.
HULL Truck has made all its Education
Resource Packs from past productions available for downloading online for
use by teachers and home-schooling families.
These packs include plot synopsis, character breakdown, information about
authors and classroom activities to inspire teachers or
home-schooling families.
Hester Ulyart in Paragon Dreams at Hull Truck Theatre in April 2019. Picture: Sam Taylor
Screening past
productions
HULL Truck is digging through its archives
and is excited to share recordings of favourite shows over the years.
First up will be a screening of Paragon
Dreams from 2019, written and performed by Hull artist
Hester Ullyart, directed by artistic director Mark Babych.
This tense thriller about a woman
returning to Hull to face the ghosts of her past will be streamed on YouTube on
Wednesday, April 8 at 7pm. Watch Hull
Truck Theatre’s social media channels via @hulltruck for the viewing link.
To engage on social media with these
activities, tag @hulltruck for all platforms and use the relevant hashtags: #PlayADay,
#WritingDaily, #3MinuteTheatre, #HTTEducation and #HTTStream.
Launching Hull Truck Theatre At
Home, Mark Babych says: “In this
time of uncertainty, it’s easy to feel alone. As a theatre family we are
stronger together, with Hull Truck Theatre At Home we are hoping to reach out
to our local communities – while still complying with Social Distancing.
“Even though our doors may be closed, we hope to continue inspiring people to enjoy the arts from their own home while also connecting with each other. Whether people are hosting their own online viewing parties or using video calls to go through the exercises together, we hope to start a conversation and help us all feel a lot better in these times. Stay well, stay safe and we look forward to welcoming you back soon.”
YORK Open
Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends,
has had to be cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event, CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture and textiles skills.
Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Home addresses will not be included at this time.
Sarah K Jackson: Love of Russian design
Sarah K Jackson, textiles
SARAH specialises in
transforming aged fabrics and precious items into original “keepsake” artworks.
For York Open Studios 2020, she assembled Headstrong, a series of new pieces
inspired by old photographs of Russian women in national dress.
Why Russian women? Sarah
has a special affinity for Russian design from studying the language and
literature at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and she both lived and
travelled there extensively during the 1990s.
After completing a City
& Guilds’ qualification in creative techniques in 2013, she set up her vintage
and handmade textile art business, Winifred Taylor, named after her
grandmother, who taught her to sew.
Sarah presents workshops
and is a member of York Art Workers’ Association and two textile and mixed
media groups, exhibiting with them regularly. Find out more at
winifredtaylor.com.
Kate Pettitt: Painting en plein air. Picture: Olivia Brabbs
Kate Pettitt, painting
KATE’S paintings and drawings on paper explore the natural environment and the human form and are often elemental, instinctive and textural.
She works from life and en plein air, then referencing her sketches, studies, notes and collected objects when back in the studio, where she uses oils, graphite, acrylic and watercolour.
Inspired by movement, emotion, shifting light and changing
weather conditions, her work aims to capture the character and uniqueness of
people and place.
Rain Over Littendale, by Kate Pettitt
Kate’s background and training is in graphic
design and illustration, and she has worked as a designer for more than 20
years, running her design practice, Bivouac, for 12 years.
This year’s York Open Studios would have been Kate’s chance to introduce visitors to her new studio in Holtby. Instead, in the Coronavirus lockdown, she is now working from home. Take a look at her work at katepettitt.co.uk.
Reg Walker: Yorkshire Sculpture Park played its part in his artistic development
Reg Walker, sculpture
REG crafts abstract sculptures,
sometimes contemplative, sometimes playful, mostly in Corten steel, together with
small pieces for the hand in bamboo and distinctive collages in natural
materials.
He took up sculpture when inspired by volunteering at the Yorkshire
Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, where he then took part in hot and cold metal
courses.
Originally from Ireland, Reg settled in Yorkshire in 1988, working in social research and organisation development. He had a studio at Kildale on the North York Moors before moving last year to a studio in Holtby, where he would have been making his York Open Studios debut. Seek him out at reg@elliottwalker.co.uk.
Connie Howarth, Constance Isobel jewellery maker
Constance Isobel, jewellery
CONNIE Howarth, of
Constance Isobel, uses gold, silver and high-quality gemstones, sourced from
ethical UK retailers, in her handmade jewellery. Traditional techniques are
applied to create her exclusive precious metal work, also informed by her interest in ancient adornments and artefacts.
Connie had formal, workshop-based training in traditional jewellery-making techniques. Earlier she studied fine art, which now seeps into her metalwork with use of colour drawing on her love of the natural world. Delicate pattern work and organic shapes decorate her jewellery throughout each collection. Her jewel of a website is at constanceisobel.com
Chris Utley, ceramics
CHRIS creates hand-built pots,
carved, scraped and polished, then painted with slips and underglaze colours.
The finished work is fired several times to achieve a strong depth of colour.
One of Chris Utley’s ceramics
She studied ceramics for three years in college and has been making pots in her stable workshop for many years. She has taught adults, been artist-in-residence in primary schools and run many workshops, as well as exhibiting widely in both Britain and Norway.
Look at chrisutleyceramics.portfoliobox.me for more details.
TOMORROW’S FIVE: Tim Pearce; Linda Harvey; John Watts; Wilf Williams and Jerry Scott.
