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
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.
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.
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 will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.
Dee Thwaite: painting with hands, not brushes
Dee Thwaite, painting
YORK Open Studios
newcomer Dee uses acrylic paint, inks, graphite and charcoal in her sea and
landscape paintings and drawings, marked by expressive skies, storms and the
changing seasons.
Mainly self-taught, this contemporary abstract artist expresses her love of the North Yorkshire coastline on canvas, board and paper in works that combine both a physical and emotional response when she paints, predominantly with her hands, as opposed to brushes. Contact Dee via deethwaite@hotmail.com.
Anna Vialle at work with a pen
Anna Vialle, drawing
INSPIRED by the style
and colours of both Japanese woodblock and Victorian prints, Anna limits
herself to drawing insects, birds, landscapes, anatomy and trees.
Anna had trained in art education in 1997. Twenty-two years later, when trying to relax after working difficult shifts as a mental-health nurse, she started a pen and watercolour illustration of 24 individually drawn moths.
Exploring the connection between repetition and focus, she began using dots to create her artwork, whereupon a stress-free style of art emerged. Cue a “more relaxed” mental-health nurse! Visit annavialle.co.uk for more info.
Rosie Bramley surrounded by her art
Rosie Bramley, painting
ROSIE’S colourful paintings explore her devotion and connection to the land and sea. Gestural marks dance around the surface of each painting as she creates abstract works inspired by nature.
Rosie studied fine art painting
and printmaking, graduating from Bretton Hall College, University of Leeds, in
1996. Now head of art at Driffield Secondary School and Sixth Form in
East Yorkshire, where she teaches both fine art and photography, she has exhibited
regularly in York, latterly at Fossgate Social, City Screen and Angel on the
Green.
Her first Open Studios
show since 2011 would have featured new works inspired by the landscape. Her website,
rosiebramley.com, divides her work into Abstracts, The Cruel Sea and Mountains.
A nude by Tabitha Grove
Tabitha Grove, painting
SELECTED for York Open Studios
for the first time, Tabitha uses bold colour, contrast, ink, watercolour, gold
leaf and collage on handmade paper to explore perceptions of the body and how
they can be challenged and celebrated.
Her career as an actor and costume designer for film and theatre has informed Tabitha’s passion for storytelling and her fascination with the way our bodies interact with our environments.
Tabitha Grove: actor, costume designer, piano restorer….and artist
Tabitha’s career portfolio career extends to having
co-managed Look Gallery, in Helmsley, and now working in piano restoration,
where she learns rare skills that influence her art.
Each experience has informed Tabitha’s style, she says,
leading to her “bringing diverse technique to a new perspective”. Find her work
via tabithamayg@gmail.com.
Peter Heaton: “images that need careful time and observation”
Peter Heaton, photography
PETER specialises in
black and white limited-edition photographic prints of woodlands and dark landscapes:
images that need careful time and observation as the space they inhabit is full
of visual surprises, he says.
Before the camera lens and
digital imaging took precedence, Peter studied fine art at Nottingham Trent
University and later gained an MA in fine art from Leeds Metropolitan
University.
A dark woodland, by Peter Heaton
Over the past few years, Peter’s work has revolved around the complexities of layering visual information and our interpretations of the resulting images. In 2010, he set up Vale of York Darkrooms, where he teaches courses in both traditional chemical-based black-and-white photography and digital imaging. Take a look at his photographs at peterheaton.co.uk.
Tomorrow: Sarah K Jackson; Kate Pettitt; Reg Walker; Constance Isobel and Chris Utley.
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.
Helen Whitehead at work in her studio
Helen Whitehead, glass
HELEN’S glass jewellery
and sculpture is inspired by her deep connection with wild plants, herbs, the
moon and the planets. In her intuitive work, glass is layered with
precious metals, paint and images, then fired to produce colourful abstract
compositions.
Helen loves
experimenting with alchemic reactions in her glass kiln and layering different
mediums within small pieces. “My pieces are little worlds, reflecting the inner
and outer world,” she says.
As well as working in her York studio, Helen provides fun and friendly fused-glass workshops in the community. Follow her at facebook.com/HelenWhiteheadGlassArtist.
Printmaker Sally Clarke
Sally Clarke, printmaking
SALLY specialises in collagraph
printmaking, using the human figure and composition to express atmospheric
imagery.
Sally studied for a Fine
Arts degree at Gloucestershire College of Arts as a mature student. She worked in
various media before discovering printmaking more than 20 years ago, finding herself
attracted particularly to its limitless opportunities for experimentation.
Sally is a founder
member of York Printmakers, has exhibited in many Yorkshire venues and is a
regular exhibitor in York Open Studios. Contact her via sallyclarkeprintmaker@yahoo.co.uk.
Adrienne French: interpreting colour and texture in her landscape paintings
Adrienne French, painting
IN her evocative
paintings, collographs and monoprints, Adrienne interprets colour and texture
of both local and foreign landscapes.
She pursued her love of art by completing an art and design degree at Leeds University in 2000 while continuing her work as a nurse. Until 2015, she was artist in residence at a hospice, alongside continuing to develop her own artwork, a process that is ongoing.
She has shown her work
in northern galleries and takes part regularly in many annual arts events in Yorkshire.
All roads lead to Adrienne at adifrench@gmail.com.
Caroline Lord: recycling pottery, wood and metal in mosaics and sculptures
Caroline Lord, mixed media
CAROLINE combines found
items of pottery, wood and metal, recycling them into mosaics and quirky
ceramic sculptures.
She studied stained glass
and tapestry weaving in the 1960s at Edinburgh College of Art, where she was
awarded a scholarship for a further year’s study, specialising in tapestry weaving.
One of Caroline Lord’s quirky sculptures
Ten years ago, after
completing a mosaics workshop led by Emma Biggs, Caroline changed artistic
direction, starting to work with re-cycled ceramics.
She has exhibited in
York Open Studios, at the Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk, with the York Art
Workers Association and in the Great North Art Show. Contact her at
carolinelord42@hotmail.com.
Peter Park: textile designer turned painter
Peter Park, painting
PETER would have been making
his York Open Studios debut with his expressive and gestural abstract paintings
of the Yorkshire landscape and coast in acrylic paint on canvas.
After a foundation course at York School of Art, he studied printed textile design in Manchester (BA) and Birmingham (MA), then worked as a textile designer and lecturer in design in Manchester.
One of Peter Park’s abstract paintings of a Yorkshire landscape
Returning to York in 2013, he began painting, predominantly landscapes that he has exhibited at fellow York Open Studios exhibitor Kay Dower’s Corner Gallery and with Little Van Gogh in London. Seek him out via peter.park500@virginmedia.com.
Tomorrow: Dee Thwaite; Anna Vialle; Rosie Bramley; Tabitha Grove and Peter Heaton.
Washed up: a giant squad on Scarborough’s North Bay beach on January 14 1933, pictured in a magic lantern slide. Picture: Scarborough Museums Trust
HISTORIC magic lantern slides from the Scarborough
Collections are an online hit in these dark days.
As part of Scarborough Museums Trust’s response to the Coronavirus shutdown, collections manager Jim Middleton is posting regular images from the stock of slides and glass-plate negatives on Twitter, using the hashtag #lockdownlanternslides.
The North Bay Pier, after the storm damage in 1905
The response has been “remarkable”, he says: “We’re getting comments and
queries from other museums, historians and the public nationwide. This includes
an interaction the other day with the Natural History Museum in London, who
contacted us during a series of posts themed around cephalopods, the family of
marine animals that includes octopus and squid.”
Middleton had posted an image of a 5.3m-long giant squid that had been
washed up on the North Bay beach on January 14 1933, pictured surrounded by
curious Scarborough locals.
Pier-less: The North Bay Pier destroyed by the 1905 storm
“We’d always known that they had the beak of the squid, but they got in
touch to say they had the whole animal preserved in their archive,” says
Middleton. “We’ll be hoping to get a better look at it when we can.”
Among other themes being explored are historic local buildings, some of them
no longer in existence, such as the North Bay pleasure pier, destroyed in a
storm in 1905, and vintage seaside scenes of children rock pooling and bathing-beauty
contests.
The North Bay Pier, pictured from the other side, in one of the magic lantern slides
Magic lanterns were early image projectors that applied a light source
to magnify and project images on glass and they were used for both education
and entertainment, particularly during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
The Scarborough Collections – the name given to all the museum objects
owned by the Borough of Scarborough – contains more than 7,000 slides and glass
plates, in the care of Scarborough Museums Trust.
Storm damage: the collapsed North Bay Pier in Scarborough in 1905
The images posted daily by Middleton can be seen by following @SMT_Collections on Twitter. To view existing posts, search #lockdownlanternslides.
The Rotunda Museum, Scarborough Art Gallery and Woodend, all run by Scarborugh
Museums Trust, are closed until further notice.
