Jill Tattersall Archives - charleshutchpress

May 10, 2025May 10, 2025

More Things To Do in York & beyond, when ‘finding the way through the human maze’. Hutch’s List No. 20, from The York Press

York artist Jill Tattersall stands by her work Genesis, Exodus at Thursday’s launch of her Finding The Way exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

AS Gary Oldman’s banana-chomping turn in Krapp’s Last Tape enters its last week, Charles Hutchinson finds alternatives aplenty for entertainment and enlightenment.

Exhibition opening of the week: Jill Tattersall, Finding The Way, The Human Maze, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until July 3

THE Wolf At The Door artist Jill Tattersall has overcome a bout of Covid to launch her Finding The Way show at Bluebird Bakery, featuring such works as World On Fire: Such Colours In The Sky; Universal (Dis)Order, Blue Rhapsody and City Of Light And Shadows.

“My brother is an anthropologist, in New York, so I’m very interested in cave symbols, early writing, Japanese and Chinese imagery and themes of communication and language,” she says. “I just have fun with all this stuff!”

Got it taped: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape on his return to York Theatre Royal after 45 years. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, until May 17

OSCAR winner Gary Oldman returns to York Theatre Royal, where he made his professional debut in 1979, to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since 1989.

“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Tickets update: check availability of returns on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The George Harrison Project: Playing the JoRo Theatre on Sunday night

Tribute show of the week: The George Harrison Project, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

THE George Harrison Project celebrates “the quiet Beatle’s” best-loved hits from the Fab Four, his solo career and The Traveling Wilburys.

Sunday’s show combines Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something, Here Comes The Sun, All Things Must Pass, My Sweet Lord, Blow Away, Handle With Care and Got My Mind Set On You with video footage and interesting facts about Harrison and his music. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Next Door But One cast members George Green, left, Charlie Blanshard and Becky Heslop in rehearsal for How To Be A Kid

Children’s show of the week: Next Door But One in How To Be A Kid, York Explore, May 12 and 13, 5.30pm; Friargate Theatre, York, May 17, 12 noon and 3pm

AT only 12 years old, Molly cooks, does the dishes and gets her little brother Joe ready for school. Molly misses her Grandma. Molly looks after her mum, but who looks after Molly?

Now her mum is feeling better, maybe things will return to normal. Maybe Molly can learn to be a child again in Sarah McDonald-Hughes’ touching, funny story of family, friends and fitting in, suitable for seven to 11-year-olds and their grown-ups. Warning: this show contains dancing, chocolate cake, dinosaurs, superheroes and an epic car chase, plus big topics such as care, mental health and growing up with an even bigger sense of imagination, creativity, joy and hope. Box office: York Explore, tickettailor.com; Friargate Theatre, ticketsource.co.uk.

Charlie Clarke’s Nora, left, and Chloe Pearson’s Nora’s Self rehearsing a scene from Matthew Peter Clare’s The Inner Selves, next week’s premiere by Black Sheep Theatre Productions. Picture: Matthew Peter Clare

Premiere of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Inner Selves, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

BLACK Sheep Theatre Productions present the premiere of director Matthew Peter Clare’s debut play, quick on the heels of the York company’s first Shakespeare show, The Tempest, in March.

Clare charts the declining mental health and marriage of Henry and Nora (played by Dan Poppitt and Charlie Clarke) and the cacophonic assault of their inner thoughts (Josh Woodgate’s Henry’s Self and Chloe Pearson’s Nora’s Self) on one climactic day of mediocrity and boredom. As emotions come to a boil, will this marriage survive, even if only until morning? Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Dara Ó Briain at the double: Playing York Barbican and York Comedy Festival

Comedy gig of the week: Dara Ó Briain, Re:Creation, York Barbican, May 14, 8pm

IRISH comedian, broadcaster and writer Dara Ó Briain will be “doing his favourite thing: standing in a theatre, telling stories and creating madness with the audience” in Re:Creation, his follow-up to 2023’s So, Where Were We?

Should you miss out on Wednesday’s sold-out gig, Ó Briain will be returning to York to co-headline the inaugural York Comedy Festival with Katherine Ryan on July 6 in the finale to Futuresound Group’s second season of Live At York Museum Gardens shows. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/york-comedy-festival/york-museum-gardens/3288662.

Gizza job: Jay Johnson’s Yosser Hughes in James Graham’s stage adaptation of Alan Bleasdale’s Boys From The Black Stuff, on tour at Leeds Grand Theatre

Touring production of the week: Bill Kenwright Ltd, Royal Court, Liverpool and National Theatre present Boys From The Black Stuff, Leeds Grand Theatre, May 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

JAMES Graham’s stage adaptation of Alan Beasdale’s BAFTA award-winning television drama Boys From The Black Stuff heads to Leeds with its story of 1980s’ Liverpool, where Chrissie, Loggo, George, Dixie and Yosser are used to hard work and providing for their families, but there is no work and no money.

What are they supposed to do? Work harder, work longer, buy cheaper, spend less? They just need a chance. Life is tough but the lads can play the game. Find the jobs, avoid the ‘sniffers’ and see if you can have a laugh along the way. “Taking it on the road to communities around the country feels like the most important thing we could be doing next with our story,” says Graham.Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Mike Scott: Leading The Waterboys at York Barbican on Thursday

Gig of the week: The Waterboys, York Barbican, May 14, 7.30pm and Leeds O2 Academy, June 15, doors 7pm

THE Waterboys showcase “the most audacious album yet” of Mike Scott’s 42-year career, Life, Death And Dennis Hopper, on their latest return to York Barbican, having played their “Big Music” brand of folk, rock, soul and blues there in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2021 and 2023.

Released last month on Sun Records, their 16th studio album charts the epic path of the trailblazing American actor and rebel, as told through a song cycle that depicts not only Hopper’s story but also the saga of the last 75 years of western pop culture. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, academymusicgroup.com.

April 1, 2025April 12, 2025

Artist Jill Tattersall and ceramicist Sylvia Schroer keep The Wolf At The Door on show on April 5 & 6 and April 12 & 13 UPDATED

MIXED media artist Jill Tattersall and ceramicist Sylvia Schroer unite for an Artists’ Open House at Jill’s studio, The Wolf At The Door, 11 Mount Parade, York, on April 5 & 6 and April 12 & 13 in an alternative to the York Open Studios on those two weekends.

“All are welcome from 10am to 4pm each day,” says Jill. “It’s not a formal open house/studio, more an informal chance to see friends (and anyone interested), show some new and ongoing work and some of the processes involved, and generally catch up on life after a long and drear winter.

“I’ll be joined by my friend Sylvia Schroer with her innovative and distinctive ceramics. Always good to have excellent company when opening the doors.”

Dr Schroer had been set to take part in York Open Studios at Lady Kell Gardens in Haxby, but instead she will be showing her sensitive figurative sculptures – busts and torsos – as well as hand-built and wheel-thrown functional and decorative pottery at Wolf At The Door after being “deselected” since the 2025 brochure was printed.

“I had done a lot of work preparing for York Open Studios but was sadly unable to take part,” Sylvia posted on Facebook on March 27. “I was absolutely heartbroken and it was costing me a lot of money. So I am very glad to be able to show my work at an independent open house with such a fantastic artist and lovely person as @jilltattersallartist.” More on this subject later.

Jill jumped at the chance to offer Sylvia an exhibition space, in keeping with her long-standing commitment to collaboration. “I have 20 years’ experience of taking part in and helping to run Open Studio schemes in Newark, Lincolnshire and Brighton and try to avoid wearisome and unnecessary politics,” she says.

“An artist’s life has never been an easy one, and current world events don’t help. Mutual support and collaboration are essential to us all. We just need to get on, represent local artists, and create some colour and joy and fun for the local community. So much needed right now!”

Jill Tattersall’s Wolf At The Door studio in Mount Parade, York

Why call the studio Wolf At The Door, Jill? “There is a Wolf, a large one,” she says. “When I spent more than ten years or so in Brighton, sculptor Iaian Tatam made the Wolf from recycled materials and, more than life-size, it became part of our lives.

“This was what set the tone for some truly interesting and offbeat collaborations. Brighton was a good place for this! We held many art-related events, as well as taking part in Brighton and Hove Artists’ Open House.

“We wanted to embrace and celebrate all aspects and varieties of art and to have some fun at the same time! Some of our collaborations and star turns involved: books, paintings and sculptures, recitals, previews and performances, garden art, ceramics, puppetry, science…you name it!”

Reflecting on those south coast days, Jill says: “I do miss the Brighton Wolf At The Door events when we hosted so many inspirational creative people: artists, writers, actors and singers even! Though a propos of that, I shall again be taking part in Brighton and Hove Artists’ Open House all May as part of the wonderful Art In Bloom.”

Jill has brought her brushes and brio to York, setting up her Artists’ Open House days and taking part in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, in February and March, featuring five artists not selected for York Open Studios 2025: Jill, Rob Burton, Liz Foster, Ric Liptrot and Lu Mason. Or “the Five Refusés”, as former medieval French university lecturer Jill called them.

Down the years, Jill has taken part in many exhibitions, projects and commissions. “My work’s all over the place, from Peru to Tasmania, even the official residence in Rwanda,” she says.

“My main obsession is with patterns. They’re all around us; we’re made up of them ourselves. Force meets counter-force and patterns emerge: coasts and weather systems, stars and galaxies, trees and blood vessels, maps and mazes. It’s where science and art intersect!

“I constantly experiment with materials and techniques, often using my own hand-made paper and water-based paints, inks, dyes and pigments to build up intense and glowing colour. Throwaway or reclaimed elements often sit side by side with gold and silver leaf. Value, price, worth…who decides.”

Sylvia Schroer in the basement at Wolf At The Door

Jill, whose latest works take the theme of sunshine, will be holding a solo show at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, from May 5 to the end of June and will make her North Yorkshire Open Studios debut on June 7 & 8 and June 14 & 15, from 10am to 5pm, followed by a further NYOS weekend on November 1 & 2, from 11am to 4pm. More than 200 artists will be taking part” in an event that she describes as “friendly and collaborative”.

Now, let’s return to Sylvia Schroer’s frustrations with York Open Studios. In an earlier Facebook post on March 13, she wrote: “I did not withdraw from York Open Studios. I would not have withdrawn after the directory was printed unless I was ill. This would have been letting down visitors – who in my case would be travelling to an out-of-town venue. It would have been letting down artists with whom I was sharing a venue & working with.

“I had been making and preparing work for months for Open Studios and was greatly looking forward to taking part. So, I was upset when I missed the email/ deadline for the Taster [at the Hospitium, York Museum Gardens, on March 22 and 23] – by one working day – along with others and told I couldn’t take part.”

She went on: “Although I had already made all due apologies I was informed of my deselection on 3/3/25 & informed I had upset others & broken the Terms & Conditions by speaking out.

“We are trying our best here as artists and Open Studios is important financially, so deselection can feel like losing a job. It’s sad for us and hard for us and I don’t think it has to be like this. Other cities don’t run their Open Studios like this. It’s hard when an artist isn’t selected or is deselected & I see artists being very upset indeed & hard hit financially. Why not print a bigger directory? We pay to be part of Open Studios and pay £hundreds in commission. £thousands in some instances.”

Her post concluded: “Speaking out here [on Facebook] will probably result in my being refused the right to apply ever again. But I do not want to be part of something that humiliates artists, punishes them and makes them feel their work isn’t good enough. I am looking forward to a more joyful experience showing my work at an independent artist’s house/studio.”

In a further statement, Sylvia said: “Unfortunately I had a disagreement with the chair/committee and there was no way to resolve it. It was never my intention to cause offense (sic) and hurt. I just wanted my work and that of other artists who had missed an email about the Hospitium Taster event (and just missed the deadline of Feb 14^th) to be included. I apologise, once again, for any offense (sic) I may have caused.”

An interview with York Open Studios 2025 chair Christine Storrs will appear in The York Press and at charleshutchpress.co.uk on Thursday.

Visitors to Wolf At The Door on the first weekend of Jill Tattersall and Sylvia Schroer’s exhibition

UPDATE, 11/4/2025

How did the first weekend go, Jill?

“WE had a truly delightful and inspiring weekend: 240 visitors (a third or so of last year’s total, but plenty) and massive appreciation, pleasure – and fascinating conversations. The weather of course helped. A mix of repeat visitors and new friends in the making – and some sales (though not an easy year for that I guess.)

“There seems a strong will for more creative effort and collaboration in York. I had some really good talks with younger visitors as well as older ones.

“So it has worked beautifully. I love the interchange of ideas and information, the coincidences – and the sociability. And, somehow, we’ve squeezed it all in.

“Times are bleak and, for many, there’s not much cash to spare. Our main aim is to celebrate art and to share some light and colour so, truly, no-one should feel pressure to buy.

“Just come and enjoy yourself (I do hope!). My art concentrates on light and dark, colour and natural patterns (such as the starling murmurations so much discussed amongst us all). Sylvia’s work in the basement has attracted lots and lots of praise for its inventiveness and variety.”

Comments in the Wolf At The Door visitors’ book on the first weekend. “A huge thank-you to all our visitors of last weekend,” says Jill. “We had a truly delightful, sun-filled time opening the house and studio and chatting to old friends and, it feels, new”

February 8, 2025March 20, 2025

‘Missed off the billing for York Open Studios 2025’, here comes The Other Collective show at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb

Lu Mason’s rag rug Agitate Educate Organise, her spin on the “Educate, agitate, organise” slogan first coined by by the Social Democratic Federation, a British socialist organisation whose members included artist William Morris, in a 1883 pamphlet

CURATED by Bluebird Bakery, in Acomb, York, The Other Collective brings together the work of Lu Mason, Ric Liptrot, Rob Burton, Liz Foster and Jill Tattersall until March 13.

“These wonderful artists were all missed off the billing for York Open Studios 2025 and we felt that was a real shame,” says Bluebird boss Nicky Kippax. “So The Other Collective was born and we hope the work will get a lot of interest from our customers.”

Self-taught artist and retro DJ Lu Mason started making rugs in the early 1980s but stopped for nearly 25 years when she worked as an occupational therapist. She took up rug making again during the pandemic lockdown and has not looked back since. “I love using recycled materials and hessian and the simplicity of the materials and process,” she says.

“As an occupational therapist, some of the ‘just do it’ approach to creative activities – i.e. use what you’ve got, even if it isn’t perfect – has definitely crossed over to my own practice at home and in my studio.”

Lu applies her distinctive figurative shapes in her rag rugs, created with wool she has gathered together, and uses unusual media, from cut paper and recycled wool to Perspex and spray paint, in her towering mobiles, dramatic murals and installations and bold jewellery too.

“Be true to yourself, not what other people expect of you,” she says. “It takes time to find your own individual ‘style’, but actually every single thing you do will have your identity all over it.”

Lu made Royal Academy of Arts history in 2021 when her Magician work was the first rag rug to be displayed in the RA’s Summer Exhibition.

*“I am a great believer in supporting the high street,” says artist Ric Liptrot*

Ric Liptrot, whose parents ran a newsagents in Runcorn, has drawn buildings in York since moving here 15 years ago, now with a particular focus on shops, pubs and cafes in the city, not least on independent businesses on the eve of closure.

“I am a great believer in supporting the high street,” says Ric, whose original artwork is created using collage, acrylic paint, stencils and dip pen. “Limited-edition prints are available as well as greetings cards and calendars.”

Ric has just completed a residency at York Conservation Trust, where he was commissioned to paint five large plywood panels. Each panel focused on a quarter of central York with the fifth illustrating the “cultural” quarter. These panels now hang at De Grey House, in St Leonard’s Place, York.

*Rob Burton: Celebrating colour, texture, fabric in layers of imagery*

Rob Burton is a researcher, Teesside University academic and “critical artist”, working in textile art, whose research explores themes of memory, post-memory, hauntology*, identity and space, loss and transformation.

“My textile and fibre art practice textuality develops a conceptual dialogue between the innovative use of analogue, traditional approaches to making, and contemporary, emerging techniques and digital technologies,” says Rob.

He creates colourful printed textile, fabric and mixed-media artworks that represent the stories we tell. “Inspired by literature, iconography and personal stories, my latest works celebrate colour, texture, fabric in layers of imagery,” he says.

“In symbols, colours, shapes and digitally printed photographs, the unexpected often arises and visual tales arise.”

*Liz Foster: Her work centres around ideas of memory and the passing of time*

Born in Leeds in 1971 and now based near York, Liz Foster studied Fine Art (Drawing and Painting) at the Glasgow School of Art, later undertaking an MA at the University of Hull, where she researched visual perception theory in relation to contemporary painting practice.

“My work centres around ideas of memory and the passing of time, which I explore through the application of abstract imagery, repetition and animated mark-making,” says Liz, who uses colour with a playful and intuitive approach.

“My paintings are abstract, reflecting my thoughts, feelings and memories but not illustrating them. The material quality of the paint is equally as important as the theme and colour is always central to what I do.

“Painting is a fundamental expression of who I am, it is my language. I find joy in the materials and each work is a new adventure, posing questions and challenges that are limitless and fascinating.”

Liz has exhibited widely, including at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London Art Fair, Royal Scottish Academy, Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate, Ferens Gallery , Hull, and York Art Gallery. She has work in both public and private collections, selling within Great Britain and abroad, and she has been long-listed for the John Moores Prize twice.

*The Shipping Forecast, Weather map, hand-made paper on marouflaged board, by Jill Tattersall*

Jill Tattersall works from a studio just off The Mount, in York, that she calls The Wolf at the Door. “There is a Wolf, a large one,” she says.

She has done many exhibitions, projects and commissions. “My work’s all over the place, from Peru to Tasmania, even the official residence in Rwanda,” says Jill, who lived in Brighton before moving to York.

She has been part of open studio networks in various places, helping to run them too, and she will be taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios for the first time in June, as well as holding a solo show at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, from May 5 to the end of June.

“My main obsession is with patterns,” says Jill. “They’re all around us; we’re made up of them ourselves. Force meets counter-force and patterns emerge: coasts and weather systems, stars and galaxies, trees and blood vessels, maps and mazes. It’s where science and art intersect!

The Other Collective exhibition is on show at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until March 13.

Exhibitions coming up at Bluebird Bakery in 2025, curated by Rogues Atelier artist, upholsterer and interior designer Jo Walton: Three Printmakers, from March 13; Jill Tattersall, from May 8; Clare M Wood, from July 3; Mandi Grant, from August 28; Di Gomery, from October 23 and Donna Taylor, from December 18.

*What is hauntology?

IN the words of Wikipedia: “Hauntology is a range of ideas referring to the return or persistence of elements from the social or cultural past, as in the manner of a ghost.

“The term is a neologism, fusing ‘haunting’ and ‘ontology’, introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1930 book Spectres Of Marx.”

November 14, 2022November 16, 2022

Five artists, three venues, one Winter Artists Open House in South Bank studios on Saturday for Christmas presents

*Everything Means Something, photographic collage, by Claire Morris*

FIVE York artists are opening studio spaces on Saturday from 11am to 4pm for early Christmas shopping opportunities at three South Bank locations.

“The Winter Artists Open House is a chance to support the city’s independent artists and maybe buy unique greetings cards, a print or eye-catching original artwork,” says participating painter Kay Dower. “All venues are within walking distance of each other with parking available.”

*Reflections Of York, acrylic, by Kay Dower*

At Kay’s Corner Gallery, at 2 Telford Terrace, YO24 1DQ, a selection of her artworks will be complemented by photographic collages by Claire Morris. Kay will be displaying original acrylic paintings and limited-edition prints of corners of York, the Yorkshire coast and quirky still-life objects, from Yorkie chocolate bars to York Gin bottles.

Claire will be decking the walls with her latest collection of fine-art photographs inspired by vintage books, for which she cuts the characters out of books, then dramatically lights and stages the shot so that the figures appear to jump off the page.

*Wizard, photographic montage, by Claire Morris*

Kate Buckley’s sculptural ceramics and Marie Murphy’s modern, geometric paintings, prints and illustrations can be found at 31 Wentworth Road, YO24 1DG. Kate’s porcelain is described as “origami meets porcelain”; indeed, seeing is believing in the way her elegant wall sculptures play with light and shadow. Marie uses flat blocks of colour and striking angles to produce a serene sense of calm in her urban landscapes.

At mixed-media artist Jill Tattersall’s Wolf At The Door studio, at 15 Cygnet Street, YO23 1AG, she works with paints, inks and dyes on handmade paper to create vivid, dreamlike art. Please note, the entrance to Cygnet Street is by the back gate on Nunthorpe Road.

Among Jill’s works will be a newly framed recycled cedarwood block depicting sunset and wind turbines. “It’s just stunning to me,” she said on rainswept Tuesday (15/11/2022). “It’s a miserable day but this little painting gleams in the gloom. It will be on display at my Open House this weekend, from my Waste Not series, which I always make as affordable as possible.”

Looking forward to the weekend eagerly, Kate says: “Enjoy a winter wander around the varied selection of art on offer by York artists and get some inspiration for your Christmas list.

“As well as art to peruse, there’ll be refreshments available at the South Bank Studios Art & Craft Winter Fair, running at Southlands Methodist Church, in Bishopthorpe Road, from 10am to 5pm on the same day, or at the independent cafés and eateries on Bishopthorpe Road.”

*The poster for Saturday’s Winter Artists Open House in South Bank, York*

February 1, 2022February 3, 2022

Westside story as York artists gather for Into The Blue exhibition at Pyramid Gallery

Adele Karmazyn’s show poster for Westside Artists’ Into The Blue

INTO The Blue, an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and prints by York’s Westside Artists, is running at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 13.

“This is an eclectic show of work by this collaboration of artists from the West of York,” says gallery owner Terry Brett. “In Pyramid’s 40th year in York, we’re keen to celebrate the wealth of talent here in our city, starting the year off with this beautiful show.”

*Jane Dignum’s poster for Westside Artists’ Into The Blue exhibition*

“Each artist has created new work to portray their personal interpretation and concept of the exhibition title, Into The Blue. With so many diverse disciplines, the exhibition really is a sight to behold.”

Taking part are Adele Karmazyn (digital photomontage); Carolyn Coles (painting); Donna Marie Taylor (mixed media); Ealish Wilson (mixed media and sculpture); Fran Brammer (textiles) and Jane Dignum (printmaking).

So to are Jill Tattersall (mixed-media collage); Kate Akrill (ceramics); Lucie Wake (painting); Mark Druery (printmaking); Richard Rhodes (ceramics); Sharon McDonagh (mixed media) and Simon Palmour (photography).

Pyramid Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, but closed on Sundays at present.

*Wake-up call: Lucie Wake’s poster to attract visitors to Into The Blue*

June 23, 2021June 24, 2021

Westside Artists to gain Momentum in summer show at Blossom Street Gallery

Autonomous, *mixed-media collage on box canvas*, by Sharon McDonagh, long-listed for the 2021 Aesthetica Art Prize and now to be shown in the Momentum Summer Show at Blossom Street Gallery, York

YORK art group Westside Artists open their Momentum Summer Show at Blossom Street Gallery, by Micklegate Bar, York, on Friday (25/6/2021).

This coterie of artists from the Holgate and West area of York will be showing a varied range of disciplines, from painting and photomontage to textiles, ceramics and mixed-media art.

Among the participating artists, and a key organiser too, is Sharon McDonagh, from Holgate, who had her mixed-media work long-listed for this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize, whose accompanying exhibition is running at York Art Gallery. One of Sharon’s submitted pieces, Autonomous, is now featuring in the Momentum show.

Joining her at Blossom Street Gallery are: Adele Karmazyn, digital photomontages; Carolyn Coles, seascapes; Donna Maria Taylor, mixed media; Ealish Wilson, textiles; Fran Brammer, textiles; Jane Dignum, prints; Jill Tattersall, mixed media; Kate Akrill, Skullduggery ceramics, and Lucy McElroy, portraits.

So too are: Lucie Wake, from Facet Painting, paintings and portraits; Marc Godfrey-Murphy, alias MarcoLooks, illustrations; Mark Druery, pen and watercolour sketches; Michelle Hughes, prints; Rich Rhodes, ceramics; Robin Grover-Jaques, painting and metalwork, and Simon Palmour, photographs.

The Momentum Summer Show will be gaining momentum until September 26. Gallery opening hours are: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 10am to 4pm; Covid-compliant measures are in place.

Untitled, ‘Dark and Light’ acrylic on canvas, by Robin Grover-Jacques

November 30, 2020November 30, 2020

Village Gallery to reopen with first group exhibition by York’s Westside Artists

VILLAGE Gallery, in Colliergate, York, will reopen on Wednesday (2/12/2020), when Lockdown 2 ends, to present the first collective exhibition for York’s Westside Artists.

Running until January 23 2021, Immersed will showcase the work of Adele Karmazyn; Carolyn Coles; Donna Maria Taylor; Ealish Wilson; Fran Brammer; Jane Dignum; Jill Tattersall; Lucy McElroy; Marc Godfrey-Murphy; Richard Rhodes; Robin Grover-Jacques and Sharon McDonagh.

“2020 has been an extremely hard year everyone, not least of all for artists, with many exhibitions and events being cancelled,” says gallery owner and curator Simon Main.

“So, Village Gallery is delighted to announce that its next post-lockdown exhibition will feature a group of local artists in their first collective showing.

“The ‘Westside Artists’ is a small group of artists based around Holgate in York, who work in varied disciplines, such as painting, photomontage, print making, collage textile art, pottery and mixed media, and in varied subjects, from landscapes and seascapes to portraiture and abstract.”

Village Gallery’s opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday, with Covid-secure social distancing measures in place.

“This exhibition is opening in time for everyone to find a truly unique Christmas gift while supporting local artists,” says Simon.

“Aside from its regularly changing art exhibitions, Village Gallery is York’s official stockist of Lalique glass and crystal, and additionally sells art, jewellery, ceramics, glass and sculpture, much of it the work of local artists.”

April 15, 2020April 17, 2020

No York Open Studios in April, but all that art still needs a new home, so look here…DAY SEVENTEEN

Here Be Monsteras ceramicist Kayti Peschke at work

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.

Meanwhile, York Open Studios artists are finding their own way to respond to the shutdown by filling their windows with their work instead. Look for #openwindowsyork2020 to locate them. “If you see one in your area while taking your daily exercise, take a picture and let us know,” they say.

Jill Tattersall, mixed media

THIS would have been Jill’s second York Open Studios since she and her The Wolf At The Door art enterprise moved north from Brighton.

Before turning to art, she taught mediaeval French literature, leading to her fascination with the creation myths: Norse, Eastern, European and Aboriginal. “I’m overawed by early cave and rock art, made long ago with the simplest, most elemental means. People looked up into the night sky, just as we do, and must have asked the same questions about their place in the universe.”

Coasts and maps have inspired her too. “I used to live as far from the sea as you can get on this island but, like most of us, I was fascinated by coastlines and the sea,” says Jill. ”I moved, and till recently lived on the south coast, where the light is fabulous. I try to avoid trite seaside scenes and ration myself to a few sea-related pieces a year.”

Town and country are key influences as well. “Subjects just crop up: loaves of bread, a stretch of pavement, a passing scene, reflections in a train window,” she says.

“Often I use my own hand-made cast or moulded cotton paper. I then apply washes of paints, inks, dyes and pure pigments to build up intense, glowing colours, combining gold and silver leaf with recycled elements. Labour intensive, highly individual. The paper has a seductive, unpredictable surface: I like the danger and uncertainty this brings. You can wreck a promising painting at any moment.”

Jill’s paintings are in collections from Peru to Tasmania. Since moving north, she has exhibited at Kunsthuis Gallery, The Dutch House, Crayke. Discover more at jilltattersall.co.uk.

Here Be Monsteras: Ceramics created in a garage studio in a Wolds garden

Here Be Monsteras, Kayti Peschke, ceramics

KAYTI creates ceramics under the name of Here Be Monsteras from her garage studio in her garden in the Wolds east of York.

Her background is in photography and magazine design, but a year ago she started making pottery and now she has converted full time. “It has become an obsession,” she says.

Kayti makes wheel-thrown ceramics with stoneware clays to create functional objects for the home. “A collection of special pieces that bring a bit of extra joy to the ordinary,” as she put it ahead of what would have been her York Open Studios debut.

“It has become an obsession,” says Kayti Peschke of her conversion to making pottery

She has been working on new collections, including screen-printing ceramics with artist Jade Blood, creating travel cups and a full dinnerware set, as well as collaborating with restaurants and cafés that serve their menus on her tableware.

“A cup of tea in a handmade cup really does taste better, maybe because the process feels more special or you take more time over it? I’m not sure why, but it’s true,” she says.

In her home studio, the cups of tea flow and her puppies hang out in the sunshine as she listens to BBC 6Music or podcasts. “I absolutely love being out there, creating, and hopefully this shows in the things I make.”

As testament to that, her ceramics can be found in York at Kiosk, Fossgate; Sketch By Origin, York Art Gallery; Walter & May, Bishopthorpe Road; Lotte The Baker, SparkYork and Botanic York, Walmgate. Take a look at herebemonsteras.com.

Gold needle necklace, by Joanna Wakefield

Joanna Wakefield, jewellery

DESIGNER jeweller Joanna’s work combines her two passions, jewellery and textiles, with the third essential element of her memories, observations and musings.

Joanna creates silver and gold jewellery inspired by textiles, haberdashery and her vintage collections and found objects.

Her work invokes a sense of nostalgia. Alongside button-inspired pieces is a delicate interpretation of handcrafted bobbins, thimbles, measures and needles.

Joanna first trained in design, specialising in textiles, having grown up in a family environment of three generations of needlewomen.

Joanna Wakefield: Switched from textile designs to jewellery designs

She travelled the world as a Fair Trade designer, but after more than ten years she could no longer ignore her desire to develop further creatively, leading her to re-train at York School of Jewellery.

“A huge part of my jewellery designs is influenced by textiles and haberdashery, stemming from a fascination that grew from admiring my Grandma’s talents and fond memories of sorting through her button stash,” says Joanna, whose work was to have featured in the MADE shop at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, from March 7 to June 21.

Take a shine to Joanna’s jewellery at joannawakefield.com.

” I’ve always had an interest in natural history and the British countryside,” says Mark Hearld

Mark Hearld, collage, printmaking and ceramics

MARK studied illustration at Glasgow School of Art and an MA in natural history illustration at the Royal College of Art in 1999 before breaking into the artistic world with exhibitions at Godfrey & Watt in Harrogate and St Jude’s in Norfolk and in London’s arty Lower Sloane Street.

He specialises in bright collages, paintings, limited-edition lithographic and lino-cut prints and now hand-painted ceramics, his work often involving animals and birds, flora and fauna.

“I’ve always had an interest in natural history and the British countryside,” says Mark, 46, who is strongly influenced too by mid-20th century art and design. “I like the idea of the artist working as a designer rather than making images to stick in a frame,” he reasons.

Mark Hearld: Birds, beasts, flora and fauna

He undertook a set-design commission for the 2005 film Nanny McPhee and has done design projects for Tate Britain – cups, jugs, plates and scarves – and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, where he held a solo show, Birds and Beasts, from November 2012 to February 2013.

In 2012, Merrell Books published Mark Hearld’s Work Book, the first book devoted to his work, and he has illustrated such books as Nicola Davies’s A First Book Of Nature (2012) and Nature Poems: Give Me Instead Of A Card (2019).

He curated the Lumber Room exhibition at the re-opened York Art Gallery from August 2015 after its £8 million development project, as well as a re-imagining of the British Folk Art Collection at Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park. Contact him via mark.a.hearld@googlemail.com.

Lauren Terry, Lauren’s Cows, painting

Out in the fields: Lauren’s Cows artist Lauren Terry

LAUREN has moved out of Bar Lane Studios, not too far away, to a new studio workspace overlooking Micklegate Bar and Blossom Street, where her focus remains on creating vibrant cow paintings, prints and homeware.

Lauren’s Cows had began with a one-off painting of a cow that she painted while working as a waitress and actress in the heart of London.

Growing tired of city life, she craved a window to her country childhood. What better view than a curious cow peering in on her kitchen table?

The framer in North Yorkshire was so taken by the characterful cow that he offered to host an exhibition if Lauren agreed to paint 20 more of her beautiful beasts.

The response this debut show generated gave her the confidence to change career tack by launching her art business and brand, and so Lauren’s Cows was born in 2012: a daughter-and-mother partnership where Lauren paints character-filled cattle in heavy-bodied acrylic paint and designing items for the home in her York studio and Jude takes care of business from the family home at Crackenthorpe, Appleby-in-Westmoreland.

“I love what I do,” says Lauren. “Cows have such a curious nature and humorous personality that they just make me smile, and I take great pleasure in passing that smile on through my vibrant paintings. It’s all about capturing all the character while still remaining true to the breed.”

Lauren’s Cows can be found at laurenscows.com.

TOMORROW: Sharon McDonagh; Jane Dignum; Carolyn Coles; Adele Karmazyn and Nathan Combes