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.
A sculptural ceramic by Kate Buckley
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
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.
“The imperfections tell the story of the making,” says Kate Buckley
Kate Buckley, sculptural porcelain
ORIGINALLY
from North Wales, Kate has lived in York for two decades as a partner, mother,
teacher, artist and designer.
Having taught for more than 20 years, now she has graduated with a first-class contemporary craft degree from York College and is a UK prize winner in the Eleanor Worthington International Art Prize in Tertiary Education (Italy and the UK).
Porcelain meets origami in her thought-provoking sculptural works that favour a stripped-back colour palette focusing on light and shade. She uses slip-cast and press-moulded folded parchment and linen, together with folded surface distortion in concrete and plaster.
Kate Buckley: Demonstrating the delicacy of paper in porcelain
“The product is the sum
of the process and the imperfections tell the story of the making,” says Kate,
who is a member of the British Origami Society and artist-in-residence at York
College.
“My time there is spent
striving to express the delicacy of paper in porcelain and investigating how
geometry, repetition and folding capture the interplay of shadow and light and
embrace the space between.”
Since 2017, Kate has exhibited in York (According To McGee, Village Gallery), Harrogate, Newcastle (Holy Biscuit), London (Art. Number 23) and Urbino, Italy, and last year at Kunsthuis Gallery’s Shades of Clay exhibition at The Dutch House, Crayke, and Art& York, York Racecourse. She will return to Art& York from October 23 to 25 this autumn. Go to katebuckley.co.uk to learn more.
Wet York, by Kay Dower
Kay Dower, painting
KAY is the resident
artist at Corner Gallery, which she first ran in Scarcroft Road for 18 months and
now operates from her home.
“Having more space allows me to showcase more art to more people in the context of a relaxed, contemporary home, and of course there’s the excuse to make more of a party out of it,” she reasons. “I’m all for a casual approach to art with a dollop of fun and fizz thrown in for good measure.”
Kay Dower in her studio
Starting out as an “unserious, serious artist”,
she now paints with lashings of acrylics, using a
palette knife to give her paintings a sense of freedom and texture. Subjects
range from everyday ‘still life’ objects, whether pears or Prosecco, gerberas or
gin bottles, to quirky scenes of York.
Among these are classic
York buildings and corners of York, depicted from fresh angles, such as York Racecourse
and Bishopthorpe Road. “These are artworks that don’t want to hide
behind glass,” she says.
YORK retro book-art photographer Claire likes to encourage people to think about their favourite books in a different way when she brings vintage book covers and iconic characters to life through the lens
“I’ve always
had an interest in photography and creating pop-up books,” says Claire, whose primary influence was American photographer
Thomas Allen, who would cut characters out of pulp-fiction books and then
photograph them.
“I loved this concept so much, I started doing my own versions.
His were a bit sexy and I wanted mine to be cleaner.”
Inspired by
vintage fictional books, Claire uses
paper-cutting techniques to partially free the characters from the book, before
dramatically lighting and staging the shot to give the impression of the figure
coming to life from the pages, creating a 3D, retro-cool image.
Claire Morris pictured when she exhibited at Pocklington Arts Centre
Claire divides her time between working in the health sector and scouring charity shops and second-hand book sales, sourcing images and materials for her next art piece.
“I find inspiration from the characters on the front of the books. There’s something so iconic about book covers from the 1950s,” she says. “I like to highlight the emotions that the characters are showing and telling their story by placing them into a new situation.”
As well as
being a permanently featured artist at Kay Dower’s Corner Gallery, Claire has
exhibited this year at Pig & Pastry, Bishopthorpe Road, The
Gallery, Malton, and Pocklington Arts Centre. Take a look at clairemorris.photography.
Answering Light, by Emma Whitelock
Emma Whitelock, painting
DEPICTING evocative land and
seascapes in an expressive style, Emma’s work often incorporates a lone female
figure as a tiny abstract symbol.
Seeking to portray an emotional
connection to land and sea, how the outer world can reflect the inner, the expansiveness of nature acts as a foil to human concerns with
memory and solitude.
Her inspiration varies from the dramatic Yorkshire moors and coast, to the exceptional light and vibrancy of Cornish summers.
Emma Whitelock: Depicting land and seascapes
“Using acrylic with
mixed media, I build layers that evolve intuitively to create textured,
semi-abstract works, where I aim to transport the viewer to wild places,” says
Emma.
Her use of colour is both dramatic and ethereal, often giving the
works the feeling of being poised on the borderline between day and night. “They
are charged moments, filled with remembrances past and possibilities for
the future,” she says.
One of Emma’s paintings, featuring a seagull, was used by York
Settlement Community Players for artwork for Helen Wilson’s production of Anton
Chekhov’s The Seagull at the York Theatre Royal Studio earlier this year. Head
to emmawhitelock.co.uk for more info.
Peter Donohoe: Exploring the relationship between two people
Peter Donohoe, sculpture
PETER’S sculptures explore
the relationship between two people, friends, lovers, real or imagined.
Having graduated from
Leeds College of Art in 1969 with an honours degree in sculpture, he worked in
mainstream theatre and the museum display industry as a prop maker and
commercial sculptor. This gave him a broad experience of both materials and
technique.
Peter Donohoe has developed an alternative approach to figurative sculpture
In 2005, he left full-time
employment to concentrate on his personal work and to develop an alternative
approach to figurative sculpture.
His sculptures are in
hand worked copper, patinated and mounted on stone. Visit his website at
peterdonohoe.co.uk.
