Lesley Seeger and Katherine Bree form Yorkshire-London collaboration for painting and gemstone show at Pyramid Gallery

Jewellery designer Katherine Bree, left, and landscape painter Lesley Seeger in the North Yorkshire countryside

PIGMENT & Stone, a collaborative exhibition between North Yorkshire landscape painter Lesley Seeger and London jewellery designer Katherine Bree, will run at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, from November 5 to November 27.

In this marriage of elementals, Bree has chosen Seeger’s paintings as inspiration for her new collection of gemstone treasures.

From the seed of an idea sown by the two artists during lockdown, Pigment & Stone has grown into a celebration of form and colour with an earthy elemental twist.

Pink Mountain, by Lesley Seeger, from the Pigment & Stone exhibition at Pyramid Gallery

“Steeped in the landscape of the Yorkshire countryside, Lesley’s paintings depict a unique interpretation of well-known places such as the Yorkshire Arboretum, Helmsley Walled Garden and the Yorkshire Wolds,” says Pyramid Gallery owner Terry Brett.

“Katherine has made pieces to reflect the colours, form and feel of these works. Paintings such as Pink Mountain and May Trees are complemented by necklaces, earrings and bracelets containing Amethyst, Serpentine and Garnets.

“Katherine divides her collections into the four elements – earth, air, fire and water – and this provides a perfect complement to Lesley’s elemental paintings, which she describes as talismans that ‘will reveal themselves over time with their rich histories of place, layers and colour’.”

Lesley Seeger at work in her North Yorkshire studio

Pigment & Stone promises to be a feast for both the eye and soul, promises Terry. “The earth gemstones of Tiger Eye, Malachite and Smoky Quartz are reflected in earthy paintings such as Shadow Play,” he says.

“Jewellery made from water element gemstones, such as Amazonite, Turquoise and Lapis Lazuli, is inspired by paintings such as Magic Garden and Rabbit Dale. Water element gemstones are said to be specifically linked with the season of autumn with a reputation for cleansing, healing and bringing a psychic and loving element. Best hurry along and buy your talismans now. We could all do with plenty of that ‘loving element’.”

Pigment & Stone will be launched on November 5 with an open day from 11am to 3pm. Gallery opening hours are: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; Sundays, 12 noon to 4pm; from mid-November to Christmas, 11am to 4.30pm.

The Sacred Tree, by Lesley Seeger, from Pigment & Stone, her collaborative exhibition with Katherine Bree at Pyramid Gallery from November 5

No York Open Studios this weekend, but all that art still needs a new home, so look here…DAY 26

York Theatre Royal, illustration, by Ric Liptrot

LAST weekend should have been spent visiting other people’s homes, not staying home. This weekend too.

This is not a cabin-fevered call for a foolhardy Trumpian dropping of the guard on Covid-19, but a forlorn wish that York Open Studios 2020 could have been just that: York Open Studios. Instead, they will be York Shut Studios.

Nevertheless, in the absence of the opportunity to meet 144 artists at 100 locations, banished by the  Coronavirus lockdown, CharlesHutchPress is determinedly championing 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, a handful of artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios are being 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. Home and studio addresses will not be included at this lockdown time.

Meanwhile, York Open Studios artists are finding their own way to respond to the shutdown by filling their windows for #openwindowsyork2020, while plenty are showcasing their work over the York Open Studios period online. Visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk to take your own virtual tour.

The website says: “We’re doing a Virtual Open Studios, with artists posting based on a daily theme for the ten days spanning our two weekends. They’ll be showing you their studios and workshops, favourite processes, answering your questions, and of course lots of pictures of their new work.

“Search for #YorkOpenStudios anywhere on social media or follow your favourite artists to see more.”

First, however, here are six more artists and makers for you to discover…

Birds Heart, by Sarah Raphael-Balme

Sarah Raphael-Balme, painting

SARAH makes figurative work spanning interiors, gardens, portraits and decorative motifs usually involving figures or creatures, painted mainly in oil, sometimes in gouache.

Sarah Raphael-Balme: Painting in oil and gouache

A graduate of Chelsea College of Art, Sarah has shown her work widely in the UK and USA. Her illustrations are published by IPC magazines, BBC publications, Heinneman and countless others.

She is exhibiting solo with House of Hackney concurrently in New York and London. Go to instagram.com/raphael_balme for more.

The Enchanted Forest, depicting the sacred and spiritual nature of trees, from Lesley Seeger’s 2020 series, Whispers Of Spring

Lesley Seeger, painting

INSPIRED by the natural world, Lesley paints landscapes and abstract florals, her lyrical work marked by an exploration of the emotional impact of colour.

“Although all my work begins ‘in the field’ with observation, ‘painting what I see’, I realise that it quickly becomes, ‘how what I see makes me feel’. How trees and hills and furrow sit together in the language of light and dark,” she says.

“I’m interested in the significance of place. This might be somewhere well known, such as Ripon Cathedral or the White Horse at Kilburn, or a random field or view in which the way things are placed in the landscape makes it out of the ordinary.”

“I like to think of my paintings as talismans,” says Lesley Seeger

Lesley is a self-taught artist, whose work over 23 years now has been inspired by sculpture studies at York College, as much as by the art of Gillian Ayres, Howard Hodgkin, Elizabeth Blackadder, Mary Fedden and Ivon Hitchens.

“At a certain point, the painting takes over and I become interested in pattern, mark making, colour and texture as vehicles of expanding what I see,” she says. “The work becomes intuitive…. a hybrid between the observed and imagined, the seen and felt.’

Born in Newcastle in 1958,Lesley studied English and Media at Southampton University, then worked in theatre and publishing and qualified as an art therapist at Sheffield Hallam University. She worked for several years in community arts in York, most notably a six-year residency at York Hospital, where she ran art projects in the renal unit. 

Ripe Corn Before The Storm, by Lesley Seeger

Last year she was artist-in-residence at the Yorkshire Arboretum, near Castle Howard; this year, she holds the same post at Brisons Veor, Cape Cornwall.

Lesley, who runs painting workshops, published the art book Coming Home, A Contemporary Colourist’s Approach To English Landscape in late-2016, and also designs cards and linen cushions. Upcoming shows pencilled in for 2020 are Art for Youth North and Art& York, both in October.

“I like to think of my paintings as talismans,” she says. “They will reveal themselves over time with their rich histories of place, layers and colour.” Time to visit lesleyseeger.com.

Bangle Pair, by Evie Leach

Evie Leach, jewellery

EVIE decided to follow her creative passion by studying jewellery and silversmithing at the Birmingham School of Jewellery.

There, her basic knowledge, learned from her jeweller parents, transformed into traditional skills.

Evie Leach at work

Her trademark is angular designs with inspiration taken from geometry found in nature and architecture, while more recent designs include semi-precious gemstones set beside angled clusters of gold and silver to create dynamic, one-of-a-kind pieces.

Not only would PICA Studios jeweller Evie have been taking part in York Open Studios, but also her husband, self-taught artist Mick Leach, would have been making his YOS debut. Cast an eye over her designs at evieleach.co.uk.

The Hairy Fig and Kiosk, in Fossgate, by Ric Laptrot

Ric Liptrot, illustration

FREELANCE illustrator Ric captures everyday life in York, depicting its distinctive and much-loved sites in acrylics, pencils, collage and mono-print.

“I’m inspired by the architecture and scenes of York,” says the PICA Studios artist. “I combine my passion for these buildings with my support for the independent businesses York has to offer.

Ric Liptrot: Inspired by the architecture and scenes of York

“I’m an ambassador for these shops, bars and cafés and believe they’re important in helping communities grow.”

Take a look at Ric’s illustrations that “capture the places loved by the local community” at liptrotillustration.co.uk.

Ursa Major And Minor, by Katrina Mansfield

Katrina Mansfield, painting

KATRINA creates vivid, fascinating “fluid art animal inks”, using alcohol ink on synthetic Yupo paper to depict the animals, birds and insects.

The paper allows a longer working time with the ink, “the most intriguing medium and at the same time the most frustrating”.

“It can produce magical results that you get lost in for hours and hours, but it can also destroy the most striking pattern in the blink of an eye,” says Katrina. “It is exactly like nature itself, devastatingly beautiful.”

“Ink is the most intriguing medium and at the same time the most frustrating,” says Katrina Mansfield

In turn, this is why she chose the subject of animals. “The creatures of this Earth are both fragile and unbreakable, they are flawless and yet also imperfect. They add colour to our human lives, yet they are increasingly in danger of becoming extinct through our actions. This series of works is a reminder to all that we need the diversity, beauty and intelligence of these creatures in order to survive.”

Now a PICA Studios artist, Katrina trained in fine art and scenic art at York College, Lincoln University and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She worked in television, film and theatre for a decade, latterly in the West End and West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, before returning to York in 2018 to focus on developing her new process of fluid art animal inks.

“The paintings take anything from one to four weeks to finish and are principally made without the use of a paintbrush,” she says. “I only use a brush if I have no other option or to place the white in the eyes; everything else is formed from the natural flow of the ink.” Animal ink magic awaits at katrinamansfieldartist.co.uk.

Wall hangings from Kitty Pennybacker’s textile range

Kitty Pennybacker, textiles

KNITWEAR designer Kitty combines cording, knitting, weaving and felting to create a textile collection of super-soft homeware items, such as wall hangings, neckerchiefs, baby blankets and knee throws.

“The work re-imagines the tartan and tweed fabrics of my childhood in North Yorkshire,” says Kitty, who gained an MA in Fashion Design and Society from Parsons School of Design, New York, after her BA in Fashion Textiles Design at the University of Brighton.

She has worked within the fields of fashion and television in New York and London and is now part of the PICA Studios art and design hub. Learn more at kittypennybacker.com.

Kitty Pennybacker : Knitwear designer

TOMORROW: Mim Robson, Lesley Shaw, Elena Skoreyko Wagner, Ealish Wilson and Greg Winrow.