Staithes Festival of Art and Heritage

December 16, 2025December 16, 2025

Donna Maria Taylor’s paintings of rugged hills and mountain landscapes rise high at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb from Thursday

Artist Donna Maria Taylor at work in her “bright and airy” Studio 1 at South Bank Studios, York. Picture: Paul Oscar Photography

SOUTH Bank Studios resident artist Donna Maria Taylor’s latest collection of paintings will be on display at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, from Thursday, when she will attend the 6pm to 9pm launch.

At the invitation of Bluebird artistic curator Jo Walton and bakery co-owner and poet Nicky Kippax, her This Rugged Earth exhibition will run for eight weeks until February 12 2026.

Inspired by the world around her and her travels both here in the United Kingdom and Europe, the majority of the new work nods to her love of rugged hillscapes and mountainous landscapes.

Donna exhibits regularly, this year taking part in York Open Studios, North Yorkshire Open Studios and the Saltaire and Staithes art festivals, as well as exhibiting in Skipton, Danby, Scarborough and Lincoln.

Her Bluebird Bakery exhibition, however, brings her work much closer to home. “Therefore I’m thrilled to have my paintings exhibited here,” she says.

Alongside her professional art practice, Donna is a fully qualified and experienced tutor, offering regular art workshops in York, as well as art retreats to Southern Morocco, Andalusia in Spain and Tuscany in Italy.

Next year, she will be opening her South Bank studio for the seventh consecutive year for York Open Studios (April 18/19 and 25/26 2026), and she will exhibit in the main gallery space of York Hospital, Wiggington Road, York, from September 2026 onwards.

The poster for Donna Maria Taylor’s launch of This Rugged Earth at Rise:@Bluebird Bakery

Here, Donna discusses This Rugged Earth, her highly productive 2025 and plans for next September’s York Hospital show with CharlesHutchPress.

Does the look of Rise/Bluebird Bakery influence your choice of artworks to be shown there?

“Only in terms of scaling up the size of some of my paintings to fill the space. Given that I’m used to painting large backdrops in the theatre though, going a little bigger is no real problem. It just means more paint and bigger brushes!

“I do think that the colour palette I’ve been using recently compliments Bluebird’s interiors, but I’m not someone who creates original artwork to match a room. My work is personal to me and hopefully forms a cohesive collection, no matter where it’s shown.”

What draws you to rugged hillscapes and mountainous landscapes?

“Something within me I guess – maybe it stems from walks I used to enjoy as a child in the Peak District…or family holidays in the Lake District and North Wales? I also spent three winter seasons working as a ski instructor in the Austrian Alps when I was younger, so maybe that’s it?

Loch Long, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor

“I love the drama of rugged landscapes, the fresh air and the connection you have with nature. Although I don’t think I could live permanently in the countryside, I’ll often spend my spare time there – sketching, en-plein-air painting, walking or mountain biking with family and friends.”

Where have you travelled in Europe recently?

“I’ve been lucky enough to travel through quite a few places – Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria – mainly because I chose the ‘slow travel’ option to reach my art retreat destinations.

“I also came back from Italy via Slovenia this time: a place I’ve never visited before. The scenery there is stunning, although you do have to be aware of bears – not something we have to worry about when wandering around in this country…”

How do the opportunities to teach in Morocco, Andalusia and Tuscany come about? What do your sessions cover?

“They come via word of mouth and recommendations really. My first Moroccan holiday came about when I tripped and broke my foot whilst working on stage in the theatre back in 2018, meaning I couldn’t walk for several months.

Hole Of Horcum, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor

“I had a lot of time on my hands and was stuck at home all day, so what was I to do? Make exciting plans for the future, of course!

“I’d already run a couple of art holidays in the UK, so going further afield and combining my love of art and travel felt like the perfect next step. By that point, I’d also had more than 20 years’ experience teaching adults, so I was used to working with a wide range of groups and abilities.

“Sketchbooks have always played an important role on the retreats because they allow you to get out and explore. When you’re somewhere new, that’s essential – so that you really get a sense of the place.

“The sketchbook becomes a sort of visual diary; a real record of your time spent there. Sketchbooks also make the retreats accessible to everyone, from complete beginners onwards.

“I encourage the use of a range of media in them, including watercolour, collage and acrylics. Of course, some people prefer to focus on more finished pieces, and that’s absolutely fine too. As an experienced educator you learn to adapt to each person’s needs.”

La Tania, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor

What do your art classes and workshops cover?

“There’s a wide range of media and techniques: watercolours, inks, acrylic, print, collage, pastels and oils. I try to encourage learners to experiment, play with the mediums and really develop their own style, but observational drawing is also an important and fundamental part of it all too. It’s all about ‘learning to see’ and creating your own visual language.

“I think coming from a theatre background really has given me a multi-disciplinary approach to both my art and my teaching.”

How did your exhibitions in 2025 compare and contrast: Skipton, Danby, Scarborough, Lincoln, York Open Studios, North Yorkshire Open Studios (NYOS), Saltaire, Staithes and York Hospital (from November 2025 to February 2026)? It sounds like a very busy, very productive year.

“Yes, I perhaps packed a little too much into my calendar this year, but I do like to keep busy. The exhibitions organised through NYOS, York Hospital and the gallery were fantastic for getting my work out in front of new audiences, but festivals and events are quite different because you get to meet and engage with the people who want to talk to you about your work, so it becomes far more interactive and personal.

Les Chenus, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor

“Also, you’re often working alongside other artists at events too, which I love. It’s harder work but very rewarding.”

Looking ahead, what will you exhibit in the York Hospital main gallery space from next September?

“New work that hopefully doesn’t exist yet! As an artist, I’m always striving to stretch myself and find new ways of expressing myself, so the answer to that really is ‘watch this space’…”

What is the function of art in a hospital?

“Having art in hospitals genuinely makes a difference to the lives of patients, visitors and staff alike. I know this from personal experience but also from the lovely messages people sometimes send me to tell me how much seeing my work has meant to them or made their day.”

Donna Maria Taylor: back story

ORIGINALLY from South Yorkshire, Donna completed Art Foundation course after A-levels, followed by degree in Multi-disciplinary Design.

Began career in Stoke-on-Trent as textile and ceramic tile/mural designer before gaining a distinction in her Postgraduate Diploma in Theatre Design.

Led to long and varied career in theatre design and production, allowing her to draw on wide range of creative skills. Worked in theatres across UK and abroad before moving to York in 2000 to take up post of full-time scenic artist at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.

Continues to work regularly with Yorkshire theatres, including Leeds Playhouse and York Theatre Royal, where she served as prop maker and workshop facilitator for this summer’s community production, His Last Report.

Well known for creating large-scale animal puppets that first appeared in the York Minster Mystery Plays, From Darkness Into Light, in 2016.

Alongside her theatre work, Donna contributes to community art projects, including two pieces inspired by the work of artist John Piper, now on display at Southlands Methodist Church.

Based at Studio 1, South Bank Studios, Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road,
York, where you can visit her by appointment (donnataylorart@icloud.com) .

Join her mailing list at https://donnamariataylor.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=f53feedf07e7c7ef532cecaba&id=a9ce963475 to be the first to learn of her latest art news, including information on new courses, workshops and art holidays to Morocco, Spain and Italy.

View Donna’s paintings and learn more about her extensive career in the arts at: www.donnamariataylor.com. She is on Facebook: @DonnaTaylorArt; Instagram: @donnataylorart.

July 26, 2020July 31, 2020

Carolyn Coles loves to be besides the sea as tide comes in for Village Gallery show

YORK seascape artist Carolyn Coles will hold her first exhibition since lockdown at Village Gallery, Colliergate, York, from August 4 to September 19.

Favouring a limited palette to give her work identity, simplicity and life, Carolyn paints mostly on bespoke canvasses in oils and sometimes acrylics, applied with palette knives and flat brushes.

“I like to capture atmosphere, usually with a leaning towards dark and moody and generally on a larger scale,” she says.

Carolyn’s formal artistic education began with studying art and design at York College, then specialising in illustration at Hereford College of Art and Design, earning distinctions in the early 1990s.

After a career taking in marketing art materials and graphic design and illustration in journalism, Carolyn now devotes her time to painting, exhibiting and selling work both on the home market in York, London, Derby, Manchester and Leeds and internationally too.

Carolyn’s love of the seaside and nature in general is reflected in her new collection. “The impressionistic style allows the viewer to interpret their own story and pull their own memories back into play,” she says.

Carolyn was invited by curator and owner Simon Main to mount her “Oh I Do Like To Be Besides The…” show at Village Gallery.

“We select artists by going out to events like York Open Studios and North Yorkshire Open Studios, Art& and the Staithes art festival… and occasionally we get artists coming through the door, canvasses under their arms, trying to find a place to show,” he says.

“We met Carolyn and saw her work at her first York Open Studios show back in 2019 and were so taken with her seascapes – many inspired by and maybe giving a different perspective of the Yorkshire coastline – that we started talking about a show.

“The exhibition starting next week is the result of over a year of talking and getting a match in the diary. So, we are delighted we have finally made it and are really looking forward to hanging Carolyn’s beautiful work. And who doesn’t love Filey?”

Here Carolyn talks the easel life with Charles Hutchinson.

You were due to exhibit at York Open Studios and Staithes Festival of Art and Heritage Festival this year, both alas cancelled. Will those works now form the Village Gallery exhibition?
“Yes. All except one of my bigger pieces that found its new home just before lockdown; a new one from a smaller set of works, which was bought as a special present for Mothering Sunday; another for a secret wedding, and lastly one I sold, giving all proceeds towards a group in York who set themselves up to make and distribute face visors using 3-D printing technology.

“The festival in Staithes usually happens in September, so I would have expected more new works by then.”

I Spy Something Beginning With W, by Carolyn Coles

What did you do in lockdown when you couldn’t go down to the sea?
“I tried my hand in home-schooling, which wasn’t anything like I had imagined it to be. I rearranged furniture and took over our dining room as a studio, which offered mixed results, partly because I’d forgotten what it was like to have an honest live audience offering encouraging suggestions.

“I couldn’t escape to the loft, my old studio space, as it was now my partner’s office from home. And although I couldn’t go to the sea, the lockdown gave me a brilliant opportunity to sit and immerse myself intensively in the seascapes I had just been working on.”

Where have you been painting since lockdown easement?
“I’ve been back in my studio with the Southbank Artists group at Southlands Methodist Church for a month now, and I’ve more than welcomed the return to what feels a bit like the old normal.

“I’ve been working on a commission, which is huge, so it’s probably just as well I’m not painting at home.”

Staithes In The Mist – Collectors Huddle, by Carolyn Coles

How does it feel to be painting en plein air again?
“I’ve not managed a huge amount of this yet but hope to when holidays come. Luckily, I enjoy working from photos and sketches, as a lot of my field trips are indeed family days out.

“I love painting with my daughter although I end up assisting, which does get easier with time. Nothing beats painting on location.”

6. What draws you to the sea as a subject matter? The sight, the sound, the light, the dark?
“Hands down, light is the winner. However, the energy, mystery, its patterns, unexpected treasures and its mood all play a massive part.

“I always feel I’m happy with a piece when I can hear the sound of the sea whispering its relentless chatter. I’ve always loved the sea. It’s just so completely fascinating.

Not Today, Runswick Bay, by Carolyn Coles

“I’ve spent hundreds of hours contemplating life looking at it. I was a big fan of fossil hunting in my twenties, though I never really thought about painting the sea back then. I think partly the reason for painting seascapes now is because it’s a good way to take myself back.”

How do you settle upon the painting techniques you use?

“Over the years, I’ve definitely settled into my way of working. I love using broad, flat brushes alongside palette knives, which enables more random marks, producing less contrived mark-making.

“I prefer oils, the soft buttery texture; the incredible depth of colour leaves acrylics standing really. But I do like to work with speed at times and acrylics do tick a lot of boxes. I also love working in lots of other media; charcoal is sublime.”

Time To Go III, Sandsend, by Carolyn Coles

Do you have a favourite seascape? Sandsend? Staithes? Wherever?
“I couldn’t say really as every place has its own merits. I’ve painted Sandsend a lot, but recently Filey has become more prominent. The light there can really be incredible.

“Runswick Bay can be as still as a milk pond – really quite surreal. Staithes has its own beauty but different again.

“I’m not fussy but do prefer quieter spots if I can find them. Saying that, Saltburn is incredible but more for messing about in the sea. Great wave action there.”

In the Yorkshire versus Northumberland battle for the best coastline award, which one wins?!
“Ask me again after the summer, as I’m planning a few trips to the Northumberland coast. I doubt it could beat Yorkshire, though I couldn’t say for sure yet. Maybe I’ll get marooned as fellow York artist Malcolm Ludvigsen did at Holy Island. It’s pretty easy to lose the sense of time when painting. I bet that was exciting!”

Who are your fellow artists in the Southbank Artists group. What do you most enjoy about working out of Southlands Methodists Church?

“There are 16 studios in all at South Bank Studios, ranging across all disciplines, even performance artists! I’d feel bad mentioning some rather than others, but they really are a great group to work with. A really interesting bunch. I’ve missed seeing them.

“Special thanks are always due to Donna Maria Taylor who gave me the chance to join her in her space at first, and who remains a brilliant source of support. It’s a great space to work in.

“My studio has a wonderful North light, which was lucky. It can be busy at times, but I feel very much at home there.”

Who are the Westside Artists? Will you be hosting a joint show at some point?

“The Westside Artists (York) – fondly known as ‘The Westies’ – came to be when we grouped together in early 2019. Our close proximity to each other was a great support network at the time and the reason for its name.

“Now we keep in touch offering each other support, advice, laughs. Sharing ideas, and even helping out in a material crisis, is perfect when working locally to one another.

“We’re planning to host a joint show in December, when there’ll be around 12 of us exhibiting at Village Gallery. We’re really looking forward to it.”

What’s coming next for you? Any upcoming shows?
“I have work being exhibited until next January at York Hospital, presently enjoyed by workers and patients, but no visitors. I’m really sad the Staithes festival has had to be cancelled, though it’s totally understandable obviously.”

“I always feel I’m happy with a piece when I can hear the sound of the sea whispering its relentless chatter,” says York seascape artist Carolyn Coles

Carolyn Coles, “Oh I Do Like To Be Besides The…” exhibition of seascape art at Village Gallery, Colliergate, York, August 4 to September 19. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm (4.30pm, Sundays).

For more information on Carolyn, go to her website: carolyncoles.co.uk.

Please note: Village Gallery’s Covid-secure etiquette:

“WE are only a little shop, so to conform as far as possible to social distancing, it will only be possible to have one person/family-friendly group in at a time,” says owner Simon Main.

“Even if you cannot see anyone in the shop when you arrive, please shout out to check it’s OK, as there may be people upstairs. And if you have to wait, please queue responsibly outside, maintaining that essential two-metre separation.”