Rory was getting excited again! As we followed the stepping stones down the garden to his studio he was enthusing about the paintings he had just created during the families half term holiday.
I had called round to photograph the paintings for the invitation,
“I’ve got a cracker for you for the front cover! and a couple of beauties I managed to finish on the spot”.
Ten years into our friendship and he still ‘sells the sizzle’. I think it is this positive attitude that shines through in Rory’s work. People pick up on it and respond to it.
Rory wears his heart on his sleeve in his paintings. We can clearly see the things he holds most dear. The titles of his pictures are peppered with references to family members, their favourite views, holiday spots and past times. The bible quotations that frequently adorn his work similarly attest to his Christian faith.
The creative process is also clearly important. Layer upon layer of paint, pencil and crayon add texture and depth to the surface. The term ‘mixed media’ could have been coined for Rory, he breaks all the rules, using watercolours like oils and oils like watercolours. Although spontaneous in execution the palette and composition are always carefully worked out.
But let me stop now, I’m over analysing, really the paintings speak for themselves – come and let them speak to you.
Drew Wilson
Drinks Preview Thursday 10th July 6 - 8pm, all welcome.
Exhibition runs from Friday 11th - Saturday 26th July inclusive.
In conjunction with Victoria Fine Art we are delighted to present a selling exhibition of 19th and 20th century Impressionist paintings.
Originating in France in the 1860s, Impressionism was the first of the modern artistic movements. It focused on transitory visual impressions, often painted directly from nature, with an emphasis on the changing effects of light and colour.
We believe that all the paintings we have chosen in some way share these attributes. Sunsets, landscapes, still life, beach and river scenes they are all painted with dabs and strokes of colour and reflect the new found freedom enjoyed by these artists.
Included are over thirty paintings brought together from one of the largest collections of traditional and contemporary paintings in the British Isles.
Whilst the majority of artists are French we have also included the notable British artists William Lee-Hankey, Samuel John Lamorna Birch and Dorothea Sharp.
Preview Drinks Evening Thursday 12th June 6 - 8pm, all welcome.
Exhibition runs Friday 13th June - Saturday 28th inclusive.
We are gratefull to Jonathan Roberts of VFA for his assistance in the curating of this show.
The listings below here go backwards from recent events into the mists of time.....
Steven Jones spent his early childhood in Llysfaen, a small village in the hills of North Wales. The beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding landscape inspired him to sketch and paint.
He studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Wrexham Art College and went on to spend the next 4 years in London working as a freelance illustrator. Realising that the high pressure world of national newspapers and advertising agencies wasn’t for him, he decided to return to his native Wales in search of more creative freedom and inspiration.
He found it in the themes beloved of the French Impressionists; families relaxing on the beach, children engrossed in their own worlds of play, sun sparkling on the water, light and colour.
“Over the years my own children, Robin, Lois & Elan have been my inspiration. Watching them tear around the beach and then trying to capture the constant movement of sea, figures and light has been a great challenge and pleasure.”
Steven soon developed his own style influenced by the Newlyn School and the work of Monet, Morisot and Degas.
The family now lives close to the mountains of Snowdonia and the beaches of Anglesey, an idyllic place to live, thrive and paint.
Preview Drinks Evening Thursday 15th May 6 - 8pm, all welcome.
Exhibition runs Friday 16th - Saturday 31st May inclusive.
A selection of the paintings can be viewed on the Steven Jones page in our 'Gallery' section.
Our picture framer Sarah Sharp has just passed her exam to become a Fine Art Trade Guild Commended Framer.
Sarah who has been a full time professional picture framer for over 20 years, decided that
this year her skills would finally get official recognition.
So despite being rather an old hand at the game, she determinedly pored over the study
guide, carefully prepared her example pieces and nervously traipsed off to Birmingham
to sit the exam.
Although admitting that she hadn’t slept very well the night before and that the
last exam she had taken had been her driving test, Sarah still passed with flying colours.
So well done our Sarah!
We are pleased to announce that the recipient of this years A&K Wilson Gallery Award at the RBA was Andrew Macara RBA NEAC for his painting, 'Winter Tree Shadows, Derbyshire'. I was taken with it when I saw it illustrated in the catalogue, but in the flesh it was even better. The crisp snow and purpley blue shadows sang out from across the room, a real treat.
Between Christmas and New Year, Karin and I had the pleasure of a trip up to Cromer to visit our friend Paul Darley and collect some paintings from him in preparation for his show with us here in March.
We had the chance to rifle through his plan chest were he stores his work and came across some absolute gems.
Amongst which was a whole suite of lovely paintings of cows, a subject Paul had never mentioned or shown me previously...
he really is a dark horse, ( 'scuse the pun !).
Preview Evening Thursday 13th March, 6-8 pm, all welcome.
Exhibition runs Friday 14th - Saturday 29th March inclusive
A selection of the paintings can be viewed on the Paul Darley page in our 'Gallery' section.
Katharina paints beautiful realist still lives. She relishes the reflective quality of highly polished metals and the refraction of light through glass and water. Her approach to painting is methodical and scholarly with colours often pains takingly mixed from their constituent parts to acheive subtleties unobtainable 'straight from the tube'.
Her originals may take her many months to complete and having lavished so much time and effort on them, when they are finally finished Katharina is often loath to part with them.
So instead she reproduces them as high quality limited edition giclee prints and only when she is completely satisfied that they are a true and faithful likeness to the original will she sign and hand number them.
Preview Evening Thursday 21st February, 6-8 pm, all welcome.
Exhibition which runs from Friday 22nd February to Saturday 8th March inclusive.
A selection of the prints can be viewed on the Katharina Kubrick page in our 'Gallery' section.
In association with Victoria Fine Art we shall be holding an exhibition of works by Ivan Taylor.
Ivan was born in Staffordshire, in 1946.
After studying Fine Art and Graphics at Stoke and Stafford Colleges, he worked as a graphic artist in industry, and went on to become Head of Graphics for Staffordshire County Council Education Department.
He had his first one-man exhibition in 1972 and has been a full time painter since 1989, showing in galleries in England and Wales as well as fulfilling commissions.
In 2006 he was a prize winner at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours exhibition at the Mall Galleries.
Ivan is currently the President of the Society of Staffordshire Artists.
We are gratefull to Alex Lockhart of VFA for his assistance in the curating of this show.
Preview Evening Thursday 24th January, 6-8 pm, all welcome.
Exhibition runs from Friday 25th January - Saturday 9th February inclusive.
A selection of the paintings can be viewed on the Ivan Tayor page in our 'Gallery' section.
We are having ourselves a 'Merry Little Christmas Show',of semi-festively themed, present priced work, by a selected group of artists.
Some are old friends of the gallery,( Bill Dean, Andrew King, Paul Darley, Frank Taylor), but also we welcome new faces Ele Pack and Clarissa Galliano ( Clarissa won the 'A&K Wilson Gallery Award' at the The Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition last year).
Also new for us, a Sunday Preview !,
so please join us between 2 and 5 on Sunday the 2nd December for mulled wine and mince pies and a chance to get a sneaky head start to your celebrations.