‘Splendour in the Grass’ Garden Sculpture Exhibition 2023
After the cold and wet winter season we look forward to longer days, balmy evenings and with Summer around the corner when our thoughts turn to our gardens. With this in mind Old Chapel Gallery, Pembridge opens its annual garden sculpture exhibition ‘Splendour in the Grass’, showing the work of talented British designer/makers in a variety of media.
Opening on Saturday May 13 2023 the exhibition will run throughout the year.
We have worked with sculptor Helen Sinclair since we opened the gallery in 1989 and she is still a firm favourite. Helen makes semi-figurative sculpture, cast into either resin or bronze from originals which she makes in plaster, clay, wax, cardboard, wood.
The materials she works with are as stimulating to her as the subject matter.
Helen lives by the sea and collects driftwood, broken furniture, discarded plastic debris and other beach-found ‘stuff’, all of which regularly introduce a new and unexpected vocabulary to explore.
Like many ceramic artists Cathi Penter draws inspiration from her surrounding environment – predominantly the amazing landscape and woods she calls home. Nestled at the far end of The Malvern Hills, tucked at the edge of Herefordshire, home is a tumble-down cottage with a large, cultivated garden and an ancient coppice. – both crammed with seasonal flora and fauna.
Simon Meiklejohn is an artist engineer. He initially trained as a mechanical engineer before taking an art foundation course, then going on to complete a Fine Art Sculpture degree course.
He now combines both disciplines in the metal artwork he creates and his sculptures encompass a broad mixture of figurative, abstract & kinetic sculpture as well as ‘found object’ constructions.
Another newcomer to the sculpture garden is sculptor Nik Burns, who creates one of a kind Steampunk-style sculptures of animals, fish and insects. The combination of nature with machine is central to his creative practice and offers a common theme throughout the work as he continuously experiments with materials and processes. His sculptures are made predominantly from metal and are designed for exterior display.
Potter Lyn Harrison works in stoneware crank clay, a strong, gritty clay which has a grainy, rustic appearance. She uses hand building methods, mainly coiling and slab work, to form her ceramic sculptures, and completes the pieces with slips, glazes and a wood ash finish. We will be showing a range of garden planters, bird baths and garden pots all highly decorated with hares, snakes and birds and all frost proof.
Also showing is sculptor Andrew Roache, retired veterinary surgeon, who has a keen eye to animal anatomy. Most of his work is intended for outdoor display so is life-size or larger. He favours iron resin because it lends itself well to animal subjects and each cast matures in an interesting and individual way.
Several artist blacksmiths will be showing a collection of their latest work in forged iron and stainless steel, including Neil Lossock, John Twiddy, Jenny Pickford and Sally Gaston where the visitor will discover cardoons, poppies, ferns, wild flowers as well as practical garden pieces, including a bird bath and plant supports. Some will be galvanised to protect them from the weather and others will feature hand blown glass.
Each piece of garden sculpture is designed to give hours of pleasure to enhance time spent in the garden. All available online at oldchapelgallery.co.uk
