Hay Festival Exhibition ‘Splendour in the Grass’
Old Chapel Gallery, Pembridge, is delighted to present a special Festival Exhibition to coincide with the Hay Festival of Literature & Arts 2026. Opening on Saturday 16 May and continuing until the end of June, the exhibition will feature the work of outstanding British artists and makers from across the country.
This year, the exhibition will run alongside the gallery’s annual garden sculpture exhibition, which continues throughout the year and introduces several sculptors exhibiting with the gallery for the first time.
Ann McCay
Returning to the gallery for the third time is the highly sought-after Ann McCay. Her paintings possess a strong sense of space and narrative. Often theatrical in composition, they depict man-made structures set within natural vegetation, leading the viewer’s eye along paths, through windows and into doorways. Through her striking use of colour and light, the familiar becomes subtly strange, while the juxtaposition of imagery and archetypal figures invites viewers to create their own stories.
Jackie Morris
Jackie has been painting doves for a while, as a way to rest head, heart, soul in these turbulent times. Some are available as large prints and also there is a post card pack of 10 postcards (20 in a pack) in the hope they will be used to connect people and offer moments of peace and friendship.
Jackie was born in Birmingham in 1961. Her family moved to Evesham when she was four. As a child she was told that she couldn’t be an artist, but despite this information being drilled into her by teachers she decided to throw caution to the wind and learn to paint.
She now lives in a small house by the sea in Wales, painting and writing and dreaming and proving her teachers wrong. But, all said and done there are times when she would rather have followed her first ambition, which was to be a bear.
Mary Griffin
Among the featured artists is Mary Griffin, whose vibrant pastels of gardens and intriguing interiors are enriched through her use of gouache or watercolour to create subtle surface contrasts and atmospheric effects. Many of her paintings capture fleeting moments in time. Her work reflects everyday experiences in ways that resonate personally with viewers, while leaving the narrative open to individual interpretation.
Kathryn O’Kell
Woodcarver Kathryn O’Kell has spent more than thirty years refining her distinctive practice. Through a methodical and almost meditative process, she transforms English lime wood into carefully sanded and painted sculptures. Birds, which have long fascinated her, provide constant inspiration and can often be seen flying past her workshop window, circling overhead or resting nearby.
Jennie Gilbert
We are also pleased to welcome back ceramicist Jennie Gilbert, whose work encompasses several distinctive pottery ranges. This exhibition will feature pieces from her celebrated Mishima collection, a technique involving the inlaying of contrasting coloured slip into impressed or carved patterns before the surface is scraped back smooth, leaving the design delicately embedded within the clay. Also on show will be works from her Blue Check domestic range — beautifully crafted and entirely functional pieces designed for everyday use.
Rachel Bailey
Jeweller Rachel Bailey draws inspiration from wild creatures, native birds and animals, and imagined magical realms. Semi-precious stones play an integral role in her designs, suggesting landscapes inhabited by the creatures she depicts. Each unique piece is handcrafted in sterling silver and hallmarked in Sheffield
Gail Klevan
Contemporary jewellery designer Gail Klevan creates colourful, handcrafted pieces that are both striking and comfortable to wear. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, she is recognised as one of the UK’s leading designers working in acrylic, with every piece individually made and entirely unique.
Anna Ravenscroft
The gallery also welcomes Anna Ravenscroft, whose enchanting etchings often depict animals within evocative Cretan settings. Alongside these works will be a remarkable collection of wood engravings, meticulously carved into English boxwood and printed onto handmade Japanese paper. These rare artist’s proofs are seldom exhibited.
Sculptor Angela Palmer works directly from life models in order to capture the expressive qualities of the human form. Her sculptures begin in clay before being cast in bronze resin and finished with carefully developed patinas that echo the natural weathering of bronze, producing beautifully subtle colours and surfaces.
Firm favourites Ian Gill, Myles Mansfield and Neil Lossock will once again be among the artists and blacksmiths exhibiting in Old Chapel Gallery’s garden this year. Their works, alongside those of several new exhibitors, are designed to bring lasting enjoyment and enhance time spent outdoors.
