Hay Festival Exhibition 2021

Hay Festival Exhibition at Old Chapel Gallery, Pembridge, to run during Hay Festival Digital 2021 will open on Saturday May 22 and continue to the end of June. Featuring the work of talented British artists and makers from far and near. 

Tamsin Abbott

Heading the line up will be a tempting collection of stained glass from ever popular glass artist Tamsin Abbott whose work is influenced by our ancient land and how we are connected to it: the hills, the woods, the plants, birds and animals that live alongside us and the world of myths and fairytales that we have spun around it.

Tamsin works on mainly British made mouth blown glass, in  fabulous colours. She  completely covers the glass with a special black glass paint which is  totally opaque. When the paint is dry Tamsin then scrapes back into it using a variety of simple tools. She uses the paint like a scraper board which is working in the negative to achieve an effect rather like a woodcut.

Click here to view Tamsin’s stained glass panels and limited edition prints

Karen Pearce

‘The paintings in this exhibition show the interest I have in creating compositions with rocks and water, and the love I have for the West Wales coastline.  Using colour and light, a sense of the weather and a love of the materials, I work from notes and sketches made outside, from photographs as well as from memory, trying to recreate the feelings and the mood that a landscape evokes for me. All aspects of painting water excite me – the affinity it has with some  layering and glazing techniques, and the way it can have a unifying effect on a composition as it reflects the sky.  The  light from the water’s surface, it’s colour,  and the suggestions of depth are ways  to transmit the feelings I associate with a place.

You can view more of Karen’s paintings here

Seren Bell

Born in the West Country, distinguished pen and ink artist Seren Bell went to Tiverton Grammar School and trained at Exeter University where she gained a BA Hons Degree in Fine Art and English in 1972.

Inspired by Mid-Wales where she lives and works, Seren produces stunning pen and ink drawings which astound with their level of detail. Seren has been exhibiting successfully for several years and is a well respected local artist. Seren draws rare breed farm animals in the main but other animals also feature in her work.
Seren chooses her subjects carefully drawing only those which really inspire her. She occasionally accepts commissions to draw prize or treasured animals but will not work from photographs taken by others, much preferring to get to know and photograph the subjects for herself.

View more drawings by Seren Bell here

Rachel Bailey

Rachel Bailey has been a jeweller for over 20 years. She studied at Portsmouth College of Art in the late ’80’s and then went on to West Surrey College of Art and Design in the early ’90’s taking a degree in three dimensional design – specialising in metals. Rachel’s work explores her love of wild creatures, our native animals and birds and magical realms. The semi precious stones she uses are an integral part of her inspiration as they suggest landscapes in which the creatures inhabit. Each piece is individually made and therefore unique, in sterling silver and Hallmarked in Sheffield.

View more of Rachels jewellery here

Mary Rose Young

Surrounded by the rural beauty of the Forest of Dean and the colour of Oak House, Mary Rose has been very happy to remain making the pottery that is ordered by the growing number of retailers and collectors. She also finds plenty of time to experiment with new ideas. Most recently she has started using a crown as a motif for teapots and cups and saucers, the notion is glamorous yet the interpretation humorous. Mary Rose’s pottery  has attracted several celebrity shoppers amongst them Mika, Lily Allen, Burt Reynolds, Steven Tyler, Demi Moore and most memorably Ozzy Osborne who drank from one of her breakfast cups in an episode of “The Osbornes.”

Mary Rose Young became Mary Rose Butcher in 1996 when she married Phil, a musician. Phil had most famously played as Iggy Pop’s bassist for a while and later as part of the much acclaimed darkly comic trio The Tiger Lillies. Phil suffered a brain aneurism in 1999 that has demanded a long recovery.

Despite her pottery having found its way to the four corners of the world, Mary Rose doesn’t travel around very much. She usually displays her latest pieces at the New York Gift Show every August. Her brother James Young, who acts as her business manager, will more usually be found at her several exhibitions where her radiant display will still cause passers by to draw their breath in disbelief.

View more ceramics by Mary Rose here