Hay Festival Exhibition Archives

Hay Festival ‘Splendour in the Grass’ Exhibition 2026

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, Splendour in the Grass, which continues throughout the year and introduces several sculptors exhibiting with the gallery for the first time.

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.

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.

'Rowing Past' — ‘Rowing Past’ oil on linen by Ann McCay

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.

'Mishima' Medium Jug — ‘Mishima’ Medium Jug by Jennie Gilbert

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.

Potter Karen Williams presents contemporary interpretations of traditional slipware. Each piece is individually made, with designs incised through creamy liquid clay to reveal the rich red clay beneath, lending precision and definition to her painterly depictions of birds and foliage. Intended for daily use, her ceramics are deeply inspired by the natural beauty and wild coastal landscape of Pembrokeshire, where she has lived and worked for the past twenty-five years.

‘Swift’ Deep Rectangular Dish by Karen Williams

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.

'Italian Greyhound' Wood Engraving — ‘Italian Greyhound’ Wood Engraving by Anna Ravenscroft

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

'Leaping Silver Fox Jewel' — ‘Leaping Silver Fox Jewel’ by Rachel Bailey

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.

‘Multicoloured Statement Necklace with Beads’ by Gail Klevan

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.

Hay Festival Exhibition @ OCG opens on Saturday May 13

A special Festival Exhibition at Old Chapel Gallery, Pembridge, to run during the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts 2023, opens on Saturday May 13, continuing to the end of June and features the work of talented British artists and makers from far and near.

This year we are combining this exhibition with our Garden Sculpture show ‘Splendour in the Grass’ which also opens on Saturday May 13.

Heading the line up is artist Lynda Jones. Formerly from Sunderland, she settled in Monmouth in the early 1980’s, where she has lived ever since. Her canvases are mostly depictions of her local area – the final image often bears little relation to the original subject but all have a common starting point – the memory of a place she knows well.

New to the gallery is ceramicist Cat Santos. Her vases are printed both inside and out with distinctive decorative designs. She enjoys exploring the possibilities inherent in a variety of surfaces, from smooth porcelain, to heavy textured grogged clay. Her affectionate, life-affirming stoneware sculptures, with their silky glazes, show her preoccupations: ‘my imagery is often about people in spaces, the scale of our environment, and I try to capture moments of the wonder it is to live on this earth.’

Karin Celestine Karin is an artist and author, who creates needle felted animals of charm and character, including the stars of her own delightful stop-motion animations and her series of children’s books.

Her joy in the natural world is also reflected in her sculptural copper pieces which complement her feltwork.

'Snoozing Dormouse' — ‘Snoozing Dormouse’

Tamsin Abbott lives in rural east Herefordshire, making colourful stained glass pieces. Specialising in medieval literature at Stirling University, she later re-focussed her interests with an art foundation course and an evening class in stained glass at Hereford College of Art and Design. Influenced by the surrounding countryside, she is also drawn to the wider world of myths and fairytales connecting humankind to the environment, trying to imbue her work with a sense of this magic and to do justice to the mysterious, inspiring nature of the glass itself.

Maria Santos Alcantara creates pewter ware, using a combination of enamels, veneers, semi-precious stones or glass to create mirrors, boxes, photo frames and decorative panels. She is currently showing her range of pewter jewellery at the gallery.

Sue Hayden’s paintings are based on the relationship between texture, shape and light. Starting with observational drawings from life she uses bright acrylics and pastels on layered surfaces to add randomness and energy to her work. Particularly drawn to natural objects and landscapes her work emphasises a love of colour, texture and movement in what can be touched and what can be seen in the distance.

Running concurrently is an ever-changing collection of unique garden sculptures to enhance your outdoor space in a variety of media such as stoneware, forged iron, iron resin, stone resin, stainless steel, glass and more including the work of several sculptors new to the gallery.