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.
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.
