Exhibition & Book of the Month

PATTERN, COLOUR AND FORM

New Approaches to Creativity

This exhibition is an exciting first for this gallery.

Carolyn Genders, whose work has frequently been featured here, has completed her second book about creativity and the artistic process.

We are delighted to be supporting the launch of this stimulating book in an exhibition that features nineteen makers and artists that she has profiled. Together they make up a rich and eclectic mix of talented artists and skilled craftspeople in widely diverse media.

Creativity and innovation have become key themes in the present debate about how to emerge from the current recession. Hard times or not, artists and makers have constantly striven for new ways of expressing their vision and developing the use of their chosen medium.

The exhibition at The Gallery at Bevere, brings the book to life with actual pieces featured. Carolyn herself and some of the other makers were available at the launch on 8th August to sign books and talk to visitors to the show which surprises and delights in equal measure –

Exhibitors:

Jewellery: Kayo Saito, Susan Cross, Nora Fok
Metal: Wayne Meeten
Enamel: Joan Mac Karell
Textiles: Judy Dwyer, Jeanette Appleton
Painting: Jane Ackwright, Howard Coles
Works on paper: Rob Peel
Collage: Hetty van Boekhout
Basketry: Mary Butcher, Jackie Binns
Ceramics: Ken Eastman, Maggie Williams, Yuk Kan Yeung, Carolyn Genders
Glass: Peter Layton, Katherine Coleman

This show surprises and delights in equal measure –

Exhibition of New Work by a Worcester professional artist - Valerie Briggs

'Upstairs Space'
The Gallery at Bevere


For the last 25 years Valerie has dedicated herself to recording the flora and fauna of the British countryside in the demanding and challenging medium of watercolour. Her favourite medium is graphite and the subtle technique of drawing in which she finds complete relaxation and the perfect tonal exercises for her watercolours. Pastels are another favourite medium and she uses them regularly when sketching from life. Valerie is a completely self taught artist.

Living in the city of Worcester she is surrounded by the beautiful Worcestershire countryside and its wild, and not so wild, inhabitants, which are her main inspiration. She is especially drawn to the natural and man-made waterways, which provide green corridors for a wildlife population under the constant threat of urbanisation. Throughout the year they provide much of the background material for her paintings.

This small selection of new work is taken from encounters with wildlife over the last 12 months i.e. the red squirrels are inspired by a visit to Brownsea Island in Dorset and encounters with them in the Lake District. Details of birds and animals are taken from dead specimens, usually found on the roadside, and then she spends time in zoos and rescue centres to study her subjects in the flesh. Valerie feels that just watching animals and birds in the wild after all the detailed study is the most important and rewarding element to her work.

Recently Valerie has started to study trees and will be concentrating on ‘treescapes’ for the next few years

Valerie’s work can be found at home and abroad in books, on greetings cards, fabric and china. She regularly exhibits in galleries around England and is regularly invited to Nature in Art in Gloucestershire as an artist in residence. Valerie’s work can be seen at The Gallery at Bevere where she also teaches throughout the year. Her future course details are now available

Pot of the Month - August 2009

POT OF THE MONTH - John Higgins - Large vessel with wings



John’s work is immediately recognisable. His pots are rightly described as architectural. The surfaces are most often layered, textured and dry. The colour choices are often subdued or monochrome to maintain and emphasise the structural integrity of the work. Whilst his pots are uncompromisingly modern they have an undoubted presence.

This large pot needs space. It demands attention. It is utterly contemporary, but at the same time is redolent of pots from an ancient past. This work is unlike no other in this Gallery and this succinctly describes the work of John Higgins, whom we hope will long continue to produce his original and striking vessels.