Antony Bridge - Artist in Residence in early June 2011

        

Anthony Bridge was in Residence in The Stable Workshop at The Gallery early in June . We were pleased to get to know him and see him at work in our  Gardens,  Car park and Grounds in spite of the weather. He produced over a dozen  paintings;  many of which  we hope to exhibit in the Gallery and on the web site in the near future. 

Antony says

Antony's painting of the Gallery

“I enjoyed my week at the Bevere Gallery, getting to know a place by looking hard at its surroundings which builds up a relationship with the landscape and I feel more attached with the gallery.

It was a delight to get to know all the staff and owners of Bevere Gallery.”

    

    

Antony J. Bridge was born in 1980. He is a self taught artist based in the centre of the UK. Growing up in Malvern in an area of outstanding beauty, he began to understand the peace, power and solitude of the landscape and has been inspired ever since. He doesn't just paint good light scenes like many artists do, he gets out there in all weathers, rainy, grey, bright, misty and finds a location inspiring to paint, sets up either his french easel or pochade box and gets to work with his oil paints.

 He owns the Pochade.co.uk which was set up to help plein air painters across the UK, to sell plein air products, advice on plein air painting and to inspire artists to get out in the open to paint.

"As life gets more complicated we hope to bring back simplicity into your life through the pochade. This true painting with passion which captures that magic moment of light cast by the sun. This site is becoming the largest online gallery of pochade equipment and advice in the world and is growing each day."

He set up the Plein Air Society noticing that the UK doesn’t have a society like America and was needed due to the recent growth of plein air painting in the UK.  This society to brings together novice or professional painters together each month

Plein air painting allows Antony to combine his two main passions for art and nature. He can't think of a better way to spend a day than being out amongst the elements, trying to capture that special "something" about a place or time. Throughout his years of painting so far the thing he has learnt the most is; “it’s not learning how to paint, it’s learning how to see”.

His biggest influences would be the French Impressionists, particularly Claude Monet, Cezanne, Manet and also Sargent for his use of oils. Contemporary artists he admires include Neil Pinkett, Trevor Chamberlain, Jian Wang among others.

Antony's work is now praised, and collected, by many prominent art enthusiasts from all around the world from Monaco, South Africa, New York, New Zealand.

 Some of Antony's plein air paintings  he produced during the week in residence

Gary Wood - Featured Potter for May 2011

 We are delighted to feature Gary Wood this month.  He  has exhibited in the Gallery for many years  and as part of the sculpture Trail

As a ceramics student in the eighties, Gary Wood was fascinated by a statement from “The Unknown Craftsman” by Soetsu Yanagi :

“When you are doing your work, you and your work are two different things, but when you become the work and do the work, true work becomes possible”.

“I spent months, years, throwing boards of pots, hundreds of them, whilst yearning to achieve this condition of becoming, and became frustrated.

We cannot become ego-less in order to make good work. If we did truly achieve a state of selflessness, we would be somewhere else doing something else with our lives, like Mother Teresa. However, I do agree with Grayson Perry when he says "A potter's most important tool is the hammer".

These days a certain proportion of Gary’s work is thrown on the wheel, but the act of throwing itself he finds the least enjoyable activity, like rolling slabs. When he begins to go to work on the slab is best. He loves turning a thrown pot, at which point he can really begin to see the piece come to life. Turning, texturing, painting and glazing he really enjoys.

When he makes wall pieces, the surface texture is built-up on slabs of clay before a thick application of glaze is painted on in layers, sometimes requiring several firings. The result is a densely painted and richly textured panel, which may evoke something of the original inspiration, but will often become something much more abstracted and unique.  His pots are made with the same painterly approach as the wall panels; surface marks and motifs referencing architectural sources, ocean and landscape.

Born in Bradford, Gary trained at the Cumbria College of Art and Design. He set up a studio in Carlisle between 1986 and 1992. He worked for a time as a production thrower which he has no ambition to repeat! In 1994, he set up his studio and home in Bath along with Carole Waller where he has been ever since. He was elected Fellow of the Craft Potters Association in 1990.

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ARTIST- Exhibition in Malvern

THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ARTIST

'Through the Eyes of the Artist' is a collaborative exhibition at The Central Gallery, Malvern between Bevere Gallery and four local, professional artists who first met 20 years ago when Chris Howells was assembling a group of artists to exhibit at what was to become an annual exhibition in Alcester, Warwickshire. Their paths have crossed many times since but this is the first time for about 10 years that they have exhibited together outside a commercial gallery

Fri, 22nd Apr 2011 - Thu, 5th May 2011

All four artists have a great love for the natural world and the landscape of the British Isles, but this exhibition shows some diversity from their normal styles. Working in oils, watercolours, pastels and graphite the artists enjoy the freedom to experiment using the surrounding countryside as their inspiration.

Their exhibition is complimented by ceramic art whose works are regularly exhibited, along with the artists work, at the Bevere Gallery, Worcestershire.

1000th Potter - Robin Welch

1000 AND COUNTING!!

Milestones are inevitably a feature of our lives and no less so for Bevere Gallery which has in the past year registered the 6000^th pot on our website. Now, we are happy to celebrate our one thousandth exhibitor. It could hardly have been more apposite for that exhibitor to be Robin Welch a doyen of contemporary studio ceramics and someone we have long wanted to feature at the Gallery.

Robin has been a singular figure in British ceramics for at least forty years. His freely constructed vessels – hand-built and thrown - are three-dimensional abstract expressionism. He is the archetypal potter/painter. Whether his work is on paper, board, canvas or in clay, there is a constant and consistent creative flow.

The fit between pot and decoration is extraordinary, whether it be a beautifully thrown cylinder or a part hand-built, part thrown organically developed vessel.

The pots and paintings in this show were selected by Alastair and Kim Taylor and we are in no doubt that this intimate group of work represents a potter still full of creative energy. There are a number of potters that we have shown recently who seem to be as creative and innovative as ever, notwithstanding their advancing years. Robin was born in 1936.

The pictures and pots sit very well together and as we prepare for this show I am in no doubt that the pleasure that we have in putting the exhibition together will be equalled only by the pleasure and stimulation we anticipate it will provide for our visitors.

New Bevere Café

Café Upstairs moves downstairs.........

Following a remodelling of the gallery spaces in February we are delighted to now announce a new location for the café on the ground floor of the coach house with direct permanent access to the café garden

This has enabled us to use the upstairs rooms in the coach house for display of local scenes and original prints, both rooms can also be hired privately for a maximum of 14 persons for lunches or meetings. Please enquire for a bespoke costing

We are continuing to serve tasty and interesting light bites in the café with ingredients predominantly from local suppliers and special menu items introduced each month

In April our specials are

·      Checketts of Ombersley minute rump steak sandwiches

with a Stilton or roasted vegetable mix topping

·      Herefordshire brie with red and green grapes as a filling for sandwiches or jackets

·      Warm chicken and bacon salad with red onion and crumbled goats cheese

·      Hazelnut caffe latte

Opening hours are 10.30am – 4.00pm Tuesday – Saturday

(Plus Sundays in June, July and August)

Plenty of free parking and free admission

Family Visit to Robin Welch's Studio

A few weekends ago Alastair and Kim Taylor, proprietors of Bevere Gallery, along with sons Cameron 7 and
Billy Bob 5, made the journey from Herefordshire to Suffolk to meet with Robin Welch at his studio and gallery in Stadbroke near Eye....... Kim explains, We were invited to meet with Robin at 2pm, so having made an early start we arrived in Suffolk around Noon where we settled into our accommodation and enjoyed a local lunch bought from the nearby country farm shop. Having rested and recharged ourselves we set off again to meet with Robin, this had all the makings of a very exciting visit as we hold Robin, his reputation and his work in very high esteem.  It is indeed a very great coup to have him exhibit with us at Bevere Gallery. 

 On arrival Robin showed us into his studio and workshop and made the boys very welcome albeit it with a little trepidation – although he and Jenny have a number of grandchildren he had to admit it had been a few years since such small children had been amongst such a large collection of his work! Happily all went well and we were able to see the current firing in progress and were invited to an upstairs room which housed Robin’s private collection of work.  At Robin’s suggestion he then went off to make some tea leaving Alastair and I to look over his work and make our selection to return to the gallery with – what a task, we could have honestly chosen everything!  After much deliberation and input from Robin too, we settled on 14 wonderful pots, two etchings, three limited edition prints and two original mixed media paintings.
By now the boys were getting ever so slightly restless so whilst Al and Robin carefully packaged the work for its journey to Worcester, myself and the boys joined Jenny in their wonderful garden for a game of tag and fun on the 40 year old tree swing.

 Two and a half hours after our arrival with  a car packed full of wonderful original pieces and a camera full of fantastic memories we all bade our fond farewells and thanks for a privileged time spent in Robin and Jenny’s very hospitable company.

Whilst we are privately enjoying the work in the stock room at the gallery we are all very excited about being able to publically share them in the gallery in April, please keep an eye on our website for full details of the pots and paintings we brought back.

Bevere Graduate Award Winner - Jewels Williams

We at Bevere Gallery, were delighted that Jewels won the Graduate Award 2011 its always been
our belief that she puts a little bit of herself into each and every one of

her pieces which come across in the strong shapes and delicate but emotional
decoration.  We are looking forward to working with Jewels throughout 2011.

Following a meeting in the cafe with Jewels last week, we have discussed
further a collaboration for the next year, including her working in our
Stable workshop for a couple of weeks over the summer, where visitors can
come and chat to Jewels and see her make her porcelain pots.  Once these
dates are finalised we shall be adding them into the Stable Workshop
programme which will be detailed on our website.  Jewels is constantly
producing new pots so hopefully we will always have some on show in the
gallery.

Jewels says

" I work in porcelain. The material is versatile and beguiling and I enjoy every aspect of every process from inception to completion.

At each stage the porcelain changes, from sensuous softness, through chalky mattness to its final ceramic form. This evolution is completlely absorbing but it is the sofness of the clay when thrown or stretched which I find particulaly hypnotic and drives me to repeat the process again and again.

I have always been fascinated by two things, the sea and mud.  Once I discovered I could combine both in a creative way I was hooked.

 I grew up looking at France from my bedroom window; the window was, for a small child fairly high so the view that punctuated my world was the line between sea and sky.  Just about everything I make tries to describe that line.

 That explains the coastal stuff but why mud?

Mud is a child’s best friend.  It is warm, soft and malleable in summer, hard and keeps its form in winter; clay has the same properties but so many more possibilities.  Porcelain is clean mud!

Winning the Bevere Gallery Graduate Award 2011 is fantastic, they are known as a serious ceramics Gallery promoting a wide diversity of work, to be given their support and validation is amazing.  I am really grateful to them for selecting me for the Graduate Show and to the public for voting for me".