5th November – 31st December 2016
As we pile on the woolly scarves and gloves with the festive season approaching, The Whitehouse Gallery in Kirkcudbright invites you to come in from the cold to enjoy the last exhibition of the year. ‘The Beauty of Winter’ opens from 11am on Saturday 5th November and will be open until 31st December. All are welcome to attend the opening.
Although this exhibition carries no theme as such, it does feature work which celebrates the beauty of this time of the year, with a wide selection of Fine Artists and Craft Makers. There will be everything from wee stocking fillers right up to impressively bold statement pieces, and much in between, a wide selection of unique gifts to suit all budgets.
We welcome a number of new artists to the gallery for this exhibition, including Dionne Sievewright, Helen Glassford, Amanda Phillips, Ceri Allen, Heather Davies & Claire Henley.
Dionne Sievewright graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee in 1997. Having worked in a wide range of disciplines, including surface pattern design for textiles, architectural rendering and illustration for greeting cards, gift wrap, books and calendars, Dionne has now turned her focus and passion to painting. Using watercolour and pencil sketches obtained from field trips as reference, Dionne creates mixed media paintings that capture the mood and seasonal flavours of the environment. Memory and imagination play a major part in the creative process, in which composition, texture, light and tone are key factors.
Helen Glassford also graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone. Helen paints landscapes which are incredibly atmospheric, although she refutes the term landscape to describe her work as her pieces are much more related to the experience that the landscape evokes than the scene itself. Her paintings invite the viewer to not only see but to feel the location on the canvas. As a climber and walker, Helen understands the interplay between mountain-side and cloud, she instinctively knows that with changing weather the beauty of a landscape can be altered to become more intense, more challenging.
Amanda Phillips originally trained as a painter then pursued a career as a chartered architect, later becoming a university lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art and Napier University teaching architecture, graphic design, product design and drawing. Now a full time artist, Amanda paints what is around her , forever changing and evolving with the seasons. Living on a small farm and working with the land and livestock is a great influence on Amanda’s work.
Heather Davies lives in a remote corner of Cumbria, a landscape of rolling hills, big skies and dramatic changes in weather. She finds this area very inspiring and acknowledges it may have an effect on her work; however her starting point can often come purely from her imagination. Her excitement can show itself in an unusual and slightly quirky palette of colours, suggesting a playful side to her nature
Also from Cumbria, Ceri Allen describes her work as representational, with a particular focus on portraying the human figure in an urban environment. Ceri uses composition to suggest the space and tension between people or objects – physical and mental space.
Claire Henley has been a freelance illustrator and designer for over 20 years, concentrating more on fine art in recent years. She is inspired by the coast and the countryside.
We also welcome the return of Linda Park, with a selection of her bold and dramatic landscapes, as well as local artist Suzanne Stuart Davies who will be exhibiting some of her popular winter landscape paintings and
hand-knitted cushions.
Jackie Forbes Henderson will be exhibiting some of her charming paintings, using collage & acrylic to build up her work with texture, form and colour. Her simplified scenes are inspired by everyday life, moments which go unnoticed in the fast paced world we live in. This is also echoed by Illustrator Louise Rawlings, whose work is inspired by anything as simple as a walk in the park with the dogs, and other everyday scenes which are easy to relate to.
Rawlings works in acrylics/mixed media and watercolour, and her unique
and uplifting style is instantly recognisable.
Michelle Campbell will be exhibiting a new original painting, along with a selection of vibrant handcarved & handpainted wooden sculpture, and there will be new landscape and still life works by Fiona Millar.
Printmaker Colin Blanchard will also be exhibiting a new collection of his framed original prints.
To complement the work on the walls, there will be a wide range of 3d work and Craft. Debbie Lord will be exhibiting some new glass pictures featuring winter scenes. There will be new horse sculpture by Alexandra Shorey; driftwood sculpture by Shirley Vauvelle & Lynn Muir; jewellery by Eileen McAllister & Shark Alley, with jewellery & sculpture by Frances Noon; handfelted hares and other creatures by Karen Norton; ceramic sculpture by Karen James; Ceramic houses by Pauline Montgomery; ceramics by Rupert Blamire; Assemblages by Linda Lovatt, ceramic sculpture by Paul Jenkis and much more.
The Whitehouse Gallery participates in the Own Art Scheme.
For more information, please contact Lynne or Susan on 01557 330223 or [email protected]
