The road to creativity in Hindhead

Round & About

ceramics

Hindhead Art Trail takes you on a picturesque journey through both art and the artists’ lives via ceramics, landscapes, portraits and stained glass

During June’s Surrey Open Studios you will find luscious ceramics, dramatic abstract landscapes, perfect wildlife portraits, and much more from the ten artists on the Hindhead Art Trail. All works are for sale and you can even get involved in creating your own art at their workshops.

The trail is a perfect way to spend a morning or afternoon. Start in Churt with Fiona Millais’s evocative semi-abstract landscapes that respond to the local area and the coast. Across Churt village, Georgina Rey is exhibiting loose oil sketches done on site capturing the feeling of local places, alongside larger, colourful abstracts. Just up the road, see Stephanie Draper’s colourful paintings and monochrome prints inspired by maps locally and beyond. Create a small colourful block sculpture with Stephanie at her drop in sessions on 7th, 8th and 9th June.

Turning south through Whitmore Vale, find Alison Hunt’s textural, abstract landscapes in wonderful tones. They sit alongside Nicola Martin’s stoneware pottery, including signature ‘Earth Bowls’ evoking the strata between land and sea. Both artists are inspired by the colours, shapes and textures of the natural world which they interpret in their pieces.

On the road into Grayshott, visit Alison Orchard’s working studio at Applegarth Farm. Enjoy a collection of expressive sea and landscape paintings, alongside gutsy abstracts and a range of limited-edition prints. The gallery also showcases a selection of hand-thrown ceramics by respected artists. There is a lot to tempt and inspire! Alison will be running a one-day gestural seascapes workshop at Farnham Pottery on 27th June.

This might be a moment to stop for a coffee or lunch at Applegarth Farm restaurant and deli, with locally sourced and home-grown food.

Next stop Annie Child’s fused and stained glass, in her lovely oak framed garden studio on the edge of Grayshott village. Annie’s range of glass art draws on her love of colour and the beauty of the natural world around her.

In Grayshott Village, the Punchbowl Gallery hosts Angie Wallace and Nicky Chubb. Angie creates realistic artworks of wildlife, full of intricate detail in coloured pencils and pastels. Nicky paints multicoloured and textured collaged nudes from life.

Finish the trail in Beacon Hill with Emma Godden’s fantastically observed, tactile garden ornaments inspired by seed pods and flowers. Make your own at her workshop on 21st June.

Start and finish the trail where you like. Trail maps are available in each studio, details of opening times and workshops at surreyopenstudios.org.uk and Instagram (@hindheadarttrail)

Henley Arts Trail

Round & About

ceramics

How many of the 300 exhibitors will you see and enjoy around Henley?

This year’s Henley Arts Trail is the biggest to date with almost 300 artists and makers at 33 venues covering an area of 50 square miles of countryside.

Taking place over the May bank holiday weekend, 4th to 6th, the trail showcases the vibrant visual arts and crafts scene around Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

The trail attracts around 10,000 visitors across the region taking in Bix, Twyford, Shiplake, Sonning, Hurst and Waltham St Lawrence with work displayed in studios, garden sheds, garages and village halls.

Such is the variety of work in the trail that life-size sculptures sit alongside delicate jewellery and abstract paintings nestle next to detailed nature art.

Many of the venues are dotted in villages along the Thames, offering a great opportunity to enjoy some splendid countryside at the same time. However many venues you are visiting it couldn’t be easier with the help of a map you can download from the website or pick up a leaflet from libraries or in village newsletters.

Organiser, Jo Keiller, says: “The standard of work on show is exceptional. Where else can you see the work of an artist who exhibits internationally, alongside emerging talent taking part in their first show? Talent is often hidden in spare rooms and garages, so the trail gives artists the chance to connect with the public and the public to discover new and exciting makers.”

Many venues offer refreshments and some boast demonstrations or workshops for visitors to get fully immersed in the art trail experience.

Find out more and see the map on the Henley Arts Trail site

Line & light: Art show

Round & About

ceramics

From Saturday 9th to Sunday 24th March, enjoy an exhibition of photographs, ceramics and life drawings presented by Gaby Guz and Rob Farrands.

Line and Light is the product of a wintertime collaboration between two artists using three media. It is their first joint exhibition. Rob is a photographer who lives in Oxford and Gaby, an alumna of St John’s, is a ceramicist and artist.

Gaby uses line and light to capture the fleeting poses she likes to draw. Her concerns are to convey the essence and emotion of a subject in the brief time that a dynamic pose allows. Her ceramic vessels are largely monochromatic, with bold black and grey lines spreading across egg-shell like pale surfaces.

Rob’s photographs honour the soft, reduced light of the winter solstice. He has shot directly into the light (often including the sun) and dealt with the resulting technical challenges to produce work with strong monochrome tones. His compositions are intended to arouse both a memory of winter’s darkness and the promise of the coming spring.

Rob’s photographs are all taken in Oxford mostly along the banks of the Thames between Iffley and Sandford. He has previously exhibited at the John Radcliffe Hospital in 2016/17 and also in Art Weeks. Gaby’s raku ceramics are monochrome and provide a perfect complement to Rob’s black and white photographs.

The exhibition is at The Barn Gallery, Kendrew Quad, St John’s College, St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3JP. Opening times are 12-5pm weekdays and 11am-6pm Saturdays and Sundays.

Visit gabyguzart.com and  rfarrands.com to see more about Gaby and Rod!