Surrey Artist of the Year brochure

Vicky Oldfield, Curious Collection, etching

Surrey Artist of the Year 2015

www.newashgate.org.uk

Gallery Open: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm free admission

Waggon Yard, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7PS 01252 713208 | gallery@newashgate.org.uk | Registered charity 274326

Supported by Patricia Baines Charitable Trust

Surrey Artist of the Year 2015

Surrey Life Magazine, Media Partner

Celebrating the talent in the region

‘At Surrey Life magazine, we feel that the county is often overlooked when cultural hubs are considered nationally – but events such as Surrey Artists’ Open Studios help to highlight the incredibly proactive artistic community bubbling away right on our doorstep.

9 October - 14 November 2015 11 of the best artists and makers from Surrey have been chosen by the public and the competition partners to showcase their work at the New Ashgate Gallery.

Members of the public are invited to cast their vote for their choice of Surrey Artist of the Year.

Now in its seveth consecutive year, the Surrey Artist of the Year Competition is organised by the New Ashgate Gallery in partnership with Surrey Arts and supported

by Patricia Baines Charitable Trust and Surrey Life magazine.

These partnerships enable the New Ashgate Gallery to provide support for local makers through a programme of events and fulfil their mission as an educational charity. Our Trust is dedicated to promoting and championing the best of contemporary arts and craft and to provide an unparalleled resource in Farnham, Surrey and beyond. We raise aspirations, inspire excellence and enable artists to find new audiences and develop a relationship with a professional gallery.

There is always something particularly magical about this event – being able to go behind the scenes and see the workings and creative processes of local artists and also share a passion for art with like-minded people.

It is good to see one of our cherished key Surrey galleries has taken the initiate to work in partnership with Surrey Artists Open Studios and deliver a showcase that supports our local artists and makers whilst maintaining public input through the competition voting. We have supported the Surrey Artist of the Year competition at the New Ashgate Gallery since its inaugural year, it has continued to grow and develop year on year, and we are delighted to come on board as an official supporter.

The New Ashgate Gallery maintains an excellent standard of work and always offers something to suit all tastes. Many Surrey artists have become key players in the gallery’s extensive programme primarily with thanks to this competition.’

Caroline Jackman, Director New Ashgate Gallery Trust

Waggon Yard, Farnham, GU9 7PS, www.newashgate.org.uk T: 01252 713208, e: gallery@newashgate.org.uk Gallery Open Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm

New Ashgate Gallery

The Surrey Arts Partnership Surrey Artists’ Open Studios is a county-wide membership scheme, offering the public direct access to artists and makers during an annual event in June, as well as offering artists a range of other benefits including specialist training and professional development. The scheme is thriving with over 370 members, 250 of whom participate in Open Studios each year, and with about 18,000 visitors during two weeks in June.

Artists’ Open Studios vary enormously, with individual artists opening their studios to the public, as well as large groups of artists exhibiting and demonstrating together. Artists often make the most of their settings, offering a chance to see inside some really interesting buildings or setting their work in beautiful gardens. But whatever their circumstances they all have one thing in common; they offer an opportunity for the public to see the work being made, to understand the materials and processes involved, and to talk directly with the artist about what inspires them.

In 2009, the Surrey Artist of the Year competition was set up in partnership with the New Ashgate Gallery.

This enables the public to vote for their favourite artist during their visits to Open Studios, with the most popular receiving an invitation to exhibit work at the gallery. This helps to raise the profile of Surrey based artists as well as providing them with professional development and support to build an audience for their work.

Our partnership with the New Ashgate Gallery, provides a highly valued opportunity for artists to work with a contemporary art and craft gallery to develop their practice and promote their work.

Jane McGibbon, SAOS Coordinator

Selected artists: Bonnita Apperley Naomi Beevers Jane Bohane Diana Croft Christine Hopkins Iona Mackenzie Laycock Faye Mayo Vicky Oldfield Malcolm West Elly Wright Christiane Zschommler

Programme of Events 9 Oct – 14 November: Surrey Artist of the Year 9 Oct – 14 November: 2014 SAOY winner: Rachel Mulligan solo show of stained glass 9 Oct – 14 November: Maker in Focus: Judith Needham, willow design 12 Oct: Basket making workshop with Judith Needham 11am – 4pm at New Ashgate £25 per person.

17 Oct: artist talk: Rachel Mulligan 2.30 – 3.30pm at New Ashgate, £5 per person.

18 Oct: Make a bird with Naomi Beevers 10.30 – 12.30pm at New Ashgate, £10 per person.

19 Oct: Stained glass workshop with Rachel Mulligan 10am – 4pm, at New Ashgate, £30 per person.

26 Oct: Exciting Taxation workshop with Alison Branagan, 10am – 2pm at New Ashgate, £10 per person 30 Oct: The Big Draw, 10.30 – 4.30pm, free.

14 Nov: winner announced for SAOY 2015 4pm at New Ashgate 14 Nov: The Art of Self-Promotion and Planning a Marketing Campaign workshop with Alison Branagan 12 – 4pm at New Ashgate, £10 per person Visit website for details and bookings. Tea & coffee provided

Bonnita Apperly

Naomi Beevers

Based in Reigate Specialises in landscape painting

Based in Guildford Specialises in textiles and textile sculptures

Originally from Storrington in Sussex, Bonnita achieved a II(i) Degree in Art and Music at Christchurch University College in Canterbury before making her home in Reigate, Surrey. She went on to discover printmaking in the 1990’s and specialises in rich and vibrant three colour plate etchings.

Naomi Beevers is a Textile and Mixed Media Artist looking on the sunny side of life, born near St Ives in Cornwall, she grew up on Dartmoor and now lives in Surrey.

She is inspired by the philosophy of celebrating the beauty of throwaway items and creating something of aesthetic value. She works largely with reclaimed items, transforming them into beautiful objects, whilst valuing their original workmanship. Many of the items used will look familiar and spark memories of the past. Through the use of everyday found objects personal memories are rediscovered, reimagined and reinvented. Birds are often placed looking out on life with a sense of innocence and humour.

Her love of the countryside streams through all her media and is the inspiration for her beautiful works or art. She walks for miles to find a view that enchants her and works as much as possible to capture the mood of the scene at that moment. She is especially enthused about the vibrancy of early morning light, and the light late in the day.

Each painting is representative of her observation of the colours and nuances of a scene at a particular time of day and season so that she can interpret them as she sees and feels them

Jane Bohane

Based in Holmbury St Mary Specialises in sculpture, photography and light Jane Bohane works predominately with glass in a most unusual & unique way. Pieces are often constructed within a precise rigid steel frame enclosing an individual combination of glass shards, the glass is all hand-cut by Jane & the edge kept raw, exploiting its jagged beauty.

Other works are created by using a “found” Frame & then contrast created by using eclectic objects entwined with melted & twisted glass. Glass by its very nature responds spontaneously to any light & Jane’s work has a presence in both dark and bright aspects. The aesthetic of all her Sculpture, is in the merging of the familiar with the unusual.

Jane works to commission, enjoying the collaboration and exchange of ideas. Current projects include a Chelsea Creek penthouse garden, London, large sculpture for a Dorking client and a private garden on Cornwalls’ north coast.

Diana Croft

Based in Dorking Specialises in printmaking and painting Diana produces collographs, linocuts and monoprints as well as mixed media paintings and stained glass panels.

Her inspiration is rooted in nature and the landscape. The immediate environment has the most influence on her work whether it be the local Surrey Hills or the more exotic Far East where she travelled for three months in 2014 – she is interested in conveying the essence of a place.

Her prints - particularly the recent linocuts have a strong sense of rhythm and stylised design reflecting the myriad patterns that form on the fields from centuries of grazing, ploughing and working the land. She loves the difference that the changing seasons bring to the land and particularly likes early spring when the colours are at their freshest and you can still see the structure of the landscape.

Christine Hopkins

Iona Mackensie Laycock

Based in Reigate Specialises in collage and printmaking

Based in Clandon Specialises in objects/textiles/embroidery

Christine is a member of the Society of Graphic Fine Art, and in 2010 was elected to their governing Council. She has been a regular participant in the Surrey Open Studios since 2005, and is delighted to have been shortlisted for the sixth time for the Surrey Artist of the Year Award. The Open Studios scheme gives artists the opportunity to engage with viewers directly and is the highlight of the year for Christine.

Iona aims to capture a sense of place in her work, she is currently exploring the remote area surrounding the family croft on the North coast of Scotland. Through her work she conveys the contrasts of colour, texture and light found in the landscape. Her materials are fundamental to her practice, she collects wool from the various places she depicts. Combining the wool with painted fabrics, using heat she applies or removes sections ultimately trying to capture the qualities of light on land and sea.

Christine is a painter/printmaker, and is showing drypoint/ monoprint hybrid prints for the SAOY exhibition. Her love of strong linear form and colour is evident. A drypoint plate is prepared by incising drawn elements onto an acetate plate and then applying ink in a painterly manner. Up to four versions will be printed from each plate, but the use of hybrid techniques makes each one a unique as artwork.

It delights her if a viewer recognises the landscape of a print, as many of them are entirely works of fiction, drawn from careful observation and memory of many places rather than one specific location.

One of Iona’s current focuses has been the idea of using the environment to evolve her work, she places finished pieces in the landscape and documents the changes through stitched poetry. Iona also leaves wool to mould over natural features, in time creating new forms which are added to her landscapes.

Faye Mayo

Vicky Oldfield

Based in Caterham Specialises in ceramics

Based in Thames Ditton Specialises in printmaking

Faye Mayo explains that the imprints on the exterior of her work are, “A way of leaving a memory. Some: delicate imprints of nature, others: harsh marks - all refer to life’s experiences.” These impressions built together make a whole piece or “the person”. Leaving marks of the making process, therefore, is an important aspect of her work. She finishes each piece by thinning out the clay to give a sense of fragility.

The use of feathers and leaves also express transience. Yet her purpose is to draw the focus to the interior of each piece, where refreshing tones imply flowing water: releasing renewal, cleansing and liberation.

Vicky’s strong images are created using collagraphs, an experimental form of printmaking. The prints are taken from plates which have been collaged with a variety of materials, card, fabric, paper, string, sand and anything else that may come to hand; it’s recycling at its most creative! The plates are then sealed and then inked up and printed in intaglio or relief on damp paper using an etching press. The embossed textural quality of the print is unique to this method. The editions are variable due to the process and her desire to experiment, which means each print is unique, only the outline, the matrix is repeated, the colour and collage alters with each artwork keeping it fresh and vibrant.

The Thoughtful Figures echo the themes of the larger work and are also evocative of different emotions we experience.

Like the Sculptural Torsos, each figure has the nature of a vessel - hinting of the possibility of a connection to the transcendent

Continually inspired by the small things in life, a collection of objects or a plant seen on a walk or in the garden, her pictures are an atmospheric response to the beauty and fascination with things so often overlooked.

Malcolm West

Based in Hersham Specialises in sculpture Exhibited regularly from 1980 onwards, in joint exhibitions.

With several showings at the Mall Galleries London, Henley Festival, Society and gallery shows in and around London.

Plus one man shows in London, Germany and Guildford.

Mid 80’s started sculpting. Producing portraits on commission, and figurative composition. Malcolm’s work appears in collections in the UK, Germany, USA, Australia and Jamaica. With cliental ranging from A list celebrities and landed gentry to everyday people.

Malcolm is inspired by movement and beauty, classical subjects and dance, and try to theme this in his work.

Concerned with proportion, elegance, grace and beauty.

Malcolm is very experienced in all processes of drawing, painting, murals, scene painting, design, sculpture and casting.

Elly Wright

Based in Epsom Specialises in painting A love of wide open spaces and big skies underlie Elly’s current paintings in oil and acrylic; they are rooted in landscape. Her frequent stays in South West France, give her a constant source to draw upon. Although she’ll sketch and make notes about views and scenes which appeal to her, the paintings are always created in her garden studio in UK, or in the converted stable studio she uses in France.

Inspiration for a painting might come from the pattern and texture of a freshly ploughed field, or from observing how rows of vines form regimented lines through the local vineyards. The blaze of colour provided by a field of sunflowers, rapeseed or golden corn, will be carefully stored in her mind as are vistas of undulating fields and far off hills. Elly re-interprets and re-arranges the impressions accumulated in her mind. Fragments of colour, shape and pattern will be called up to introduce movement, energy and a joyful lightness to her paintings.

Christiane Zschommler Based in New Haw Specialises in photography

Since moving away from London in 2004 and living on the Basingstoke Canal in Surrey, Christiane is strongly drawn to and influenced by the potential of water and the changing patterns of the canal and its surroundings in Surrey throughout the seasons.

Living on the Basingstoke Canal, water and the change of weather feel much more an integral part of our life. This connection to nature has left an indelible stamp on the work she produces now. The canal is a never-ending source of wonder; the ponds between the locks are stagnant pools that are sensitive to minute changes in light, wind climate and the seasons. Freezing the motion of water or framing a small part of it, the image becomes an abstraction, of something that exists only for the briefest of moments. There is poetry within the constantly rippling water.

Rachel Mulligan Surrey Artist of the Year winner 2014 Rachel is passionate about stained glass. She is endlessly fascinated by coloured light that can be manipulated with line and tone to create images and tell stories. Her work, which is full of detail, is inspired by the changing seasons, nature and storytelling. A window has to work from a distance, as it will initially be seen that way, but also needs to draw the viewer in for a closer look.

For over twenty years, Rachel has been producing beautiful stained glass windows for public and private buildings in response to the commissioner’s wishes. Winning the Surrey Artist of the Year award in 2014 allowed Rachel to focus on her own ideas. It has been a liberating experience, and has led to some exciting new works in progress. It has reconnected her with her fine art background, and this is her first major solo exhibition as a stained glass artist. The exhibition demonstrates the range of Rachel’s work, from heraldry to front doors and from memorials to celebration panels for weddings. Each piece is a unique work of art that reflects the subject as well as the artist.

FANTASTIC SUBSCRIPTION OFFER

6FOR £6 ISSUES

Each issue brings you great features on the people, places, food and drink, and events that make life in your local area special ❋ WHERE YOU LIVE

Discover the county’s towns and villages

❋ TOP PROPERTY

All the best in the county

Try 6 issues for £6 by Direct Debit and SAVE up to 69%*

❋ PART OF THE COMMUNITY

Or subscribe by credit/debit card and get 12 issues for £29.25 – SAVING 25%

❋ HOME STYLE

Meet local people worth celebrating

❋ OUT & ABOUT

Pictures from social events Gardening and interiors inspiration

EASY WAYS TO ORDER:  www.subscriptionsave.co.uk/tp15a  0844 848 4230 quote WMMTP15A Lines are open 8am-9.30pm Mon-Fri, 8am-4pm Sat. BT calls to 0844 cost no more than 5p/min, calls from mobiles usually cost more. T&Cs: Savings are based on the cover price and Direct Debit is a UK only offer. *After your first term, print subscription rates continue at a SAVING of 35% every 6 months by Direct Debit. Digital subscriptions continue at £17.99 by annual Direct Debit. Please call +44 (0)1858 438840 for overseas delivery rates. Offer ends 31/12/15.

Rachel Mulligan, Poppies, Stained glass panel