first anniversary

FEATHERED

FRIEND:

Kingfisher sculpture by Ama Menec and, right, walking into The Happy Crab Gallery local community. Maybe you need to spend two decades in a rural business centre to enjoy the contrast, shops, cafes, pubs, and beach. But it is the support of the local community that we most appreciate, the locals who pop in for a chat and remember us when they need a present or have visitors to show round.

“My grandmother’s parents came to Weymouth from Italy and sold ice cream on the beach. I remember my grandmother being outraged that modern people eat ice cream all year round, whilst her family struggled to get through the winter as ‘in those days people thought they’d get pneumonia if they ate it in the winter’. There’s a similar seasonality to selling pottery in a seaside town and we are so grateful when local people support us and bring in their friends too. There is nothing like seeing and handling pots in the real world and meeting the maker face to face. The great thing about The Happy Crab is that it’s a working studio so visitors can see all the making processes and pots at every stage of production. This winter I also started teaching and it’s so satisfying to pass on skills to budding potters, whether new to clay or improvers.” n Lea and Ama can be found at The Happy Crab Gallery Tuesday to Saturday, 10.30am – 4pm and online at leaphillips-pottery.co.uk

with a fab line-up of bands

gourmet burgers, and more. Weldmar’s James O’Neill said: “We can’t wait! As well as a terrific line-up of live music, with something for everyone, there is such a great atmosphere. Every ticket sold will help Weldmar to continue

Prepare to be a-mazed at Labyrinth exhibition

A modest terraced house in Rodwell, Weymouth will offer people a portal into a vibrant world of art. The Through the Labyrinth exhibition will offer an insight into the life and emotions of artist Janet Hall at 11 Kempston Road from May 27 to June 4, from 2pm to 7pm.

Janet says she has always been interested in art but never had the time to engage in it seriously until retirement in the early 2000s.

She said she began ‘nervously’ attending a course and was ‘amazed at the passion which suddenly overwhelmed’ her while she worked.

as a lay minister, I have marvelled at how people come through so many experiences and at their resilience in rising again from brokenness.

“Our circumstances are different, yet the same emotions affect us all.

“This theme of the ups and downs of life came to me as I was walking a labyrinth recently, for such a walk is never straightforward.

“All seems to be going well for a while until an obstacle forces us to go back on our tracks, sometimes for quite a while.

providing specialist care to people in Dorset with lifelimiting conditions.”

Tickets from £28 for one evening to £77.70 for all three nights are available now at musicbythelake.net

Children go in free.

Since then, she has attended numerous courses, most recently at the Studio Art School in Upwey and is experimenting with various art styles and media at her Weymouth studio.

Janet added: “In my work

“Eventually we get back to a path which moves us in the right direction, and then another blockage.

“As you walk from room to room you will experience all life’s joys and sadness, as an immersive installation, walking the labyrinth through my own home.”

By Karen Bate karen@westdorsetmag.co.uk

An artist in Bridport who has given hope to hundreds of people is holding an exhibition in May to showcase the work she created in lockdown and during the conflict in Ukraine. Thinking of the rose as a verb, Judith Gait has encapsulated the struggles in conflict through her mixed media drawings, including the Conflict Rose and the Morning, Mourning Rose Judith will be holding the Art Through Difficult Times exhibition at The Paperback Gallery in Bridport.

“During lockdown and now with the conflict in Ukraine I have been drawing roses. The exhibition will be of mixed media drawings. Quite a difficult time for everyone! My response during this time has been to draw roses...and to try to think of ‘rose’ as a verb and not just a flower,” said Judith.

“Art is a very good way to help us all through difficult times in our lives. I’m retired now, but I have spent many years using art to help improve health outcomes for persons with addictions and other chronic health conditions.”

Scripture was just one of many inspirations for Judith’s series of drawings, but one poignant message is the text from 2 Corinthians 5:15 ‘And He died for all, that they should not live