Open Studio Weekend 7-8th June

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:53:07 +0100

A lively mixed show consisting of sculptures, paintings, photographs and glass works by both students, profesional artists from the Midlands and myself.

The Artists
Amanda Noble
www.thefusedgarden.co.uk

I create beautiful glass sculptures for your garden or to hang in your home; adding a unique blend of colour and sparkle.
In your garden they look glorious in rain, snow and in the sun.
In your home they glisten whatever the lighting conditions.
I studied Theatre Design at University and after my degree I freelanced at a variety of theatres and opera houses.
I then moved into teaching and have been a teacher for over eleven years.
I am currently Head of Art at a busy secondary school.
My love of colour and painting has led me to use glass and my approach is as a painter. I design, cut and kiln fire the glass at home in my workshop in Flore, a village in rural Northamptonshire.

Clare Eguchi
http://www.clareeguchi.com/

I am an English artist with Japanese Samurai ancestors, and my stylistic influences vary from the subtlety of Japanese patterns and textiles to the earthiness of Aboriginal painting from around the Pacific Rim. I try to make the result, however, something completely unique, with inspiration coming from the natural world of forests, skies and rockpools.
My paintings are not intended to be understood intellectually, but to be experienced and felt. They are born out of my emotions and experiences.
All aspects of my life can be viewed in my paintings. Some paintings show my need for symmetry and balance in an otherwise unpredictable existence and others demonstrate my relationship with those people who are close to me. Other paintings simply express my joy at being alive.

Jan Rawnsley
jan.rawnsley@sky.com
Jan undertook initial formal study at Dewsbury & Batley Art College in the North of England after which she set up and managed an Exhibition design and display business. Jan has undertaken 3 years of advanced training at Budapest Art College following which she has studied at Rochester College of Art. She has subsequently painted for 5 years as an advanced painter at Mid Warwickshire College of Art and is now a member of The Studio Artists painting in Leamington Spa.
She has exhibited her work previously at a variety of venues including the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Clay Barn Gallery Alcester, Mercado Gallery Barford, Warwick University Gallery, the Community Gallery Leamington Spa, the Pump Rooms Gallery Leamington Spa, Walton World of Art Wellesbourne, the Priory Theatre in Kenilworth, the Loft Theatre in Leamington Spa and at Warwickshire Art Weeks. Her work has been accepted for the prestigious Midlands Open.
Jan works in oil, acrylic and mixed media. Her work is driven by her desire to express her emotional responses to her subject matter and this results in work that moves from realism towards abstraction.

Robin Caiger Smith
Information Coming Soon

Sarah Bunney
www.bunneyart.com
I have always been drawn to paintings of people – I find them endlessly fascinating and I enjoy trying to capture both a likeness and personality in my work. My goal is to produce art which both speaks to the personal and the public.

Eileen Newton-Golding
Whilst my work is mostly non-figurative there is evidence of metaphoric influences, sometimes landscape or plant forms but also of the human figure. Perhaps an association of physical objects - anchor, ship, plough, a leaf or wave – just a suggestion, a small moment of recognition, but sculpture remains in the abstract.
I often make sculptures that encompass several elements that relate to one another – with the physical sometimes symbolising the emotional. Curves are a major element in my work; they fascinate me, soft undulating forms that can at once seem maternal or imprisoning. Sometimes my sculptures express response by counter-balancing shapes, describing physical elements of protection, enclosure collapse or support. Some pieces are resting on one another, seeming to offer support but simultaneously they are competing for space or encroaching on each other.
Sculptural issues of gravity and balance interest me, deciding where the sculpture should rest, where it lifts off the ground, the relationship between one, two or more forms. The dilemma whether forms should merge into each other, or retain their integrity, remaining separate. The point of contact with the ground is important, a time to explore the seeming dichotomy of weight and weightlessness.
Clay offers the opportunity to play with surface, the illusion of physical materials – soft versus hard, fabric versus building remains. I work intuitively with the material preferring to carve rather than model and enjoying the elements of chance and discovery in the way a piece dries and changes shape.
Brian Mutton
www.brianmutton.com
After a working life teaching Art and Design I am now concentrating on my own work. I have exhibited widely in Northamptonshire with five solo exhibitions as well as mixed shows.
One important aspect of my work at the moment is to explore the boundary between representational painted image and constructed three dimensional structure. I use card or board constructions which are in themselves images
together with oil painting on the surface to emphasize the
pictorial nature of the pieces.
Subjects in this series have included abandoned interiors, natural patterns of foliage and undergrowth, quarried stone surfaces and coastal scenery.
Press
On the 7/8 of June , sculptor and painter Beatrice Hoffman opens her studio, garden and home for a mixed show of contemporary paintings, glass art, photography and sculpture, that promises to engross, entertain, delight astound and challenge in turn. The theme of the human head is taken up by several contributors - from bronze and drawn portraiture (Daria Coleridge and Cianne Stone) to a more contemporary approach in painting (Sarah Bunney), and the overlife size expressive heads of Beatrice Hoffman. Land- and seascape is represented by Jan Rawsley and Brian Mutton, who are finding new ways, and materials to approach an old theme. Margaret Godwin reduces nature to its abstract essentials of colour transitions. – which is a theme that Amanda Noble takes up in molten glass, as she – re-infuses pure colour into the cultivated nature of our gardens. Many of the sculptors work on the cusp between the human figure and abstraction.
Come to either just enjoy the work in a hamlet in the middle of the Northamptonshire countryside, or see what you can find to embellish your garden or house – which ever, it promises to be an eye-opening adventure. For more examples of the work on show, see the website www.beatricehoffman.co.uk, where you will also find directions.

New Exhibitions 2008

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:18:15 +0100

10–27th April
Solo exhibition in Oxford, at the Turrill Garden in Summertown, please contact for private view

14–28th May
South Northamptonshire Open, Michael Hesseltime Gallery, Middleton Cheney near Banbury

12–14th June
Art For Youth Oxford

Participating in Warwickshire Open Studio in three sites:

5–20th July
Wellesbourne

6-7th July
Leek Wooton near Warwick

12-13th July
Priors Marston

Opening own home, garden and studio for the weekend of 7-8th of June, and showing sculptures, paintings and photographs by selected artists, students and myself

10-24th July
Leamington Spa, Midwarwickshire College of Art with ‘The Leamington Artists Studio’ (LAS)

Feel free to contact Beatrice Hoffman for details

Sculpture Tuition Classes

Sun, 2 Mar 2008 13:33:31 +0000

Regular sculpture tuition in the studio on Thursday 9:15-11:45. Nurturing personal imagination; teaching ceramic sculpture techniques as part of personal self-expression; maximum group size seven students.
Contact Beatrice for booking details.

Sculpture Workshops in Spring 2008

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 17:28:57 +0000

Content
Because of the small group size, the subject matter will be open-ended – animals, heads, human figure or abstract; the material will be crank clay .I usually encourage students to find a subject matter relevant to themselves, as this is the most motivating way to learn – – the properties of clay and how to handle it, how to build up a coiled clay sculpture, how to transfer observation into form; how to create strong outline and smooth surfaces to enhance the power of a sculpture.
For images of workshops, see also the section of “Education” on my website

Participants
Both beginners and experienced students welcome.

Group size
No more than seven, and no less than five.

Dates
Sat 26th of April

Cost
£50 including materials and light snacks/drinks

For booking details
contact Beatrice Hoffman

BeatriceHoffman.co.uk News

Open Studio Weekend 7-8th June

New Exhibitions 2008

Sculpture Tuition Classes

Sculpture Workshops in Spring 2008