Butterflies, Birds & Bees

Once again we were thrilled with the delightful entries we received for our quarterly competition. The theme this time was “Butterflies, Birds & Bees” and we seem to have received a wide variety of styles and subjects.  One painting even included all 3 - well done Sam Brett-Atkin!

Spring by Yean teo

Orchid by Yean Teo

silk textile design by Laura Suthon

Hebomoia Gloucippe by Jill Iliffe

Reverie by Sam Brett-Atkin

The joint winners were: Katia Bellini for her beautiful oil painting “Birds of Sirius” and Yean Teo for “Spring” and “Orchid”, Chinese Ink and pigment on rice paper. Congrats to the other finalists: Sam Brett-Atkin; Laura Suthon (for butterfly textile designs on silk scarfs); Jill Iliffe (for her butterfly painting)

Birds of Sirius by Katia Bellini

Thank you to everyone who entered and keep an eye on the website for future competitions! The next one is “Dreams Afar”: Travel inspired artworks (exhibition in July & August)

New Artist: Jamel Akib

We’re delighted to be working with super talented artist Jamel Akib.  He has worked successfully as an artist for many years, showing at numerous exhibitions and art fairs around the country, as well as teaching art at his own workshops. We have his gorgeous, vibrant Puffins and Hummingbirds as part of our mixed show this May and June

Hummingbird by Jamel Akib

Hummingbird by Jamel Akib

If you need a pop of colour for your room then look no further! Akib doesn’t hold back with brushes of thick, glorious paint and creates wonderful movement in his oil paintings. 

Puffin by Jamel Akib

Puffin by Jamel Akib

Jamel Akib was born in Leigh-on-sea, Essex, England, on the 4th November 1965 to mixed English and Malaysian parentage.  He moved to Sabah, North Borneo at the age of five and returned to England to pursue further education at the age of thirteen.  He gained a BA honours Degree in Illustration in 1989.  He began working for the London Observer newspaper while still a student at art college, and has since become an award winning artist involved in many exhibitions and commissions.

He has so far illustrated the covers for three booker prize finalists and has a long list of credits for illustration stretching far and wide. He lives in Salisbury, England with his wife and two boys.

Kimono by Jamel Akib

Ballerina by Jamel Akib

Congratulations competition winners

Well done to the winners of the first Gallery & Barrow art competition “Bonny Botanical”. We were blown away by the high standard of entries and thank everyone for entering the competition. We currently have six winning pictures up in the gallery so if you’re passing do pop in and take a look

"New Beginnings” - Encaustic wax painting by Lynne Miller

This lovely entry came in a pair by Lynne Miller all the way from North Carolina.  The coloured wax has been used to create these beautiful floral designs in a charming way and the finish almost looks like a ceramic tile. We just love them!

"Siam Tulip”. Collage by Penny Brown

"Blue Hydrangea”. Watercolour by Susan Thomson

“Desiccated Tulip”. Watercolour by Julia Trickey

“Chinese Lanterns”. Drawing by Christine Lawes

Some of the artists who entered the competition are professional botanical artists and it was a delight to see the variety of styles and methods used. 

If you’d like to enter our next competition “Butterflies, Birds & Bees” - see the website menu “Art Competitions" for details

“Vintage Roses”. Watercolour by Julia Trickey

New Artist: Alexandra Gallagher

Award winning artist Alexandra Gallagher is a British multidisciplinary artist, who's work takes the form of collage, street art, prints, photography and painting. 

Gallagher’s work celebrates the surreal and sublime. ­Between the realms of memory, dreams and experience, her work looks beyond our subjective limits and often tells a story of inner imagination and thought. Often working within a series, each piece is visceral and organic, the artist never knowing how each piece will transform. 

Many of Alexandra's originals are street-art or large scale mural commissions 

Alexandra at work creating a large mural

Alexandra’s mural for AskItalian restaurant

Another large scale commission 

Exhibiting and selling both across the country and internationally, she has been nominated for a number of awards. Shortlisted for the Zealous X, she was awarded the Saatchi Showdown Surrealism Second Place Winner and the Secret Art Prize Runner Up Winner 2016. Her recent achievements include being a London Contemporary Art Prize 2018 Finalist and being shortlisted for the Rise Art Prize.

We are delighted to be selling some of her work at the gallery here in Bath. Beautifully framed in dark black the glossy images would add contemporary glamour to any wall.

Gallery & Barrow are opening in Stroud!

From March 1st, you can find us both in Bath and also in Stroud! We are delighted to be renting wall space at The Malthouse Collective in Stroud. The old brewery building is now a haven for antiques, crafts and art.  

You can find us upstairs from March 1st onwards. Why not make a day of it and have lunch in the adjoining Malthouse Bar & Kitchen. Parking is easy - right in front. For more information go to: https://themalthousecollective.co.uk

The basement is soon to be filled with artist studios and workshops. The ground floor is full of antiques and designer makers and the first floor will be artists, galleries, dealerships and crafts. Seek out our wall (far end) and then shop 'til you drop!

As well as meeting new customers we look forward to checking out all the local artists in Stroud and the surrounding villages

The address is: Salmon Springs Trading Estate
Cheltenham Road
Stroud
GL6 6NU

See you there soon!

New Artist: Esther Brown

Gallery and Barrow are delighted to shortly be receiving original paintings by Esther Brown.

Based in Ireland, Esther is a highly skilled draughtsman and conceptual artist, having achieved a BA Honours in Fine Art and experience working as a print designer in high fashion house Alexander McQueen where her drawings were printed as T shirts and scarves in their SS 2014 collection. Her Bone China drawings won her the 1st prize at the Ranger House Exhibition Guildford 2014, and This is My Body was shortlisted in the Hermione Hammond Drawing Award 2014 top ten.
 
 

Showing precise technical skill, Esther's work is centred mainly on the themes of brokenness and restoration, ideas of symmetry and utopianism.

 We can’t wait to receive her paintings and look forward to seeing more work from Esther over the coming months

Art Competition “Bonny Botanical"

Have you entered our first Gallery & Barrow art competition yet?  Just click on the link “Art Competitions” in the menu bar of the website for details on how to enter.  It’s free! Here are some pictures for inspiration, just think plants, leaves, trees, floral, petals, palms and the more contemporary and innovative the better!  All mediums are welcome from ceramics to mixed-media. 

We’ve already been receiving some delightful entries, all extremely varied in style and format. Keep them coming! The winners will be exhibited in the group show in March in the gallery in Bath, alongside artwork from G&B artists.  The exhibition will be kick-started with a small drinks party from 3 - 5pm on Sat March 3rd - do come and join us and see all the wonderful and colourful botanical art on display!

Feeling Pink by Elodie May

Susan Laughton

In the new year, the gallery is excited to be showing some fresh new artists.  Susan Laughton, brings a serene sense of peacefulness to the new year, with these delightfully tranquil pieces of botanical and also architectural art:

Susan writes: "My paintings and drawings evolve from half-remembered glimpses seen from the corner of my eye, fleeting juxtapositions elusive to photography, the dislocated reverie of long car journeys, or from more studied compositions. The landscape is my starting point, not as a picturesque or static view, but as a space travelled through and experienced often on the edges of the urban and the rural. It is a source of man made and natural structures, surfaces and colour from which my reductive personal responses develop. Man made structures in particular impose their presence: telegraph poles, fences, power lines, isolated buildings - structures that create tension within space and mark the passage of time and distance.

Process and materials are important to me as a way of allowing the paintings to emerge as objects in their own right. Structured and methodical approaches combined with spontaneous and intuitive reactions allow me to plan and take risks: to combine control with ‘let‘s see what happens if...’

Having worked as an architect for years, Susan has been working as an artist since 2002 and has had numerous solo and group shows all over the UK.  Susan now lives and works in Congleton, Cheshire, and we can’t wait to show her work here in Bath from Feb onwards.

Susan Laughton at work

The Big Gallery & Barrow Sale!

Join us from Jan 5th - 13th for The Big Gallery & Barrow sale!! Many artworks from the previous year will be temporarily sold at discounted prices.  Hundreds of £££ off altogether! Do pop in to the gallery to grab a bargain! Don’t miss out! 

From Jan 14th - Feb 2nd, the gallery will be closed but artworks from the sale can still be viewed and purchased by appointment. Just call Heidi on: 07958 775744 to make an appointment.

From Feb 3rd the gallery will be open again, with usual hours and opening times except that it will be closed on Tuesdays as well.  The gallery will be open: Wed - Sat (10.30am - 5.30pm) and closed Sun - Tues inclusive.  

In March the gallery will be back to usual opening times. The gallery will feature the first curated mixed show “Bonny Botanical” and will include competition winners from our first G&B art competition (details to follow shortly!)

See you in the gallery soon!!

The Buy Art Fair, Manchester

In October G&B headed north to the Buy Art Fair in Manchester. What a great city Manchester is - easy to walk around and full of great restaurants and bars. We loved it. Here are some of the photos from the show.  Well done to Andy Coombs who sold not one, but all of four of his sculptures and to Chitra Merchant who also sold well at the exhibition

(you may need to wait a few moments for the photos to upload)

Winter dates to remember

Some dates to remember:

Wed 22nd November: Late night shopping and the Bath Christmas market preview. The gallery will be open until 7pm

Sat 25th November: Gallery & Barrow Christmas Party. 3 - 5pm. Everyone welcome! Enjoy a few glasses of vino while you visit our “Winter Scenes” exhibition and browse the gorgeous artisan gifts available. Please RSVP: studio@galleryandbarrow.com (so I have an idea of numbers)

Sun 26th November: Walcot Winterfest: Walcot St will have it's own little Christmas festival. If you visit the “Winter Scenes” show on this day you might find mulled wine and delicious bakes thrown in!

Gallery & Barrow are heading North!

Please come and see us at The Buy Art Fair in Manchester on 27th - 29th October

"Winter Scenes” exhibition

November and December at the gallery will feature a “Winter Scenes” exhibition, with new artwork from various artists showing mountains, skiers, snow landscapes and cabins. 

Cabin by Rennie Pilgrem

Penglai by Michelle Loa Kum Cheung

Apres Ski by Rennie Pilgrem

Morning light. Screen print by Clare Cutts

Snow by Sarah Targett

Oak House by Rennie Pilgrem

Meet the Artists event!

Thank you to everyone who came to the “Meet The Artists” event on Saturday in conjunction with the “Psyche, Dreams & Spaces” exhibition. Artists Toni Cogdell and Antonella Scarpa-Isles were in the gallery to discuss their work. The wine flowed and the afternoon whizzed by! Here are some of the photos:

The Bath Magazine feature

It was lovely to be featured in The Bath Magazine recently:

https://thebathmagazine.co.uk/gallery-barrow/

Ribbons by Toni Cogdell

Antonella Scarpa-Isles

Italian born artist Antonella Scarpa-Isles uses representational and impressionistic methods of painting to beautifully blend her landscapes, creating wonderfully realised ethereal scenes. Antonella who originally hails from Tuscany has studied art in both England and Italy and currently resides in a little village outside of Bath. 

Cycle Path between Nailsworth & Stroud

She was a member and the Company Secretary of Bath Artist Printmakers for many years, but has now left in order to concentrate solely on her painting.  Antonella’s imagery is inspired by local landscapes, and uses monoprint as a starting point to quickly record the idea of a place, building up the basic composition in black ink and then adding layers of colours, using various painting tools and materials.  

Hidden in the Stillness

Following the River

Despite appearing to depict real locations Antonella seeks to capture a mood rather than a specific location, and says she often relies more on the memory of a place than the place itself.   Water, trees, sky and reflections and how they react with each other are the main elements of her work.  

Fog Lifting

BBC Big Painting Challenge

We are delighted to currently be displaying a new contemporary artist who is currently taking the world by storm! Leeds based painter Suman Kaur is the winner of this years BBC’s ‘The Big Painting Challenge’.

Suman says of her work “The themes in my work tend to vary but for the most part I love to experiment with layers of human psyche and expression as well as contrasts of texture to create form.”  Her stunning works utilise a multitude of unorthodox mediums such as shoe polish and coffee and she works on different substrates such as old wood or newspaper!

Portraits on newspaper by Suman Kaur

Close-up of The Ballet Dancer by Suman Kaur

As well as experimental mediums, Suman’s forte lies with figurative or portraiture work. The portrait of her father she made as part of the show’s challenge was a beautiful rendition in ochres and soft browns, and the Degas style painting of ballerinas showed confident movement of the dancers.  For Gallery & Barrow, she has sent us another ballet dancer, this time painting on wood with a street-art vibe. 

Suman’s image of the ballet dancers was part of the Big Painting Challenge

Suman’s arresting portraits and observations of daily life

Suman Kaur’s work is shortlisted for The Sunday Times Watercolour competition

Crumpled Paper and Molten Wax

Who knew that crumpled paper and molten wax could be formed into blossoming, delicate art! What’s more it was the result of admonishing climate change denial!

Field by Bill Zima

Artist Bill Zima grew up in Chicago but now lives in Scotland where he has reconnected with nature and is inspired by the trees around him changing colours in the seasons.

Bill writes "I never have a preconceived notion of the colour, the piece always guides me in this regard. I respond to the shapes and patterns of the wrinkles, to draw tree trunks and/or branches with charcoal. Oil paint is used for the overall tree and branch structure.  I apply a beeswax/resin ‘glaze’ coating with a palette knife. After the wax phase is complete the whole painting is painted completely black and the oil paint is removed, leaving marks, crevices and traces thus creating a type of visual history. There is a significant amount of chance in this step as I am not entirely sure where the black marks will be. When dry the painting is buffed extensively with steel wool”. Bill even makes his own frames, embedding the image in deep set wood. 

ME3 by Bill Zima

Bill has always been interested in the environment. "When I was a young artist I called myself an environmentalist. Over time, I recognised my carbon footprint was significant and stopped using this description. I am still concerned and worried about the state of the planet. I am also quite dismayed at the coterie who claim there has been no climate change and it was whilst grumbling about these individuals the current body of work was inspired. I was quite angry/upset about climate change denial and distracted with these thoughts when I botched a drawing, crumpled the paper and threw it in the bin. After a few moments of reverie, staring at the shadows formed on the crumpled paper, I connected the thoughts of a ‘throw-away’ society with the trees I began to make.  I extensively manipulated the Kozuke paper (strategic wrinkling) in a rough shape of a tree and then glued the paper to 6mm mdf”  and hence a new technique began.....

H.-Micrantha by Bill Zima

Artworks by Bill Zima are available now at Gallery and Barrow, in Bath, UK

FUN NEW SCULPTURES!

We’ve just put the first of two John Clark sculptures on display! John likes to “paint and build people” creating eloquent figures which symbolises his creative imagination and as John says  “Heads float in space, arms lie on planes, figures drift." They're fun and vibrant bringing a dash of colour to the gallery, the first titled “Darling” (below) is a pastel green couple embrassing upon a rustic pink plinth. The second called, “Caught Sleeping" is vibrant red couple one of which is being lifted by the other.

Darling by John Clark

“ The technique used to build them is my own confection, combining pattern making, plotting and injection moulding. Each sculpture in an edition is finished with a variety of paints, pigments and waxes that are applied as if to a canvas. "

We love the humour in John’s work and his cunning observance of the human behaviour and form.   Check out some more of his quirky sculptures:

The Lovers by John Clark

Caught Sleeping by John Clark

The Helping Hand by John Clark

Hang About!

Unique figurative oil paintings on old wood, have just arrived at the gallery and we love them! Cool, edgy, innovative art on rustic wood - exactly what we crave here at Gallery and Barrow. These artworks are the result of a dedicated creative career - A BBC hair & make up artist and trained wig maker by trade, painting, drawing & making have been intertwined in Sally Whelan's day to day life since she was a child.

"Leap, Dangle, Climb" by Sally Whelan

“Dangle” by Sally Whelan

Sallys paintings provoke a feeling of curiosity from the viewer. Her work has strong narrative and bold composition. A witty charm and well observed sense of humour blends uniquely with a hintingly dark undercurrent.  "I mainly work with oil paints on a combination of canvas, collaged old maps, and found bits of wood. Things like rusty street signs and industrial gas tap flaps are popping up more and more in my work these days too. I like an unusual surface...and a challenge!"

Close up detail from “Leap, Dangle, Climb"

“Jump” by Sally Whelan

 I paint because it gets the feelings out. If i could sing, or write songs, play music or articulate myself properly I would...but painting just seemed to sort of "happen" along the way. I'm totally self taught so it all happened very naturally, and now I just feel physically wrong if I dont do it."

"Bodies, people, the hidden shades and depths, from the inside out, a fabric that is always changing. Never predictable, always challenging and something I feel compelled to depict."

Swing by the gallery to see them in the flesh!