Summer Show

About

Due to the COVID-19 nationwide lockdowns, a number of exhibitions at the gallery during 2020/ 2021 were cut short or not open to visitors.

The Summer Show will therefore be an opportunity to revisit some of the work previously only available online including Gerald Green’s subtle interiors and impressions of Venice and Paris, John Lines’ nostalgic allotment antics, and Nick Pritchard’s landscapes of South Wales.

The gallery will also be displaying new work from regular exhibitors including Harry Brioche, Theo Crutchley-Mack, Dai David, David Griffiths RCA, Ian Hargreaves, Nicholas St John Rosse RSMA, Paul Weston and ceramics from Gill Bramley and many more.

Theo Crutchley-Mack’s work will display two different approaches to his work - oil painting and collagraph printmaking.

He says: “The gallery has kindly offered to show this work in their Summer Show which is a great chance to display the hours of work that go into making my work.

“The oil paintings are built in layers of thin veneered wood to form a base that is then sealed and painted over with oils. The thinned-out oils sink into the crevices of the textured surface to give a detailed look to the finished painting. This process of painting lends itself to representing the complexities of the landscape that I observe on regular walks around South Wales.

“In Collagraphy inks are used to fill in all of the crevices on a textured surface, known as the plate. The inked plate is then pressed into a sheet of wet paper with heavy force to transfer the image and make the completed print. I chose to represent the Big Pit Museum in Blaenavon using this process because of the beautiful old corrugated buildings and its surrounding post-industrial landscape.”

Dai David, who lives on the outskirts of the Brecon Beacons, has sought inspiration from the beautiful beaches of West Wales. He’s well known for his beach images and his new work does not disappoint.

He says: “This year I'm really pleased to be showing a collection of six new oils, all celebrating my love of Gower beaches as well as further west like Tenby and Newquay. A celebration of a Welsh summer you may say!”

Pembrokeshire artist Nia Mackeown is a former midwife who turned to professional painting in 2016. She enjoys painting things she loves, imagery of everyday life, of the endearing commonplace, and landscapes tempered with reflection and light. Her painting Tea and Lemons is a perfect example of this.

She says: “I am passionate about painting from life, especially "en plein air" and tend to focus on capturing colour and light in my paintings. I strive to capture the essence of the scene with immediacy and spontaneity before the light or weather conditions change. Over the years I have drawn influence from artists such as Monet and Bonnard as well as many eminent contemporary artists. My immediate surroundings and imagery of everyday life are constant sources of inspiration which I seek to celebrate in my work.”

Gerald Green’s paintings are impressions of places and events from everyday life. For him, light is the essential ingredient to energise and invigorate his work.

Paintings include visions of Venice, Paris cafes and London streets, with an assortment of interiors alongside garden settings and more intimate studies of everyday life. The majority were produced as studio paintings away from the subject, based on sketches and other reference material.

He says: “My approach is to try not to look for things specifically but to allow myself to find them.”

Newport College of Art graduate Nick Pritchard got the inspiration for his work from walking around the South Wales countryside, Torfaen and beautiful Pembrokeshire. Predominantly painting in acrylic, he uses a combination of palette knives and brushes to create stunning images, like the picturesque harbour in Saundersfoot.

There will also be work from a selection of ceramicists, including Gill Bramley, who works from her small studio in Swansea where most of the work is hand thrown from an electric wheel. The result is bright coloured bowls that take inspiration from the natural world. She loves to walk by the sea and countryside, using the natural beauty to create ideas for her beautiful pieces of earthenware.