March News
Image: Gwen, a Studio 40 volunteer, proudly holding up the defiant daffodils of Queen Street Gallery.
St. Davids Day
The staff at Queen Street Gallery and Studio 40 don’t have a great track record for keeping plants. A point in case is the stock of potted daffodils that we’ve had buried away in the staff kitchen at Queen Street Gallery for months. Despite serious neglect, come St. David's day, we were greeted by a crop of minute daffodils that sprouted from our humble tin pots. Gwen, our newest member at Studio 40, kindly agreed to pose for us holding the lovely daffs, in honour of this special time of year.
Image: The Open '23 opening night turnout.
Open ‘23 Exhibition
The winner of the Open ‘23 competition at Queen Street Gallery was Heather Littlejohns. We’ve also decided to make her the Artist of The Month at Queen Street Gallery, so we will be doing our best to promote her work, utilising our presence online.
Image: Heather Littlejohns, winner of Open '23.
“After qualifying as a Primary School teacher, I taught for over thirty years and during this time, I hope I inspired many young artists and colleagues to find joy in art and creativity.
I paint in watercolour because I love its unique qualities, its freshness, translucency and its unpredictability! My subject matter and inspiration are taken from the natural beauty of the Gower coastline, even down to an individual pebble or shell, or our cat sleeping on her favourite chair or a bundle of asparagus bought for supper. Beauty is all around us and it is there to be painted!” - Heather Littlejohns
Firmly at second place is Katheryn Moore's entry ‘First Light’. This mysterious entry caught the eyes of the judges due to its delicate handling of paint and touch of naivety. Her inspiration for the piece came from her childhood memories of reading tales of the legendary King Arthur and his journey to Avalon.
Image: Phil Taylor's photographs on display in Studio 1, Studio 40 Neath.
Phil Taylor, our third prize winner, currently has a pop-up solo exhibition in Studio 1, which will be up until March 25th.
Runners up included Graham Parker, Marissa Weatherhead, David Williams, Jon Mewett-Meyer and David Robinson, whose work was all highly commended by the judges.
Image: Ken Marten's Valley project on display in Studio 40.
New Artist at Studio 40: Ken Marten
We’re beyond excited for our new residential artist, Ken Marten, to be moving into Studio 2. Marten is a photographer based in Port Talbot. His ongoing documentary project Valleys focuses on capturing the essence of everyday life in the Afan Valley, South Wales.
“I frequently document ‘forgotten’ spaces, beneath flyovers or on industrial estates on the fringes of towns and cities, absent of people, yet not absent of humanity.” - Ken Marten
Without Ken’s knowledge, we’ve framed and exhibited a selection of photographs from his poignant photo documentary series depicting the Afan Valley. We can’t wait for him to see it up! Please take a look next time you visit. Don’t be afraid to make your way upstairs.
Award Winning Gallery Artist
Well done to our gallery artist Maria Pierides, winner of the VAA International Exhibition & Scholarship Prize. It’s so inspiring to see one of our artists gaining the recognition they deserve.
Workshops Coming Soon
We’re relieved to announce that workshops will be starting again in April. There are a number of exciting classes in store, including Art Therapy sessions with Maria Pierdes, Tile Mosaic crafting with Thomasin Toohie, evening life drawing classes with Patricia Mckenna, and Relaxation sessions with Susie Strange.
