Highlights from 2024

Mariya McAllister

Friday 19 April - Wednesday 24 April 2024

Open Every Day from 10am until 5pm

Katherine Barney

Wednesday 23 -Monday 27 May

A ceramic artist working from her own studio, based at her home in the Norfolk countryside.

With the use of specialist glazes, Katherine makes a diverse collection of vases, jugs, and lamp bases, plus a range of highly decorative and functional kitchenware.

These are unique, ‘one off’ items, hand painted by Katherine; the majority of her designs are inspired by natural surroundings and the plants and flowers from her garden.

Alison Scott is a landscape painter, working in acrylics and pastels. She has lived most of her life in Colchester and Wivenhoe and loves painting the East Anglian landscape with its wide expanses of marshland, woodland and rivers. She paints plein air, working on her own and with a local group. She has travelled extensively both in the UK and the US, recording these beautiful places in paint. She is an active member of Colchester Art Society and exhibits with them frequently. 

Alison will be donating the proceeds to the charity - Friends of the Earth.

Richard Allen is a professional artist and illustrator living in the Essex coastal town of Wivenhoe. He has a passion for the wildlife of the east coast marshes and estuaries, and spends many hours in the field sketching the multitude of birds that flock to the muddy creeks and channels.

A member of the Society of Wildlife Artists Richard won the prestigious Swarovski Birdwatch Artist of the Year Award last year at the “Natural Eye” exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. This will be Richard’s first one man show and will showcase new oil paintings inspired by the patterns found in bird’s plumage and mirrored in mud and water against the ever changing light of seasons, weather and tides on the Colne estuary. It will present a range of linocut prints from Richard’s successful books, “Coastal Bird” and “Garden Birds”, alongside some new more recent prints, and a series of sketches documenting the birds of a local lake during this spring and summer.

Richard will be attending the gallery every day and will be doing some watercolour sketchbook demonstrations and continuing on some “work in progress”.

Observations '24

Another eclectic exhibition from Art Wivenhoe will be held at Old Grocery, in early October.

Twelve adventurous artists from Wivenhoe and the surrounding area meet weekly for guided and mentored art workshops run by Jayne Wallett. 

They have been honing their skills and developing new techniques since their previous exhibition last autumn. Come along and enjoy the work on show at Old Grocery from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 8 October from 10am to 4pm.

Marisa Arna & Ben Molyneux

Saturday 2 until Thursday 7 November

Oxford-born Ben Molyneux is a self-taught artist based in North Essex. He paints beauty, whether in a beautiful seascape, a captivating face or the sun breaking through of the clouds and lightning the rolling hills. His background as a portrait photographer and travel photographer shine through in his oil paintings.

Greek-born Marisa Arna is based at her studio in Thorpe-le-Soken, near Frinton-on-Sea, in Essex, at the same spot where she originally relocated her ceramic studio from Greece, in 1997. Her fascination with design and traditional crafts has fed her enthusiasm to learn how to throw fine porcelain on the wheel, sold in the UK and overseas. Continuing her passion with design and crafts, Marisa has been a jewellery designer and goldsmith since 2007. She uses traditional goldsmithing techniques, combined with some modern technology, to make her uniquely designed jewellery in all precious alloys, by hand, including stone-setting. There is a contemporary feel about Marisa’s designs, with different textures and contrasting finishes on the surface but also a distinctive timelessness. It can be a ready-to-wear, inexpensive necklace or a bespoke engagement ring, for a variety of budgets. When technically possible, Marisa can also melt down and remodel old or heirloom, gold jewellery into new, more wearable pieces.

CLAYART, quintessentially Pop-Up Show returns to Wivenhoe CLAYART, quintessentially is set to return to Wivenhoe for its third annual pop-up ceramics show. Coinciding with the Wivenhoe Art Trail, the showcase will run from 14 to 19 November 2024.

Clayart, quintessentially is a collaborative group of five Essex-based female ceramicists. Together they aim to shine a spotlight on home studio potters based in the East of England by presenting their passion for and the limitless possibilities of working with clay. All the ceramicists are members of Anglian Potters. All pieces on display will be available to purchase by the public.

Judith Annakie-Eriksen (JAE Ceramics) focuses on functional ceramics for use in the home. She has developed three tableware collections: the contemporary black and white porcelain range named “Speckles”; the colourful “Geo” set inspired by Mondrian art; and a classic form tableware range with a modern drippy glaze treatment called “Purple Rain”. She will be unveiling original wall art at this year’s pop-up.

Although not a prolific maker, Jacqui Cade-Bowyer (JCB Ceramics) has been hand moulding in clay as a hobby for about 25 years. Her detailed hand-built paper porcelain and stoneware clay pieces are intricately crafted and often reflect her other pastime of gardening. For this show she has gone back to her early days of working with clay and will have a few pieces suitable for outside in stoneware Crank clay.

Lucy Fowler of Cowpat Pots makes an assortment of ceramic pieces from porcelain jewellery to ornate decorative pieces and functional items with detailed delicate adornments. Lucy works from a purposed-built workshop based on the family farm in Bradwell-on-Sea, where she also offers pottery workshops and pottery painting sessions.

Taking inspiration from classic fantasy children’s books, and working completely from her own imagination, Sandra Hall skilfully and individually sculpts quirky figurative, animal and mythical characters in stoneware. Weatherproof works include personalised signs and green men plaques, as well as succulent planters adorned with dragons or green men.

Together with frost-proof hand-built garden birdbaths, Ann Hebden will showcase her new range of elegant “Sea and Sand” stoneware functional ceramics inspired by the coastline at Harwich where she lives. Her hand-thrown Raku fired stoneware vessels will also be on display. Representing a range of influences from Britain, East Asia, Africa and Scandinavia the pieces feature diverse making and decorative techniques, including sculpture, hand building, wheel-thrown and a variety of glaze effects. From functional to fanciful, whether purchasing for oneself for a loved one, the ceramic pieces appeal to countless tastes and suit many indoor and outdoor settings.

Details:

CLAYART, quintessentially: Pop-Up Ceramics Show

14 – 19 November 2024

Open from 11am to 5pm