BORN: 1976, Somerset. EDUCATION: Edinburgh and Cheltenham, BA Fine Art

Inspired by childhood memories and travels, films and novels, Dan Ablitt’s paintings contain tantalising mystery, providing us with more questions than answers, whilst comforting us in their nostalgia. This tension of feelings, combined with Dan’s refined graphic skills make his work highly collectible throughout the UK and abroad.

“My surroundings often provide the starting point for my work. This could be a visit to an area of outstanding natural beauty, woodland and alpine forests having a significant influence, along with the landscape of south Somerset, where I live and work. My memories of my childhood also have a strong influence on my work, conveying a sense of nostalgia.”

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Born Northampton 1961.  1983 Leicester Polytechnic BA Fine Art Sculpture. 1985 Postgraduate Diploma in Art Therapy (St.Albans)

In his studio on the edge of the Peak District, Paul creates sculptures that give us a feeling of another reality where there is peaceful co-existence between us and nature. Paul exhibits his work across the UK, and there is a strong following for his bold semi-abstract pieces with their graceful sweeping curved and simplified forms. 

“In my work I play with the conventions of fairytales and fables, often turning the stories on their heads and twisting them. Goldilocks has made peace with the bears and Red Riding Hood has grown up to be a confident femme fatale who entrances the Wolf.  There are many ‘first-nation’ stories of a time when beasts could talk and the world was one, not divided into the human/animal worlds. 

I am interested in our perception of the animal kingdom, told through fairytale and fable, art, books and film, rather than realistic depiction.  A big influence on my work has been Angela Carter who wrote several short stories and novels on the theme of fairytales, “The Company of Wolves” and “The Bloody Chamber” being among the most famous. She tells tales of transformation, wonder and strangeness but, however dark the stories are, there is, more often than not, a redemptive ending.”

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Barbara studied Fine Art after first training as actor. She has combined a career in theatre and as an artist ever since. Perhaps it is because of her roots in the theatre a sense of narrative pervades her paintings, albeit it elusive. The landscapes and the figures that appear in them evoke something neither real nor imagined, more a world half remembered. Barbara is a member of the esteemed Contemporary British Painting group and has paintings in collections around the world.

“I’m interested in figures in landscapes, I like depicting figures emerging and disappearing from view, glimpses of fleeting moments. Most mornings I wake early and I go out along the estuary where I live, trying to capture dawn light mirrored in the water and wet mud, sketching marshland birds, small fishing vessels, the workings of the gravel pits and the early morning mists. Mostly I try to capture the feeling of being there. Later in the studio I develop the sketches into paintings sometimes introducing displaced figures from memory or old photographs.”

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'The sculptures are expressionistic, semi abstract figures and heads, some quite small in scale, others large enough to be placed outside. Each piece starts with a clay maquette which is cast, after various stages of refinement. Emanating feelings such as joy, remembrance or longing, Sally’s sculpture captures a range of emotion.The tactile and sensual figures leave a lasting impression, each piece having a fluidity that gives harmony and elegance. '
Patricia Jennery

Cove is part of a series of larger scale bronzes that capture elements of landscape within a female form. 

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Paintings are so very often as much about paint itself as they are about subject or source; a reality not universally understood. It can speak as eloquently as word or melody when exploited with intelligence and dexterity. Hambleton has this understanding in her very DNA.
John Fineran

Lindsey captures the light and form of trees in the landscape, in works that range from small studies to very large canvases. Compositions are often framed by trees, conveying the sense of safety and shelter that the artist associates with woodlands. The colour palette and bold brushwork are an emotive response to landscape, creating works that are confident and full of energy.

In recent years, Lindsey has has also returned to the subject of animals and birds, which is a response to her son's passion for nature and his growing skills as a wildlife artist, and increasing time spent surveying wildlife in her local surroundings. 

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Keith, a qualified civil engineer, has over the last 25 year explored his creativity through various mediums including clay, wood, stone carving and lastly wire work in 2005.

Following 25 years exhibiting at Cambridge Open Studios, Keith now embraces the description “artist” as well as “engineer”.

Trees have always been a fascination through their seasonal variations, the connection to earth and structural variety and their permanence on a scale that transcends human life span.

The trees are created from continuous aluminium wire, with roots wrapped around chosen stones or found metal. Different thicknesses of wire produce different levels of detail and movement.

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Ama is based in the West Country, and is best known for her bronze birds of prey.  Her work celebrates the successfull reintroductions of species such as the Red Kite, and naturally recovering Buzzard. Ama is a passionate supporter of rewilding and has created life sized bronzes for zoos.

Her sculptures are stylistically inspired by etchings, woodblock prints, early 20th century illustration and Art Deco stone carving.

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Graduated Nottingham University, Post Graduate Birmingham.

Utilising a heavy impasto technique, Kristan paints with a powerful mixture of colour and form. Derbyshire landscape figures heavily, with sculptured canvases emitting a light and shadow of their own from the density of their structure. The colour and mood of the paintings can be seen to change in different light.

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