Work Experience Student - Lewis's Edit

Lewis is a business student at Chesterfield College currently completing his work experience within West Studios. Below is his take on our monthly shop edit, highlighting his favourite items within the gallery-shop.

Martin Davis- Dreams of the Hunter Valley for England- £50

Dreams of the Hunter Valley for England

This piece of work created by Martin Davis is an incredible painting that shows the power of light feeding through the trees. It has a good use of blending the orange beams of light and looks realistic enough. I consider it to be one of the best paintings in the shop. It is a colourful painting and is worth the £50 to have it hung on a wall for all to see.

Beams and Bobbins- Double Brooch with chain - £9

Revolver and Rose Brooch

Accurately crafted and three-dimensional in design it is possibly the best brooch of them all. If you are one that likes a brooch this one is for you. It costs only £9, a good price.

Jazibaz- Bob Dylan- £20

Bob Dylan

If you are someone interested in basic ink pen drawings but correctly detailed or have a love for rock, then this piece of work designed by Jazibaz is the one for you. It comes at a great deal of £20 and would look great on a wall in your home.

Jerry Daniels- Foggy Church Photograph- £30

Fog with Church

An incredible photograph made by Jerry Daniels shows the effects of fog hovering around the trees and an interesting church in the background. It gives off that feeling of lost but exploring the unknown. It comes at £30 and is perfect for buying today.

Little Pig Jewellery- Scissor Necklace- £25

Scissors necklace

 If you are an artistic person this item greatly represents your creativeness. The scissors are perfectly safe to wear and come in multi-colour They come at the price of £25.

If you want to purchase any of these items from the edit please contact us on 01246 500799 to reserve the item you want to come and collect.

Monthly Edit - February

It’s almost February! Did you feel like January lasted for 5 years? Or did it whizz by in the blink of an eye, like it did for me?

Either way, here is your monthly dose of edited highlights from our Gallery Shop. This month we see the day that divides opinions; Valentine’s Day on the 14th, and also Chinese New Year on 5th.

Valentine Collection

We have so many cards for you to choose just the right one for your beloved. Cute, beautiful or humorous. Just a few of the ones we have in right now, from left to right, we have:

‘You Are A Magical Creature’ by Duck and Peach £3, ‘My Heart; A Diagram’ by Lily Hammond £2.50, ‘Thanks For Getting Rid of the Spiders’ Lily Hammond £2.50, ‘Pug Love’ by The Illustrated Wisp £2.75

We are getting more in too… keep an eye out on social media!

We also have prints aplenty.

From left to right we have:

‘You Light Up My Life’ by Craig Titley £20, ‘You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Grey’ by Duck and Peach £12, ‘Love Heart' Hanger’ by Sombrero Printmaking - currently reduced to £9, ‘Wild About You’ by Letterbox Lane £10

‘Love Potion Necklace’ by Beams and Bobbins £20

In the grid above:

Silver necklace with moving elements by Sarah Pasley £48, Leather Heart Corner Bookmark by Shadow Crafts (many other colours to choose from) £3, Man in the Moon Stained Glass Hanger by Adrian Scothern £30, Leather Plectrum Holder Keyring by Shadow Crafts (many other colours to choose from) £10.

CUTE OVERLOAD Knitting Dinosaurs by Beth Cartwright £35

For something to show your affection in an unusual and extremely cute way is Beth Cartwright’s Knitting Dinos. You can absolutely guarantee no one else will have one like this too with it being a one-off.

If you are super-organised, you can get 10% off everything in the Gallery Shop until the end of January (apart from the items that are already reduced) and lets face it, who doesn’t love getting things for a little bit less!

In honour of Chinese New Year on 5th February, we have this lovely piggy print by Jacqueline Currell as it is Year of the Pig.

‘Nosey’ Print 2/5’ by Jacqueline Currell £50

Even if all this ‘love stuff’ isn’t your particular cup of tea you can still pop down to enjoy a cup of our Fairtrade coffee roasted by Northern Tea Merchants on Chatsworth Road… show the love in a different way!

Hope to see you soon!

My Work Experience at West Studios

I’m Lewis and I have chosen to complete my work experience in West Studios as part of my first year at Chesterfield College, doing a level two business course. I have thoroughly enjoyed working here for almost a month.

I have been set with numerous tasks that have helped me manage my expectations of what a business environment is really like. Utilising the use of Microsoft Word and Excel documents has helped me see what it would be like in a real life situation, such as creating detailed timetables. The work experience has also helped me with handling money and reducing the cost of items inside the reception’s shop for the January sale. I have also developed customer service skills by taking a few requests from customers and showing people to the main college reception. The tasks have also helped me organise rooms for people at West Studios for room hire.

Overall the experience I have gained on the reception has been a great experience and couldn’t have found a better place to do my work experience. I would recommended other students to do their work experience at West Studios as it is very beneficial.

January Newsletter

It’s a new year and we have loads of interesting and exciting things going on at West Studios.

Duck and Peach, ‘Happy 2019’ Card, £2.50

Our Monthly Edit is up on the website. It’s a relaxed collection of items this month. I thought we all needed a bit of calm… As always with The Edit, and indeed anything we post on social media, drop us a line if you would like to reserve anything to pick up (You can do that here OR on Facebook and drop us a message on Messenger) A lot of the items we hold have a very limited stock or are totally unique. Also, as a little added incentive, we have 10% off everything in the shop during January…

10% off everything in the Gallery Shop during the whole of January!

Kicking off our 2019 exhibition calendar is a joint exhibit by Martin Davis and Susan Tracey exploring treescapes and water. It promises to be both tranquil and beautiful. We met with both Martin and Susan earlier this week to have a short chat about their work and what inspires them. To read the full interview click here.

Martin Davis and Susan Tracey’s Exhibition starts on Friday 11th January.

Do you fancy getting creative this year? Maybe it was a New Years Resolution to find a new hobby? We may have just the thing for you. During 2019, we have a variety of short, 6 week evening courses running in Chesterfield College. You can choose from Silversmithing, Ceramics, Photography, Printmaking and Photoshop. For information, including prices, follow this link.

During this year we have had many students on work experience at West Studios and with the tenants. They have helped in Reception, got involved with the more unexpected and ‘Behind The Scenes’ jobs of being a self-employed creative. From packaging hundreds of photographic prints to creating spreadsheets to help with the running of West Studios, there has not been a dull moment. If you or your business are interested in supporting Chesterfield College with their students on work experience please contact us here.

If you’re holding an event or having a meeting, we have all the spaces here at West Studios available to hire. We can offer hourly rates, half or full day prices, catering… give us a call and talk to us about how we can help your event or meeting be a success. Click here for more information.

Our Tenants have been busy and will continue to be into the New Year.

In December, ‘S40 Local’ launched a sister publication, ‘S41 Local’ that will be widely distributed in the S41 postcode area. With S40 running for close to ten years, there is a great buzz about the launch of S41 and hopes of it being just as successful. Their combined potential readership of 30,000 local people makes for a great advertising opportunity for local businesses. If you’d like to advertise with them, email bekah@s41local.com

Future Foundations will be advertising 106 different summer jobs this month on their website https://www.future-foundations.co.uk/join-our-team/ All roles are for Summer 2019 NCS programmes and they are looking for Team Leaders, Team Mentors and Wave Managers. Follow the link above for more information and to apply.

All at West Studios wish you a very happy New Year and we wish you all the best things.

Interview with Martin Davis and Susan Tracey

I recently met with both Martin Davis and Susan Tracey to have a chat about their upcoming exhibition, ‘Treescapes and Water’.

What are your backgrounds as artists?

Martin Davis: I am a retired firefighter. I left the service in Sheffield in 2007 and have been painting seriously for the last 10-11 years. Practising art was always in my blood and I am fulfilling a lifetime’s ambition by creating and exhibiting work.

Susan Tracey: I gained my B.A.Hons in Painting and Printmaking at Sheffield Hallam University and went on to exhibit widely in the South East before returning to Derbyshire. My work is in diverse places including NCR in London, Rotherham Hospital, offices in Leeds and in private collections. Martin and I are both founding members of the Derbyshire Artists Guild. I have exhibited at East Midlands airport and taken part in Art in the Gardens, Sheffield and Derbyshire Open Arts. I also give workshops in Sheffield schools and I’m currently exhibiting at Leabrooks Arts Complex Somercotes.

What materials have you used to create the work in the exhibition?

Martin Davis: I generally paint in oils on canvas, canvas board, mdf or wood panel – but I have been known to use acrylics. In fact one of the pieces on display in this exhibition is in acrylic, see if you can spot it in the exhibit.

Susan Tracey: Like Martin, I work mostly in oil on linen. Oil paint dries slowly and working in layers allows time for thought and reflection. My current work is inspired by my yoga practice, dawn light and the surface of water.

Speaking of inspiration, what else have you taken inspiration from to create this exhibition?

Martin Davis: Mother nature of course; who hasn’t! My own take on mother nature’s inspiration is to focus on one element or part of a form and try to represent it in such a way as to border on the abstract or surreal.

Susan Tracey: My work is drawn from my experience of landscape, walking and sketching directly from nature, spending a lot of time in observation and returning often to the same place before working in the studio. My work is meditative in character, the intention being the creation of a timeless space that distils the essence of a place and can allow a moment or two of calm in a busy day.

What made you chose West Studios when deciding where you should exhibit your work?

Martin Davis: Chesterfield is an area of the County I have yet to really break into. I have exhibited here before and I’m returning to exhibit again because I like the exhibition space and ambience and I have a good relationship with the staff. I also like the fact that it is also a part teaching and part workshop environment which takes its art seriously.

Susan Tracey: As far as I can see, West Studios has been building a solid reputation as a place to see and exhibit art in a relaxing social space. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to exhibit here.

‘Treescapes and Water’ exhibition by Martin Davis and Susan Tracey will be open from 11th January 2019 until 1st February 2019.