As this years young contemporaries were unable to exhibit their work we thought we would mark the occasion by sharing some of the amazing work done by the students involved.
Thank you to all of our Young Contemporaries for their commitment and involvement this year.
Self-isolation, social distancing and the whole Coronavirus situation is a strange time and can sometimes be overwhelming. So with this newsletter we aim to share some positive stories and things to look forward to when all this craziness is over.
Tenant Helen Rowan has set-up a new Instagram and is challenging families to take a photo each day using the theme she sets.
The challenge has been running for just over a week now so you can either jump in from today or go back to the beginning and double up the challenges to do two a day. Perfect if you’re struggling to find enough productive activities to occupy your time.
You can then tag the @HRP_challenge account in your image to have a chance for it to be featured on the page!
You can find out more information here.
Submissions are still open for this years Derbyshire Young Artist of the Year. If you’re in the school years 4-13 you can submit one entry into each of the below categories.
The event is due to take place in late June but may be postponed until later in the year if needed.
Competition Categories:
Photography
Visual Arts (painting, illustration, collage)
3D Art (sculpture)
You can find more information and the full terms & conditions and rules of entry on Chesterfield' College’s website.
We’re currently looking to put together a series of workshops that will take place over the summer holidays. Workshops will be for adults and children and will take place during the day and evening.
Current workshops we’re looking at are ceramics, macramé, lino-printing & poetry. Make sure to check out our social media pages to take part in polls to tell us what workshops you’d be interested in.
If you’re interested in hosting a workshop at West Studios then get in touch.
During this time of self-isolation and social distancing we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take a look back at some of our favourite exhibitions that have taken place at West Studios over the years.
Click here to read the first two editions of ‘Art from the Archives’.
This week we’ve been digging through the archives again to find another three past exhibitions to re-explore. Today we will be looking at ‘Ladies Who Paint’, a collective exhibition & 2 solo exhibitions by David Robinson & Dave Elsom.
Click here to read the full blog.
There’s some great advice about working from home in this blog by Chesterfield College. It covers topics like looking after your mental health, staying connected and creating a routine. Click here to read it.
West Studios is currently closed following government guidelines. Please follow our social media for any updates on our opening times.
We hope to see you soon!
This week we’ve been digging through the archives again to find another three past exhibitions to re-explore. Today we will be looking at ‘Ladies Who Paint’, a collective exhibition & 2 solo exhibitions by David Robinson & Dave Elsom.
Ladies Who Paint
This was an exhibition by five local artists in March 2017. The exhibiting artists were Jan Alcock, Mary Ashmore, Marina Guha, Elaine Meldrum & Ann Pinney.
The women in this exhibition all attended the same art group together for many years that was ran by local artists/tutor Dave Horan.
With Dave’s encouragement they decided to come together to create their own exhibition which showed the work they had created within the group and on their own. For many of them this was their first public showing of their work however
The exhibition focused mainly on still life paintings however had a few abstract pieces as well.
David Robinson
David is a wood carver and has had two exhibitions at West Studios, one in 2016 and another in 2019. Today we’re going to take a look at work from both his exhibitions. His most recent exhibition was called ‘Medieval to Modern’ where he took inspiration from a range of historical time periods as well as exploring modern themes. His 2016 exhibition was called ‘Wood: Reclamation, Restoration, Inspiration’.
Davids work has been extremely popular when exhibiting/selling at West Studios.
Dave Elsom
Dave is a local printmaker who exhibited in our gallery in the summer of 2019, though he had been selling within the West Studios shop for a while prior to his exhibition.
He chose the title communicate as there are times he feels he can only express himself through creating his artwork & running.
Dave’s work is influenced by the beach, the countryside, cats and running.
During this time of self-isolation and social distancing we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take a look back at some of our favourite exhibitions that have taken place at West Studios over the years.
Open Exhibition 2017
The 2017 Open Exhibition showed the work of over 20 artists from Derbyshire.
The idea of our open exhibitions are to showcase up to three pieces of work per exhibiting artist. The work submitted can be in any medium and doesn’t have to fit a theme.
Each artist can submit whatever they like and the exhibition shows the range of creative talent within Derbyshire.
Animal Exhibition
This collection of work was an exciting collaborative exhibition that took place in 2016. It was our first exhibition that featured artwork from outside of the UK.
The exhibition showcased a range of 2D and 3D work ranging from paintings to photography to sculpture and ceramics.
This was also the final exhibition that our centre manager at the time, Sharlaine, was involved in curating.
Off-Peak Views by Arwyn Quick
Arwyn’s work was a perfect match for the West Studios gallery - the tall whitewashed walls were the perfect backdrop for the bright, colourful paintings on display.
It was no surprise when this exhibition quickly became one of the most popular exhibitions of 2016.
Arwyn’s extensive collection of work focused primarily on the Peak District but also showed some other rural areas.
If you have seen work on here and would like to find out more information about the artist then get in touch.
We have taken the decision to close to the public from today due to the ongoing situation with Coronavirus (Covid-19). This is to enable us to best protect our staff and tenant businesses.
We have also cancelled or postponed all upcoming events, exhibitions and workshops. If you are currently booked on to a workshop or event a member of the West Studios team will be in touch shortly.
if you have any questions please get in touch via our contact page.
