Saturday 10th May - 29th June 2008

VAL BESTWICK and GLASS 2008

Glass by  Vic Bamforth, Stephen Beardsell, Brian and Jenny Blanthorn, Malin Blomgren, Joe Harrington, Desiree Hope, Ruth Lyne, Charlie Macpherson, Jo Mitchell, Amanda Notorianni, Ronald Pennell,  Colin Reid, Bruno Romanelli, Caroline Scully

Our annual glass exhibition opened on Sat 10th and includes some particularly stunning pieces. Here are a few shots of pieces in the exhibition (please come back to this page in mid may for photos of the exhibition itself), but really you need to visit to really enjoy the delights that are on display.

Vic Bamforth 'Am I a cool cat or what' 23cm tall, £850

'This cat's so cool' 24x19cm £890

'Atlantic Pilchards' £895

Colin Reid R1438 cast optical glass £3995  SOLD but similar available to order

Stephen Beardsell Female Form 63cm tall £1200

Colin Reid R1367 Lens Piece £5495

Charlie Macpherson Dizzy Spiral Bowl

RONALD PENNELL Toucan Myth, overcased glass 17 x 20 cm high. Wheel engraved. £3900

Amanda Notoriani 'Ammonite'

RONALD PENNELL Toucan Myth (reverse side),

Tall Pyramid, fused, cast, slumped, cut and polished, opalescent mirrored glass , Brian and Jenny Blanthorn 25cm tall £900

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So Near, So Far,  Oil on Canvas £690, 60x60cm

Sketches from Morocco, Oil on Canvas  £690 60x60cm

'Rythyms', (left picture) Oil on Canvas  £970 100x100cm

What's New,  Oil on Canvas £690, 60x60cm

Always, oil on canvas 60x60cm         £690

So Near So Far, What's New and Rolling Stone Oil on Canvas £690, 60x60cm

Castles made in Sand,  Oil on Canvas £690

Sketches from Morocco, Oil on Canvas  £690 60x60cm

Trio of Blues £690, Sketches from Morocco 2 £970 and Sketches from Morocco £690

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Rolling Stone,  Oil on Canvas £690, 60x60cm

Sketches from Morocco 2, Oil on Canvas  £970 100x100cm

Professor RONALD PENNELL is one of Britain's most internationally celebrated artists in glass working today. His ouevre spans a wide range of media including bronze reliefs, medallic art, printmaking, kiln-cast sculpture in glass and engraving on glass and metal. His works are in many important public and private collections in the USA, Japan and Europe.

Much admired in the Czech Republic, in 1993 he was made an Honorary Professor at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and in 2001 he was appointed Honorary Professor of Glass at the University of Wolverhampton.

In 2000 'Modern Myths, the Art of Ronald Pennell' was published to accompany a major retrospective exhibition.

Ronald Pennell is also showing four diamond wheel engraved optical glass blocks which feature a few of the artists favourite characters including 'Monty' the artists Jack Russell.

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COLIN REID

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VAL BESTWICK

After a career as an art teacher, Val Bestwick went back to college and graduated in 1991 at Herts College of Art and Design. Since that time she has pursued her career as an abstract painter, working in oils  and exhibiting her work in her home town of York but also in London, Cheltenham and several northern galleries. In recent years she has had three successful solo shows in Oxford.

This exhibition is her fourth at Pyramid Gallery in Stonegate and will include paintings that Val has worked on over the last nine months. Some of these have been inspired by a trip to Morocco in January, which Val says has taken her work in a new direction. Whilst providing a new excitement and a new palette to explore, the experience has provided a challenge to Val as she works hard to avoid obvious motifs in her work, instead striving to reflect the spirit of the place in the painting. The grace of the finished paintings bely the effort that has gone into their evolution and the new work sits comfortably alongside those paintings that continue her recurrent themes of eroding landscape of which the artist says:

‘The magnificence of glacial erosion in Alberta, Canada, the evidence of time passing in the faded frescos of Tuscany, the colour and patterns of Morocco  and the natural and man-made erosion scars of the North York Moors, all combine to inform my paintings.

 My interest in the marks made in the landscapes and its tactile surfaces began about eighteen years ago when I was a mature student studying for a fine art degree at St. Albans College of Art and Design.

 The initial starting point for my work was Carlton Bank near Stokesley, where many sketchbooks were filled and large-scale charcoal drawings made. From these evolved the painterly language of textured layers scraped back to reveal the workings underneath.

 My interest continues with studies made in the Canadian Rockies where signs of erosion are carved out on a magnificent scale, some forming amazing pillars of rock strata, and where glacial melt-water creates wonderful turquoise and emerald lakes.

 The changes of light, the soft focus of mountains under cloud, as well as the continuing input from the North York Moors will be an inspiration for my work for a long time.’

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VIC BAMFORTH

Stephen has been involved in sculpture for the past fifteen years. Specializing in glass for the past ten years. He  graduated  from the University for Sunderland in 2001 with a bachelors of Art degree in Glass, then went on to working in the glass department at the university of Sunderland were he still works part time, He also works for the national glass centre in Sunderland designing and making as part of the hot glass teem.

Stephen completed a Masters of Art degree in glass in 2006 at the University of Sunderland. Stephens’s interests are in sculpture. His aims are creating glass and mixed media sculpture that sits comfortably in a natural environment. His influences mainly arrive from observations of the natural environment, seeds, plants and how there grow and evolve and exists in the environment.

 Stephens own studio is in the national glass centre were he works building his glass sculpture using many different techniques, such as hot glass, kiln glass and cold glass. He is currently carving moulds out of graphite and building moulds from steel for his sculpture for 2008.

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CHARLIE MACPHERSON

Charlie Macpherson creates unique pieces of hand blown contemporary glass. His approach balances the simplicity of his forms with more complicated use of line and pattern.

He incorporates cane techniques in the blowing process, which are enhanced by polishing to highlight areas of interest. He enjoys designing work that invites the viewer to look more closely at the intricate details, seeing more than at first glance.

Working with blown glass is a very hand’s on experience, and the challenge has always been to make work that uses the natural qualities of light, colour and transparency, creating pieces that are both stimulating and aesthetic.

Charlie exhibits internationally and has pieces in both private and public collections. As well as winning awards for his work, he has completed commissions for a number of major UK organisations.

Collections

Liverpool Museums and Galleries                         2003                           

Anglo America, London                         2002

Leerdam Glascentrum, Holland                                            2000 & 2002

Outline, Newcastle                                                                      1999

University of Sunderland                                                               1999

Commissions

Shell Springboard Awards                                                  2006 - 2007

Walker Gallery Liverpool, site specific installation                  2006

Livewire awards                                                                2004 - 2005

CSU Business awards                                                        2003 - 2004

Standard Life, Edinburgh, site specific installation                 2002

Royal Horticultural Society ‘Britain In Bloom’ awards              2002 - 2006

Encams recycling awards                                                    2000 - 2002

Coats Crafts UK, site specific installation Darlington                        2001

Going for Green recycling awards                                                   2000

NEA and British Gas ‘Partnerships in Warmth’ awards                       1999

Common Purpose, Sunderland                                                       1999

International Institute for Research in Glass, gift for Jiri Harcuba       1999

University of Sunderland, corporate gifts                                    

Awards

Shell Livewire awards North West Runner-up                        2002

Shell Livewire awards Cheshire Runner-up                         2002

Homes and Gardens award for most innovative product @ Top Drawer 2001

Prince’s Trust new business award                         2001

Harrogate Craft Trade Fair ‘Award of excellence’                         2001

Society of Glass Technologist’s glass sellers student award, Short listed  2000

Pentagon Mercedes Benz award - Beatrice Royal Gallery, Short listed      2000

Scholarship awarded to attend ‘Creative Summit’, September        1999

Phoenix Hot Glass prize                                                            1999

University of Sunderland, Outline prize,                                       1999

Experience

Presentation on exhibiting for The Design Initiative, Liverpool          2006

Artist’s presentation at The Lady Lever Gallery, Merseyside           2006

Presentation to new Setting-Up-Scheme artists, Manchester          2006

Northlands Creative Glass, Simon Moore master class                   2005

Representative on the Cheshire Artist Network Board             2004 – 2006

Director on the Board of the Enterprise Agency, Chester         2003 – 2006

Judge for Shell Livewire Business Awards in North West Region     2004

Judge for Shell Livewire Business Awards in Chester                     2003

Presentation for Business Advisors Association (North West)        2003

Presentation forEllesmere Port and Chester Business Networking Forum 2003

Artist in Residence, The World of Glass, St Helens                   2000 – 2002

International Glass Symposium, Leerdam, Netherlands             1998 – 2002

Creative Summit, Sunderland                                1999    

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amanda  notarianni

Amanda Notarianni designs and makes distinctive contemporary glass. Using traditional glass making techniques she creates unique hand blown sculptural forms.  Amanda enhances her sleek free blown pieces using skilful cold working processes such as cutting, carving and polishing to create surface patterns and textures, which hold light and magnify reflections.

Initially inspired by microscopic images of plankton, her work is now evolutionary, with each piece informing the next.

“Molten glass is such a dynamic material to work with. I really enjoy the challenge of working with a material that continuously pushes me to develop skills and understanding.”

Amanda’s innovative ultra modern pieces are hand made to commission with projects undertaken ranging from public art commissions, to architectural lighting and one off sculptural vessels. Amanda exhibits internationally and has pieces in both private and public collections.

Commissions

Silver Lining – Monaco Boat Show                                                                2007

De Beers, USA and Japan – Bespoke pieces                                                 2007

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool – Site-specific installation                                             2006

Bruntwood Offices, Manchester – Site-specific piece for foyer                           2006

Inspire Nation, Liverpool – Works presented to Apple Computers, Nike

Weiden and Kennedy, Ziba Design, Wired Magazine, Starbucks Coffee,

REI, Yahoo, Mayor’s of Portland - Oregon, Seattle, and San Francisco.                      2004

Princes Trust - Business and Mentoring Awards                                                             2003

Manchester City Art Gallery Handling Trail - Interactive Display                          2002

Key 103  Radio Station -  Achievement Awards                                                             2002

Standard Life Buildings - Edinburgh - Site-specific Pieces                                       2002

Common Purpose, Sunderland - Presentation Award                                       2000

University of Sunderland - Awards for International Affairs                           1999

University of Sunderland - Honorary Doctorate Awards                                                 1998

Public Collections

Bolton Museum                                                                                                 2007

Liverpool Museums and Galleries                                                                        2003

Anglo American Art Collection                                                                             2003

Leerdam Glass Centre                                                                                       1999

Sunderland University                                                                                              1998

State Lamberk Chateau - Novi Bor, Czech Republic                                                1997

 Awards

NESTA Fellowship                                                                                 2005 – 2008

Princes Trust Highly Commended Business Award                         2003 + 2004

Princes Trust Award for Business Achievement in                         2002

British Craft Trade Fair Award of Excellence                                             2003 + 2004

Sunderland University Award of Excellence                                          1998

 
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