An exhibition of over 50 new original artworks by nine Watermark Gallery artists and makers. Paintings by Colin Black, Jill Campbell, Louise Davies RE, Andrew Farmer ROI, Emerson Mayes, Tessa Pearson and Tom Wood; ceramics by Yvette Glaze and a selection of both prints and ceramics by Louise McNiff.
This summer art exhibition of work is now available to view throughout our Harrogate gallery and also on this website. It runs until the end of July 2023.
Art & Contemporary Art
Caroline Bailey
Landscape and still life and the use of strong vibrant colour form the basis of Caroline Bailey’s work. She studied Printed Textiles at Manchester Polytechnic from 1972 to 76 leaving with a BA (Hons) and MA in Textile Design. She then taught and worked freelance until the mid 1980’s, by which time painting had become a full-time occupation.
Caroline has exhibited widely in the UK and was elected a full member of The RSW (Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour) in 1998. She has also exhibited at the annual exhibitions of The Royal Scottish Academy and Royal Glasgow Institute and also with The Royal Watercolour Society.
She works in water-based mixed media most particularly watercolour, gouache and acrylic. These act together to create layers of colour and texture. Still life in which flowers are the major subject are seen against colourful textiles with hints of land and seascape in the background. Caroline now lives and works in The Isle of Skye where paintings are based on days spent working in sketchbooks while walking in the landscape. The colour and textures are descriptive of this wild and beautiful landscape that has always inspired her and which she now calls home.
Exhibition
12 - 31 May 2023
Caroline Bailey
A Brush With Colour
Private View: 12th May 2023 6:00 pm
Please RSVP for this event
RSVPBrowse the catalogue (by clicking on the image to the right) for our forthcoming exhibition by Caroline Bailey RSW. This is the first exhibition that we are holding in partnership with our friends at Walker Galleries and we look forward to welcoming you to the private view on Friday 12th May. You can also view all of the works from the exhibition below on this website.
Art & Contemporary Art
Tom Wood
Tom Wood has a solo exhibition of recent still life paintings at Watermark Gallery. View the exhibition in our Harrogate gallery or online here. This exhibition runs from 6-21 October 2023.
Tom Wood was originally born in Dar es Salaam, Tanganyika in 1955 and in 1959 moved to West Yorkshire. He graduated from Sheffield School of Art in 1978 and since then his work has been exhibited worldwide. His numerous portrait commissions include paintings of Professor Lord Robert Winston and Alan Bennett, both of which were commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery. Other notable commissions have included portraits for HRH The Prince of Wales, Yale University and Cambridge University.
Tom was visiting Professor of Fine Art at the University of Leeds and is a Fellow of Sheffield Hallam University.
Tom has also been heavily involved in the creation of The West Yorkshire Print Workshop and also the Yorkshire Printmakers in Leeds. He was one of the first artists to have a studio at Dean Clough in Halifax and created a large studio gallery at Phoebe Mills, Halifax.
He has worked in Hong Kong as Art Adviser for The English Schools Foundation and, whilst there, was instrumental in developing art projects for gifted and talented art students, including large scale painted and digital mural projects in numerous schools. Upon returning to the UK he created the Art Academy at Redbrick Mill, Batley, where he continues to teach. He has also been featured in the BBC ‘Star Portraits’ arts programme in which he painted the actress Barbara Windsor.
This is our second Small Painting Show and features work by 23 UK-based artists, who have created work specially for this exhibition. All of the work included is original work in small format (less than 40 x 40cm), framed and less than £500.
As well as including work by existing Watermark Gallery artists, this year we are delighted to welcome three new artists; Henrietta Corbett, Helen Thomas and Tom Wood. We hope you’ll enjoy this fantastic opportunity to acquire a genuinely affordable piece by a favourite artist.
All prices will be available from 10am on Friday 27th January.
Exhibition
9 March - 8 April 2023
Pascale Rentsch
Looking for the Light
We’ve extended this exhibition ‘Looking For The Light’ until Saturday 15th April.
We hope you can come along and view the fabulous exhibition and new work from Pascale.
Pascale writes about her latest exhibition here…
“I am always looking for the light. Not necessarily in its obvious form but more as an abstract, hidden meaning; the leaves of a bush lit by the streetlights, shining golden against the dark night sky. Shells and stones which gleam on the dark slate seashore or the berries which glow like little embers across the grey landscape and the river flowers swaying gently with their delicate colour hues against the river’s edge.
“It’s those tiny lights that touch me and I try to hold and capture them in my paintings in a spontaneous way. My work is an expression of my feelings of what I see and feel at that moment in time and being connected with my surrounding wholeheartedly. They are there, the small lights, no matter how dark and dull a day might appear.
“When we look and feel, we become connected and see those small lights right in front of us. Those lights are magic; I paint them and take them with me.”
Pascale Rentsch RSW, February 2023
Exhibition
10 September - 8 October 2022
Rob Moore
Elements
Come and meet the artist, Rob Moore, at the opening to this exhibition between 12-2pm on Saturday 10th September.
Rob Moore is a Yorkshire-based painter and printmaker with a long career but whose vision remains fresh and unique through his fiercely independent approach to creativity and a need to continually challenge himself and the viewer in terms of intention and content.
One of our first gallery artists at Watermark, he walked in and made work from a love of rural surroundings in numerous sketchbook drawings. He then developed paintings and print in studio-based pieces that echoed his journeys, observations, feelings and histories. Recently Rob has introduced more architectural forms into his paintings and some of these echo his previous understated concerns about the effect of global warming on our landscape and lives.
Rob’s work can be enjoyed for its colour, craft, and often beauty. Quirky structures, altered perspectives, distortions of scale and hints of things not quite as they seem can also be deduced and be subtly suggestive of hidden meanings. The resulting images are intriguing and allow viewers to interpret the work in their own way with Rob lifting a finger and pointing rather than directing a specific response.
“I find it tricky to describe what I make in a simple sentence because the work is accumulative in that it includes many personal thoughts and facets, most of which can only be expressed visually.”
Rob Moore
Exhibition
14 October - 12 November 2022
Andrew Farmer
North Landing
Andrew Farmer is an elected member of The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI). He lives with his family in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. “For this exhibition I’ve spent the last six months exploring the Yorkshire Coast. I was keen to revisit some of the places I remembered as a child, as well as to explore more isolated locations along the Cleveland Way. I love the beauty and visual range offered by this area.
My painting journey started at North Landing, Flamborough, a hidden gem which boasts striking white cliffs and emerald-green water. As I moved North, often on the edge if the costal path on my bike, I stopped to take in different scenes; sailing boats out at sea, hidden coves and children playing on the beach. My aim is always to capture the characteristics of a place at a particular point in time.
Many of the paintings you see here were created over two to three separate sessions, returning to the same spot under similar weather and lighting conditions. This allows me to dig deeper and build up richer layers of colour and texture in an honest and natural way.
My final painting location was Staithes, the furthest north I ventured and one of my favorites. I love the view over the beck towards the sea from the high vantage point. It’s a great feeling to be continuing the tradition of plein air painting in this region.
When I returned to my studio after each trip, I continued to work on a select few pieces, taking an initial oil sketch made outdoors and transforming it into a much larger and more imagined piece. I also made use of a small number of rare pencil drawings and reference photographs.”
Andrew Farmer ROI
Exhibition
27 May - 25 June 2022
Louise Davies
From City to Sea
Private View: 26th May 2022 6:00 pm
Please RSVP for this event
RSVP‘This exhibition brings together recent oil paintings and prints reflecting my love of both urban and rural settings and my journeys between these two different landscapes.
I studied Painting at Central St Martins followed by an MA in Printmaking at Camberwell College of Art. I am a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and regularly exhibit at their home at Bankside Gallery in London.
I spent my childhood living in Bath and the villages around it and then by the sea in Devon. I came up to London when I was 18 and have stayed ever since. However, I still have a yearning for the countryside with its peacefulness and natural beauty. In this show I wanted to bring together my love of both city and countryside and the impulse to respond intuitively to it through paint or print. I feel the paintings and the prints all connect with the strong use of vibrant colour and the language of my individual mark making.
Enjoy the journey!’
Louise Davies RE, May 2022
