Images from our October Flash Exhibition, In Plain Site with photographer Lee Fletcher! #2018 #LeeFletcher #ExhibitionGallery #ImageGallery #Photography #Projection #October #Exhibition #FlashExhibition

After a few months hard work Studio 7 on New Road Brixham is now open. This will be a working studio and gallery from which I will be able to paint and display my work and from which I will also be welcoming other creatives to share the gallery space with me so please get in touch if this is of interest. From this space I hope to be able to share my love of art and offer a place to escape to view through art the thoughts and views of old and new artists and they way that they see the things that surround us all. #KevinPatterson #Brixham #Studio7

Artizan are delighted that one of our artists, Anna Grayson, has had two more pieces exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, this time selected personally by Grayson Perry and hung in his famous yellow gallery. The exhibition, including Anna's two pieces, Love in the Care Home' and 'The Moaning Geezer' is still available to view online at https://se.royalacademy.org.uk/ Anna's husband is the model in both pictures and is an artist in his own right, exhibiting with Artizan now and again. Thus far Anna has accumulated a total of 46 red dots,with her work finding its way into private collections around the world. You can see a selection of Anna's other work in our "Loovre" gallery - yes the smallest room, always a good place to hang humorous works of art. #Photography #Announcement #AnnaGrayson #2017 #RoyalAcademy

As we’re slowly stepping out of Summer, dragging our heels, I’m up on Dartmoor enjoying a rare day off but reluctantly still pondering work in the back of mind. We’re now edging into October and I can’t help but think that this time last year things were beginning to slow down. The holidaymakers were heading home, the streets were looking quieter and in general the pace was easing. For us, Artizan was looking forward to its final two exhibitions of the year and a handful of events that came with them, whilst beginning to think about plans for 2018. The picture this year could not be more different. Our students from TTPL help us curate these articles and when I asked our current resident Italian, Emma, to get researching, I had nearly two pages of upcoming events returned to me! Looking at our own calendar, the story was much the same I realised, with overflowing exhibitions, pop-ups and performances to enjoy before we can even begin to think about 2019… We’re definitely not complaining, it’s great to see such a strong showing of activity going into Autumn. It’s a follow on from an overwhelmingly busy Summer of activity as 2018 has seen a huge amount of energy put into new programming, with arts venues and creators across Torbay raising the bar. And the range of activity in October is a perfect showcase for this with everything from Britain’s Seafood Feast visiting the three towns, through a diverse showing of performances at the Palace Theatre (including Shakespeare Oct-01, comedy with Harry and Chris Oct-06 and music with Wall of Floyd Oct-07), to the annual English Riviera Film Festival with a huge array of talks, exhibitions, workshops and screenings (join us at Artizan for a talk on “Torbay in the Movies” with Kevin Dixon Nov-01). The list goes on as the energy to bring Torbay to life all year round with inspiring arts activity being boundless recently. I’d encourage everyone to get out there and enjoy what’s on offer and match this unbridled spirit from our local creative producers with an indulgent appetite not just for this month’s seafood, but for culture in all its shapes and forms. #BeachHut #CultureUpdate #October2018 #SeafoodFeast #PalaceTheatre #TTPL

My name’s Emma Dei Agnoli, I’m a 17 years old student from Onigo, a little village in the north-east of Italy not far away from Venice and from other Italian’s art centers such Padua and Verona. My area is culturally and artistically active as many artists live and work there. Several art exhibitions and cultural events as film and music festivals and are organized throughout the year especially in the Summer. For example the Operaestate Festival Veneto which is a Summer show of live entertainment that takes place annually in the city of Bassano del Grappa and in the Pedemontana area. It was born as a summer lyric season and then introduced theater, dance, music and cinema projects in the following years. The main aim of the Festival is to bring the public closer to performative art and live performance in all its forms and raise the cultural value of our territory. Since I was a child I’ve always been creative and passionate about art and drawing mainly thanks to my parents who are really into modern and contemporary art: they’ve given me the chance to travel a lot and visit many foreign cities and countries, museums and art galleries and my grandparents who have always surrounded me with paintings and sculpture as they used to be art collectors. At the moment I’m attending the fourth year of the Figurative Art course in High School and I’m studying painting and drawing techniques, sculpture and history of art. As I don’t really have a defined style I’m always looking for inspiration both from classical and contemporary art but also from people who surround me. Currently I’m really into printing, especially linoleum printing, and I’m working on a series of portraits and city landscapes. I really love illustration too and experimenting with different types of materials and textures. Personally I don’t have a favorite art current or artist: I think it’s better to be open minded and give yourself the chance to explore different kind of art, styles and artists. I really love design especially furniture and jewelry design; I’ve attended few pottery and jewelry courses. I don't really know what I want do in my future; I'd like to study design at university and maybe get a master in Jewelry Design. I'll stay in Torquay for five weeks thanks to an European scholarship with other 15 students from different schools and cities. I haven't visited the Torbay area yet but for what I saw up to now it seems quiet but stimulating at the same time. It's quite different from where I live: the landscape is quite different as well as culture, food and people. I live near the mountains so it's a little bit strange for me to see the sea every day and live in a big town full of shops. I really love traveling and get to know new cultures and explore different places and cities. I can't wait to explore Torbay and Devon: I'm planning to visit Paignton and Brixham as well as Dartmoore National Park. I'm a little bit nervous because it's my first time away from home for so long and my first real work experience but I'm also really excited to test myself and my limits. I've never worked abroad or in an Art Gallery before so I can’t wait to learn new things and improve my skills. I'd like to learn more about this work, get in touch with costumers and artists and improve my technical language. Emma Dei Agnoli #August #2018 #EmmaDeiAgnoli #TTPL #Italy

Birdwood House Gallery, Totnes Monday 20th August – Saturday 25th August Open 10am – 5pm daily It is true that a picture speaks a thousand words; however if a representational painting or photograph is symbolic or intended to illustrate a narrative then that is not necessarily communicated by viewing alone. An abstract image that has been created to an elusive intellectual concept can prove to be even more difficult to discern. Likewise, the lyrics of a song are also a locked box to anyone who does not know the language in which it is sung. However, instrumental music is universal and could wash over a crowd of people that are completely incapable of communicating with each other verbally and unite them in rhythm. In the visual arts I believe that abstract painting also has the highest potential to be a universal language. True abstraction is beyond description in words, have you ever heard a plausible description of Love? The critique of abstract painting is often reduced to a soulless analysis of colour and compositional relationships or it is regarded that the concept behind the work is more important than the artwork itself. I paint intuitively and spontaneously with geometry as my shepherd; with the intention of creating works that people can connect to in a silent conversation, regardless of their cultural heritage. Art should be universally inclusive. #CharlesSomerton #BirdwoodHouse #Exhibition #Abstract #August #2018

Anna Grayson is a former BBC Presenter and Science Writer who, on retirement, treated herself to a year’s Diploma course at Art College. Her plan had been to study ceramics, incorporating knowledge and understanding gained as part of her original degree from St Andrews - in Geology with Chemistry. But photography won the day - using similar techniques and continuous lighting she had used in her long broadcasting career. During her first career she won the Glaxo Wellcome award for some short science films and had broken new ground by being the first woman to present a Natural World on BBC2. She had also been a regular voice on BBC Radio, with the aim of making clear and vivid pictures inside people’s minds. Just a year after leaving art College, in 2014 Anna was hung at the RA with her take on Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait entitled An Allegory of Modern Marriage. She has also been hung at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol and for several years running at South West Academy in Exeter. She has held several exhibitions in the South West, but finds her work hung in many corners of the globe. She is thrilled to be exhibiting again in 2018 and hopes to raise lots of money for the Royal Academy Schools. It is such a worthwhile cause. Both the works celebrate her long marriage to Des Maxwell Clark, also an earth scientist turned artist. While he paints watercolours that look like photographs, Anna takes photographs that look like paintings: Klimt in the Care Home was shot to celebrate their ruby wedding, but with a distinct hope they’d make it to gold. Several art historians, including foxy James Fox and Sister Wendy (that well known authority on sexual relationships) have asserted that the embrace is coercive, that the woman is recoiling. Finding a photograph of Klimt cuddling a pussycat, Anna found herself disagreeing. So, her kiss is full of tender and enduring love. The blankets were made by Anna’s late Aunt whose family had been friendly with Magritte, so a good pedigree, and also a tiny nod to the textiles in Tracey Emin’s Tent. Anna had trouble keeping hers in place, running from the camera, set on ten second delay, to her tricky position on a re-arranged sofa with bewigged husband. The Moaning Geezer (after Leonardo) takes advantage of the Devon countryside, full of perfect locations for her pastiche photography. This is the Teign Estuary in late Autumn, taking on the colours of Tuscany. Anna did have a female model lined up, but she couldn’t make it, so long suffering husband had to step in wearing a long wig and Anna’s best cashmere jumper. The enigmatic smile is due to La Giaconda being in the process of clenching her buttocks to let off a particularly fruity fart. Only she knows how bad it is, which makes her smile to herself. An open farting policy could well be the key to success in marriage, and certainly proves to be an excellent tool of communication between an artist and her model/muse. The photograph had to be taken quickly before said model/muse started to feel cold and reverted to moaning again. #RoyalAcademy2018 #AnnaGrayson #ArtizanGallery #EnglishRiviera

"I hate being filmed." It's a phrase I've heard often and I've always tried to be sympathetic to it, especially given its a sentiment I thoroughly agree with. But last week it was my turn to wrestle with this thought as I took a disconcerting step out of my comfort zone when Josh Pratt of Wonder Associates, visited Artizan Gallery to interview me about the Artizan Summer Open Exhibition and the work we do on Lucius Street to support Torbay creatives and visual arts. Those in the know will be aware that we produce all of our exhibition photography and event videography in house, and the person behind the majority of that content is me. You would perhaps therefore guess correctly that I am far more comfortable stood behind a camera than sat in front of one! As such, I cannot definitively say that it was without trepidation that I awaited Josh as the hour of our interview approached. Time constraints had meant that we ultimately filmed in two separate locations across two days; with both spaces to be manned a window where I could spend the required time in the Summer Open venue on Fleet Walk was not forthcoming, so eventually we settled on filming the majority of the interview up at Artizan Gallery with Douglas Bardrick's recently hung "Aspects of Abstraction" as backdrop. Josh arrived punctually, dashing my hopes that maybe he'd forgotten, and I'd avoid the whole experience, and began unpacking kit. This first day also coincided with what was perhaps the peak of the heatwave we've been having, a fact which did nothing to help my already parched mouth. We chatted as he setup, I gave him some background on the gallery to inform the interview, and we shared our experiences of working in amongst the landscape of Torbay's cultural offer, both expressing similar enthusiasm and frustration at "the way things are round here". Ready to go, I sat down, (on what I still maintain was the wrong side of the camera) and was immediately overcome with the urge to break every rule I tell people when I'm interviewing them; my eyes dragging themselves to stare down the lens, a sudden inability to rephrase questions at the start of my answers, the overwhelming urge to "um" and "erm". But the urges were repressed and the whole thing was over before I knew it with very little trauma involved. I went about my day telling myself that I didn't even have to watch it back and hear myself talk, knowing that in reality this was never going to be an option. And then yesterday it landed on the internet and helpfully also in my inbox, on my twitter feed and in my pages notifications… It was clear there was going to be no avoiding it. So, I sat down with a coffee for what I anticipated would be an uncomfortable two and a quarter minutes of self-conscious viewing. The reality once again was nothing so traumatic, and in fact, I hope I've done an alright job of explaining what it is we do at Artizan. I shan't be watching it again too many times though! The sad news is, that the release of this interview marks the final stages of the Summer Open. We have just 7 days left to enjoy in our wonderful Fleet Walk venue, to show off our 100 participating artists and to shout about the 200+ pieces of gorgeous work. We're marking the final week with 10% off online purchases with the discount code SUMMER2018 so make sure to take advantage of that over the next few days. We wish we could stay longer, despite the fact its meant over a month of 7 day weeks and far too many hours, this has been our favourite project to date since we started here at Artizan. We're coming away with more knowledge than ever before, from an event that we hope you'll all agree can only be considered a success for Torbay arts. We know this won't be last project like it for us, and we hope that all of our participating artists will join is in the future. We're already thinking about what comes next and we've still got some huge shows to look forward to in our Summer Season including Creative Coverage at the end of August, Devon Open Studios 2018, and our September exhibition "Distractions". Our next calls will be for our October, "We Are Building a New World" show curated by Becky Nuttall, followed by our Winter Open in December which will have further details of soon. In between, we hope to also have a couple more sneaky interventions on the cards before the end of 2018 and perhaps even a big announcement about the main space on the cards... Until then though, thanks to everyone who has supported the Artizan Summer Open 2018 from partners to visitors to artists. We'll see you on the other side! #Arthub #JacobBrandon #Artists #Exhibitions #Video #Interview #ArtizanSummerOpen2018

The other art fair presented by Saatchi Art showcases 100 talented independent and emerging artists hand picked by a committee of art world experts. Moving from the Arnolfini, Bristol to its new home at the Passenger Shed at Temple Meads train station. Highlights of the show include abstract landscapes by Venice based artist Stacey Gibboni, Metamorphica prints by London based artist Paul Kingsley Squire, Lawrie Hutcheon optical illusion work and Elaine Kazimierczuk vivid landscapes. #TheOtherArtFair #July #2018 #CatherineKennedy

On Monday 6th August for one week only, an amazing programme of Olde Tyme Music Hall bursts onto the stage of the Little Theatre in Torquay. The evening is jam-packed with favourite tunes of the Victorian era, interspersed with comedy sketches, dance routines and audience participation, evoking the best of British Music Hall. TOADS presents a stellar cast of favourite artistes, with Alan Tanner presiding as Master of Ceremonies. The entire show is directed by Martin Waddington, for many years Musical Director of the Players’ Theatre in the West End of London. In the past Martin provided piano accompaniment to many Music Hall artistes such as Clive Dunn (from BBC’s Dad’s Army) and also worked alongside veteran comedian Roy Hudd in pantomime. He is particularly looking forward to presenting TOADS’ Olde Tyme Music Hall as a flamboyant opening to their 2018-19 Theatre Season, and he is certain Torbay audiences will come along to join in the fun! Runs from Monday 6th to Saturday 11th August. Tickets on sale from Box Office [01803 299330] or online @ www.toadstheatre.co.uk #TheLittleTheatre #August

Now we know you wont want to miss this. We had a month off from our rather fabulous Cocktails and Conversation evenings and there will certainly be no half measures as we return to them in August! Join us for Torbay's favourite after hours networking evening at the Bays only independent fine art gallery. In association with Accounting4Everything, Artizan Gallery hosts a relaxed evening of Conversation, with Cocktails, Canapes and an exciting annual lineup of guest speakers. To celebrate our End of Summer relaunch, we're welcoming MP for Torbay, Kevin Foster to the gallery for this exclusive event, as we invite guests to preview our August exhibition "Aspect of Abstraction". 2018 has seen these events flourish into a vibrant networking opportunity that you wont want to miss, and with Summer looking set to continue indefinitely, we can think of worse ways to enjoy these extended evenings! So, come and have a drink with us, we promise you wont regret it! #Artizan #2018 #CocktailsandConversation #KevinFoster #Accounting4Everything #DouglasBardrick

We all start small and in my case, very small. As a child, I saw the heights of creativity and ambition amongst the adults. I lifted myself up, crept out of my shadow and stood at the very edge, nervous of being out of my depth. Today I am a strong swimmer. But we all start out small. I have the pleasure of being selected to exhibit at the Artizan Summer Exhibition Fleet Walk Torquay. I am also a member of the Torbay Guild of Artists, twelve members are in the exhibition, which started out small in the 1960s. All the artists in the exhibition started out small. The gallery started out as small. My mixed media picture Child Artist represents the artist as small. The blue and white motif is a pattern I made at school in 1971. The fox is a picture I created in 1976. The necklace is made from Milton Head Pottery motifs,1950-59, designed by my father, when the pottery was small but his ambition was big In Pot Family Tree I am represented as a small pot, moulded by my father. Both pictures are made from small works that make a larger one, representing the steps we make to become artists, hoping one day to become big.