Winter Exhibition 2025 ‘Burning Bright’

Our festive line up features Lynda Jones’ mysterious canvases and drawings that are mostly depictions of the Monmouthshire landscape, and its rolling wooded hills, that surrounds her. The final image often bears little relation to the original subject but all have a common starting point – the memory of a place she knows well. Even when working on a larger scale, a tiny detail, such as a soaring kite, will intrigue and draw the viewer in.

Back by popular demand is Helen Martino, who describes her own work as ‘serious, posh and frivolous’. Fascinated by body language, her ceramic sculptures embody a sense of narrative, where a still gesture captures a moment which suggests a past and a future story. Her pieces are hand built and surfaces are painted with slips, underglaze pigments and resists, often glinting with silver and gold lustres.

Jemima Jameson works mainly in acrylics, preferring to paint onto wooden panels, bowls and furniture. Her desire to paint and draw has been part of her whole life and is quite simply a celebration of the natural world that she is compelled to describe. Her wooden boxes and cabinets often serve as treasure chests for cherished keepsakes.

Tamsin Abbott’s stained glass panels are influenced by the natural world and its associated myths and legends. She tries to imbue her work with a sense of these magical qualities which connect humankind to the landscape while doing justice to the alchemical qualities of the glass itself.

Shropshire’s Duncan White’s keen appreciation of the history of English pottery underpins his remarkable and detailed work, his quirky pieces are flights of fancy that comment with wit and humour on issues of the day that preoccupy him. In addition to ceramic miniatures and decorative tiles, he also makes what he describes as three-dimensional cartoons in mixed media.

The creative urge turned Rachel Ricketts from the conservation of antiquities and fine art to her studio with the intention of painting, but inspiration to sculpt came along with her newly acquired English Toy Terrier who became her first, very wriggly, subject. Her extensive training did not encompass sculpture, in this she is entirely self-taught, her experience with materials and techniques, including patination processes, have proved invaluable as Rachel seeks to integrate the visual disciplines she enjoys.