WHAT'S ON MY DOORSTEP

These were the local galleries I visited on 14th October:-   Cove Gallery in Weymouth, d'Veitch Art Gallery in Abbotsbury, Gallery on the Wey in Upwey, Whitestones Gallery on Portland.  

A lot of the places didn’tallow photos, but I did manage to get some taken of me outside the gallery.

The Cove gallery had lots of different types of media, including prints which were quite mass produced I’ve seen in lots of places. But there were also some sculpture artists displaying their work - Faye Mayo was one of them who studied ceramics and textiles. Faye Mayo's exhibits were small sculptures of ladies. “Serenity Exhibition.”I was immediately drawn to the sculptures.

 They stood out amongst the other art works. The gallery was not overly cluttered.- I did find the sculptures interesting. Because of their expressions of they look peacefull or even bored. The theme was serenity and yes I think this was portrayed in their faces.

d’Veitch Art Gallery - Debbie is  local artist who I actually know personally. Debbies art form is painting.  She paints from her experiences and many of her paintings reflect the sea where she lives.  Debbie also holds art classes and workshop.Original paintings, ceramics, jewellery, fossils, scarves, candles and cards and gifts.My impression was that this was a shop for tourists to buy gifts with perhaps the ability to attract attention to her paintings.I felt that the surroundings were very cramped and because of this it took the view away from her paintings.Not a very relaxed feeling to contemplate over her artwork. I did not find this was my to my taste. Far too busy.

Gallery on the Wey in Upwey – This is a small gallery that showcases local artists work. My visit was in the winter and there was no access to the garden at this time. The inside gallery was small with part of the gallery cordoned off for framing so was much smaller than I was led to believe via their website.  One artist exhibiting there was Anna Rothwell and it was her work that grabbed my attention.  Anna had created bronze resin sculptures. She had several small figures on display. Unfortunately taking photos of them was not allowed but her work can be seen on the website of Gallery on the Wey www.galleryonthewey.co.uk Her scupltures were cast from a mould that she created with very fine detail which is what attracted me to them.  

Whitestones Gallery Portland – This is a cafe/gallery that displays local artists work ranging from ceremics, paintings, prints, jewellery and sculptures.  Very busy cafe with artwork displayed in cabinets or on walls not in any separate area. Because of the layout you couldn't really just look at the artwork otherwise youd be standing in front of people eating or drinking. The concept of cafe and gallery is nice but for me it was too bustly and I couldn't even look at the artwork properly.  I would however like to go back when they are holding one of their quarterly exhibitions and see if this is more to my liking.

From these local visits I didn’t learn much to help me to achieve my
challenge in making my sculpture, however I did learn about presentation and advertising and creating further work opportunities/sales. I did enjoy the experience of visiting local artists. It is good to know what is about in your area,however I was disappointed that many of the galleries sold stuff that I know is mass produced and not unique. But I understand this helps them to make money.