Sunday 18^th to Saturday 24^th August ~ 10am - 4.45pm daily, except Saturday closing at 4pm

Now in its tenth year, this exhibition celebrates the creative talent of the Dean Prior group of artists.  Centred on studies of both the male and female figure produced throughout the year, the work on display represents the individual artist’s responses to the live model and the huge variety and originality that their work shows.

All work will be for sale.

deanpriorlifegroup.blogspot.com

deanpriorlifegroup@gmail.com

Sunday 25^th August to Saturday 31^st August  ~ 10am - 4.45pm daily except 11am opening Sunday and 4pm closing on Saturday

Born in London, I attended the Christopher Wren School in Netting Hill Gate before going on to study Graphic Design at the London School of Printing and Graphic Arts, under the charismatic influence of George Adams -ex Bauhaus, Tom Eckersley - renowned poster artist of the day, and society portrait painter Gerald de Rose. The next thirty years I spent in advertising as an Art Director/Creative Director at various top London agencies, including Mather & Crowther, Colmans, FCB, Leo Burnett, and Doyle Dane Bernbach. I quit advertising in 1990, and my wife and I moved to Devon so that I could spend more time painting.

The pioneering documentary films of John Grierson (Night Mail, The Coal Face, The Engine Shed), which focused on the everyday lives of manual workers, were my inspiration, along with the Northern landscapes by the artist William Coldstream. The powerful industrial and First World War images by the painter C R W Nevinson were also an important influence. I have exhibited my work in Bath, Bideford at the Burton, Bristol at the RWA, Exeter, Plymouth and Totnes.

Opening Saturday 31^st August at 6.50pm with drinks and nibbles and then

Sunday 1^st September to Saturday 7^th September  ~ 10am - 7pm daily except Saturday 4pm closing

Rachael Linton is a New Zealand born artist and British citizen currently living in London. An abstract painter, theorist and gilder by trade, Rachael uses precious metals, gold, silver and copper in her art. With a background in Digital Media, she has exhibited interactive digital sculptures in many shows throughout the UK. In this exhibition we move from the digital to the analogue and experiment not with digital sine wave tones, but instead with sound vibrational frequencies made by a gong and the human voice, to make art.

This exhibition will showcase Linton's precious metal paintings alongside an immersive kinetic sculpture called the 'Golden Water Gong'. In this interactive artwork you are invited to play the gong which will make cymatics ripples on the surface of the water. Simultaneously a very special geometrically polarised golden light will illuminate the gallery. Light bounces through the space touching and kissing you and lulling you into a sense of calm serene and/or into elated states of being.

Linton has been creating artwork with the aim of being therapeutic for the last 10 years. Her paintings and kinetic sculptures are designed for spaces where healing and therapy are encouraged. If you are a therapist or healer or if you have an interest in pioneering new healing modalities do pop into Birdwood House to feel the vibrations and experience Rachael Linton's art in its true light.

Instagram: @rachael.linton

Sunday 8^th September to Saturday 14^th September  ~ 10am - 5pm daily except Sunday 10.30 - 3pm and closing 4pm Saturday

An exhibition of work by Emma Sampson and Tabitha Chambers.

Emma: I use painting as a way of anchoring the experiences of my exploration of empowerment and healing. I am interested in archetypes as a blueprint for our human potential. Many of my images bring through impressions of Feminine aspects of our being that reside within us all but have become hidden by our predominant culture.

Monday 16^th September to Saturday 21^st September  ~ 10am - 4.45pm daily

Three artists who are confident working in their own mediums of print, oil paint and clay have collaborated for a new exhibition- A touch of GOLD. We have all developed new work incorporating gold ink, leaf and glaze to enhance both 2D and 3D work.

Monday 23^rd to Friday 27^th September 10:00am - 4:45pm; Saturday 28th 10:00am - 3:00pm

We are husband and wife artists on an adventure. Art for us is an ongoing quest: a search for new ways to express the inspiration of life and the relationship of our art to the processes of medium and technique. In this quest for expressive enrichment, we are constantly exploring our own creative drive whilst taking pleasure in that of others. From our roots in Africa we have learnt to be open to the importance of place, not only of our native Zimbabwe and South Africa but wherever we have found new stimuli in the art and culture that we encounter on the way.

We present our exhibition as a body of mostly recent work that we hope will reflect this quest and stimulate you the viewer as we have been inspired by others. Works include collage, crochet, shibori cloth work, silk paintings, watercolours and oil paintings.