News - Frogmore Street Gallery

August Guest Exhibition

Founded in 2001, MaP is a creative, supportive and innovative group of Artists and Designers with a focus on textiles. The group are passionate about their work and expanding the audience of Contemporary art/craft, raising its profile and increasing links within the sector and outside. The group currently has ten members from Wales, Ireland, England and Finland.

‘Something Old, Something New’

Since its inception, the group has exhibited work on many themes, more recently focussing on environmental issues, such as regenerating interest in the use of linen and wool. Currently, the group are exploring ways of incorporating local, recycled and natural materials in their work. This exhibition features both old and new work showing the diversity of their skills.

Claire Cawte is a textile artist and educator with over twenty years of experience, known for her environmentally focused practice and commitment to sustainable making. Working with materials such as wool, flax, silk, natural dyes, and locally foraged flora, her work explores the deep connection between process, material, and place. Drawing inspiration from ancestral life; when natural materials were crafted into intricately adorned artifacts for ceremonial purposes, often carrying symbolic, spiritual, or social meaning, her practice honours the symbiotic relationship between humans and the earth. Her use of biodegradable materials reflects a profound respect for nature, allowing her creations to return gently to the soil and reinforcing the cycles of regeneration and sustainability that lie at the core of her practice.

Jane McCann trained as a fashion designer at Belfast College of Art and the Royal College of Art with her focus primarily on Irish tweeds and linens. Since her return to Northern Ireland, over a decade ago, she has collaborated with other practitioners for the promotion of natural fibres both for garments and Natural Fibre Composites (NFC). For ‘Something Old’ she uses linen as one of the most ancient and sustainable materials in an ageless and enduring jacket style while the concept of “Something New” is that the jacket, once assembled, has been customised with a hand screened overprint.

Alison Moger is a practising artist working with free-stitch, mixed media and print; her work will always have a recycling, environmental and family ethos at its heart. She is an avid collector of vintage textiles and domestic objects that show the passage of time and the human interaction; Alison embraces storytelling and valley life through the visual process.

Sirpa Mörsky, lives in Finland. Currently she works on personal projects. She finds herself foremost a maker of clothes. She is also fond of embroidery, knitting and weaving.

For the exhibition Sirpa has designed and made six embroidered linen dress collection by name Tired Light. Tired light theories are astronomical hypotheses regarding the fading of visible light from distant galaxies and objects, such as the red and blue shift. In this context, tired light reflects observations of light and the sky in Tampere Finland from March to November. The observations have been painted by an artist Pirjo Seddiki on linen fabrics with surplus pigments from a digital printer and these fabrics have been made into a series of wearable paintings in the form of dresses. In the exhibition Sirpa is also exhibiting digital printed linen cushions. Prints are based on Pirjo’s paintings. Dresses and cushions represent the cooperation of Pirjo’s and Sirpa’s Ehkä design (Maybe Design) brand, a research project at the interface of art and productisation.

Mandy Nash trained as a jeweller. Her three passions are colour, pattern and technique, heavily influenced by both traditional and contemporary textiles.

Over the last twenty years she has also been developing work in felt, combining this with her jewellery practice to create both functional pieces and work that is purely decorative.

Lynda Shell is a textile designer making handmade bags & purses. Her journey began with studying Contemporary Textile Practice. Lynda draws inspiration for her designs from historical artefacts and translate her ideas into contemporary patterns that are silkscreen printed onto linen cloth.

Her latest ‘No Waste’ collection has been created using silkscreen printed off-cuts kept for many years from her handmade bag collections.

The designs are inspired by the bold and distinctive quilts produced by the woman from the African American community of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, who created remarkable abstract quilts made from work clothes remnants and scraps.

Like the woman of Gee’s Bend Lynda’s collection has been crafted using a considered combination of colours, patterns & plains with an improvisational approach to placement. Each product created is therefore completely unique and special.

Sue Shields is an Illustrator / Printmaker who also teaches. Her linocuts are strong on pattern, with a fondness for animals in general, and sheep in particular. She is currently using collagraph to explore themes from the Wrexham quilt.

Susan Smith produces ‘one-off’ textile piece, primarily hand embroidered, which she has been making and selling for many years using such themes as houses, gardens and hearts, with Welsh chapels being her current focus.

Whether simple or flamboyant, Classical or Gothic, these delightful chapel facades are depicted in cloth and stitch, using a variety of techniques and incorporating re-purposed Welsh wool fabric, aiming to celebrate some of the familiar and well-loved buildings which form such a part of Wales’ cultural heritage.

Alison Taylor designs and hand makes luxury knitwear on vintage domestic knitting machines, from her studio in South Wales. Colour, pattern and texture are fundamental to her design process and combining old school craftmanship and contemporary design she creates statement pieces with a timeless quality.

Her work is inspired by the rich heritage of her Welsh culture and environment from castles to countryside. With ancestors involved in the Welsh Woollen trade, the influence of woven construction and patterns can often be traced within her knit structures.

Using soft to handle, sustainable yarns, she knits her intricate patterns in luxurious merino lambswool with touches of cashmere and alpaca. She employs fully fashioned knitting techniques to avoid waste and with care, the knitwear should last well beyond the seasonal fashion lifecycle. Careful washing and storing, together with mending will enhance the garment and prolong its wear.

Elspeth Thomas uses digital embroidery either from photographs or hand drawn artwork in her work, which includes hand and machine embroidery using both natural and synthetic fabrics.

Elspeth loves to create surface texture, whether it is through heat manipulation or stitch manipulation and embroidery either stitched by hand or by machine. Her work continues to be influenced by natural landscapes, fauna and flora.

Exhibitions

July Guest Exhibition

CCAS Art Group

CCAS Art Society consists of an eclectic mix of talented artists with members predominantly based in south-east Wales and the border counties of England.

You will find a dynamic range of subject matter on display, produced through the application of a wide range of painting mediums and styles. Credit must be given to Jantien Powell of Chapel Cottage Studio and other professional artists and tutors who have provided support and tuition along our artistic journeys.We are excited to showcase the talents of several of our members through our exhibition and sincerely hope you enjoy our artwork!

Kate Belmond

Kate gains inspiration from the natural world, with a particular penchant for seascapes. Kate has used a variety of mediums in the past but her acrylics are now predominantly used to create her dynamic paintings.

Jennie Burge

Focussed on interpreting the worlds wonders whilst honouring its creator. Respect and care are central and its expression runs through it.

Her signature style incorporates stitch, found and repurposed treasures, reshaping them into something uniquely beautiful. Echoing God’s gentleness in transforming our brokenness into something infinitely more precious.

Art produced illustrates care for the world, it’s resources and inhabitants. Valuing overlooked items demonstrating something new and innovative.

Bill Chase

Bill began painting 15 years ago and his current tutors are Jantien Powell and Emma Rhydderch Price. Bill dabbles with charcoal, acrylic and watercolour but prefers the tactile immediacy of soft pastel mark making. “Pastels are easy to use buy hard to master. I like using vibrant colours with landscapes and portraits.”

Originally from Norfolk, Bill loves walking in Wales and lives in Crickhowell.

Karen Logan

Karen returned to painting after a career in nursing, inspired by the landscapes of Abergavenny and North Pembrokeshire. She works in pastel and experiments in mixed media, creating textured, loose and abstract pieces. With a focus on landscapes she is developing a growing interest in portraiture.

Kathy Medliott

Kathy Medlicott uses watercolour, oils or acrylics to portray the beauty of land and seascapes in its various forms and has a particular interest in local and Pembrokeshire scenes. (katherinemedlicott@gmail.com)

Fiona Miles

Fiona has always painted in watercolour and likes to paint landscapes and flowers – taking inspiration from many holidays in Snowdonia and her garden. She is a an engineer and finds the delicacy of floaty background washes against vibrant flower colours a complete contrast. She has more recently added various water based mixed media techniques to her watercolour repertoire.

Sarah Powell

Never having painted or drawn since school Sarah began her art journey 10 years ago attending the Welsh Academy of Art in Cwmdu. It specialises in the size, sight approach of the old masters working in charcoal and oils.

Her work includes portraits, still life and landscape. Following painting experiences in Italy, Portugal and Morocco with artists of different genres and styles her work has evolved to incorporate mixed media and a more abstract style. “It’s good to experiment and find one’s style and move forward on the artistic journey.”

Jane Rosaire

Jane is an artist based in Cwmbran. She has always loved drawing and painting and recently retiring has provided the opportunity to devote much more time to making art.

“I paint many subjects, but my love of the landscape in this beautiful part of Wales, along with the flora and fauna within it, provides much of my inspiration.

Working in acrylic and mixed media, Jane loves to use exaggerated and unexpected colours. She places loose brushstrokes side by side with the intention of producing a loose, vibrant and uplifting painting.

Becky Scott

Becky Scott is an amateur artist working in soft pastels. She is inspired by the landscape of the South Wales valleys and seeks to create a sense of joyful song in her work. In her floral pieces she explores the way light falls on petals and creates a sense of movement and texture.

Clare Tuggey

Clare trained as a commercial photographer but has always enjoyed painting.

She learned batik painting in Malaysia and dabbled in watercolours but after many courses and workshops finds she is most at home painting in oils, mostly landscapes.

Exhibitions

June Guest Exhibition

From The Mountains to the Sea, Engraved

Kathleen Littler

Abergavenny based artist, Kathleen Littler, works primarily in the medium of wood engraving with relatively small works but sometimes expanded into large collages made up of fragments of engravings to express her ideas on a big scale. Alongside some of her engravings there are watercolours and pencil drawings related to specific subjects.

Originally a native of Pembrokeshire, many of her designs are inspired by that coastline, in addition to images of visits to Orkney where she has found a remarkable similarity to her early coastal surroundings. These will be contrasted with her recent mountain environment.

Most of her work has a strong sense of place, where even a notional image such as her “Usk Frolics” of otters and kingfishers needed to be anchored in a particular setting.

Engraving is done using fine tools on endgrain hard wood to support the amount of fine detail; nowadays synthetic substitutes are often used with exactly the same effect. Most of her work is on wood which is why some appear in the round, which is the cross section of a piece of boxwood.

She has found wood engraving to be an ideal medium for the creating of a design which reflects the qualities of rhythm, pattern, movement and contrasts of light in nature. Such a technique was first introduced by the great engraver, Thomas Bewick in the eighteenth century and has been developed by many great engravers since.

In our own times, the medium has been re-invented as an art form in vibrant and original ways; a truly contemporary medium for expressing ideas and comment on the age we live in.

She uses a Victorian platen press to print her engravings by hand from the block. This is a highly skilled process which can require as much time and patience as the original design and cutting of the block.

There will be an opportunity during the course of the exhibition to attend a demonstration of the technique of engraving, and more of Kathleen’s work can be seen at www.kathlittler.co.uk

Exhibitions

May Guest Exhibition

Neurotypical?

(Brain functions in the way society expects)

The question mark stands for never wanting to be what society expects.

Caroline says, ‘my brain definitely does not work how it is expected to!’

Where her inspiration used to come from nature and organisms, it now comes from a more internal perspective/natural intuition and over the last few years Caroline’s work has been focused on healing through painting.

Having suffered for many years with chronic headaches, her art has become a therapeutic necessity. She tries to bring colour and joy to confusion and pressure that is internalised.

Caroline is intrigued by brain function and Neurodiversity. Neurodiversity is the natural variation in how human brains work and process information. How our brains are wired differently in terms of how we process information, communicate and sense the world.

The paintings aim to show confusion, chaos, memory problems and loss. Contrasting between the hardest times and moments of levity and peace.

Using the medium of acrylic paint on canvas to achieve saturation of colour and vibrancy she often inserts monochrome or neon aspects to disturb the colour harmony, creating her own inner surreal landscapes and visual mind maps.

There can be beauty from even the darkest places.

Caroline’s paintings can be hung any way, whichever pleases the viewer.

Exhibitions

April Guest Exhibition

Welsh Landscape

Much of Robin Elgar’s creative inspiration comes from the rhythms, colours and shapes found in the countryside. Her love of wild places, especially the Welsh mountains where her mother lived, are found in her landscapes.
Robin enjoys exploring the layering of colour in her work, interpreting the changing landscape through the seasons.
Robin Elgar resides in Buckinghamshire. She is a retired teacher who exhibits and sells her paintings. Robin has worked in her local community on projects involving children and supporting adults in developing their artistic talents, always in an imaginative and creative way.

Exhibitions

March Guest Exhibition

Sarah Powell and Artistic friends

A journey of different styles, genres and mediums by Sarah and artist friends.

We all have different experiences on our artist journey ,from tutors, influences, experiences and experimentation. Be it from the traditional oils and charcoal to multi media abstract. It forms who we are as artists.

Exhibitions

Valentine’s Special

Our resident spoon carver, Dave Richards has created some special pieces just for Valentine’s day.

Hearts, Chains and other Love Tokens

As well as Love Spoons, which Dave makes from locally sourced hardwoods, to his own designs, using only hand tools, he also makes a range of love tokens in the same way. These include single hearts, some made into pendants, double hearts, interlinked hearts and chains with hearts. As with the spoons, each is hand made from a single piece of wood.

Exhibitions

January Guest Exhibition

” All 4 One”

January 4th – 30th

This exhibition brings together four artists and ex-colleagues who worked together at the University of Glamorgan and who have remained friends and sometime co-exhibitors for more than thirty years. We especially feature the work of Graham Talbot here whose creativity as a sculptor and painter deserves recognition. Moreover, the exhibition is a tribute to Graham’s good humour, inventiveness and generosity, qualities that were an essential element in creating such a happy working environment in the studios for teaching staff and students alike and which emerge here in his recent reworking of historical works of art, such as Hans Holbein’s The Ambassadors.

***What the f…? (an even bigger Lebowski)***
(Donor artist Hans Holbein, 1497-1543)

Graham Talbot – Biography

Graham was born in Ebbw Vale in 1949 and now lives and works as an artist in Govilon, Abergavenny. Having started his working life as an engineering fabricator for British Steel, Graham then left to pursue his art at Newport College of Art and St Martins School of Art, London, where he studied sculpture under eminent artists such as Anthony Caro. Very much later he added to these achievements with an MA from University of Glamorgan. After leaving art college, Graham had a long career working as senior art technician and lecturer at University of Glamorgan (originally Pontypridd School of Mines before becoming the Polytechnic of Wales and now known as USW). During his time there, he also supported the curation of exhibitions in the University’s Oriel y Bont as well as exhibiting his own work in Wales and abroad. Graham pursued his own art practice throughout his career, mainly in sculpture using a wide variety of materials and processes. His creative practice has been informed by an eclectic range of sources, including literary and musical, and is recognisable by its wry sense of humour that takes in both the absurdity and the sadness of the human condition. The paintings in this exhibition were completed between 2021 and 2023 and mark a new departure for Graham.

Alan Salisbury – Biography

Alan was born in Preston, Lancashire and studied painting at Manchester and Liverpool Colleges of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. He has lived in Wales since 1974 working at the University of Glamorgan where he was Principal Lecturer in Painting and Field Leader in Arts and Media. He is a member of The Welsh Group and a full member of The Royal Cambrian Academy (RCA).

He has exhibited widely throughout the UK, in Europe and the USA. In 2005 he was Joint First Prize winner in the Liverpool School of Art Alumni Open Competition. In 2008 he was awarded First Prize in the Wales Portrait Award 2 Competition and was first prize awardee in The Wales Contemporary in 2020

Chris Nurse – Biography

Chris Nurse studied Printmaking at the Royal College of Art before completing a Rome Scholarship in 1991 and Cheltenham Fellowship in 1992. He worked in various roles as a Senior Lecturer in Art Practice at University of South Wales, including latterly as curator of the Museum Art Collection and gallery. He has exhibited internationally in Japan, USA, Germany, Italy and UK.

Chris’ work generally employs humour to explore motifs taken from the everyday and popular culture. His contribution to this exhibition is divided between two separate areas of his practice; a set of chiaroscuro woodcuts completed in 2003, as illustrations to Pyramus and Thisbe, the play within the play of William Shakespeare’s, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a recent series of collages based on TV testcards.

The Pyramus and Thisbe woodcuts were commissioned for a limited edition artist book made in collaboration with Nicolas McDowell, of the Old Stile Press (https://www.oldstilepress.com/) based in the Wye Valley. The tragedy of Pyramus and Thisbe bears similarity to the story of Romeo and Juliette but is enacted comedically by the rustic mechanicals, Bottom the Weaver and Peter Quince the Carpenter. In Chris’ series of prints, he evolved into Bottom and Nicolas into Quince.

The collages, such as, BBC Bacon Butter Cheese, or Bradford Bradshaw Crow, reflect Chris’ peculiar nostalgia for the patterns displayed on screen between broadcast sessions before television was programmed wall to wall. He have strong memories of sitting trance-like during wet holidays in anticipation for the start of children’s television. Testcard F with the girl with her toy clown is so random; He wonders, what else could occupy this space?

Frances Woodley – Biography

Dr Frances Woodley lives and works in Cardiff. She is an artist, collaborator, writer and curator. Her cross-disciplinary practice currently uses digital painting, printing and collage as well as physical collage and small-scale construction. She is represented in Welsh public collections and ArtUK. Recent authored publications include At Cross Purposes: Three-way conversations between two artists and a curator (Aberystwyth University, 2021) and ‘Reproductions and Reimaginings: Reflections on an Interconnected Practice’ in Painting, Photography and the Digital ed. Carl Robinson (Cambridge, 2022).

The Dressing Station, 2024 General with Cherry

Exhibitions

February Guest Exhibition

“Between a Rock and a Soft Place”

1st February - 2nd March

A solo exhibition by Chrissie Thompson from the Pigsty Studio in Herefordshire.
A profuse and expressive artist working mainly in acrylics and mixed media, influenced by the contrasting hard and soft landscapes of the wild west coast of Cornwall and the drama of the Welsh Marches.

Chrissie uses a pallet knife, and a soft dry brush to achieve a blend of texture and softness, painting in her studio at the bottom of the garden with views of the Skirrid, Garway Hill and Hay Bluff as a backdrop.
She also paints en plein air on the rocky coast of Cornwall and the gentler landscapes of Devon.

Exhibitions

December Guest Exhibition

The December exhibition is by the Blackwood Art Group.

Starting in 2005 with a small group of artists meeting in Blackwood, the group has continued to develop and grow into a diverse and dynamic group of like-minded people that it is today.

Members come from a wide geographical area and they encourage and promote experimentation with a wide variety of techniques and mediums. Workshops, demonstrations, gallery visits, holding exhibitions are all part of the group’s activities.

Their success comes from being an inclusive and welcoming group, using the knowledge and expertise of our many talented members, to help and encourage others in developing their work.