News 2023

Happy Halloween season to you. The bats and spiders have arrived in the gallery along with our annual Halloween & Carnival exhibition featuring work by Kayleigh Miller and our resident artist Bridget with guest paintings and some lovely oak pieces by local artisan Gerry.

A lot has happened this year, from radio interviews to winning the Art Gallery of the year award, and of course, the Walled memorial garden/long gallery project. Starting in May this year with the dismantling of the long gallery, then its re-build followed by the hard landscaping, re-using materials where possible from reclaimed brick mindfulness paths to carpet moss balls and old pipe trellis.

The Garden Project
The garden features a Zen garden, moss garden, water feature, stage, lawn and, of course, sculptures. So far, we have installed a dancing Bee Circle, started on the Fish arch and Tree stump sculptures. Planning to open to the public next year – this autumn planting and a tidy up of the windows down the long gallery and an invitation to local Sculptors to display their work. Further additions include a Tree seat and a high table.

Tony Machin and I were painting in the gallery for Somerset Art Weeks, a busy time, where we could show off the gallery, our own paintings and local artist Nicky’s work, who was exhibiting in the garage gallery following a fabulous exhibition by Des Fox and successful exhibition by Alexandra Lavizzarri.

Carnival approaches – looking forward to watching the carts from the gallery again this year.

We will again be running our Count the Bat challenge, looking to reward eagle-eyed visitors who find the whole cauldron.

Bridget Penn-Berkeley talks about herself and the gallery in an entertaining interview on the Charlie Taylor show, hosted by Jenna Myles.
Have a chance to hear it below:

The festivities of the past month have come to an end and the peaceful quiet months of the new year have begun, but fear not, there is still plenty of magic left in the air! Rumour has it that there have been odd bestial noises and rare sightings of mystical fae creatures spotted within the gallery’s walls.

Fairies and Dragons from Wednesday 11th January
If you’re an adventurer type or a fan of fantasy, come visit and see if you can catch a glimpse of these creatures of myth and legend with our Fairies and Dragons display, making its debut on Wednesday 11th January and kicking off our exhibitions for the year. This display will feature artwork from all types of fairy tales, and of many mythical creatures that mostly have yet to be seen by visitors. Alongside these new pieces, we also have a handful of returning artwork from last year’s guest artists; Tony Machin, Louise Prior, Kayleigh Miller and our very own Bridget Penn-Berkeley.

That’s all for now, until next time, try not to get gobbled up by a dragon and make sure to put out a bottle of the good stuff to appease those mischievous fairies.