We’re in the mood for Valentines Day. Come and check out our super gifts.
Gallery News
Welcome to an exciting 2024 at Bridgy gallery
Our first exhibition in the garage gallery is Frost n Sparkle Featuring a multitude of talented artists’ paintings covering many subjects.
February will see the garage gallery filled with Art student work in the exhibition titled The World turned upside-down, followed by artist Pete Borg with his exhibition Rivers of colour.
Following the Hard landscaping of the Memorial walled sculpture garden last summer and some autumn planting, we are looking forward to spring and the addition of the tree seat, the completion of the pipe trellis, water feature and Fish Arch. We have been working hard re-furbishing the gifted 2nd hand patio furniture, completing the long gallery and sowing the lawn in preparation for our grand opening.
I do hope you can visit and see our exhibition and find how we are getting on this spring with the garden and long gallery preparations. Can’t wait until I can sit on the patio, drink in hand, admiring the lovely walled garden, appreciating the sculpture and the warm sun on my skin.
Really looking forward to being able to share this with you.
Pete Borg
Boo!
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.
Winner LTG Art Gallery of the Year 2022/23!
We’re delighted to announce that we have won the LTG Art Gallery of the Year 2022/23 award.
We couldn’t have made this possible without the help and support of the artists, people and workers who have helped to set up the gallery. For them, an enormous thank you.
Also, a huge thank you to everyone who nominated us.
What is LTG?
The Luxury Travel Awards recognize and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the affluent travel and tourism industry.
During the awards process, over 90,000 businesses and corporate professionals, magazine contributors and subscribers were asked to nominate companies & individuals based on factors such as quality of service, innovation, experience, sustainability and other areas. Additionally, their own research team put forward a selection of firms which they felt were deserving of recognition.
Bridget interviewed on BBC Radio Somerset
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:
Some of the wonderful comments we received:
Entertaining, joyous and an absolutely fascinating interview. Sue PB
Great interview, presented well. You told your story brilliantly and were very clear about your support for local artists and the community. SW
Excellent interview. SS
Really enjoyed listening to you last night. So much we didn’t know about your work over the year’s. You’re a very clever lady. JH
Explore Fairy Tales in Bridgwater
Bridgy Gallery is one of the venues included in the Fairy Tale exploration during half-term in Bridgwater.
Come along and see our Fairies and Dragons exhibition, displaying creatures of myth and legend.
Happy New Year everyone!
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.
Merry Holimas one and all!
The Holidays are upon us and with it brings decorations galore, tonnes of new stock and the final exhibition of the year. But first, with the spooky season and the long-awaited revival of carnival behind us, we simply must announce our joy at how successful our latest exhibition was, with special thanks to Eve Male and Kayleigh Miller for their fantastic and visitor favourite contributions. In addition, with the experience gained from our first day being open during carnival, we have decided that going forward we will be providing insulated takeaway cups for whomever wants a nice hot drink to go.
Going forward we are increasing our opening hours for carnival day so that we may better suit the high footfall and provide a warm location for all those wishing to purchase refreshments, use the restrooms or to take a break from the weather, long into the night.
There’s now even more fun to be had in the gallery
Come along and count the icicles in the gallery –
The correct guesses win a chocolate!*
*Competition ends when the chocolate runs out!
Funky Portraits exhibition
Succeeding our spooky autumnal exhibition is our Funky Portraits exhibit, a collection of charismatic and interesting portraits each bursting with their own unique personality and style, whether it’s something lively that reminds of warmer weather and holidays abroad, a furry companion to warm the soul or an abstract piece to stimulate the mind, there is something for just about everyone. Along with the gallery’s fine collection of portraits, we also have a special guest appearance of works from previous exhibition artists; Tony Machin and Louise Prior, truly making this a special send off for the year! This exhibit will be on full display until halfway through January, where we will officially start off the exhibitions for the new year with our Fairies & Dragons display.
Upcoming exhibition Fairies & Dragons
This display will contain paintings never seen here at the gallery, as well as numerous artworks from familiar faces, Tony Machin, Louise Prior, Kayleigh Miller and resident artist Bridget.
Holiday Gifts
But enough about the New Year, let’s talk more about the holidays! If you’re looking for some new holiday decorations, a small cute gift for that special or hard to buy for person or even a unique ornament for your tree, then look no further! We here at the gallery have gathered numerous new items from local artists, especially for this holiday season, these include stained-glass angel mobiles, handmade Christmas baubles, fused glass Christmas trees and Santa hats, stained-glass tea light holders in the shapes of both angels and candles, handmade glass wreaths and so much more.
With that, we are almost done with the final blog post of the year, but first we have a small notice for our opening times. The gallery will be open all the way up to 7pm on Christmas Eve for all of you last-minute buyers, and we will be open again on the 28th and 29th from 10.30am to 3pm. The gallery will resume normal hours from 4th January 2023. Lastly, we would like to extend our deepest appreciation and thanks towards every single visitor, customer, artist, and everyone else who has supported the gallery throughout its first year of operating. It has been a long year with many hardships and lessons to be learned, but it has been a heart-warming experience seeing so much passion and love for the arts, making the year all that more worth it, and we shall endeavour to continue trying to help the arts to flourish long into the future. Until next time, from all of us at Bridgy Gallery to you, Happy Holidays and have a very happy New Year.
Chilling times!
Good morning, afternoon and/or evening to all of you lovely folk out there. There’s a chill in the air, more colour in the trees and plenty to catch you all up on what’s coming soon with the gallery, but first, let’s chat about the events of recent weeks! Somerset Art Weeks have come and gone, bringing us a fantastic amount of new visitors to show around and converse with, it has been a true pleasure to see just how many passionate art lovers are out there in the local area and an equal pleasure to share with them our little slice of Bridgwater.
First Artist in Action Day
During the Art Weeks we were able to host artist Tony Machin for our first Artist in Action Day, this is when the invited guest artist or exhibiting artist produces some art here at the gallery for all to watch their process and ask questions. With this being such a nice experience, we have decided to have more Artist in Action Days in the future for the Garage Gallery, so do keep an eye out for when the next one is announced!
Speaking of the exhibits in the Garage Gallery, we have now said farewell to Tony’s exhibition, but fear not, we still have several of his pieces on display in reception for your viewing pleasure.
Contact Tony Machin if you’d like your own painting
Tony is very welcome to commissions, if you are interested in having a special piece painted, please contact Tony Machin at t.machin@hotmail.com or call him 07921806310 and tell him that we sent you.
Things to come
Now, onward to matters of the present and what to expect from the gallery in the coming weeks. Bright colours fill the Garage Gallery for the Carnival season. Resident artist Bridget Penn-Berkeley brings her exhibit of unique canvases on the subject of Bridgwater’s world-famous Guy Faulks carnival parade and a trio of Rune lady paintings. Bridget is not alone in the exhibition, joining her, we welcome friends of the gallery, artists Kayleigh Miller and Eve Male, each bringing a nice Autumnal and creepy aspect to this very seasonally styled spooky display. Kayleigh brings her linocut excellence, with pieces titled Ghoul friends and Witch library, while Eve has contributed a scary mask called Possessed and Halloween paintings – tricks, treats and little pumpkin.
Find the bat!
Speaking of seasonal, the paintings and displays in reception have once again been changed to better fit the Halloween theme, including some new decorations featuring a cauldron of bats. Individual bats are hiding throughout the gallery, a little treat will be forthcoming in the gallery reception for any keen eyes that manage to find the whole colony! Lastly, there’s Bridgwater’s main event to look forward to, waiting for more than a year for its triumphal return, Bridgwater’s famous illuminated carnival! As usual, the gallery will be open long before the evening’s festivities, giving all of you early arrivals plenty of time to come grab yourselves a hot drink and join in on all the excited chatter, while you look at our collection of paintings on the carnival over the years. That’s all for now, so until our next update or until we meet next, keep warm and enjoy the season!
Look out for Meet the Artist Day and Somerset Art Weeks
Meet the Artist Day
Hello to all you lovely readers; time has come once again for one of our periodic updates on events here at the gallery. To start things off, our Meet the Artist Day with Tony Machin was a roaring success with plenty of enthralled visitors gushing over the fantastic paintings, some of whom had no hesitation in buying their favourites, as though it were love at first sight! Thankfully for us, these customers are waiting until the end of the exhibition to pick up their newly purchased paintings, so there’s still time to come and see them for yourselves if you haven’t had the time to yet!
Given the positive reaction on the day, as well as all the cheerful comments for the art we’ve since received, we are privileged to have another day that we are calling Artist in Action Day, where you can visit the gallery and not only meet Tony but witness his creative process in action as he paints one of his lovely pieces right here in the gallery for all to see! This shall take place on Saturday 1st of October and, like the previous meet the artist event, will be on all day with complimentary wine or soft drink on arrival and other refreshments available for purchase throughout.
As it happens, this Artist in Action Day takes place during the Somerset Art Weeks, an event taking place from the 24th September to the 9th October. As the name might suggest, it’s a celebration of all kinds of art and artists throughout the whole of Somerset, whom we are very happy to be counted amongst. Whilst we hope you will come visit the gallery and join us for a guided tour or a joyful conversation on art, we also highly recommend that you check out the other locations that are taking part in this yearly creative endeavour. You might be surprised as to just how many people and places have come together again in an explosion of creativity and colour, with a great variety of art to see and experience. For us at the gallery, it is truly inspiring to be a part of such a large collection of enthusiastic artists.
A collection of new items arriving shortly
Please be aware we will not be available on Saturday the 24th September, the first day of the Somerset Art Weeks, as the gallery will be closed whilst staff attend a wedding. The silver lining to this however is that upon our return we will have a collection of new products coming to the gallery in the form of goblets, decorative shields, shoes, axes, tankards and possibly more. In fact, if you visit the gallery on the approach to this date, you might just get a sneak peek of these items as they’re being made.
Well, that’s it for now folks, as always stay safe, and we hope to see you all very soon!
