Archived Gallery at St. George’s House

Venue: The Gallery At St. George’s House
When: 06/09/2017 – 01/11/2017
Admission: Free

WILD
Janet Brady

The Gallery at St. George’s House is pleased to present an ambitious new solo exhibition by Janet Brady.

Based in North Manchester, Janet is a fine art painter and printmaker who explores the textures, pathways and colours of our landscape.

After many years teaching herself the basics of drawing and painting, Janet enrolled on several inspiring courses with artists Hazel Campbell, Lee Crocker and Steve Walton. Following this, it was the artist David Tress who ‘knocked me sideways, by the strength of feeling in his painting’.  Janet was already painting with vigour, but Tress’ advice and encouragement propelled her greatly.

Janet fell in love with printmaking from the celebrated printmaker Peter Wray.  He inspired her to develop a striking signature style, which includes building collagraph plates from found objects, hinting at allotments, terrains and flora.

Having attended the Slade School of Fine Art for ‘The Expanded Field of Drawing’ short course earlier this year, Janet returned to London this Summer for an extended term. Janet says of her time at the world-renowned art school; ‘ It has been mind-blowing. There I realised how direct experience really is the key for me – as well as ideas and technique.’

Moving between painting and contemporary printmaking, this exhibition marks the stages of Janet’s artistic journey and anticipates what’s next for this exciting artist.

WILD opens to the public on Wednesday 6 September.
The gallery space is free to visit and open to the public Mondays – Fridays 9-5pm.

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 06/07/2017 – 04/09/2017
Admission: Free

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 27/04/2017 – 04/07/2017
Admission: Free

Highs & Lows: A West Highland Fling (Winter 2016 – Winter 2017)

28 April – 4 July 2017

Private View Thursday 27 April, 5-7pm

The Gallery at St. George’s House is pleased to present a new solo exhibition by Jen Orpin.

Highs & Lows: A West Highland Fling (Winter 2016 – Winter 2017) represents an ongoing emotional investigation for the Manchester artist.  It was in the ancient grandeur of the Scottish mountains that Orpin first found perspective after the death of her father.  The lochs offered stillness and the waterfalls a reassuring predictability.  The paintings presented in this show reflect and respond to a longing for a sense of permanence.

We hope you can join us as we open this new exhibition in Bolton on Thursday 27 April, 5-7pm. All welcome.

About the artist

Jen Orpin graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 with a degree in Fine Art. She joined Rogue Artist Studios, Manchester in 1999 and has been painting from her studio there ever since. As well as exhibiting in various galleries, her work has been accepted into several North West Open Art exhibitions, one of which awarded her second prize and another a commendation.  Her paintings have also featured in the last three series of BBC1 drama, Last Tango in Halifax and Russell T. Davies’ Queer as Folk.

www.jenorpinpaintings.co.uk

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 03/02/2017 – 24/04/2017
Admission: Free

(Re)allotted

Janet Brady | Ros Davis | Dorothy Ellin | Jennifer Gilmour | Maggie Hargreaves | David Jackson | Margaret Jackson | Rob Jackson | Kevin Shipley | Steph Shipley | Susan Syddall

‘(Re)allotted’ is Slugsoc’s second exhibition, it combines previous work with brand new pieces all centring on the group’s fascination with allotments, bee-keeping and local food growing, and the people who inhabit these worlds.

The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, prints, textiles, photography and written pieces.

Slugsoc is a group of Bolton-based artists and writers. ‘(Re)allotted’ is the logical development of ‘Allotted 2016’ which they presented in August last year.

The gallery welcomes you to join us in celebrating the exhibition in Bolton on Thursday 2nd February, 5-7pm.

For more information on the Allotted project visit: http://allotted2016.blogspot.co.uk

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 26/11/2016 – 20/01/2017
Admission: Free

Borders between and Landmarks within: Real and Imagined | Obvious and Ambiguous | Descriptive and Surreal

Landmarks & Boundaries is the latest project from Markmakers; Halton’s contemporary art collective, and is inspired by the artists’ geographical location of living near to the coastlines of North West England and Wales, and their individual experiences, knowledge of tides, islands, pathways, histories, folklore and rites of passage.

Crossings at high tide, clothes as signifiers of personal boundaries, migration and the experience of moving through the physical landscape are among the subjects explored with media ranging widely from paint and print to sculpture, textiles and installation.

Join the artists for their opening reception on Saturday 26 November, 1-3pm all welcome, refreshments will be served.

About Markmakers

Markmakers is a collective of practising artists, working in and around the borough of Halton, in England’s North West, who have been exhibiting and working together since 2002. Meeting monthly for network opportunities and to discuss future developments in their artwork, the group also lead workshops and promote the visual arts. Working in a wide variety of fields, including drawing, print, painting, sculpture, textiles and installation, the artists have developed many exhibitions together at venues including the Brindley Arts Centre – Runcorn, Liverpool’s Albert Dock, Castle Park Arts Centre – Frodsham, Birkenhead Park and Warrington Museum and Art Gallery.

Members of the group have exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally with artists involved in national touring exhibitions and international residencies and have won a number of prizes including open art competitions, regional cultural awards and all continue to explore ideas and ways of making work in a contemporary context.

Originally the group formed from a previous collective and began to develop with the support of Halton’s visual arts development officer Louise Hesketh, who continues to support Markmakers as part of her remit in developing the visual arts in the borough.

www.markmakers-artists.co.uk

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 23/09/2016 – 20/11/2016
Admission: Free

A collaborative exhibition by Julia Entwistle and John Bentley.

Our sublime Northern landscape has captivated both Julia and John’s hearts, making them true romantic artists of our day.  This exhibition presents a series of romantic landscapes in both painting and photography.

Julia’s paintings are bathed in ‘half-light’: a soft, subdued light of early dawn or dusk that partially obscures the landscape.  Lending itself to an ethereal quality, this light continuously ignites Julia’s imagination as she creates glorious impressionistic landscape paintings.

It is this response to light and mood that John simultaneously presents in his photography.  John spent a great deal of his youth holidaying on the Isle of Skye – falling in love with the dark foreboding mountains and stormy skies.  This atmospheric mood has stayed with him ever since and is captured in all his work.

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 22/07/2016 – 20/09/2016
Admission: Free

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 02/06/2016 – 18/07/2016
Admission: Free

Bolton Smart Enterprise is a not for profit organisation that offers opportunities for young people in Bolton (aged 13-25), including those young people with disabilities and those who are NEET,  who have disengaged (or are at risk of disengaging) from education, training or employment; to build their confidence, self-esteem, motivation and basic/life skills, to enable them to move positively into training, education, volunteering and employment opportunities.

This exhibition will exhibit a range of work from the Creative Arts programme.

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 12/03/2016 – 31/05/2016
Admission: Free

Colin creates multifaceted images of contemporary life using reflective surfaces.

We are selective in how we see. We choose to look through the window, not at it. We are only able to view and record the window surface, or the subject beyond the glass, or the reflected world behind the observer. Colin combines these three worlds to produce fascinating and rich narratives.

Colin has painted a total of 19 reflective studies based on Lymm shop windows. In the meeting room you can find 5 of these celebrations of Lymm village life. After seeing an exhibition of Canaletto’s paintings of Venice at the Queen’s Gallery in London, where walking through the gallery was a virtual trip down the Grand Canal, he was keen to display his paintings as a virtual walk through Lymm village.

There is also a parallel series of paintings reflecting life in other countries as seen through shop windows and by people using public transport.

He worked in art education for over 30 years with student and adult groups and organized Art Study Tours throughout Europe, USA and Russia. He has exhibited his art works extensively throughout his career, both nationally and abroad.

This exhibition is kindly supported by Richard Brown Wealth Management Ltd.

More information about the exhibition is available online at colingrimes2016.tumblr.com.
Limited edition prints will be available on request from cjgrimes@btinternet.com.

Venue: The Galley At St Georges House
When: 13/02/2016 – 14/02/2016
Admission: Free