Friday 20 November 2015

Inaugural exhibition at Woodhayes Gallery

November saw the culmination of many years' work - our inaugural exhibition at Woodhayes Gallery!

It has been a long build up. It was early 2011 when we first mooted the idea of a new exhibitions' space with the South West art community, who confirmed our suspicions that there was a lack of good exhibition venues for hire.

The conversion of the Dutch Barn started in 2013. By 2014 it was complete and we now had a purpose-built, contemporary exhibitions' space making the most of the spectacular light from the floor to ceiling windows and incorporating the very latest gallery lighting and hanging systems.

The inaugural exhibition : 'Metamorphosis' (7 -18 November) featured the work of two South West artists - Dick Hewitson and Maisie Parker who had hired the gallery space.

Dick Hewitson is a Dorset painter, mainly painting in oils, whose interpretations of landscapes range from contemporary figurative to abstract. After initial research in the field, creating rapid sketches in pencil, ink or charcoal, Dick returns to creat the artwork in his studio. He often incorporate charcoal marks into his oil paintings too. Colour is a significant aspect of his work, blending subtle colour mixes for his paintings. You can see more here : http://www.dickhewitson.co.uk/exhibitions.php
Walking Dorset - Dick Hewitson
Maisie Parker is an artist who works in mixed print media, although drawing is at the heart of her work. She explained "Drawing is a way of knowing, a mode of enquiry and a visual language. Life drawing is the source of all my print work and is ongoing. It is the most important part of my art."
Maisie Parker
The Private View was held on Saturday 7 November to much excitement and we have enjoyed the last few weeks and learnt much along the way. We have welcomed artists from across the region throughout the exhibition to view the space, so exciting times are ahead!




Thursday 19 November 2015

"THE MAN WHO CAN SEE BACK IN TIME........." Archies visit to Woodhayes.


 

Imagine walking down the High Street of your town and being able to see not just the people of the present around you, but people from the past - in detail. Roman legionaries on a drunken day off, crinolined Victorian ladies going about their shopping, Stone Age men in skins sharpening their flints for a mammoth hunt – all mingling with the people of today, and all of them completely unaware that their time periods are over-lapping, and it’s happening right under their noses.

But, somehow, you’re aware - you always have been. You can see them all as you walk down that street, going about your own business.  And these people from the past, they can see you, too, and want to talk to you, to tell you their stories, giving you information about their life and times that always seems to check out, sometimes showing you answers to questions that have puzzled historians for years – and sometimes even revealing that we’ve got history wrong.

It would make a great story, wouldn’t it – the extraordinary psychic who gets answers to history’s mysteries in ways no-one can understand? Because of course, this could only be a story, couldn’t it? It couldn’t happen in reality.   Except for one man, it does.

WHO IS ARCHY LEE?

This is the story of a Somerset man with an amazing gift:  A salt of the earth, funny, colourful character, ARCHY LEE paints detailed pictures with the actual words of the people who once lived on the land or in the buildings where we live and work now
He describes their trades, their homes, their garments, their smells - and recounts the tittle-tattle and revelations they tell him.  Seemingly able to step outside time, he’s met up with all kinds of people from different eras, ranging from members of the Lost Legion to Henry VIII, from anonymous monks to President Kennedy – and they’ve all had fascinating facts to reveal, some of which have the potential to re-write history.  Archy is regularly remarkably accurate with what he reports. And yet he is no historian and has no prior knowledge of the people and times he’s ‘seeing’ and reporting.  He doesn’t possess a computer, and has no interest in using one. Yet much of the information he gleans is verifiable - although very often it takes an expert researcher considerable time and effort to confirm it. Other material he reports is tantalising and contentious, challenging what we think we know about the past. His insightful, humorous and engaging talent is quite extraordinary and probably unique. He has many fans and has featured in print & on radio.


read about Archie's visit to Woodhayes and what he found here :