Following the success of last year's local artists' showcase event, we will be running the event again throughout 2020.  Although, we have filled all the slots for the forthcoming year, do let us know if you or anyone you know creates work (sculpture, painting, mosaic, photography, textiles...) that would suit and we can save your details in case of cancellations.  Please pop in to have a chat with us. The commission for any sold pieces will be 20% (and we will donate all of this money to charity at the end of the year).

These are the artists who will be displaying their work in the coming months:

Hannah Green – Illustrator 

Hannah was born and brought up in York and is currently in her final year of studying illustration at Cambridge School of Art.  Much of her artwork depicts country and nature scenes together with wildlife from around Yorkshire.  She likes to work with gauche paint and coloured pencils.

Maree Moore – Children's and Dolls' Clothing

Based in Huntington, full time working mum of two, Maree makes stunning dolls, dolls’ and children’s clothes.

When she was expecting her first child, Maree’s German mother in law (Konnie the other half of Billie & Ben!) made her a gorgeous traditional German doll for when their baby was born.  It’s a tradition in Germany for the grandmother to make a doll for the new baby.  Some friends asked for dolls to be made and the doll side grew from there.

She has always loved crafting but seeing what Konnie made really inspired her.  Konnie spent hours teaching her how to sew simple clothes which her daughter wore and she improved her skills whilst on maternity leave.  Friends asked her to make them some dresses or leggings.

It was on a family trip to Germany that she went fabric shopping and was amazed at the choice available.  She decided then that she’d like to try a craft fair just to see what general feedback would be...... and that was where it all began!!!

Billie and Ben creations are unique, even the clothing, as only two or three of the same items are made in the same fabric.

Lesley Peatfield – Photography and Abstract Landscape

Lesley has always taken pictures throughout her life and about 10 years ago came back from a trip to Devon where she had take many ‘snaps’ and was disappointed with the results.  This made her look into buying a better camera and learning from the basics upwards.

She found a residential course in Reeth with a landscape photographer called Garry Brannigan, and her passion was ignited.  She enjoys landscape photography, but also street, abstract and whatever catches her eye and really enjoys the process of capturing the digital image, processing it and making the final print.

Lesley has always enjoyed developing her skills and loves the technical aspects of photography.  She tends to be a traditional photographer when it comes to landscapes; using a tripod and all the lenses and filters needed, but is not fixed in her ideas and happy to experiment.  She has, however, recently started to use her iPhone more and is in the middle of a project called ‘Parallel Lives’ which is a series of multiple exposure images made using the PhotoSplit app.  These are proving very popular, and get people talking about her images which she loves as it enables her to talk to them about her passion.

Last year she decided to work towards her Licentiate membership of the Royal Photographic Society (LRPS).  This involves submitting a body of work comprising 10 images to show camera work and technical quality, visual awareness, communication, and overall impression.  The process involved a couple of advisory days where judges assessed the work and advised where changes needed to be made.  She’s pleased to say she reached the standard to be awarded this level.  She has just started to experiment with some film cameras from the 1940s, and has a future project in mind - exciting times!!

You can find out more on Lesley's website and Facebook page.

Helen Beardsmore – Needle Felt

Helen is the creator and maker at Felted Treasures and is a York based artist who makes beautiful products using the art of Needle Felting.  She uses only Alpaca Wool from a Haxby based farm, Knavesmire Alpaca. The fibre is hand dyed and carded and as it is naturally hypoallergenic and beautifully soft, it felts wonderfully.

She creates gifts and decorative art and her most popular works are her signature Bee products.  Every single piece (wedding cake toppers, fairies, handmade gifts, bespoke ornaments and gifts) is unique and has its own character!

All her work is plastic free and made in York, using local wool so it makes for an eco friendly piece of art every time!  Helen's work is mostly commissioned based, including Pet Portraits!

Helen's work is inspired by her son, who has learning difficulties; he has a love of the outdoors and is at his happiest when enjoying nature's gifts.  You can find out more on Helen’s Etsy and Facebook pages.

Lenka Stolarova – Textile Artist

Lenka lives in Heworth where she makes her handmade textiles.  Her passion is to incorporate natural and locally grown produce into her designs. Her favourite being lavender which she harvests in York and uses in her scented sachets and vials.

Lenka’s Kanzashi ribbon designs are intricate and sophisticated.  Lenka learned the Kanzashi technique in her native Czech Republic and now produces a mixture of brooches, hair accessories and seasonal decorations.

Find out more about Lenka’s techniques and products on her Facebook and Instagram pages.

Allen Humphries – Painting

Allen is a retired head teacher who now spends his time painting, pastelling, walking, reading, listening to music and enjoying family life.

He has an Art School background, with a qualification to teach Art but for many years taught general subjects to 7 – 11 year olds in Primary Schools.

He was born in Newcastle and left the North East when he was 22. After living in London and Kings Lynn, he moved to York in 1976 and now lives in Heworth.

He enjoys painting landscapes, seascapes, birds, animals, flowers and York scenes. He hopes you enjoy his work which he likes to price to suit most pockets.

Galina Titova – Textile and Felt Art

Galina Titova is a textile artist based in York.  Working in a traditional wet felting technique she creates felted pictures resembling watercolour paintings and unique felted sculptures.

Drawing inspiration from geometrical form found in nature, she designs and makes sculptural textile pieces on large and small scale.

Images of sea creatures were used as a source of her studies of form, colour and texture.

You can find out more on Galina's website and Facebook page.

Lin Taylor – Feather Art

Lin is a member of York Art Society and has been painting regularly for 25 years. Her inspiration comes from nature and walking in landscapes worldwide. Recently, she has experimented with painting on real feathers, having seen the Indigenous South American people painting on Dream Catchers.  It can be quite a challenge to paint on the mini canvas!

She uses feathers from molting birds and works with acrylic paint and tiny brushes to imply detail.  They are then mounted and framed.  She feels that her feather paintings capture the imagination, linking the art to the spirit of the birds.

You can find out more on Lin’s Faceboook page.

Leonard Rider – Oil Landscapes

Leonard has exhibited at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Royal Birmingham and local galleries.

His main interest is painting landscapes and he has a particular fascination for the Yorkshire Wolds and cites Constable as his hero!  Due to a shortage of good landscapes, he turned his focus to marine scenes and in particular, Bridlington.  He enjoys creating an eclectic mixture of paintings.

Laura Welch – Handmade Cards

Laura started making cards for family and friends as a child, when she was given a Christmas card making set, and has been making cards ever since.

She usually starts the process by choosing an occasion or colour, then building a card from there, selecting papers and embellishments to complement each other and arranging them on the card until she is happy with the layout.  The off cuts of paper from one card may then form the basis of the next, and so on.  Sitting down to make one card can quickly turn into an evening of making many cards.  No two cards are exactly the same, but she often makes several on a theme.

Conscious of environmental impact, many of her cards are made using recycled card and envelopes, and she is always looking for ways to make her cards more environmentally friendly.

You can find out more on Laura’s Facebook page.

Andy Wilson – Leatherwork

Andy is a time served joiner and has been working in his profession for over 40 years.  He started doing leather work 2 years ago and has found that he loves to work with leather as much as he does wood.  He can always be found in his workshop working on something new.  Alongside his leather goods, he has created many things including a toy box and a Windsor chair.

Bev Wilson – Fascinators

Bev is a qualified hairdresser who has worked in the industry and in teaching for over 25 years.  She enjoys creating and working with different materials.  She put together her first fascinator 2 years ago when her son got married and found she enjoyed it so much that she created more. She also enjoys crocheting and has made several toys for her grandsons and also as gifts.

Kerry Duncan - Landscape and Wildlife Photography

Kerry is a freelance professional landscape and wildlife photographer based near Driffield, East Yorkshire. Her main goal is to capture unique moments in time, whether it be a barn owl in flight or a morning mist over the Humber Bridge.

You can find out more on Kerry's website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.

Nina Kouzmina – Illustrator

Born in Moscow in 1984, Nina Kouzmina moved to the UK at the age of 10, when her mum and stepdad went to work at the University of York.  She spent several years in York, studying at Lord Deramore’s and then Fulford schools.

Later she moved back to Moscow, where she graduated from Moscow State University of Printing Arts becoming a Member of Moscow Artist’s union (Printmaking section).

She works as an illustrator and makes linocuts, works with graphic art and painting, and participates in exhibitions.  Her works are in personal collections in Russia, UK, Europe and USA.

Nina has illustrated a number of children’s books, art gallery guidebooks (children’s guides to Moscow State Tretyakov Art and Garage galleries), newspapers and magazines.

One of her favourite themes is celebrating the beauty of everyday objects. She shares her time between Moscow and York, and loves North Yorkshire Moors and the seaside.

Adam Inglis – Painting

Adam studied and graduated from the BA Fine Art: Painting programme at Wimbledon College of Arts (University of the Arts London).  Before his degree he received his foundation diploma from Leeds College of Art.

He uses the input of data to inform the content of the work and also the medium and style.  As a fan of minimalism, his works are often clean, ordered and precise.

Adam also applies an air of humour and light-heartedness into his works and projects; looking, for example, into what it is like to be tall and from that creating large scale canvases that deal directly with height.

His most recent project studied the relationship between art and music, for which he experimented with a range of mediums; stretching from painting and sculpture to video and audio.

You can find out more on Adam's website.

Lorraine Willliams-Rane – Oil Painting

Lorraine is self taught and has only been painting for a couple of years.  She prefers to work with oil on canvas and particularly likes interesting faces as well as interpreting favourite family photos.

Chris Gallagher – Photography

Chris Gallagher is a York-based civil servant and freelance journalist.  He began taking photographs aged ten, with his father’s Box Brownie.  Fifty-odd years later, he is still shooting and uses a range of cameras, both film and digital.

For most of this time his primary focus has been landscape and nature photography, inspired by photographers such as Joe Cornish, Colin Prior and Niall Benvie but increasingly his interest has moved to how the passage of time is recorded in the still image medium.  He is also fascinated by how the process of decay creates beauty.

Caroline Lord – Mosaic Recycled Ceramics

Caroline studied stained glass and tapestry weaving at The Edinburgh College of Art in the sixties before moving to York and settling down in Heworth.   About 10 years ago, after completing a Mosaic workshop led by Emma Biggs, she changed artistic direction and started working with up-cycled ceramics and found objects, making quirky mosaic sculptures and showing work in the Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk, Pyramid Gallery, York, and The Great North Art Show, Durham Cathedral.  She is a regular exhibitor with York Open Studios and will be taking part in both the 2020 weekends.

Lucy Antwis – Felt Art and Wall Hangings

Lucy is a textile artist and crafts maker from York who creates candle holders, embroidered buttons, silk and wool brooches, lavender hearts and much more.  Her most popular creations are her organic felted soaps; pure natural soaps covered in wool to create a two in one ‘scrubby’ and moisturising soap.

Lucy graduated in 2004 with a First Class Honours in Textile Design, working in various teaching and creative roles until having her daughter in 2016 when she decided to start her business full time.  She works from her home studio selling online and at fairs throughout the year like ‘Etsy Made Local’ and ‘York Open Studios’.

All her creations are inspired by her deep love of Yorkshire’s beautiful coast and landscape.  She produces items ranging from pebble soaps to pressed flower candle holders on a theme of botanical and sea based delights.

You can find out more on Lucy's website, Facebook , Instagram and Twitter pages.

Wendy Sykes – Handmade Gifts

Wendy has been crafting for many years, purely as a hobby. Her creations (reusable decorations, wreaths and bags) are reasonably priced and ideal for gifting.

In a world where the disposal of single use items has sadly become the norm, Wendy creates items that can be used time and time again.