Jobling Gowler Art Competition 2011
Many of you will know our premises here at 250 Park Lane as the former South Park Surgery. When we refurbished the offices in 2007 we inherited a very large reception area. We decided to use that space for the display of work by local artists including the Moving Clay Group, Cheshire Textiles and textile21. The displays change four or five times a year and include paintings, ceramics, glass, textiles, photography and other media. Not only does it give us an opportunity to support the local cultural community but it also provides a pleasant and inspiring environment for our employees, our clients and visitors to the premises. The exhibitions held so far have been very well received and we are very pleased to support local artists in this way.
Inspired by the success of the art exhibitions, Jobling Gowler decided to hold the first of a biennial art competition in 2009 to encourage artists with associations in the East Cheshire area. It was a great triumph and so this, our second competition, has taken place.
In July, 2009 the art competition was linked to the first Three Shires Textile Festival, taking as its the theme 'Silk' in recognition of Macclesfield's textile heritage. This year, drawing upon our rich local landscape the theme has been 'East Cheshire - its Plain and Peaks'.
Like in 2009 the competition has been a great success attracting media interest and visitors from all over the region. We would like to thank everyone who has supported the competition and we shall look forward to hosting one again in 2013.
Prize Winners
Winner of the Jobling Gowler Art Competition 2011 Prize £500
Suzy Shackleton for her textile exhibit entitled 'A Tapestry of Jewels'
Category Winners
Best Textile Exhibit Prize £200
Grace Brearley for her textile exhibit entitled 'East Cheshire its Plain and Peaks'
Best 2D Exhibit Prize £200
Phil Bennett for his painting entitled 'The Big Cloud'
Best 3D Exhibit Prize £200
Karin Sheldon for her 3D exhibit entitled 'Shutlingsloe to Wales’
Winner of the Jobling Gowler Art Competition 2011
A Tapestry of Jewels - Suzy Shackleton
The Peaks and Plains, so rich in diversity, inspired Suzy to create this jewel like tapestry to reflect the richness of where we live. The tapestry is interwoven with symbolic shapes that simply represent the wonderful landmarks around us. The hills and forests speak for themselves; but delve and there is a Wizards Hat, Jodrell Bank Star, the Peak Millstone, a White Nancy, Mulberry Leaves, Bramhall Hall Gables, the Moon of Gomrath, Forest Chapel, Peover Topiary, Tatton Park Flower Show and so on...
Living and working from my studio in the hills of the Peak District, Suzy creates vibrant, contemporary wall hangings using the traditional felt making techniques. Each piece is hand rolled and wet felted using inlays, pre felts and mosaics. The beautiful merino wool is her palette and she layers the fibres to gradually build up depth and tone. Increasingly Suzy combines traditional practice with more modern methods such as photoshop design and needle sketching. She loves exciting textures, bold designs and quirky compositions but most of all Suzy is inspired by colour. Suzy sells her work in galleries around the country, exhibitions and through her website. Her studio is also open to visitors by appointment.
Category Winner: Best Textile Exhibit
East Cheshire its Plain & Peaks - Grace Brearley
Grace has recorded her travels through East Cheshire using abstract images. Her work embraces colour and texture, quirky observations give an added local touch. Mark making using inks and watercolours also provide a depth of colour. Grace presses deep channels into watercolour paper allowing the paints to flow into natural forms.
As a multi media artist Grace loves to create original and diverse pieces. Combining colour and texture with form, Grace is passionate about both art and textiles. Grace has a degree from Manchester in Contemporary Crafts which has enabled her to explore mark making in greater depth. Collage and painting give her Travel Journals added interest.
Category Winner: Best 2D Exhibit
The Big Cloud - Phil Bennett
Bosley Cloud is perhaps the most important natural landmark in East Cheshire. It is the "Belle Vue" of the county and from the carved initials in the gritstone blocks at its summit one can see it has been used by dreamers for millennia.
To sit there, and look across the plain is to sit where countless other humans have gazed and watched the sunset in the west. Phil was fortunate to work at Dane Valley High School for 20 years where he saw the Cloud in all its changing moods from the studio windows every day. This view though, is from Dane Bridge, where the Cloud collects the weather as it drifts in through the Cheshire Gap. Its connection with history can be felt if you take the easy walk to its summit - exhilarating and magical, whatever the weather.
Phil’s development as an artist can be put down to a number of factors; firstly encouragement by his parents (his mother was a paintress in the potteries), a brilliant primary education, and an art teacher at grammar school who became his mentor in his teenage years. Phil’s teacher directed him to art school and he will be always grateful for the advice and support he gave him. Phil went on to Art schools in Wolverhampton and Manchester and from there a series of posts in art departments In Manchester and Cheshire. Throughout this time he practices his craft, exhibiting in group shows up and down the country. Having retired from full time work in education Phil has slotted comfortably back into full time painting. Now his work is concerned with magical places and the way in which we humans always leave a trace as we pass through life on this planet.
Category Winner: Best 3D Exhibit
Shutlingsloe to Wales - Karin Sheldon
Karin describes her work as having rarely been so descriptive. Currently, she is finding that the techniques she has learnt in recent years allow her to be a little braver in describing a subject in a partially abstract form.
Mokume-Gane is an ancient Japanese method of fusing metals using heat, but without a solder or weld. Karin uses Copper, Gilding Metal and Silver in the Mokume-Gane sheet. A complicated and laborious process but inspiring in the making. Keum-Bo is a method of heat- fusing 24ct Gold to Sterling Silver. It was developed in Korea.
Karin trained at the old Sheffield School of Art, one of the centres of Silversmithing. She had originally intended to do Fashion and Textiles, but her Tutors, on the Foundation course, noticed that she spent all my spare time in the metal workshop! Karin studied both Jewellery and Silversmithing which has given her a wealth of techniques from which to draw and to which she has subsequently added. Karin describes herself as being inspired to design and now enjoys the freedom of working independently.
Highly Commended: Textile Exhibit
Congleton Edge - Chris Clowes
Chris identified this view of Congleton Edge as fitting the criteria of East Cheshire, its Peaks and Plains well. Accentuating the diversity on the landscape, Chris decided to paint the background silk to reflect this and put all the detailed machine embroidery in the foreground.
Chris belongs to Alsager Art Associaton and has been exploring the art of machine embroidery for about 15 years. She usually works on habotai silk and occasionally on noile. Chris loves the countryside and gardens and her work usually reflects this.
Highly Commended: Textile Exhibit
East Cheshire its Plains & Peaks Bag - Joanne Hurst
Joanne's work has been inspired from Cheshire East Plains and Peaks. She has worked from her original ink and watercolour drawings in a contemporary style. Combining her drawings with embellishments Joanne adds texture and depth to her final textile design.
Highly Commended: 2D Exhibit
The Colours of Cheshire - Mark Sheeky
Mark was keen to paint a landscape that was also a portrait, something that reflected the colours of the countryside. A scene of the Buxton Old road is convoluted into a 1920's style portrait, the hair becoming part of Macclesfield forest. The painting is oil on an M.D.F. panel and is painted in two layers, one of opaque colours and a second glaze layer. The painting took about twelve days work spread over three months, including a life size study with less detail.
Mark likes to use psychology and dream imagery to convey messages about the world and human experiences. He believes that what is painted is more important than how, but he also values the demonstration of skill. Mark began painting in 2004 at the age of 31 and is now a full time artist. He has one artwork in the ‘Cheshire Permanent Collection’ at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, and has exhibited in many national galleries including The Lowry Manchester, The R.B.S.A. Gallery Birmingham and The Museum of Modern Art in Wales.
Highly Commended: 2D Exhibit
Cheshire's Wonderous Wildland - Colleen Parker
Having lived in Cheshire all her life Colleen has come to appreciate that it isn’t just her home, or home to many thousands of other people, but it is also home to a vast array of plants and animals. Contrasted against the rugged landscapes of Cheshire is the more peaceful scenery. Amidst this luscious green countryside is a wealth of wildlife, another world. Throughout the years of exploring this remarkable landscape and having observed glimpses of the wildlife that reside within it, it is no surprise that Colleen has have been inspired greatly by the beauty of the Cheshire countryside through her work as an artist.
Colleen cannot recall a time in her life when she wasn’t being creative and over the years her passion for art has grown. Colleen is a mixed media artist who specializes mainly in watercolours and ink, taking inspiration from the beautiful countryside which surrounds her home town of Crewe, Cheshire. Having spent two years at South Cheshire College studying a BTEC National Diploma in Fine Art, she gained a Triple Grade Distinction and was also awarded ‘Student of The Year - 2006’. Colleen then spent a further four years at Staffordshire University where she graduated in 2010 with a BA (Hons) Degree in Fine Art. Since graduating she has exhibited work locally and has enjoyed the experience and opportunities that come from sharing her work with fellow art lovers.
Highly Commended: Textile Exhibit
Finding the Way - Ann Roach
Ann worked from sketches which she did on site, to produce a painting with a story to tell. Ann describes her painting of the ''Holmes Chapel Viaduct' as recounting a struggle through the thicket in the foreground, to get to the red viaduct. This is the passage through the scene, leading to a horizon, lit to denote hope, life and activity.
After graduating, Ann married and lived in Africa, where she had children and also taught & illustrated books. Returning to this country, she has for many years been working as an Adult Art Tutor whilst also as a practising artist. Her work has been published and exhibited extensively. Her paintings aim to capture the specific energy & essence of her subject; place, flower or figure. Ann uses spontaneous watercolour and mixed media, often spilling the image over onto the mount.
Ann is a member of C.A.N, Cheshire Open Studios, Staffs Society of Artists and the Orme Art Group.
Highly Commended: 2D Exhibit
Past and Present - Jennie Ridgeway
Jennie has always loved walking around Alderley Edge, as many others do. During one of her recent visits, Jennie wondered if the children running around these woods knew the world of fantasy and adventure surrounding them. Jennie’s pencil and watercolour painting brings together the wonderful stories told of wizards and knights with the landscape familiar to so many today.
Jennie has studied Fine Art, Graphic Art and Surface Pattern at both Macclesfield and Stockport. She now works with fellow artist Vivyan Whittaker taking Commissions of Murals and Fine Art through their company White Ridge Art.
Highly Commended: 3D Exhibit
Congleton Cloud Hot glass casting - Di Harding
Glass is one of the most difficult materials to work with, impossible to shape without experience and passion. A glass scene follows a process from raw materials to final product. Embracing the challenge of making a special piece of work, and inspired by a local landmark of Congleton Cloud Di has drawn on her skills to create a unique three dimensional piece with the play of light being an important aspect. All aspects of Di's work are influenced by plants and nature. Although her work is constantly changing, the images and colours that surround her are still her inspiration. Di works in glass, textiles and mixed media, using her love of colours to create all artwork, 'nothing in nature is black and white'. Combining different mediums together and trying to achieve something new is her challenge. Using the softness of felt, the beauty of glass and the fluidity of paint is always her pleasure.