Oxheys is now officially closed until 4th January when we will resume normally opening then 11-4pm. The Winter exhibition, it is on until 27th January 2012.
All of us at Oxheys would like to wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year – we would like to thank everyone for their support over the past few months and promise you we have lots more ideas for 2012 that we hope to fulfil.
See you in 2012!
The Private View for our Winter Exhibition turned out to be a great evening – our sincere thanks to everyone who came and helped make our first Christmas at the mill such a success. Our thanks also to all of the artists who braved the dreadful weather conditions and submitted work for the Winter exhibition – you made it a great show and according to some, our best yet!!
Most of the work in the Winter exhibition is available to buy and it wasn’t long after the first guests arrived that the first sale was made, marking a very special occasion.
The Private View and Christmas party was a fantastic evening with lots of friends, artist and their guests came and enjoyed some mulled wine with Hannah’s home-made mince pies and Lisa’s home-made winter cake whilst wandering around the show to see the fabulous work and our lovely Winter tree. The exhibition is on until 29th January so there is still time to make a visit (although we are closed for Christmas/New Year).
The idea for this show was for an exhibition of work which offered interpretations on winter – either the look, feel, mood or some other way of thinking about the experience of winter. What a variety of interpretations we had, which made a fabulous show with some thought-provoking work from wintery landscape paintings and photographs, abstract prints to conceptual ideas, pen and ink drawings to watercolours, collages to prints and ceramic bowls, ceramic gingerbread men for the winter tree to some intriguing teabags to mark the passing of time, suggesting the end of one year and the start of another.
If you are a local artist and are interested in taking part in future exhibitions or applying for a residency, do join our mailing list to be kept informed of events. If you enjoy art and want to support local artists by receiving an invitation to the previews or visiting the exhibitions, please join the list.
More pictures and updates on Facebook
We want to extend a very special thank you to Leyland Tile Adhesives for sponsoring our Winter Tree, as part of the Winter exhibition. Without them we simply would not have had a tree.
The real Nordic Pine tree looks and smells wonderful, decked in blue and white LED lights and covered in artificial snow, decorated with ceramic gingerbread men and trees from artists Joseph & Andrea Travis, a gorgeous silver icicle from Evelyn Rose, lino cut reindeer from Julie Saul, small package from Lauretta Rapley and a variety of other handmade objects from other local artists.
As it is a ‘winter tree’ (definitely not a ‘Christmas’ tree) we will not be taking it down on 12th Night, so it will remain in the gallery in all its glory until the exhibition closes on January 29th. It will then be recycled for use elsewhere in the mill.
Please note Oxheys will be closed from 23rd December until 4th January.
Due to the horrendous weather over the weekend and again today, we have heard that several artists who wanted to submit work couldn’t do so. So we are able to offer a last chance on Wednesday 14th between 11-5pm.
The theme of winter can be interpreted in a very open way – everything from paintings in cool colours, to etched prints looking like cracked ice to more traditional winter scenes have come in so far so most artists should find they have some work that could easily fit the bill.
The next exhibition at Oxheys will be on the theme of winter which is open to interpretation by individual artists. We are looking for work which reflects something about the mood, feel or season of winter and can be in any media or combination of media. Proposals are also invited from any artists who may be interested in making an installation in the project space, in response to that theme.
Hand-in days: Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th December 2011 between 11am – 6pm
To enter, download and complete the entry form and bring along with your work on one of the above dates and times to: Oxheys Mill Studios, Stanhope Street, Preston. PR1 7PN There is limited parking available outside or within a short walk.
Entry is just £5 per item or 3 items for £10, with a small commission of 20% on sales. There is no restriction on size but for very large or heavy items, or specific display needs, please contact us or send a photo first. Work will be available for sale during the show so please include prices. Unsold work can be collected during the week commencing 31st January 2012. All entries will curated. Unselected work can be collected 13th, 14th or 15th December 2011 between 11-4pm.
Preview & Christmas party: Thursday 15th December 6 – 8pm
Please join us for the preview evening which will also be a Christmas party with mince pies and some mulled wine. We are hoping to source a large Christmas tree for the space and if successful, will invite all artists to make a hand-made Christmas tree decoration and bring it along on the 15th to hang on the tree.
If you missed Garth’s preview evening or haven’t yet seen his exhibition, if you did see the show but want to find out more about the work, meet the artist or even if you just want to come along for some fun and good company for the evening – join us on 1st December when Garth will be giving a talk about his work and his experience of the residency at Oxheys Mill Studios.
This will be an informal evening and an opportunity to meet and speak with the artist as he takes you around the exhibition and explains more about the inspiration behind his work and behind the pieces on show. There will be a chance to ask questions about his work and his residency and to discuss ideas for the future. Garth says “I treat talks quite informally with a quick walk around and discussion and hope for input, guidance and or new knowledge to be gathered from attendees and visa versa.”
Come along at 6pm on Thursday 6th December
The last studio space has now been taken – Lauretta Rapley, an artist based in Chorley, will be moving into the basement next week, alongside Joe and Hannah, setting up a studio space in which she can paint and practise her other art forms. Lauretta said she was looking for somewhere that offered more opportunities to interact with other artists and felt we could provide that as she liked the friendly atmosphere of Oxheys. We are delighted to welcome her aboard, look forward to seeing her work and have her join in with the various activities.
We have had a lot of interest in the studio spaces and there will be some disappointment that there are no longer any available however, we are starting a waiting list so if anyone is still interested, let us know as a space in the basement on a short-term rental to a friend of the landlord may become available.
Now we have a full house, once everything is settled and everyone has finished building their studios, we can start to finish off the various jobs that still need doing around the building and start to plan more events. We all want to run an Open Studios weekend for example, where people can come in, wander around the studios and buy work direct from the resident artists. To make sure you find out about this – do join our mailing list or follow us on Twitter.
Watch this space!
‘I am gARTh’ is an exhibition of work by artist Garth Gratrix created during a one month residency at Oxheys Mill Studios. Garth had access to a studio space in the basement and also worked within the project space during the last exhibition, creating work which responded to the building and the environment in which he was working. The resulting exhibition features several pieces of work conceived and made whilst at Oxheys, which reflect a larger project on which he has been working.
The residency came about after Garth gave a presentation and submitted a proposal to Oxheys back in the summer. An agreement was reached with Lisa, Denise and Evelyn as to the space he would have available to work, which was initially to have been on the first floor but in the period between agreeing the residency and it starting, several other artists had joined the studios so Garth found himself in the basement. It didn’t seem to bother him though, as natural light was not a requirement and he set to making his work.
We were a little surprised when he first started painting the outline of his room on the floor of the project space – it was somewhat larger than we expected and rather than just the outline it ended up being a solid painted area on the floor. He spent hours on his knees painting on all the lines and he’s going to have some real fun cleaning it all off! 🙂 The tea bag house was another great idea, which took longer than he thought to create – a real test of his patience. The smell of tea coming up from the basement where he was making it was overwhelming – we were surprised he wasn’t on the ceiling with all that caffeine!
It was fun having Garth around and we all agreed it was good to have another artist there who was not directly involved in the studios but was responding to it. We think he also found it useful to have other artists around to bounce ideas off and try out ideas. Garth has been blogging about his experience over on the Two Hats website – more details here.
We would certainly be pleased to receive other proposals from artists seeking a residency with ideas on how to respond to the building – just contact us and arrange to come in for a chat initially.
Garth’s residency culminated with the exhibition of work which opened on 3rd November and runs until 8th December. The Private View saw an encouraging number of people turn out and enjoy some wine kindly provided by his sponsor for the evening, Teraphim Consulting. If you missed the event, here are some photos:
Garth Gratrix will be showcasing a collection of new works made as part of his current residency at Oxheys Mill Studios, Preston.
The work will make use of the artist’s home environment as he brings elements of this to the venue and ‘plays with it’, exploring the space and its physical and imaginative states. These installation and sculptural pieces are new work for Gratrix and seek to unite two strands to his practice currently never placed together – his paintings/doodles and his installation pieces. These will be complimented with a series of photographic stills inspired by Bruno Munari and a new experimental video piece.
The decidedly indecisive (or uncategorised) artist is formally displaying ‘things’ as a result of a trial and error approach to making.
Garth Gratrix in his residency at Oxheys Mill Studios, Preston
Garth says ” With this residency opportunity I want to pay homage to past influential works of my own creation and others, whilst retaining common yet playful evolving strands amongst my work to date. the space at Oxheys Mill has inspired me to create work which physically makes use of the space, intervenes with space and also showcases my interest in gathering and grouping objects….
…..I find intrigue in the placement and spectatorship of personal choices and circumstances. I think to show art or objects that have a level of personal archive to them allow the subtlety of art persona to accompany art display.”
The show, which runs until December 9th, opens on Thursday 3rd November with a preview between 6-8pm and is entitled: “I AM GARTH” (see ‘ego’ and ‘home’)
It’s all go at Oxheys – another new artist moved in this week, Hannah Allan, who is currently working on a PhD in Fine Art, Site and Archive at Manchester, lives in Preston not far from the studios. Hannah is moving into one of the spaces left in the basement, joining Joe and the Bulgarian martial artists, and Garth who of course is on a residency with us for October. Hannah will be spending much of her time on research but she is keen to join in with the activities at the studios and to do her bit. We are looking forward to seeing some of her work over the coming months.