D'ARCY GALLERY IS NOW AT

THE MONTPELLIER,

1 Montpellier Terrace, Cheltenham GL50 1UR

I was approached by the owners of The Montpellier Brasserie to move D'Arcy Gallery into their building - so here I am in a wonderful new gallery space above the brasserie. I think I've got the best views over Montpellier!! The gallery has windows that allow me to look across Montpellier Gardens, over to Bayshill, down Lansdown and even across to Suffolk Square - not quite 360degrees....but almost! I can even see Cleeve Hill.

Not only have we got a great vista, but we have great walls as well - with of course wonderful Artworks. Happily most artists wanted to continue to show their work with D'Arcy in the new location, and happily we have new artists to introduce to you as well.

Come and see us soon - new Opening Times : Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am to 5pm & Sunday 12 to 4pm. Entrance to gallery is at the rear of the building and it's fine to walk through the brasserie.

DAVID WIGMORE

'Beyond the garden, Hidcote' by David Wigmore

Acrylic, canvas on board, 20 x 16 inches

We are thrilled to be showing work by artist David Wigmore. His naive style is both simple yet incredibly detailed. David has shaped his landscapes to the main blocks you instantly see, but when you study his paintings the detail in each tree leave is wonderful. This work really deserves closer inspection.

DECORATIVE FAIR
Saturday 23rd April
Stratford Upon Avon ~ Town Hall ~ 10am to 4pm
Free Admission

Am really looking forward to this Fair, should be a great day out. This is the first event since closing my gallery....beginning to miss the retail interaction! I have spent the last week getting all my Burmese & Thai LacquerWare out of store, some Oriental pictures & Oriental China pots & bowls -I have really missed having all the lovely objects around me while I work.

Hope to see lots of people there.
Will be in touch very soon
Hope

Christmas Art Exhibition

CHRISTMAS ART EXHIBITION

Our final exhibition for 2010 is a large group show....the largest we've ever done! The show includes work from Ian Weatherhead, Sally Stafford, Fiona McIntyre, Ellie Hesse, Anne Kelly, Andrew Allanson, Ian Shearman, Nicola Kelsall, Matthew Dean, Nina Harvey & Sue Brown.

Private Viewing this Friday 26th November 6.30 to 8.30pm.

Yes I know - posting it on here makes it less private, but we seem to only have art loving followers. All art lovers welcome!

Galloping Horses, Mixed Media on board by Ellie Hesse

Ellie has been working on a collection of paintings featuring horses! These lovely studies evoke the simple style of the French Cave paintings...which are a huge inspiration to Ellie. Great movement, wonderful texture, subtle warm colouring. Strong dramatic art!

Dancing at The Daffodil Watercolour on paper by Matthew Dean

Matthew's paintings of Movement, Dance and Flowing people couldn't be left out of this show. We've got several very, very long studies. Great statement pieces.


Yellow Lilies, Acrylic on canvas by Nicola Kelsall
Nicola has delivered several very large colourful canvas's, all stylised still lifes. A subject that Nicola is a master at - she combines every day objects, fruits, flowers and drapes of material to create a riot of colour that blend together in perfect harmony.

If you're able...join us for the Private View to see the above artists as well as the others mentioned at the beginning of this post. If you can't make Friday 26th - try and pop in before Christmas.

September Jewellery News ~ Louise Lovell

JEWELLERY by LOUISE LOVELL

Louise Lovell finds inspiration for her jewellery from her love of gardening, the surrounding countryside, bright flower combinations and the colours we see all around in nature. Hearts are a re-occurring shape as a symbol for living things. The colours and flowers convey the elements of a garden at different times of the day and seasons.

Necklace

Hearts & Flowers & Charms

16inches long....but will extend to 18inches.

Double Heart Earrings ~ 2 inches long

Three Hearts with Flowers

17 inches long

Louise's jewellery is femine and each pice is individually designed and made so that no two pieces are the same. She uses lots of different materials, but most pices are made from knitting and sewing - often using old fabrics or re-using wools. She then combines these textiles with beads, buttons, ribbons, old pieces of jewellery and leather.

'I like the idea of giving old bits and pieces a new lease of life'. by Louise

Each piece of Louise's jewellery is a lovely artwork to wear. Time and again customers who have bought something by Louise, come back to buy more - they love wearing something individual, but all tell me they get the most lovely compliments! Something to enjoy and feel good in.

Jacqueline Brill Vintage Jewellery ~New Designer for D'Arcy Gallery

VINTAGE JEWELLERY FROM

JACQUELINE BRILL

'Gold' metal pin with chains, pearls, crystals beads, buttons, mother of pearl disks and a tiny flamingo!

'My vibrant collections of vintage jewellery designs are handmade by reusing rejuvenating and recycling old trinkets, buttons, beads and charms wherever possible. The fascination for all things recycled started as a child, collecting sequins and sparkling crystal beads from ballroom dance floors in the 70's. As a teenager I bought old buttons, fabrics and even curtain pelmets to create my wardrobe, & have always added my own style to the things I buy and wear. I love finding forgotten and forlorn treaures that have a history, an untold story and breathing new life in to them to create a modern day heirloom.'

by Jacqueline





Tangled Chain Bracelet with Turquoise and Pearls. The chains weave and wind to form this wonderful mess! Some chains make it all the way round the bracelet, others just dangle off. The turquoise & pearls peep through the tangle.









Watches, Clocks and Keys! Not to mention one or two other bits & pieces. Pearls, beads, buttons - no bows (but I might be wrong about that), a tiny champagne glass, an Eiffel Tower (only a mini one!), a 1920's Murano Glass baubble - a collection of goodies to jangle and wear. The bracelet is surprisingly light considering everything Jacqueline has worked into this lovely creation!

NEW PRINTS FOR SUMMER

FROM

SALLY STAFFORD

FIONA McINTYRE

IAN WEATHERHEAD

Summer Meadow by Sally Stafford

Image Size 600 x 600mm
Signed Giclee Print, edition limited to 300.

Summer Meadows are a subject that Sally loves. She first painted them using her Expressionist Style only a few short years back. Each meadow has a different mix of flowers and grasses, making each unique - but more than that, each day the meadows change...new flowers open, the grasses burn, fresh green grass appears, every day is different. Sally layers her paints in a very structured way, building to a wonderful mixture that blossoms into her Summer Meadow

Cherry Blossom by Sally Stafford

Image Size 600 x 600mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

Orchards in Springtime in full blossom are a new subject for Sally, but one that has been bubbling as an idea for sometime. Sally is known for her flower and for her forest paintings, so it was only a matter of time before the two were combined. Cherry Blossom is something associated with the arrival of spring, and the above print has that new, fresh feeling that speaks of springtime.

Lavender Fields, Snowshill by Sally Stafford

Image size 600 x 600mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

My husband and I came across the lavender fields on Snowshill in full bloom last summer, somewhere we'd been meaning to visit for several years....then quite by chance we drove past and there they were. Before we had even stopped the car - I had called Sally to tell her to get here as fast as she could. A painting needed to be done!! Sally arrived the next day, it was late in the afternoon, but still very hot, the sky was heavy and muggy. The scene is very much an English lavender field - not a whiff of Provence in sight.

Ullswater by Fiona McIntyre

Image size 500 x 500mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

Fiona visited the Lake District with her family last summer. She spent many happy hours walking and sketching, discovering dramatic landscapes that have fuelled her creative juices. Fiona & family are on their way back there now....more places to see, more places to paint. Watch this space!!

High Cup Nick, Cumbria by Fiona McIntyre

Image size 500 x 500mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

Fiona and her family stayed with friends just below High Cup Nick...in fact are staying with them again. They walked from the house up through this landscape, before stopping at the top to sketch. Fiona perched in yet another precarious position!!

St.Agnes Caves, Devon by Fiona McIntyre

Image Size 500 x 500mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

Fiona clung to the sides of the cliffs looking down into the swirling waters around St. Agnes Caves, in this position she made her sketches....not photographs, but proper watercolour sketches. Fiona's father holding onto Fiona as well as keeping a firm grip on his three year old grand-daughter. Enough to give anyone grey hairs.

Hidden Cove, South Devon by Fiona McIntyre

Image Size 500 x 500mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

This was painted the same summer as St.Agnes Caves, Fiona painting and sketching, her father making sure his daughter wasn't being too adventurous in her pursuit of the perfect view....and at the same time monitoring every move that a busy three year old makes. And this was supposed to be a holiday. Just before this painting holiday, Fiona had very recently lost her mother, this painting holds many dear memories for Fiona, but also for her father, it was painted in memory of her mother Dilys.

Tower Bridge, London by Ian Weatherhead

Image size 750 x 750mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

Ian at his best! This view across the top of Tower Bridge to the Tower of London feels as if you're up in the air....A bird's eye view!! Ian never tires of London and it's wonderful buildings, but he does seem to find very different vantage points from most other artists. Did he fly, is he in a very tall building next door.....Or has he got the most active imagination imaginable?

The Albert Hall by Ian Weatherhead

Image Size 750 x 750mm

Signed Giclee Print, limited edition of 300

Ian painted the interior of The Albert Hall some years back, an all singing, all flag waving 'Last Night of the Proms', here we see the majestic and familiar exterior of The Albert Hall. We'er peeping between the grand London buildings to the Albert Memorial, elegant and graceful sitting just across the busy road, in leafy Kensington Gardens.

For more details regarding the prints please email or call the gallery.

The above are not on view on our website just yet and are only available by email, phone or at the gallery in Cheltenham

Gallery ~ 0044 (0)1242 11 682

email : hope@artbydarcy.co.uk

CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON

AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS

Friday 21st May to Saturday 12th June 2010

Private View : Friday 21st May 7pm to 9pm at

D'Arcy Gallery, 7 Well Walk, Cheltenham GL50 3JX

Christopher has written a few interesting lines about some of his paintings, which I hope you will enjoy reading. He is still busy writing, so log on again to view more stories. At present CJ is in Sri Lanka where it's Monsoon Season, unfotunately the monsoon's causing havoc with internet connections.... but we'll keep trying and posting!

'Beverston Harvest' Oil on canvas, 1190 x 890mm

" This was painted some time ago, and really belongs in my own collection, but I wanted to include it as it has for me something eternally optimistic and joyous about England, ahigh summer feeling.

It looks towards Tetbury spire and was painted in 1995, done duringa series of Glos landscapes that have all moved onto different homes now. My more conservative critics, amongst them a famously fierce landlady and a local shepherd, both were quite non-plussed by them. The shepherd on seeing an unfinished painting of a bluebell wood, asked what it was. A friend of mine told him. He then asked the price. The shepherd looked....took a sharp intake of breath as his eyebrows pushed back to the nape of his neck, then said "I rather have a photograph of one of my @#%* sheep than that %*&*#thing!". " by CJ

'The Road to Balquhidder, Monachyle Mor' Oil on canvas, 1000 x 1000mm

" Painted last Autumn. I have made my way to this view point every time I have come to Scotland in the last 12 years. I discovered the glen quite by chance, there was a hotel at the end of it reminiscent of a hotel in the Eastern Highlands in Zimbabwe...if that doesn't sound too far fetched. A family who farmed nearby took it on, the son taught himself to cook, and is now regarded to be one of the best cooks in Scotland. He has the laugh of a madman, a giant spirit and a perpetually inventive mind.

Painting this view has also made me....have to be inventive. Most attempts have been discarded or painted over, until eventually using quite a restrained palette, I managed to bag itat last. My againg post-office van must have sensed my glee at this, and on the way back to Aberdeenshire, kept me in check by letting the brakes fail just as I crept over the Cairngorns. This time I had something sturdier, at least to carry a good sized canvas or two. Autumn was in full pelt, and there was no way I was going to show any restraint. I love Scotland for that quality, for when it gives, it does so in full measure. " by CJ

'View to the Sea, Kings Barn Landscape' Oil on canvas, 400 x 400mm

" I discovered these vistas whilst looking for a restaurant in the area. I had driven past on several trips before, but this time it was quite different. It was June, the poppies were in full bloom, the wheat was ripening; and I couldn't believe how beautiful it was, and if one found the right spot, these 3 vistas come into play. I made my way down to see if the farmer was there, couldn't raise anything except for a guard dog. Made a few notes, and came back a few days later. I met the farmer who told me " Oh.. I was down the pub watching the rugby, you're welcome to paint".

Standing in those fields over the next couple of days, under a surprisingly warm Scottish sun was a certain kind of heaven. I have never painted poppies before, but I couldn't let this go. Everything about it was perfect and I loved it! I even forgot about the restaurant! " by CJ

'View to the Village,Kings Barn Landscape' Oil on canvas, 400 x 400mm

'View to the Hills, Kings Barn Landscape' Oil on canvas, 400 x 400mm

'It's not too late' Marondera, Zimbabwe, Oil on canvas, 890 x 790mm

" This scene takes place at an African Bus Stop in Marondera, near to where I grew up. African Bus Stops are the equivalent to French Markets in their own turbo charged, chaotic kind of way. Animals are normally put on the roof rack with bicycles, so it is not unusual at the end of a journey to see a group of surprised looking chickens with a well coiffed goat. In this instance the man on the bicycle is taking the pig to the bus. The pig is still alive, trussed up on the back of the bicycle and the bus hasn't left yet, so it's not too late.

This is a disappeared scene now. Mugabe forbids vendors to sell their wares as it constitued an illegal gathering (of tomatoes...probably). The last time I openly painted outside was in 2002, and even then they tried to arrest me for being a spy. To avoid them I hid behind a mannequin in a dress shop, much to the consternation of the owner." by CJ

'Are you deaf?' Cheltenham Series, Mixed Media on paper, 950 x 650mm

" This series of Cheltenham paintings started with this painting. It was late spring, early summer. I had been thinking about doing this series for a couple of years, had done some drawings but visits outside the country had held me up with the project. I was now set up with an easel and a table to rest palette and paints... I had also resolved that in order to make the most of time with good weather, to avoid falling into conversation with passers-by. I heard a voice from behind me say "Hello Picasso, what are you doing?" I pretended not to hear. After he repeated the question twice, I thought he might edge away, but he grew more insistent. Eventually, he put himself between the painting and myself and shouted "ARE YOU DEAF?" I made a weak smile, and could almost see the sculpture cringe when I made a spurious attempt at sign language. At last my new friend was mollified.

"Ah" he said, with relief creeping into his voice...and panic silencing mine "So you sign!" " by CJ

'Children playing' Cheltenham Series, Oil on canvas, 935 x 690mm



'Waiting for George' Cheltenham Series, Oil on canvas, 800 x 600mm

'Sunrise, Villa Ombrellino, Florence', Oil on canvas, 985 x 790mm

" One of the best benefits of painting in Florence last summer was that I had access to a villa that had recently been sold to Barack Obama's campaign manager, before he moved in. As I understood it, it gave me access to the pool, where I could cool off, and more particularly to Villa Ombrellino, where King Edward entertained his mistress with the most magnificent view of Florence before him, and his mistress beneath him. So I started two paintings at extremes of the day. No one had been allowed in the grounds of Villa Ombrellino for 6 to 7 years, and no one else had access to it.

Whilst painting there one day, I phoned my friend in France who had given me the keys, and thanked him profusely for the enjoyment I was having. "You're doing what?" he said. I explained. "Me old son" he said, "you're going to be lynched. You're not supposed to be there!"
I thought it was very comfortable. " by CJ

'Santo Spirito, facade and piazza, Florence', Oil on canvas, 785 x 985mm

" The architect who designed the Duomo cupola also designed the church of Santo Spirito. It is magnificent, and feels both ancient and modern at the same time. Partly because of it's daunting effect, I have never managed to paint it in 7 years of working in Florence... until last year. After drawing it many times over, I set up my easel only to be approached by a German offering me a beer. Tempting, but it was only 8.30 in the morning. The square fills up with mothers watching their children chase the pidgeons, grandparents taking a stroll and chatting to friends. Vegetable vendors set up their stalls, tourists strut in looking surprised and normally lost, the smell of coffee is floating right past me. But I must work... I can't let the German see me bolting for a cup of coffee over a beer.

Looking back at the facade of the church, it has all the grand majesty and surprise of the naked human form. That should keep me going. " by CJ

'The Duomo from the Boboli Gardens, Florence', Oil on canvas, 990 x 785mm

" It doesn't matter how often I see this view it takes my breath away. After doing drawings for a few days I went back to start the painting. Some young lovers had positioned themselves on the lawn near the easel. I wanted to warn them that paint does fly in all directions, but they soo rarely came up for air it was impossible. The couple eventually moved off, unwittingly sporting a dog fight of paint spots on their clothes.
After a days work I developed a ritual of visiting the same Geletaria on the corner of San Vio, and then would sit on the bridge and watch the sun disappear into the Arno. One day at the Geletaria, the girl handing me the ice-cream said "I remember you!"

"Really" I keenly said, "Where from?"

"From the Boboli" she said, pointing at a line of discernable red dots covering her t-shirt. " By CJ

Christopher is still busy writing, we will add more tales very soon.

To view more paintings or for more details about the above paintings by Christopher please contact the gallery.
hope@artbydarcy.co.uk