Artist news...
Guest Artists for 2023
This year we are delighted to welcome these three amazing artists and craftspeople:

Ceramicist
James Hake
​James work ranges from huge platters and bottles to delicate bowls and tiny lidded jars. Working at the wheel he produces work in a series of similar forms each with their own subtle variations. Many of his glazes are made using local materials, gathered from quarries and clay seams in the countryside around my studio. Glazes are applied spontaneously by dipping, pouring and brushing in different combinations. During the firing the glazes fuse together producing fluid dynamic
surfaces.
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Fine Art
Ben Mcleod
Ben's work is heavily influenced by the surrounding landscape of wherever he is. Be that in the Kent Estuary or the wider English Lake District, North Wales, Spain, South Africa and Lesotho or Scotland as examples. He paints as a response to living, working and walking in
the landscape. He often composes paintings with thick, textured paint - loosely applied. He wishes to convey a sense of place, and the physical process of mark-making he employs is an engagement with the environment around him. After sketches and photographs used as reference he prefers to paint and draw quickly and instinctively. His work is a visual diary, a desire to capture a sense of the vitality and living quality of the landscape around him - a response to knowing what it is like to be in the landscape - a personal response to seeing and feeling the effects of the light and weather. His art is not a complete rejection of Modernist ideology from his undergraduate studies, but
essentially he paints because he wants to paint. Sometimes that leads to more abstracted marks – but other times it means looking to capture more literally a slice of life before him. The formal qualities of his paintings and drawings are important - an aesthetic in
response to the aesthetic of the environment aroun.
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Textiles
Oubas Knitwear
OUBAS is a knitwear studio based in Ulverston. The studio designs and makes natural fibre textiles using digital machinery and traditional craft processes. Using regional fibre as well as fine merinos and cashmeres. The studio is now a small team of makers and creatives who produce clothing and homewares. They have a studio shop which is open daily Monday – Friday.
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Previous Guest Artists

Viv Calver
Viv Calver is a returning guest exhibitor who combines her love of sewing with a passion for Harris tweed, making beautiful bags.
"I source directly from the weavers on the Isles of Harris and Lewis and I love the narrative of how this cottage industry, dating back over 150 years, has developed into a thriving business for the islands, while remaining true to its origins."
Viv's work will be on sale and on display in our annual exhibition, at the Old School Room (aka Barwick Hall) at Witherslack from Saturday 24 September to Sunday 16 October.

Karen Lainson
Our second guest exhibitor is Karen of @Karen Lainson Ceramics whose ceramics are inspired by the animals around her, their moods and expressions.
Karen's work is going to sit so well in the Barwick Hall with our other potters and so much work that's inspired by our landscape and wildlife.
Looking forward to it.

Gina Farncombe
Gina is a teller of stories - mostly with paint. "The stories change as I go through life. At the moment I am preoccupied with tales of trees. For the last 45 years of my life there has hardly been a day when I haven’t put pen to paper or brush to canvas. Recently oil paint has been my addiction. Another 300 years on the planet would still not be enough time for me to understand the mixing of colour and the handling of paint."
We're really looking forward to including Gina's work in the exhibition this year!
Ceramicist John Calver has a lot to fire and glaze...




and Pip Hall has been drawing...



