The Gardens Gallery Cheltenham

• Artistree was founded in 1998 by a small group of artists, to provide a group identity that could keep evolving with the influence of new members and the changing times whilst maintaining high standards yet expressing originality, freedom, variety and courage.

 

• Artistree originated in Ledbury and was based in The Old Toy Museum, a traditional black and white cottage style building which the founder members rescued from flood damage (and which is now privately run as Weavers Gallery by Amanda Wright).

 

• The first exhibitions were held to coincide with the Ledbury Poetry Festival, which continues to this day. Since the premises changed hands, different sections of Artistree have continued exhibiting in galleries in a wider area around Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.

 

• The group, which is now 30 strong, includes painters, printers, photographers, film makers, textile artists, sculptors, potters, installation artists and ceramicists.

 

• This exhibition, by 8 of the artists, in a variety of contemporary visual arts, introduces Artistree to Cheltenham, providing a platform for the local artists in the group along with some of their colleagues from neighbouring counties.

• The Artists:

Elaine Bentley

is a painter, illustrator, poet, photographer, printmaker, and   graphic designer, and is interested in pure and mixed media. Her visual work celebrates light, composition and form and the natural affinities between the subject-matter and the materials used to express these. She is inspired by psychology, the environment and the dilemmas that scientific and technological breakthroughs face us with in an unequal world.

 

Paul Jillard

I work in Multimedia based mainly around paint and photography. 

I am exploring painting using traditional  traditional decorators techniques. 

The current series takes inspiration from our perceived view of the world as opposed to the reality around us. 

‘ Landscapes of the Mind ‘

 

Valleri Jillard

I work mainly in textiles but also use paper , maps , paint and found objects. I use life’s journeys for my inspiration. These journeys sometimes explore the essence

of holidays but also indulge in the more emotional and personal paths of my own life.

 

Alison Morgan

Alison Morgan is an artist who mainly works with photography with a conceptual approach. Her photos directly respond to the surrounding environment and uses everyday experiences from the artist as a starting point. Often these are framed instances that would go unnoticed in their original context.

 

Alan Richardson

With no formal “art” training I have been Drawing,Painting and Sculpting as long as I can remember {and that’s a long time}. Always drawn towards Dada and Surrealism I find inspiration in discarded objects they provide my materials as well as inspiration for the finished work. I hope you will see past the “junk” and appreciate the metamorphosis.

 

Alice May Shield

I create sculptures in clay, fabricate my own multi-piece moulds and cast the work in sturdy traditional materials i.e. French ciment-fondue.

The theme of these pieces is the imminent re-awakening of the feminine aspect.

This is a spiritual awakening of feminine energy within both genders.

 

Jan Thompson

I started my journey with clay at an adult learning class and have since been primarily self taught.  I love the versatility that clay brings and find it is only limited my my imagination.  I love form and the relationship of the smoke on the clay either glazed or unglazed.

 

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