Tuesday, 9 February 2010

Invitation to Exhibit in Artery Gallery

So far the start to 2010 has been hectic! This first term of the year is always a busy time for us - planning our diaries for the new year, sourcing new artwork, and attending trade fairs.

Trade fairs and art fairs give us an opporunity to have a look at emerging artists, new collections from established artists, and give us new ideas for our gallery. However, this year we have found while attending some of these trade fairs, that many small, individual and newer artists cannot afford to exhibit at these sort of events, due to the unstable financial climate, and rising costs of exhibiting. In fact we have found that many larger, more commercial companies, selling mass-produced goods, have taken the place of the independant craftsperson at many of these fairs. What is even more unusual about this, is the fact that during the recession, we have found a much higher demand for quality, hand-made pieces, with the public favouring originality over mass-produced - so now, what is on offer at trade fairs doesn't really represent the consumers choice.

With this in mind, we are giving all craftspeople the opportunity to be considered for exhibition at Artery Gallery, St Andrews. It is a simple process - we ask that you first take a look at our website www.arteryuk.com and browse through the work that we currently have on exhibition. If you think that your work would fit in well with the look and feel of Artery, then send us an email, including some jpeg images of your work for us to look at, including approximate prices and sizes, or send an email with a link to their website - info@arteryuk.com

We will always respond to requests to exhibit in Artery - even if the work is not suitable for us we will always give feedback. Here at Artery, we are used to dealing with artists, crafts people and jewellers at different points of their career - from those just starting out to those who are well established. We pride ourselves not only on our great customer service, but our great 'artist's service' - having built successful careers for many of our artists, and built solid relationships with them too.

Friday, 11 December 2009

Success at The Christmas Emporium


Our 'Artery' stall at the Christmas Emporium

The Old Course Hotel's Christmas Emporium was a roaring success for us - and experience we would love to repeat in coming years.

The Old Course really inspired a festive feeling in all who attended, and kicked off the beginning of the season for us. They had wine tasting, kid's face painting, tasters of tablet and mulled wine, plus all the fantastic shopping - I even managed to find the time to do a little shopping there myself.
We were delighted to see lots of our customers there, and it was great to get the chance to talk to so many new customers too.

We had a selection of our smaller items from the gallery - jewellery, photo frames, glass birds, hand made pens and beautiful glass perfume bottles, giving everyone the opportunity to see what Artery is all about - handmade, unique artwork and gifts at a reasonable price.

If you would like to see more of our great gift ideas, stop into our gallery on South Street, or take a look at our full selection of artwork online.

www.arteryuk.com

Thursday, 3 December 2009

Artery @ the Christmas Emporium, Old Course Hotel


On Saturday 5th December and Sunday 6th December, Artery Gallery will be attending the Old Course Hotel's 'Christmas Emporium'.

The Old Course Hotel, St Andrews, is hosting a Christmas Emporium, boasting roaring fires, golf displays, a wide selection of shopping and stalls, and a cosy Christmas atmosphere.

Artery Gallery will have a stand with our pick of beautiful handmade designer jewellery, handmade mirrors and photo frames, glassware and handmade clocks to inspire your Christmas shopping, making it easy for you to find the perfect gift.

The Emporium opens from 1pm until 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday, so come along and enjoy some relaxed and very Christmassy shopping! See you there.....


Saturday, 21 November 2009

New Scottish Seaside Paintings from Two New Artists


Stormy Evening, Pittenweem, by Liz Myhill £225

Artery Gallery would like to introduce (and welcome!) two new artists - Nikki Monaghan and Liz Myhill. Both of these artists have recently delivered collections of their work to us for the first time, and have added something a bit different to Artery.

Liz Myhill, originally from the Isle of Skye (now she's a local in Tayside), has brought us a small selection of her work in two very distinct styles. Her collage style work features her own bold ink drawings cut out and imposed on collage landscapes and villages. This is a really distinct look and is totally unique in our gallery. Liz's other works are beautiful watercolour and mixed media paintings of recognisable places such as The House on the Rock in Pittenweem. These two styles couldn't be more different, or have a more broad appeal.


Harbour Nights ii by Nikki Monaghan £250

Nikki Monaghan's mixed media works also arrived with us just over a week ago, and offer a contrast to Liz's Scottish seaside scenes. Nikki's paintings are bold, bright and playful. When creating a new piece, she is re-creating a memory, rather than a representation of somewhere.
Nikki studied Textiles at art school, and started out her career as an interior stylist, working throughout the UK. She now focuses solely on her paintings and her career as an artist.

Stop into our gallery in St Andrews to see these new collections.

Friday, 13 November 2009

Fife's Coast and Landscape is Picture Perfect!



Colin Carruthers - Midsummer Landscape, Fife £1250

We have been lucky enough to receive a large collection of work from Artery regular Colin Carruthers. A regular visitor to Scotland, Colin paints these scenes based on places he has visited, from the islands such as Islay to the East Neuk.

Colin is most noted for his beautiful contemporary seascapes - taking his inspiration from the Scottish coastlines. This new collection has many of his stunning coastal paintings, but now also includes some landscapes based on our local scenery.
Colin has based some of his new oil landscapes on the area surrounding St Andrews and Cupar, featuring the stunning Fife countryside. This new genre still captures Colin's serene and peaceful mood which is seen in his seascapes. He has also included some smaller works in this series, making it easier for visitors to take away a painting of Fife.

Colin's paintings are on display in our gallery on South Street, St Andrews, or view all his work past and present at http://www.arteryuk.com/artists/Carruthers,Colin/

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Unique Ceramic Bowls and Vases


Open Leaf Bowl by Sally Mareike £30

What a busy week at Artery Gallery! We have had several new artists join us, and lots of new items delivered by so many different artists.

We have had two new deliveries of handmade ceramics from two different artists - Sally Mareike, and Jenny Barlow.

We have had collections of work from Sally in the past - including her pretty, seashell-imprinted vases and 'atoll' dishes - so summery, it's like a walk on the beach! Sally's new work is totally different to her summer work, but she still features a seasonal theme. Her ceramic bowls and designed in the shape of inter-woven and over lapping leaves, glazed in earthy, Autumnal colours. To get a realistic and unique effect, she collects real leaves and imprints them into the ceramic. This collection features mostly bowls, but she has some pieces which would be useful over the festive period such as cheese plates and biscuit plates.

Jenny Barlow is a new artist to us, who features stunning crackle glazes on her work, combined with a unique effect - wrapping wire around the ceramic work, and then firing, to melt, distort and oxidise the metal wire. As the wire melts during the firing process, it drips and runs into the glaze, creating a molten stream of colour around the piece of work. Her collection includes candle holders, little pots, bowls and big, bold vases, which would make stunning centre-pieces.

Short Pot by Jenny Barlow £40


Both Sally and Jenny's collections can be viewed on our website, along with all our other ceramic work - a really diverse collection!
Take a look at www.arteryuk.com

Friday, 30 October 2009

Paintings of St Andrews (with a funky new twist)


St Andrews, Winter £140

St Andrews is one of the most painted towns of Scotland, with artists of all genres favouring the town's beautiful West Sands beach, or the famous 18th Green of the Old Course.
One of our artists, Martin Devine says that St Andrews is one of his favourite subjects to paint, but with his unusual technique, and different outlook of the town, it gives the traditional St Andrews paitnting a fantastic modern twist.

St Andrews is a town which is steeped in history and tradition, and paintings of St Andrews often follow the traditional route, favouring golf scenes, lush greens and fairways, or images of the town's castle and Cathedral. Martin on the other hand paints St Andrews from a different angle, looking down into town from the East Sands direction, or looking into St Andrews as though you are out at sea. His unusual technique with watercolour only serves to update the traditional St Andrews image even more.

Martin uses watercolours, building up the colour, to get rich deep, pure tones and colours, and then he picks out the outlines using Indian ink, making the pictures almost 'pop'. The traditional idea of watercolour, is soft, pale, and watery, so this vibrant new take on a traditional medium really brings it into the 'noughties'.

Martin says that painting St Andrews is a pleasure - it's one of those towns that is so easily distinguishable, that even with a little artistic license when painting it, it is instantly recognisable. His other paintings also depict Scottish scenes, featuring rolling landscapes and quaint buildings - all with that modern twist.
All of Martin's paintings can be seen here http://www.arteryuk.com/artists/Devine,Martin/1/ or viewed at Artery Gallery, 43 South St, St Andrews

Thursday, 22 October 2009

Something Old, Something New......


Antalya Wool Rug

Those who are familiar with Artery Gallery will know that we are always looking for something new and different to display here as it's always great to bring new work into the gallery, alongside our regular firm favourites. Discovering a new artist for our gallery is one of the most exciting aspects of working within the art world, and looking for new artists and different styles is something we all do here, not only as a matter of course, but as a passion.

We have found something new for Artery again, while on our travels - we now have a collection of beautiful hand woven Turkish woollen rugs and silk rugs.
I suppose hand woven rugs aren't art in a traditional sense, but the creativity and skill required to produce these, make them one of the finest art forms possible. We have two types of rug - those made from sheeps wool, and those made from silk.

Our woollen rugs are spun from wool taken from the sheeps soft neck, chest and belly area, as it is the downiest wool on the body. Many woollen rugs from other countries tend to use wool from the back and flanks of an animal, which is courser textured and gives a sparse and hard texture to the pile of the rug. Rugs made from soft belly and neck wool have a very dense and downy texture. The rugs have different designs on them, some depicting scenes, and some with patterns, which mean something, and are specific to particular areas of Turkey. Turkish women can spend anything from months to years making a rug, so sometimes sometimes a lifetime is expressed in designs, symbols and patterns on a rug, it also means that some of the rugs can be many years old.

Our silk rugs have a glorious soft sheen to them, and my own thought is that they are so soft, they feel like the back of puppy dog's ears! It's wonderful to have a piece of art which is so tactile. With silk, the colour of the rug can change, and shimmer depending on which way you look at it, because silk is a light-reflecting material. Turkish silk rugs are reputedly the finest in the world as there are over 200 individual knots per square inch, make it one of the most difficult handmade works to produce due to the attention to detail it require. As with the wool rugs, the silk rugs either depict a scene or pattern, which can tell a story, or denote the area they come from. Unlike the wool rugs, the silk rugs are brand new, and although the colour will mature on them, the vibrancy and 'brand new' appearance is maintained in silk.

All Turkish rugs use natural plant and vegetable dyes as opposed to chemical dyes which are often used on imitations, and in rugs produced in other countries. Plant dyes change with age, but mature and mellow, maintaining their vibrancy, but developing an aged look (a bit like humans!). Chemical dyes can fade, and the colour can be stripped out altogether, or worse still, totally change colour. Turkish dyes are all natural, and each strand of wool is dyed entirely from end to end, rather than perhaps having several different colours on the one strand.

Stop in to the gallery for a look (and feel) of these beautiful works of art.


Monday, 5 October 2009

St Andrews Has a Fours Star Arts Venue.....Us!


We have reason to celebrate this week at Artery - we have just been given the prestigiuos award of Four Star Arts Venue by VisitScotland!

We are delighted to receive this award, in recognition of all our hard work and attention to detail over the years. We also think it's great to be able to bring this accolade to St Andrews - we can now boast that St Andrews has one of only sixteen four star arts venues in the whole of Scotland.

VisitScotland award star ratings to different types of establishments such as hotels, restaurants and museums and these star ratings are used to give customers and tourists a guide to what to expect from an attraction. Every detail is scrutinised such as pricing, cleanliness, appearance, customer service, and consideration of children - everything!

Artery's selection of interesting and unusual artwork - everything from clocks, to ceramics and paintings - and our clear and sensible pricing structure were a particular positive for us, pushing us into the four-stars category.

We'll continue to push ourselves to bring our customers the best in contemporary art, great customer service and a different class of gallery altogether.

Saturday, 26 September 2009

It's All Coming Up Roses (well, Irises) For Derek Collins!


Irises In The Rain (yellow)

Artery Gallery regular, Derek Collins, has just delivered two of his new style, garden inspired paintings.

Derek is famed for being 'The Flaming Artist' - setting his paintings on fire to acheive the unusual paint effect he favours. Derek's technique is unique to him, and helps him create a look which cannot be reproduced. He applies paint, and then puts on a liquid resin, to give a glassy, 'puddle' effect, and then puts on an ignition fluid (sometimes using his best malt whisky!) and sets it alight. His work have ranged from his 'lava' themed pieces - http://www.arteryuk.com/Abstract+Paintings/Golden+Lava+Diptych/ to his love heart themed paintings - http://www.arteryuk.com/Abstract+Paintings/My+Heart+ii/.

Although Derek has supplied us with flower themed works before, he is using a new technique - using glass inks and dyes inside the liquid resin - it looks as though the colour is captured in a pool.
Irises In The Rain (blue)

Dereks full collection at Artery Gallery can be viewed here: http://www.arteryuk.com/artists/Collins,Derek/1/

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Colourful mixed media paintings by Monica Paton




Fife artist Monica Paton has just delivered more of her extremely popular mixed media, box-canvas paintings. Monica has been working with Artery Gallery for around four years now, and her paintings attract more attention than ever - sometimes selling out within the week! Her canvases are intended to be left unframed, and are around 20cm x 20cm, selling at £70. At this size they are great to fill an empty spot on a wall or can stand on a shelf.



Monica's brightly coloured works of art, entitled 'The Field' are inspired by the Fife landscape and coastline, and this time she has also included some of her rarer, more unusual pieces such as 'The Wish' and 'Forest'.
More of her work can be seen here http://www.arteryuk.com/artists/Paton,Monica/1/



Monday, 31 August 2009

Unusual smoke-fired ceramics pods




Smoke-fired 'Pod £80, by James Stead


We have another new artist at Artery Gallery - James Stead - ceramic artist. James is a graduate of the University of Cumbria, and is now a full-time art teacher.

James makes beautiful ceramic 'Pods' with a smooth, smoke-fired, burnished finish, broken up by glazed designs on the surface.

We had never seen a finish like this on any ceramics or earther-ware before, and James explained that it was a fairly unique process to smoke-fire ceramics work after the glaze has been applied. You can read more about this unique technique on James's information page on our website.

Portrait of Colin Montgomerie at Artery Gallery



Artery Gallery is currently exhibiting an oil painting of someone who is very familiar to St Andrews!

Golfer Colin Montgomerie is the subject of one of artist Andrew Reid's hyper-realism portraits for which he is becoming very well known. Andrew takes an unusual approach to painting a portrait - likening the facial contours to a landscape. He takes great interest in capturing tiny details on the surface of a face, such as age lines, hairs and eyelashes - seeing these as the building blocks to make up a face. He also enjoys the challenge of reproducing photographic effects, such as soft-focus backgrounds and colour bleeds.

Artery Gallery set Andrew the challenge of painting a famous Scottish face, and his meticulous approach has produced amazing results in this life-like portrait of Monty. It also pays homage to St Andrews title of 'The Home of Golf.'

Andrew is available to paint portraits upon request, at no extra charge. Just stop into Artery Gallery, and we will arrange that for you.

Saturday, 22 August 2009

Summer success for Joia Glass Art


'Waves' wall plaque - glass on white-washed wood

Summer may have been a bit wet and wild this year, but it hasn't dampened our summer tourism. St Andrews has been busy as usual, despite the lack of sunshine!

Two of our artists - a husband and wife, working together as design team 'Joia Glass Art' have had particular success this season, with sailing and sea themed glass.

Joia Glass Art originally joined Artery Gallery last summer, and have had sell out success with each collection since - and have continually expanded their collection of work with us.

Recent additions to their glass sculptures have included tealights and wall plaques. Both are a unique design - the tealights are split into two parts, so can be used as one large or two small tealights, and the wall plaques feature their glass 'Regatta' sculptures mounted on fresh white-washed wood.
Their full collection of work can be viewed on our website, or in our gallery in St Andrews

www.arteryuk.com

Wednesday, 12 August 2009

New 'St Andrews' painting by Jackie Gardiner


'Moonrise, St Andrews'

St Andrews is in full 'summer swing' at the moment, with lots of holiday makers from the United Kingdom, Europe, and across the world.

St Andrews is somewhere which is instantly recognisable to people from all corners of the globe, which is why we are delighted to have another beautiful oil painting of St Andrews by our regular artist Jackie Gardiner.

Jackie Gardiner has been a successful artist for 20 years now, and her work is featured in personal art collections such as The Earl of Strathmore's, Ernst and Young in Edinburgh and Karademir House. Her paintings have sold all over the world - travelling to places such as Singapore, Canada, South Africa, and of course, the UK.

Artery Gallery had been lucky enough to consistently exhibit Jackie's work for the last four years, with many keen followers regularly visiting to see her new work.

Artery Gallery, St Andrews, is open 10am - 5pm Monday - Friday, 10am - 5.30pm on Saturday, and 12 - 4pm Sunday.

www.arteryuk.com