Tom Payne's 'Grunts'!

'Windy Grunt V' £80

We have recently received a new collection of Tom Payne's 'Grunts' - which are a lot more pleasant than they sound!!

Tom, a graduate from Kent Institute of Art & Design, works in clay to produce his quirky and fun figures. Each 'grunt' has a character, which Tom clearly enjoys creating. He uses tools as little as possible, using his hands to create each piece - giving them a rough and solid finish, adding further to the personality of figure.

Tom's work is instantly recognisable and he has created some large-scale pieces - predominantly animals - for a series of different projects, all still retaining his unique look. His portfolio includes a full size baby elephant for Bolton Council, a set of dinosaur jaws for the natural history museum and a polar bear for an MTV advert.....anymore and he could open a zoo!

Tom's full collection can be seen in Artery on South Street, St Andrews, or on our website www.arteryuk.com

British Craft Trade Fair - Award Winners 2009

Our congratulations go out to Mike Hunter and Daniel Kavanagh, two of our exhibiting Scottish artists who have both recently won awards at the British Craft Trade Fair in Harrogate.

Mike Hunter’s highly skilled process of ‘Zanfirico’ glass blowing, earned him the 2009 BCTF Award for Excellence in design, innovation and creativity. This is the Selkirk based artists second accolade for excellence this year.

Daniel Kavanagh from Nairnshire won the Best Newcomers Award, which was presented in recognition of the quality, design and craftsmanship of Daniel’s work. He was also presented with a Highly Commended Award at the ceremony.

New Ceramics From Daniel Kavanagh * Now In *

Chlick here to visit Daniel Kavanagh's page on our website or visit the gallery at 43 South Street, St Andrews, Fife (01334 478221)

Fountain Vase by Daniel Kavanagh

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Tom Payne - "The Grunts"

Tom Payne graduated from the Kent Institute of art and design in 2000 and has gone on to become a successful self employed sculptor and model maker. His sculptures are generally figurative based and built using coiling techniques in high-grog crank clay.

He says “I concentrate on poise and character rather than realism but like my figure to be easily recognisable and relatable too. My finishing is normally quite rough as I like to show the surface and making-marks such as fingerprints.” Each ‘Grunt’, as Tom calls them, are one-off pieces, however they exist in themes and groupings.

The clay is first rolled into a sausage, making sure each one is roughly the same standing height, before being chopped and bent into their required seated, crouching or standing position. The details are then sculptured into the clay creating the basic shape of the figure together with the posture and hand gestures before further detailing including trouser folds and muscle tone is added. When the sculpture is complete and firing has taken place, the pieces are then quickly smoke-fired with wood chips to a very low temperature which gives the desired finished result.

A finished Grunt can quite happily stand or sit there on his own, but the best visual effect is experienced when they are placed into a group. This gives a fantastic and sometimes quite comical impression that some kind of conversation or debate is taking place between the Grunts.

Tom’s work has been displayed all over the UK as well as being involved in several high profile public art projects since graduating. Most notable of these projects include Tom helping in the construction of the site for ‘Dino Dig’ at the Natural History Museum in 2006. Tom was commissioned to create lifelike clay dinosaur bones that were to be buried in sand, ready for children to excavate during an exhibition at the Museum.

Prior to that In 2005, Tom was commissioned by a recruitment marketing company to make models for the ultimate 'People Brand' at the AHHRM Awards (Association of Healthcare Human Resource Management). The campaign was to brand Whipps Cross University Hospital in London as a Trust that has an exciting future ahead and recognises that their biggest asset going forward is their people.

Models were created based on real-life employees, one from every department within the hospital. Images of Tom’s sculptures were used for advertising posters that were displayed on London buses and taxis, in brochures and on the web. The campaign was well received both internally and externally including helping to win the 'Best Employer Brand' Award itself.

Tom was also involved in an environmental advertising campaign that was aired on MTV in 2007. He was asked to create a Polar Bear mould to be used as an animation for the television adverts aired on the channel through Spring of that year.

The sculptures by Tom Payne are on show for the first time in Scotland at Artery Gallery in both St Andrews and Crieff, and can also be viewed online at www.arteryuk.com

Buying Handmade Over The Mass Produced

The rapid rise of the large chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us furnishing and dressing alike. It’s almost like the consumer is being told what to buy because the shelves are full with goods of all the same design and colour as the next shop. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost.

Mass production has always been with us, generally speaking as a way of ensuring quality. But this has not always been the case. Taking printing as an example, the earliest printers initially showed perfectionist tendencies, probably because the hand operated press machine and letter stamps were all created by hand to do the job. In the late sixteenth century, printing began to turn into an industry. It was largely considered at the time that these industrial printing practices should never allow commercial considerations to lower the typographical standard of books and printed documents.

But things inevitably went the other way in the nineteenth century after the invention of the steam press. The necessity to produce cheaper books and newspapers meant that standards fell, and mass production began to gain its poor reputation. It was during the nineteenth century that artist and writer William Morris began to worry that mechanised production was taking away opportunities for individual creativity, and to almost dehumanise people's working and social lives. Morris planned to counter these apparent problems with a revival of handicrafts. Numerous craft based associations, guilds and communities were founded, and the idea of something being hand made all of a sudden became rather fashionable. The customers for these hand made products were of course the better off for this change.

A memorial to what became known as the ‘Arts and Crafts Movement’ is now preserved at Standen in Sussex, a grand house decorated by William Morris himself.

It is often considered that buying a handmade gift involves that little bit more consideration and thought. You buy into something that is a unique, one off creation, and in today’s world that is still consumed by mass produced goods, it makes it all the more satisfying.

A handmade craft, whether it’s in the form of a painting, clock, pottery or jewellery, will be chosen for its pure individuality and will instantly reflect the personality of the purchaser.

If it has been purchased for the purpose of a gift, the buyer may well feel the satisfaction of supporting an artist or craftsperson as well as being confident of giving something of quality and uniqueness. Likewise, the recipient of the handmade gift receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and attention. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is clearly absent in the world of large-scale manufacturing.

If you are looking to buy, whether for yourself or someone else, buying handmade can help us reconnect with ourselves and therefore certainly better for both maker and buyer.

Above: Allan Craig Arts and Craft style copper clocks, mirrors and sconces
Top of post: Kerry Whittle, John McPhail and Tim Fowler

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Renowned Sculptor Exhibits in St Andrews

Heralded by many in the art world as the next Henry Moore, Alexandros Arabatzoglou’s sculptures have been sold to private collectors all over the world, and demand for his work has been such that he has not exhibited in a gallery for nearly nine years, despite offers from some of the worlds most prestigious galleries. However, after striking up a relationship with Artery Gallery, Alexandros decided to end his gallery exile by exhibiting one of his hand carved sculptures in their St Andrews branch.

Born in Heraklion, Crete in 1970, Alexandros came from an artistic family and has therefore been involved in art since a very early age, beginning with designing and creating his own unique jewellery. It was during this period that he was chosen as “Finest Modern Greek Artist” by the BBC. Later he discovered his passion for harder materials, and started to work with bronze and different kinds of stone, clay and glass. After many years of work and experimentation forging these materials together, Alexandros invented his own style of modern sculpture – a unique ability to craft bronze and stone into a single organic form. Every piece is a one-off and can take up to four months to create. There are no moulds or copies and each comes with individual certification from the Greek government.

"The Golden Fish” sculpture was commissioned especially for Artery Gallery to be displayed at their St Andrews branch and is seen as a coup for the Scottish gallery. Jason of Artery explains “After meeting with Alexandros in Crete last year, I was amazed at his drive, passion and enthusiasm for his work and his art. For him, creating his sculpture is like breaking down to the bare bones of his inner soul, using his hands to carve into the stone and creating an extension of himself within each individual sculpture”. He adds “Here at Artery Gallery, we are always looking to expand on the superb catalogue of talent we exhibit, and inviting Alexandros to join us, knowing of the interest he has gained, is exciting for the gallery, for St Andrews, and for world art exhibited in Scotland”.

Artery Gallery at 43 South Street, St Andrews (01334 478221)

http://www.arteryuk.com/

The Hooded Monks

These are new hand crafted, ceramic 'Hooded Monks' by highly respected Cretian sculptor Manolis Patramanis. The monk figures represent how people in everyday challenging roles are putting themselves forward to serve the world by devoting their energies into helping those in need, often going unnoticed and unpublicised,

The work undertaken by these unknown ‘Hooded’ Samaritans is ever more highlighted over the increased Christmas period, yet their endeavour continues throughout the year. A hooded monk on the mantelpiece can act as a nice little reminder.

Most of the sculptures by Manolis Patramanis are developed from his thoughts on life, and his work is exclusively available in the UK through Artery Gallery at 43 South Street, St Andrews (01334 478221) and 22 King Street, Crieff (01764 655722), priced from £75

www.arteryuk.com