FEATURED ARTISTS
​NOVEMBER  2023
 
Michael Mable - Richard Surman - Angela Soulier
- Elaine Morgan - Katie Welsh -

Michael Mable
What excites me about woodturning is discovering what's inside the wood – because you can never really tell in advance, and once you've turned the wood into shavings you can't put it back.  Each piece of wood has its own story and its own character.  Part of my task is to try and work out what's going on and work with it to show the wood at its best.
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Many of the forms I use are inspired by ceramics, and as far as possible, I try to keep the design clean and let the wood speak for itself.  How a piece feels in the hands is also crucial – not just the shape, but also the finish.  To this end, I prefer natural, oiled finishes, built up over repeated applications and allowing each to sink in over a period of days and weeks to give a deep sheen whilst still allowing you to feel the natural surface of the wood.
I really started woodturning in 1996, even though my first encounter with a wood lathe some twenty years previously during my woodworking lessons at school had been mildly terrifying.  It was a lucky finding of the book “Turning Wood with Richard Raffan” (which I later discovered is one of the woodturning “classics”) that inspired me to look at woodturning in a fresh light and led me to think it was something I could enjoy practising and exploring.  And so it has proved.
Richard Surman
Richard Surman is a British writer & photographer who divides his time between Asturias, N Spain and his Herefordshire home in the UK. He has worked extensively for advertising, editorial and corporate clients throughout the world and now concentrates on his own books and  editorial assignments combining text and photography. Richard is also a CAA certified drone pilot, producing high quality aerial landscape and architectural images.

He has published a number of books with HarperCollins and Collins Reference as well as collaborating on a wide range of gardening, travel and specialist guide books. He contributes to magazines in the UK, Spain, Sweden and the USA, and has been a regular contributor to the National Churches Trust magazine. His latest book is a major revision, updating and illustration of John Betjeman's classic guide to parish churches - Betjeman's Best British Churches.
Richard is an experienced public speaker, available to give illustrated talks in person and online  - appearances have included:
the Cheltenham Literary Festival, the Wimbledon BookFest, Herefordshire Historic Churches Trust
Hellens Manor, Southside House, The Chipping Norton Literary Festival, The Not Just Betjeman Festival at Wantage
And online for a wide range of community groups
Angela Soulier

​I am inspired by light, colour and form, texture and movement - nature in all its grandeur. It is impossible to recreate this but I hope to infuse a little part of it into my work.

I usually begin a new piece when I am taken with a certain stone or object, often from a collection I have gathered over the years, knowing that one day I will be able to weave it into my silver work to create a unique, personal piece of jewellery. I sometimes make a drawing when I see the finished result clearly but often ideas change en route and take on a new perspective. It is a living process.

I have lived in various countries, mainly in Mexico where I learned my craft with silversmiths from Taxco, a silver mining town where most people earn their livelihoods from silver. Designing costumes for the theatre, film and opera plus a certain feeling for drama translates into my jewellery - jewellery after all, compliments the costume.

My pleasure is to see my creations come to life when they are worn and enjoyed.
Elaine Morgan
Elaine is a local artist who has lived on the Welsh borders all her life. She has always had a deep connection with her home land and with the nature around her.

Having developed her artistic skills over many years, she has a  particular love for drawing with charcoal and making inks from the nature that surrounds her and these are incorporated in her current work.

Elaine then combines her creativity and connection with the stunning landscapes in her paintings. The Offas Dyke Path gives her constant inspiration for her work, with its verdant beauty and extraordinary variety!​
Katie Welsh

​​Colour, form and abstract natural shapes inform my work.
 
Integral to the practice is the colour created by natural dyes from home-grown plants and locally foraged materials.
 
Rug hooking using a punch needle create the Textile art inspired by my natural surroundings living on Hergest ridge.
 
Hand dyed British wool on linen.
 
Home-grown plants – locally foraged materials.
 
Walnut, madder, coreopsis, hopi sunflower, scabious  marigold, onion, iron, acorn, sloe, dianthus, coreopsis roulette.