Making and Drawing

Debbie Smyth (photo: Zac Mead)

Kyra Cane

12 June – 11 August 
The Harley Gallery, Welbeck is delighted to present Making and Drawing, showing 12 June – 11 August. Curated by ceramicist Kyra Cane, this exhibition reveals the secret lives of artists and makers; showing their private drawings alongside the finished works that they inspire, inform or create.

Kyra Cane is a leading ceramicist based in the Harley Studios, Welbeck. Her beautiful works are inspired by her observations of landscapes and weather patterns. They range from large thrown pieces to small intimate pots, with surfaces decorated with marks and subtle textures.
In 2012, Kyra published a new book titled Making and Drawing, which illustrates how artists’ and makers’ two dimensional sketches inform their finished three dimensional works. Featuring a broad range of creative practice, the book presents the drawings which are made behind-the-scenes; the secret doodles, notes, plans or marks which are all vital in developing a thought process and a finished work. 
This exhibition celebrates the Making and Drawing publication and presents the featured artists’ works and their preparatory sketches. Just like the book, the exhibition will focus on how these makers use drawing for reference; planning and design; surface; making; thinking; with technology. 
‘Drawing is a fundamental part of creative practice, its many roles range from being part of the exploratory process which encourage ideas to flow, to forming the basis of a critical framework in which outcomes are evaluated. It is an art readily associated with the creation of painting and pattern making but it also forms the foundation for making artefacts.’
Kyra Cane

Spanning jewellery, sculpture, furniture, installation, textiles and ceramics, Kyra has selected artists at different stages of their careers, whether emerging talent, such as textile designer Rory Londgon or craft legends jewellery designer Dorothy Hogg. On show will be a rare film by Nick Duffy of Simon Carroll making huge drawings on a Cornish Beach.

‘Making and drawing is so intertwined for some makers that the drawing aspect of their work is an activity they take entirely for granted, it comes as second nature to their practice, playing a crucial role in the development of whatever they do and is nearly always an entirely private pursuit.’ 
Kyra Cane
Making and Drawing will be on show at The Harley Gallery, Welbeck from 12 June – 11 August 2013. Visit to explore the relationship between working in two and three dimensions through the work of leading artists and makers. The Harley Gallery is on the A60 between Mansfield and Worksop. It is open daily, free to enter and offers free parking.

Adam Frew: Drawings & Pots

12 June – 11 August 2013

Potty about drawing? Adam Frew certainly is. From 12 June to 11 August, The Harley Gallery, Welbeck will be showing the first exhibition by the Northern Irish potter to show his celebrated pots alongside the drawings which inspire them.

Work will include pieces made following a short residency on the Welbeck Estate, home of The Harley Gallery. Nestled in the North Nottinghamshire countryside, the rolling hills, woodlands and artisan production of Welbeck have provided a special source of inspiration for Adam Frew’s work. 

Adam Frew is known for his sumptuous pots, rich with glossy glazes, luscious colours and expressive marks. This exhibition not only shows his large scale, beautiful ceramics and domestic ware but also the drawings which inform them. Enjoy a glimpse into the artist’s process and see how a softly sketched drawing of the local landscape is translated into the inky cobalt marks on Adam’s pots.

‘Spontaneity in my work is essential to inspiration.’

Working on the potter’s wheel, Adam is able to create his ceramics quickly and intuitively. His pots use playful techniques and unpredictable processes – his inspirations include glass blowing technique of cup-casing colours, wood firing and throwing into textured moulds. Layers of clay, swathes of coloured glazes and plaster-cast made marks adorn his expertly thrown vessels; the white porcelain becomes a canvas for his drawings.

‘I love drawing, making quick, free marks that capture a moment and often these marks feed into the language I use to decorate pots.’

Visit The Harley Gallery from 12 June – 11 August to see Adam Frew: Drawings and Pots. Glimpse the artist’s process and discover the local landscape through Adam Frew’s eyes.  The Harley Gallery is free to enter and is conveniently located between Mansfield and Worksop on the A60, 15 minutes from both the A1 and M1.

Edward Harley: The Great Collector

A new Harley Gallery exhibition opening 25 May 2013

From opulence and obsession to debt and despair, new exhibition Edward Harley: The Great Collector follows the fortunes of the 2nd Earl of Oxford. Showing at The Harley Gallery from May 2013, this exhibition explores Edward Harley’s background, family and marriage through his spectacular collections of art, decorative crafts and fine books.

The son of one of the most powerful politicians in the country, Edward Harley married Henrietta Cavendish-Holles - the wealthiest heiress in Britain.  Harley filled his family’s home with a hubbub of activity – writers, poets, artists, bibliophiles would be regular visitors. He was a dedicated collector; his collections were extensive and extravagant as he passionately sourced the rarest and most beautiful things. Harley was surrounded by the finest thinkers and the finest things.

His wealth gradually dwindled, yet Harley continued to add to his collections, often driving up the price of objects in his lust for ownership. In this obsessive collecting, Harley bankrupted himself and spent much of his wife’s fortune, eventually selling his family home and his collections to pay his debts.

At his death in 1741, Edward Harley’s library contained 50,000 printed books, 7,639 manuscripts, 14,236 rolls and legal documents, 350,000 pamphlets and 41,000 prints. Harley’s manuscript collection was sold to the nation after his death to pay his remaining debts, at a price far less than he had paid. These manuscripts formed the basis for the British Library, still known as the Harleian Collection.

Visit the Harley Gallery to see a selection of objects from Edward Harley’s phenomenal collections, treasured by his widow and daughter. Glimpse the obsessive and opulent world of the 2nd Earl of Oxford in Edward Harley: The Great Collector, showing from May 2013.    

The Bodging Project

Gareth Neal working in Clissett Wood

27 March – 2 June 2013

The Bodging Project’s creative adventures and woodworking experiments will be showing at The Harley Gallery, Welbeck from 27 March to 2 June. Visit to explore the relationship between traditional craft skills and contemporary design.

The exhibition will tell the tale of 10 furniture designers and what happened when they went to the woods.

In a series of workshops, The Bodging Project took top furniture designers to work in the woods and to go back-to-basics with traditional ‘bodging’ techniques - which use green, unseasoned wood and low tech tools.

The 10 designers will each show 3 pieces of their work:

‘Before the bodge’ – a manufactured piece of furniture

‘At the bodge’ a piece made by hand in the woods, using green wood techniques

‘After the bodge’, made when the designers returned to their normal practice. As Chris Eckersley explained; ‘although we’d moved out of the woods and into the factory, we’d somehow retained the ‘bodge’ way of thinking’.

Work made by The Bodging Project’s Lloyd Loom Elves will also be on show. Creeping into the Lloyd Loom factory in Spalding, Lincolnshire one weekend, a group of designers were able to play with Lloyd Loom’s iconic twisted paper materials, creating new exciting designs and trying different, unusual techniques. 

Visit The Bodging Project from 27 March – 2 June to discover these designers’ adventures from factories, to the forest, and back again.

New Gallery to display The Portland Collections at Welbeck

The Harley Gallery is delighted to announce a new building which will display historic works from The Portland Collections.  It will be situated next to the existing gallery on the Welbeck Estate, Worksop.

The Portland Collections are the historic fine and decorative arts collections of the Cavendish-Bentinck family. The family, currently headed by William Parente, grandson of the 7th Duke, have lived at Welbeck for over 400 years and through the generations have developed a beautiful and intriguing collection. The Portland Collections include examples from some of the most highly regarded artists of each era. Mr Parente, who is chairman of the Trustees of the Harley Foundation, commented:

‘The overwhelming interest shown in exhibitions like the Harley Gallery Open Competition and The Harley Gallery’s displays from the Portland Collections has shown that there is a tremendous appetite in our area for the arts.  The new Gallery is a marvellous opportunity for us to share the Collections, which were built up by my family over generations. We will be able to develop a changing programme of different displays in over 800 square meters of exhibition space. These displays will show the breadth of these Collections which different family members have added to over the centuries; each expressing their own aesthetics, interests and artistic preferences’.

The new Gallery will be designed by Hugh Broughton Architects who were appointed to the project after winning a tightly fought competition. Their previous projects include the Halley VI Antarctic Research Station which earned them the title of ‘International Breakthrough Architect of the Year 2013’ at the recent Architect of the Year Awards.  Exhibition design is being undertaken by John Ronayne who is currently working for Sheffield Cathedral and whose past clients include the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Lisa Gee, Gallery Director, says:
‘We’re very excited to be working with an internationally renowned  architect to create a new building on the Welbeck Estate. Welbeck has a tradition of astounding architecture and we hope that the new Gallery will inspire visitors for generations to come.’

Work on the site is expected to start in 2013 and it is hoped that the Gallery will open to visitors in 2015.

Notes to Editors

We are currently developing a complete information pack on the Gallery project, which will be available in early summer 2013.

If you have specific areas of interest such as the architecture or specific art forms such as ceramics or paintings then do get in contact, so we can ensure we meet your needs as the project progresses

If you would like to receive the information pack or to discuss further press opportunities, please email Rebecca Wombell, Marketing Officer at rwombell@harleygallery.co.uk or call 01909 501 700.

www.harleygallery.co.uk

The Harley Open Exhibition 2013

Saturday 26 January - Sunday 17 March

The Harley Gallery Open Exhibition returns for it's second year from 26 January to 17 March. Visit The Harley Gallery, Welbeck to see the selected artwork and enjoy a wide range of artistic talent; and to discover the prizewinning pieces!

The popular art competition attracts hundreds of entries, with around 140 being selected for the final exhibition.  Anyone can enter this competition, and The Harley Gallery has been delighted to see artworks from artists of all ages, both professional and just starting out, and ranging from oil paintings to embroideries to collage. 

 

The exhibited artworks this year have been  specially selected by Jeremy Webster, from The National Centre for Craft and Design, Sleaford; Michelle Bowen from Primary Studios, Nottingham, and Mervyn Mitchell, Photographic Artist from Nottingham.

Not only is the Open Exhibition a great chance to see a diverse, exciting range of artwork – many of the pieces will be for sale so you can buy your favourite piece, too. The Harley Gallery offers Own Art, a scheme which helps to make contemporary art affordable by providing the opportunity to spread your payments over 10 months. It’s a great way to take home your favourite artwork!

The Harley Gallery is delighted to announce that from 2013, the Open Exhibition will be a regular, biennial event.

Visit the Harley Open Exhibition from 26 January - 17 March to see the selected artworks in this popular art competition. Choose your favourites and have the chance to buy your own piece of contemporary art - from embroideries to oil paintings to photography.  

The Harley Advent Calendar

1-24 December in The Harley Craft Shop

The Harley Gallery, Welbeck is giving Christmas shoppers an extra treat this Christmas with The Harley Advent Calendar. Visit the Shop from 1- 24 December and enjoy a range of different offers with your purchases, from gifts of limited edition prints to discounts on jewellery.

The Harley Craft Shop is a great place to buy your Christmas gifts, with a huge range of hand made products carefully sourced from the best British craftspeople, from ceramics, to jewellery, to textiles. To say thank you for shopping with the Harley and helping to support British craft, the Gallery is offering customers special offers throughout Advent. Each day of the week has a special treat in store...

Mondays - spend £50 and get free coffee for two at The Lime House Café
Tuesdays - spend £75 and get a free “Welbeck Memories” Warli Art print
Wednesdays – spend £50 on silver and get a free “Dinner with a Duke” book
Thursdays – spend £100 and get 10% off Wendy Ramshaw jewellery
Fridays - spend £120 or more and get a free £20 gift voucher
Saturdays - buy anything with animals on and get a free book of photos by Sue Packer, “Pets”
Sundays - buy a pack of Christmas cards and get a free gift pack of Welbeck cards by Julian Bray

Shoppers will also be spoiled for choice with a special range of jewellery by the Harley Gallery's pick of studio jewellers. Christmas Gems features exciting jewellery to buy - including rings by internationally acclaimed jewellery Wendy Ramshaw (who has an exhibition currently on show in the Gallery) Rina Tairo, who painstakingly weaves gold and rhodium to make her delicate work, or Merlin Plantrose, an emerging jeweller who hammers her jewellery with pebbles to create a lovely, soft texture.  

Enjoy doing your Christmas shopping at The Harley Craft Shop - plus you can use Own Art to spread the cost over 10 months. Ask a Gallery Assistant for information. Plus, if you see something you like and want to help out a loved one with their search for special Christmas gifts, you can use a Harley Wish List to jot down your favourite items!

Visit The Harley Craft Shop for beautiful, hand made Christmas gifts. Shop during Advent for special offers, treats and discounts!  The Harley Gallery, Welbeck is on the A60 between Worksop and Mansfield. It is open daily, 10-5/4.30 Sundays and has free parking.  

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Own Art interest free loans make it easy and affordable to buy original, high quality contemporary art and craft. Please contact the Harley Gallery for details.

Representative 0% APRSubject to status. Terms and conditions apply. Applicants must be at least 18 years old. The Harley Gallery is a licensed broker of Own Art loans. Registered Address: The Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire S80 3LW