Community News

Autumn exhibition is one of Powys Arts Month highlights

October has been a month of celebration of the Arts throughout Powys and the Autumn exhibition in the Oriel CRiC Gallery, upstairs in the Crickhowell Resource and Information Centre, is no exception. A highlight of the gallery’s activities, is a talk by David Haswell illustrating how the work of Welsh painters Kyffin Williams, John Blockley and John Knapp Fisher continues to influence the development of his own work. The gallery is showing a number of new original works and prints by this popular local artist.

Visitors to the gallery have until the end of November to view great skill, and craftsmanship of artists from across Wales. Visiting Ceredigion artist Ed-donald Harrison’s fascinating sculptural pieces in wood and stone set the tone of this unusual collection of work. He completes commissions internationally and is well known for his series of Nixies (Celtic water spirits) along the Danube from Passau in Bavaria to the Austrian border.

Well established studio potter Christine Gittins, creates beautiful smoke fired, burnished pots which pay tribute to her African roots. Here they are exhibited alongside her paintings and jewellery. Similarly appealing are the vitreous enamel panels of Janine Partington.

Lee Wright and Steve Knapik are newcomers to the gallery. Lee is a local artist, based in Llangattock, who uses a range of traditional and modern techniques to produce limited edition etchings and collagraphs. As with Lee’s hand printed images, Steve’s vibrant landscapes are about a ‘sense of place’. He enhances the composition of the captured moment by exaggerating colour and ‘working’ the texture with a palette knife creating sgraffito. Further vibrancy is added to the exhibition by Helen Absalom’s bold oil paintings of flowers giving a new perspective to classic botanical themes. Collectors of watercolours by Rhian Symes will love her new large original otter painting, as well as prints from her well loved range of work.

As Powys Arts Month draws to a close in the south of the county, brochures available from CRiC contain further details of this exhibition, as well as of Helga Prosser’s Open Studio weekend, a wonderful evening performance at Arts Alive and an artist led walk to caves at Craig y Cilau National Nature Reserve which will include art, performances, readings and improvised music.