Private View

Artist in residence’s surreal whimsy by the sea

ILLUSTRATOR Gabrielle Parker’s delightful, surreal and whimsical creations will be celebrated at this year’s Arts by the Sea, the South West’s biggest free celebration of art, culture, people and place, returning to Bournemouth from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th September. Gabrielle Parker, the 2025 Artist in Residence, is an Arts University Bournemouth graduate, who creates…

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Brewham to Watchet – two weeks of art in Somerset

SOMERSET Art Weeks returns from 13th to 28th September with an enthralling range of art works by painters, printmakers, sculptors, potters, print-makers and multi-disciplinary creators. From the artists studios at Watchet’s East Quay to a music and sound-scape installation in the atmospheric grounds of Shave Farm, Brewham, there is a dazzling display of the talent…

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Colourful Consequences

DORSET’s famous Cerne Giant had a colourful companion for a few hours when Consequences, a huge temporary artwork was installed next to the enigmatic carving in the chalk downs above Cerne Abbas. Consequences was created by artist Becca Gill’s Radical Ritual company with the input of local community groups as part of Nature Calling, an…

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Portrait of an Exmoor legend

AN exhibition, at Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury, from 27th September to 10th January 2026, A Life Outside: Hope Bourne on Exmoor, offers a new appraisal of the work and life of the Exmoor writer and artist. Created in partnership with The Exmoor Society, which cares for The Hope L Bourne Collection, the exhibition considers…

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If the shoe fits …

WE all have our favourite shoes – they may be red carpet-worthy, six-inch high Jimmy Choos or comfortable if unglamorous Allbirds, but shoes follow the footprints of human history. Fashionable or functional, delicate or dependable, shoes are an essential part of our lives. And while other brands may come and go, one name remains proudly…

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Retracing the voyage of the Beagle

STEWART McPherson, who founded the Darwin200 Global Voyage to mark the bicentenary by retracing Darwin’s historic journey aboard HMS Beagle, returns to Sladers Yard gallery at West Bay on Thursday 14th August, to talk about the insights the explorers have learned about Darwin and his discoveries from the voyage and how best to carry forward…

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Burton Bradstock festival

ONE of the West Country’s most delightful festivals, Burton Bradstock Music and Art Festival, returns to the West Dorset coast from 10th to 17th August. The programme of classical, jazz, folk and chamber music in St Mary’s Church is complemented by an art exhibition which is a showcase for artists from around the region, in…

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A seat in history

SCOTTISH sculptor Nigel Ross developed his art practice during his early career in forestry on the Isle of Arran. Now based in Perthshire, he is a regular exhibitor at Roche Court, the New Art Centre at Winterslow near Salisbury. This piece, dating from 2021, has the evocative name Pictish Oak, and is both a beguiling…

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The Artistry collective opens at Shepton Mallet

A COLLECTIVE of artists and makers from the Shepton Mallet area is opening a gallery and shop in the town centre, with a launch on Thursday 17th July. The Artistry, showcasing the work of more than 30 local artists and makers, is at 37 Town Street, Shepton Mallet. The project is part of Shepton Mallet…

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