A Summer’s Day (From 15th June 2024)

'A Summer's Day' is an exhibition of original paintings by Sharon Winter, with ceramics by Northern Potters East.

Sharon's art is based on her love of myth, storytelling and family. Landscapes are peopled by young men and women gathering eggs, berries or quietly dreaming. Animals have a mythic quality. These are paintings to lose yourself in and make up your own narrative.
 
We are also fortunate enough to have a fresh consignment of fantastic ceramics by our Northern Potters. Following a theme of summer, they have interpreted this in their own unique ways. Smell the woodsmoke, and appreciate the wonder and colours of these amazing ceramics. Participating artists include Sarah Cawthray, Terri Donockley, Bryan Johnson, Zivarna Murphy, Elena Rubiu, and Roz Walker.

The exhibition opens on Saturday 15th June 2024 and will run until September 2024.

For further details about the artworks included in the exhibition, including availability and prices, please contact Gallery Forty-Nine.

Exhibition Catalogue

A catalogue has been produced for this exhibition which details each of the artworks available for sale. Please click on the button below to download the catalogue in PDF format.

Sharon Winter

Sharon Winter studied at Scarborough College and graduated with a first class Honours degree in 2001. Her inspiration comes from fairy tales, folklore, memory and family. Sharon works by building up layers of paint, collage and gold leaf to create patterns, motifs and texture.

Sarah Cawthray

Sarah’s love of the countryside and outdoors leads her to create pieces for the garden and home. It is important to her that each piece is both seen and touched; she uses clay slip and incorporates natural elements such as sand, rice and seaweed to create rich pattern and texture heightening haptic response. Sarah’s investigations into shape, form and pattern aid her design of pieces give the viewer a real sense of coastal energy.

In her small studio at home, on the edge of the North York Moors, Sarah celebrates every piece using coloured slip to make abstract marks and designs.  She uses household and found objects and expressive brush strokes to make detailed marks on her ceramics.

Sarah studied contemporary craft at York College University and graduated with a First Class BA. At present Sarah is studying the MA Visual Practice in ceramics at Sunderland University.

Terri Donockley

Terri's journey into ceramics started by attending an evening class. Ten minutes into her first lesson, she was hooked; decades later, she still loves working with clay. She then went on to study studio ceramics at Falmouth School of Art, Cornwall.

The hedgerows and surrounding countryside provide Terri with endless amounts of inspiration. On her regular walks, she collects and keeps foliage, seed pods etc. which influence future work. 

Bryan Johnson

Bryan followed his interest in ceramics after he retired. He attended Swarthmore College, Leeds, where he developed his skills in hand-building, wheel-throwing techniques, and glazing. He still enjoys making domestic stoneware, but after discovering the alchemy of raku on a residential course, it became his passion and primary focus.

Each piece he produces is hand-thrown, influenced by classical forms. Timelessly elegant in shape, each piece is transformed in the raku firing into a unique piece of art. Copper matte glazes are used to create stunning, luminescent finishes evoking images of magical landscapes and spectacular sunsets. Shades of burnished copper, blues, reds and greens are subtly enhanced with tinges of gold, new colours constantly emerging with changes in light and aspect.

Bryan’s naked raku pieces follow the same classical lines but he uses the contrast of black and white to add drama and individuality to each piece. Recently, Bryan has introduced a cobalt blue glaze to decorate the inside of a range of bowls which, when fired, transforms into the deep aqua- marine of tropical seas. These pieces are beautiful to look at but should not be used for storing food or liquids.

Zivarna Murphy

Zivarna hand-forms decorative textured ceramic vessels inspired by the cliffs and beaches along the rugged eroding Yorkshire coastlines. She uses beach treasures such as rocks, fossils and shells to create her vessels and wearable offcuts (including jewellery and brooches). Zivarna also uses wild clay found and reclaimed from her favourite beach at Mappleton in some of her pieces.

Elena Rubiu

Elena is originally from Sardinia, Italy, and lives in Leeds with her partner and two children. With a background in science, holding both a B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering and an M.Sc. in Biology, Elena always had a passion for creativity that she mostly suppressed in favour of a more academic path.

However, in 2021, she decided to embrace her artistic side and began working with clay as a way to deal with depression and anxiety. This led her to the life-changing decision of pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a ceramicist. Over the past two and a half years, Elena has established her own ceramics business, Nibaru Ceramics, which has become an integral part of the vibrant creative community in Leeds. Honing both her throwing and handbuilding skills, Elena developed her unique style, and exhibited and sold her creations at renowned galleries like Messums West and craft fairs like the Hepworth Wakefield Ceramics Fair.

Elena's artistic practice revolves around creating vibrant and one-of-a-kind pieces that are both visually captivating and serve a purpose. She specialise in free-hand surface decoration, particularly focusing on intricate illustrations of sea-themed patterns and detailed depictions of mermaids in serene and sapphic settings.

As a result of her creative process, each artwork is an experiment in its own right and therefore unique. While Elena thoroughly enjoys crafting functional pieces that can become part of people's daily lives, her passion for illustration has led her towards creating pieces with bigger surfaces, such as plates. Elena's artworks often convey powerful political messages, such as the Atlas and Dike vase, where she explores the themes of Feminism and toxic masculinity.

Roz Walker

Roz lives and works at beautiful Kirkham Abbey in North Yorkshire. She has been involved with the arts since graduating from Aberystwyth University with a BA Hons. degree in Visual Art in 1983, working with stained glass and mixed media painting before discovering ceramics, which is now her main medium.

Roz's ceramic work takes inspiration from the colours, patterns and textures of the natural world, specifically her local landscape. She seeks to convey the fragile, transient beauty found within all stages of the cycle of life and death.
She is especially interested in using the local clay from Kirkham, experimenting with organic additions and alternative firing techniques to create unique pieces which are both inspired by and formed directly from the local landscape. Roz both throws and hand-builds, often combining different media such as glass, wire, paper and grasses in her more sculptural pieces.