The Whinfield Gallery Artists Community
Our new gallery will be hosting a series of intimate ‘quarterly’ exhibitions, built around the seasons, displaying work from featured artists alongside Whinfield’s two resident artists. We are excited to be instrumental in creating what we hope is an evolving and richly varied creative network of West Country artists.
In our inaugural Autumn/Winter show, we are delighted to have the opportunity to present a selection of work from some of the areas most talented artists and makers - read about them below and click to see more info about the current exhibition
Featured Artists
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Bobbi Fulcher-Smith
Land & Seascape
Bobbi was born in Los Angeles, California where she studied at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
The first 15 years of Bobbi’s professional career was as an Art Director, Graphic Designer and Production Manager producing visual art, graphics in the advertising and entertainment Industries.
Bobbi both established herself as a tutor and set up her first artist studio in Salcombe in Devon when she moved here in 1991 and where she has continued to create her unique style of ‘Land and Seascape’ and highly popular ‘People’ paintings.
Bobbi’s work has been in many exhibitions both in California and the UK. Here in the UK she has been represented by the Whinfield Gallery, Gallery5 and the Salcombe Art Loft in Salcombe, the Mayne Gallery in Kingsbridge, the Ariel Centre in Totnes, Cove’s Quay Gallery (now White Space Art) in Totnes.
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Ann Blockley
Deep-set in Nature
Ann is a celebrated Devon based artist who holds a well established international reputation for her strikingly unique works. She has published many books on her painting methods.
As a ‘mixed media’ artist with a particular emphasis on water-based media, Ann derives her inspiration directly from her empathetic engagement directly with nature, staying connected to the poetic, precious organic world of the woodland, hedge, field and coast.
Her practice is always under critical reassessment to allow it to develop and change, mirroring the constant changes of mood, spirit and magic that nature presents.
Ann's aim is to subtly alter reality searching for something more elusive, her expressive mark making is intriguing in itself but sometimes may only allude to the perceived reality.
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Pippa Unwin
Stone and Snow
Pippa works from her studio 'Mewstone Masonry' by the River Avon in the delightful village of Aveton Gifford. Following a long period of apprenticeship learning her skills from traditional stonemasons she has worked as a professional sculptor and stonemason since 2001.
Pippa’s inspiration is multi-cultural and builds from a fascination with geometry and a love of nature, but mostly instinctively carves the natural form that presents itself. There is the delight in capturing an animal’s individual character and spirit, uncovering as she works, more about the stone itself, its limitations and possibilities. Both Salisbury and Exeter cathedrals contain Pippa’s work.
Pippa’s career has been rich and varied, from writing and illustrating published children’s books to theatrical scene painting, but there is an inevitability in her now singular pursuit of the carved form – in both Stone and in Snow.
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Andy Harris
Metalworker
Andy is a contemporary artist metalworker, making unique sculptures and architectural ironwork from his workshop in South Devon.
When Andy originally moved to South Devon he joined a crab fishing boat and learnt the age old methods of coastal fishing. A love of the sea and all things mechanical led him to join The Salcombe Lifeboat as full-time Mechanic and Deputy Coxswain.
After seventeen years’ dedication to the RNLI, he decided to return to a more creative way of life. He began by forming sculptures from old garden and farming tools, which eventually led him to relight his forge.
Andy is a true and instinctive artist with a sensitive eye for detail derived from the natural world. His feel for the material he works with enables him to create detailed beauty in each bespoke piece.
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Nik Sheppard
Designer Maker
Since his move to Devon 25 years ago Nik has had a slowly developing love affair with timber and exploring the incredible potential of this material.
Having worked professionally as a timber frame carpenter and designer, he now runs Studio MUUS with his wife Shelley, where he creates one-off pieces for their bespoke interiors. He also has his own Cabin Design & Build company.
In furniture making, Nik finds the freedom to explore and celebrate the character of the wood. Working predominantly in unseasoned timber in its raw form, the wood has an unpredictability to it and continues to move once finished, requiring a relaxed, even playful approach to the making. Every piece presents opportunities and challenges which steer the design process and help shape the final outcome. He uses mainly Oak and Sweet Chestnut, favouring simple techniques which let the material speak for itself.