Lest we forget....

Armistice Day has come and once again it is so good to see so many people wearing poppies and taking the time to acknowledge what it represents.
We see a definate increase at this time of year of orders for Medal sets to be framed, often to be passed down to younger generations which is very encouraging and so important to keep these family stories alive and present.
I've said often to customers and I really mean it, that we feel it to be a real priveledge to be asked to frame these collections and to be entrusted with such personal, often poignant family heritage and their many amazing, sometimes tragic stories.
We hope that our customers are reassured that we always treat these precious family heirlooms with the greatest respect and care.

Here are a few examples of some of the Medal sets we have framed for our customers...
A Royal Marine collection, all painstakingly stitched onto the mount with invisible thread...



More cherished family medals...





Below, a most unusual collection of very rare medals including a Waterloo Medal! And most astonishingly a Crimean War medal showing clasps for the Battles of Balaclava and Sebastopol - the Charge of the Light Brigade of course, where the soldier was apparently shot and captured by the Russian army... and many other rare medals that we will be unlikely to have the chance to handle again.

This fragile embroidery stitched by a wounded soldier in his hospitol bed, had too little fabric for the lacing needed to stretch it flat, so in this case I carefully stitched on linen extension pieces all the way around...
And then laced it carefully over a layer of wadding and conservation board...

It was then mounted and framed with UV protection conservation glass to preserve the colours of the threads and protect the fragile fabric.

Here from a different customer, below is another beautiful piece of soldier's embroidery, this time made whilst he was a Prisoner of War, using only his cap badge as a guide... an amazing piece of history rightly cherished by his family.

There are some more examples on the medals page at the top right hand side of the blog, and some more will be added soon.

Wear your Poppy with pride!

Wildlife Art Exhibition with Martin Rumary and Paul Matthews

Don't miss our October exhibition starting on Saturday the 8th!
Both of the Artists will be demonstrating at the gallery from 10 am on the opening Saturday, a great opportunity to see these two talented artists at work, to have a chat and put your questions to them!

Martin Rumary specialises in wonderfully detailed paintings of birds, here's a few words about him and his work:

Heading Down Stream

Born in London, Martin moved at an early with his parents to the heart of the Somerset countryside where he developed a keen interest in the surrounding wildlife.

The birds local to his home on the beautiful Mendip Hills provide the subject matter for his paintings; the semi-moorland down to the wetlands of the Somerset levels giving a wide choice of habitat for inspiration.

Observations and sketching in the field preceed each painting; a great way to earn a living, although every work inevitably goes through a period of angst and indecision in trying to achieve the desired affect. Originally working in oils and then gouache he now paints exclusively in acrylics.

Widespread success in the UK has enabled him to established a considerable reputation through galleries and organisations such as The Wildlife Art Society International and The National Exhibition of Wildlife Art where he has had a sell-out for the last four years.

And a few words about L. Paul Matthews and his work:

Paul lives in the village of Puddletown, in heart of rural Dorset, surrounded by farms and beautiful countryside with its wildlife. This provides alot of the inspiration for his paintings of domestic animals and British wildlife. He also has a passion for African wildlife having travelled to Botswana and Kenya on sketching and reference trips, acompanied by his partner Annie, whom takes care of the photography.

The majority of Paul’s work is commissioned paintings and portraits, both animals (including pets) and people. He also works on wildlife paintings and has been in the final of the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year competition, for the three years it has been running.

You can find out more about the artists on their websites:
www.martinrumary.com
L.Paul Matthews online gallery

Old Bakery Artists Summer Exhibition 2011

Following the success of the Old Bakery Artist's Arts Trail back in May, which we very much enjoyed taking part in as one of the venues, we are delighted to be hosting their Summer Exhibition here on the High Street!

Popular local art group, the Old Bakery Artists, are exhibiting a variety of exciting new work at our gallery from 8th to 20th August - Monday to Saturday, 9.30 - 5.30pm. There will be an eclectic mix of paintings, from the abstract to the traditional, plus 3D objects and cards and prints for sale.

There will be two 'Meet the Artists' sessions on Saturday, 13th August and Saturday, 20th - 2 until 4pm. Among the artists calling in to talk about their work will be the well known Midsomer Norton artist, David Fisher, and Caroline Thatcher, who was recently featured in the BBC 2 series Show me the Monet.

And the winner is...

Congratulations go to Rebecca Burton, the lucky winner of our Medieval prize draw!
Thank you also to all of those who popped in to comment so kindly on our window display, we had great fun pitting it together and good to see so many people enjoying the fayre too!

Medieval Fayre Day, 25th of June - come and enter our Free Prize Draw!

Midsomer Norton has re-instated its Town Midsummer Fayre day and the first one is to be a Medieval Fayre! So if you're around on the 25th of June do stop and have a look at our medieval themed window complete with replica Edward III sword and seal as well as a few Pre-Raphaelites for good measure!
We will be giving away a beautiful framed print by Blair-Leighton in a free prize draw at the end of the day's events, so if you would like a chance to win drop into our shop and enter!

Old Bakery Artists Art Trail 2011

We are proud to be sponsoring the Old Bakery Artist's bi-annual Arts Trail being held at various venues around Norton-Radstock from the 12th to the 15th of May!
We'll be exhibiting a piece of artwork from each Artist in our gallery for the week, so if you are out and about do pop in for a look and grab a leaflet!
You can find out more about the OBA and their Artists here at www.oldbakeryartists.co.uk

A 'Marvel-ous' collection of 3D object box frames...!

Here are a few more recent examples of interesting custom jobs that our customers have kindly given us permission to show...


Firstly a set of beautiful silver 'Apostle Spoons' that had aged to a lovely silver-gilt colour. These were sewn onto a suedette mountboard with strong invisible nylon thread and set off with a deep shadow mount to keep them clear of the glass. The gesso and silver frame complimented the colour of the spoons perfectly and all in all was a really enjoyable job to do. It makes a lovely feature of these antique family heirlooms that would otherwise have been hidden away in a dark drawer!


Here we have a somewhat smaller shirt than we have been framing of late! This was a favourite shirt of the little boy who wore this and will make a great memory to keepsake. It has been stretched over conservation mountboard and then sewn onto the undermount with no glue whatsoever. The glass has been floated clear of the shirt with a fillet stained black to match the deep box frame.
And finally below we have a 'Marvel-ous' set of limited edition figures... (sorry for the terrible pun but it had to be done! I hear you groan...!)

Arch Angel

The Fantastic Four

The Hulk

These great collector's figures were all deep box framed to free stand. The inside was faced with 'marvel' red on the sides and mirror glass on the back, top and bottom to show the reverse of the figure. The figures themselves were raised slightly on glass plinths to stand clear of the rebate.
They should certainly make a fantastic collection to display...

If you have any interesting and unusual 3D objects you would like framed do drop by or call for a quote. We enjoy a challenge, and with a bit of imagination there is usually always a way to effectively present even the trickiest of objects, which can make for a fantastic feature and talking point!
More examples coming soon....