Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Backstage: Prints and drawing by John Vivian Roberts An exhibition of prints and drawings by painter and printmaker John Vivian Roberts (1923-2003) opened at Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery today (Monday, 10 October). Roberts was born in Tredegar, Gwent. He studied at Cardiff School of Art (1939-42), and attended the Royal College of Art (1947-51) where he studied printmaking, at first under Robert Austin (etching and engraving) and then Edwin la Dell (lithography). It was whilst Roberts was at the Royal College of Art that he visited backstage at Bertram Mills Circus in Earl’s Court in 1948. He could not have foreseen that the experience would give his work immediate purpose and direction, and that he would find a subject to engage him for the next five decades. From pencil drawings made in a small hardback sketchbook, he developed characters and compositions that he would revisit time and again, fulfilling an enduring fascination with the costume and ritual of circus...

Latest news from Aberglasney House and Gardens in the pictureque Tywi Valley - Giant Vegetable Competition 2016 Sunday 16th October Returning for its fourth year, our annual Giant Vegetable Competition attracts competitors from near and far with vegetables so large they attract the attention of the national press. The 2015 competition was particularly momentous as we had a Guinness World Record breaking radish at 88 inches long! Find out more on our website , including a full list of classes and an entry form to download. Sponsored by Aberglasney Winter Fair 2016 Friday 2nd December ~ 11am-4.30pm (parking at Aberglasney, no park and ride) Saturday 3rd December and Sunday 4th December ~ 10am-4.30pm (parking at Aberglasney and free park and ride from Coleg Sir Gar's Gelli Aur campus) A must-do of the Christmas season! For three days of December, Aberglasney’s Mansion and two specially brought-in marquees are packed with around 100 sellers of crafts, gifts, homeware and decora...

Latest news from Aberglasney House and Gardens in the picturesque Tywi Valley -  Selection of lovely new plants in stock at only £4.95 each The choice includes Dahlia Gallery Bellini, Fuchsia Garden News, Fuchsia Tom Thumb and Lavandula Angustifolia Imperial Gem (all pictured above). At only £4.95 each, they are excellent value. The Rose Garden looking fantastic, as photographed by Nigel McCall Gower Crafts & Artisans exhibition In the Mansion until Thursday 14th July Find out more on the Gower Crafts & Artisans website One day photography course with Glyn Evans of Ffotoimage Photography Thursday 14th July ~ 10am to 3.30pm Find out more Peter Pan Friday 22nd July ~ gates open at 6.30pm for a 7pm performance Discount available on tickets bought at least 7 days in advance Tickets are available through our website Coachman's Cottage 29th July to 5th August ~ reduced from £750 to £500 5th August to 12th August ~ reduced from £750 to £500 Gardener's Cottage ...

Latest news from the Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Carmarthen -  Make and Do in April at the gallery Made Up: Sketchbook Walk Saturday 2 April 2016 11am – 1pm Join artist Cecile Johnson Soliz for an informal indoor sketchbook walk around her exhibition at Oriel Myrddin Gallery. Create 3D sketches in the studio space. All ages welcome - Free event Part of the Arts Council of Wales and BBC Arts Get Creative Weekend Workshops BubbleTastic Family Workshop Tuesday 5 April 2016 11am – 1pm Create bubblewrap Easter themed artworks with Julie Ann Sheridan. Suitable for all ages – £5 adults £3 children – booking required Arts Award Discover in a Day Wednesday 6 April 2016 11am – 3:30pm Join a fun all-day art workshop with artist Daniel Trivedy and gain your first Arts Award Certificate. For ages 11-14 only – £14 per person – booking essential Paper Making Thursday 7 April 2016 11am – 1pm Learn to make your own paper with Mary Sikkel. Suitable for ages 8+ – £5 per person – booking requir...

Art Exhibition: Paintings by Paul Newland NEAC, RWS and works from the Royal Watercolour Society diploma collection Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery : 21 March to 6 May 2016 An exhibition of works by Paul Newland NEAC RWS opens at Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery on Monday, 21 March. Born and educated in London’s north-western suburbs, Paul Newland studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, London. He has a long association with Aberystwyth. This exhibition of works in oil and watercolour reveals the artist’s preoccupation with a spirit of place that he finds in the cityscape of South London and the landscape of Ceredigion. An elected member of the New English Art Club (NEAC), Paul Newland has also served as Vice President of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) and continues to serve as its Honorary Curator. His work will be shown alongside a selection of watercolours from the Royal Watercolour Society’s prestigious diploma collection, dating back to the societ...

Cecile Johnson Soliz launches 'Made Up' exhibition at Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Carmarthen on Saturday, March 19.

Greenspace Gallery is supporting Age Cymru Sir Gâr this March. The Carmarthen gallery is hosting an exhibition until March 26, called “Painting our Mother”. It is all about recognising our relationships with our mothers. Local professional artists and students of art have all submitted paintings/artworks of their mothers in a variety of mediums. Exhibitors have paid a free to have their artwork displayed and Dorothy Morris, owner of the gallery is donating the fee to Age Cymru Sir Gâr for the charity to continue to support older people throughout Carmarthenshire. The Greenspace gallery is situated at 30 King Street, Carmarthen. Ann Dymock, chief officer of Age Cymru Sir Gâr, who attended the gallery to accept the donation said, “It's wonderful that creative local businesses such as the Greenspace Gallery support local charities such as ours. Relationships with the commercial sector can be so beneficial to the people we support and rewarding for the company involved...

Art Exhibition: Unmaking the Modern: The Work of Stanley Anderson Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery: to 11 March 2016 A new exhibition of works by painter-printmaker Stanley Anderson RA (1884-1966), a key exponent of the revival of line engraving in Britain, has opened at Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery. Drawing on works almost exclusively from private collections, the exhibition is curated by Dr Harry Heuser from the School of Art. In spring 2015, Heuser and the Head of the School of Art, Professor Robert Meyrick, co-authored Stanley Anderson RA. Prints: A Catalogue Raisonné and co-curated An Abiding Standard: The Prints of Stanley Anderson RA for the Royal Academy of Arts, London. The exhibition was recommended by Alastair Smart of The Telegraph in his short list of ‘the best art exhibitions from across London and the rest of the UK’. The new exhibition takes a closer look at Anderson’s worldview. “Anderson’s work appears to be unconcerned with – and even ...

Latest news from Oriel Myrddin Gallery - The Dark Side of Victorian Carmarthen - Anthony Rhys Drwg-enwog: Ochr Dywyll Caerfyrddin yn Oes Fictoria Notorious: The Dark Side of Victorian Carmarthen 9 Ionawr // January - 12 Mawrth // March 2016 AGORIAD YR ARDDANGOSFA NOS SADWRN 9 IONAWR 6–8PM Agorir gan Jane Davies, Uwch Reolwr Gwasanaethau Diwylliannol, Cyngor Sir Gâr. Wedyn crwydro tafarnau ‘Drwg-enwog’ Caerfyrddin, dan arweiniad yr artist Anthony Rhys. EXHIBITION OPENING ON SATURDAY 9 JANUARY 6–8PM To be opened by Jane Davies, Senior Cultural Services Manager, Carmarthenshire County Council. Followed by a ‘Notorious’ Carmarthen pub crawl, led by artist Anthony Rhys. Cyfres Y Rhes Gefn // Back Wall Series: Hywel Edwards 9 Ionawr // January - 12 Mawrth // March 2016 Artist o Gaerfyrddin, Hywel Edwards yw’r diweddaraf i fod yn rhan o Cyfres Y Rhes Gefn yn Oriel Myrddin sy’n rhoi sylw i artistiaid Cymreig. Bydd y gwaith ar werth. Drwy brynu gwaith celf, rydych yn cefnogi ar...

Popular Carmarthen artist Mark Cox will be exhibiting his latest works (including this view of Tenby, above) at Aberglasney's Mansion House between July 3 and 16. Mark is a frequent visitor to Aberglasney House and Gardens in the picturesque Tywi Valley and holds regular exhibitions at the Mansion House. Mark is a traditional painter who values the skills and techniques that can only come with years of study and experience. Mark draws his inspiration from the landscape of south and west Wales and enjoys working in both oil and watercolours, producing landscapes, seascapes and coastal scenes. Mark is passionate about painting and is fortunate to live in an area of natural outstanding beauty where there is a new subject waiting to be captured on canvas around every corner. Mark's own website describes him as 'an eclectic artist who enjoys working on a variety of subjects, producing landscapes, marine and coastal paintings'. He works in both oils and watercolours...

There's a new exhibition opening on Saturday at the Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Carmarthen. It features the work of Anna Barratt, David Begley, Kelly Best, Helen Booth, Julia Griffiths Jones, Robert McPartland, Annie-Mie Melis, Abigail Sidebotham and Stephanie Tuckwell. There's also an Open Sketchbook event in the studio from 11am to 4pm. You can make you own handmade sketchbook with students from Carmarthen School of Art. Admission is free.

This spring the Royal Academy of Arts in London presents an exhibition of prints by Stanley Anderson RA (1884-1966) curated by Professor Robert Meyrick and Dr Harry Heuser of the School of Art, Aberystwyth University. It is one of a series of exhibitions and catalogues raisonné celebrating the work of Royal Academician printmakers. A fully illustrated and annotated catalogue raisonné of prints published by the Royal Academy coincides with the launch of the exhibition. Written by Robert Meyrick and Harry Heuser, it provides an in-depth assessment of Anderson’s oeuvre. Today, Stanley Anderson is best known for his series of engravings memorialising Britain’s vanishing crafts, trades and farming practices. These carefully observed and meticulously executed portraits of traditional occupations provide us with a pictorial record of life and work in mid-twentieth century rural Britain. Presented together with Anderson’s earlier, lesser-known drypoints of urban life, they form a composite...

There's an opportunity for artists to showcase their work in a digital exhibition curated by young people aged 14-24 to be held throughout Carmarthen town. It is part of the Young Curator's Project with the Oriel Myrddin Gallery in Carmarthen, led by artist Michelle Collins. The deadline is April 20 and entry details are below -

“Do you really regret your tattoo?” asks charity arts project A Cardiff tea room is to be the location of an unusual art exhibition about over older people and their tattoos. ‘No Regrets’ is a photographic exhibition by the Gwanwyn arts festival from older people’s charity Age Cymru. It gets under the skin of over 50s by asking them the question “Do you really regret your tattoo in older age?” ‘No Regrets’ is going to be on show at Waterloo Tea on Waterloo Gardens, which supports local artists by displaying their work as a six-week exhibition. Featuring photography by Michal Iwanowski, the exhibition promises to deliver a positive and inspiring study of tattoos on older skin and the stories behind the ink. Says Emma Robinson, Age Cymru’s Arts & Creativity Development Officer: “Gwanwyn is the Wales-wide, national arts festival for older people, championing and we’re delighted to partner up with Waterloo Tea in Cardiff. “The idea for ‘No Regrets’ came from the notion that people who...

A new season of art exhibitions in the Mansion at Aberglasney House and Gardens in the Tywi Valley is just around the corner with the wonderful David Cowdry opening the 2015 season on Friday March 27. About David Cowdry The 44-year-old Llandelo-based has been steadily building up a ‘fan club’ of followers at Aberglasney with exhibitions at the mansion house over each of the last eight years. “It’s become a bit of a base camp and it’s a place I really enjoy visiting to show off my latest works,” said David. Aberglasney is a long way from David’s native Kent, but it’s very much a home from home for the artist. “I first moved down to Wales from Kent more than 20 years ago to study wildlife illustration at the old Carmarthen College of Art. “Believe it or not, but I was a failure,” chuckled David. “I did some, but not all of the course as there was too much attention paid to bookwork and classroom activity. “I couldn’t believe that we could be stuck indoors in an area which bo...

Latest news from the Oriel Myrddin gallery in Carmarthen -  Children's writing competition and half term activities February half term at the gallery Bells and Bowls Family Workshop Wednesday 18 Feb 11am-1pm Be inspired by Adam Buick and create beautiful bells and bowls using air dry clay and other materials. Suitable for all ages £3 parent, £2 child Booking essential Mini Sculptures for age 8+ Thursday 19 Feb 11am-1pm Inspired by artwork in the current exhibition create mini sculptures to take home. £5 per child Booking essential Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Church Lane, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA31 1LH

Latest news from Aberglasney House and Gardens in the Tywi Valley - Aberglasney's Giant Vegetable Competition (including our own special 'Gardeners Question Time') - Sunday 5th October Aberglasney Gardens’ Giant Vegetable Competition will be your chance to see some monstrous vegetables ‘in the flesh’ as growers from near and far come together for the second time at this historic site. In charge of the official weigh-in will be gardening guru Medwyn Williams MBE. Even if you don’t plan on entering the competition this year make sure you come along to Aberglasney on the day of judging to enjoy the fruits of other peoples labour. There will also be a special version of ‘Gardeners Question Time’ when a panel of experts including Medwyn Williams and Joseph Atkin will be answering your gardening questions. Thanks to competition sponsors and renewable energy specialist ‘Good Life’, prizes in each category are well worth competitor’s efforts – 1st prize is £40 or a joint...