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New at Skylark 2: Ken McClymont

Ken McClymont (right) is the latest artist to join Skylark Galleries, showing at Skylark 2 in the Oxo Tower Wharf, London.

Ken is delighted to be part of Skylark, saying: "It's fantastic to show my work and have the opportunity and exposure with committed, devoted fellow artists who take pride in the gallery. It’s a great set-up and unique by being run by the people who exhibit in such an attractive part of the city."

Ken was born in Glasgow and studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, where he first discovered abstraction. He has exhibited in shows in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Hull and Brussels. As well as being a painter, Ken is an award-winning theatre director and designer, mostly working on new writing. He has directed more than 40 professional plays, details of which can be seen on his website. He enjoys graphic design and typography, designs theatre sets, T-shirts and publicity posters, and makes props.

"In a sense," he says, "my dedication to acrylic abstraction on canvas or board has allowed me the freedom to express more intensely some of the ideas and emotions I convey in the theatre. It is as if I were directing the shapes and colours to enable them to stage an experience. In this context, every gesture finds its place in the creation of depth and movement, not just in relation to the whole piece, but also in the connection established with the viewer. My smaller works in box frames make these relationships more palpable. Members of the audience should be engaged, even if they don’t agree with each other. My hope is that the intensity of the encounter is not quickly forgotten."

You can find out more about Ken’s work by visiting www.kenmcclymont.co.uk or visit Skylark 2 on the first floor of the Oxo Tower to see his work and meet him on the regular days he will be attending the gallery.

Skylark Summer Shows

Summer is coming to Skylark Galleries with a vengeance this month with a pair of special seasonal shows of paintings, prints and sculptures by the galleries' 30 artists that are bound to tickle your artistic senses.

The shows focus on small, affordable, portable works with a summery subject to capture the easygoing, relaxed atmosphere of the South Bank of the Thames during August.

The exhibitions in both galleries open on Monday 15 August, continuing until Sunday 28 August in Skylark 2 and Sunday 4 September in Skylark 1.

Wondering how to find the Skylark galleries? Look no further than here. Skylark galleries are in the heart of London and artist-run, so you'll find an artist in the gallery when you visit.

Featured artist this month: Gill Hickman

Gill Hickman, textural artist and director of Skylark Galleries, is the featured artist in both Skylark spaces from 18 to 31 July in her exhibition Embossed and Embellished. Gill's uplifting work, which draws from layers and textures in the environment, is a celebration of life in all its forms.

In Skylark 1 she is showing a selection of her white canvas works including “All Things are Connected”, and in Skylark 2 the focus is on her embossed paper pieces including “Wobbly Inside” and “The Chinese Elements Series” (right, Fire, embossed collage of fine papers embellished with gold leaf).

You can meet Gill at the galleries at these times:

Skylark 2 on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 July from 2pm to 5pm (Open Weekend Event Collage Activity),

Skylark 1 on Tuesday 26 July from 11am to 7pm,

Skylark 2 on Sunday 31st July from 11am to 6pm.

On Friday 29 July both galleries will be open late from 6pm to 8pm. Join us for a drink while

you browse our latest collection. Gill will give a short talk in Skylark 2 at 7pm. This event is part of the SLAM LAST Fridays which happen across south London on the last Friday of each month.

www.southlondonartmap.com

www.skylarkgalleries.com

Open Weekend at Skylark 2

There's just one year to the opening of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, and to help mark the milestone this weekend Skylark Gallery 2 is hosting one of the 1,100 events taking place across the UK in the London 2012 Open Weekend.

On Saturday 23 July and Sunday 24 July from 3pm to 5pm Skylark artists will be on hand to help visitors to the gallery make collages that represent their hopes and dreams. A similar event last year was a huge success - so join us for a second year, or don't miss out again this year. We look forward to seeing you on the South Bank!

www.london2012.com/open-weekend

Clare Johnson selected to show in Norwich

Clare Johnson, who shows in Skylark 1, has been selected to take part in the Elements: Material Worlds exhibition at the Forum, Norwich, which is open to artists living in Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Essex and Cambridgeshire. The artists chosen engage particularly with habitat, environment and both the natural and man-made world.

Clare is showing the work Scenic Sterries Wharf (pictured above).

Elements: Material Worlds
12-28 July, 9am-11pm daily
Millennium Plain, Bethel Street, Norwich, NR2 1TF
Directions to the Forum here.

Guest artist Orson Kartt at Skylark 1 this summer

A new series of work by guest artist Orson Kartt titled "Shakespear, the Missing Chapters" is showing at Skylark 1 at Gabriel's Wharf on the South Bank, London, through July and August. Prices range from £25 to £1,000. There's a private view at the gallery on Tuesday 19 July from 6.30pm to 9pm, and the chance to meet the artist over a beer or glass of wine. More information about Orson can be found at www.orsonkartt.com.

Clare Johnson's work will also continue at the gallery in "Positive Perspectives of Industrial Landscapes": her works are on sale for £90 to £500. More details about where Clare's work can be seen will be posted here soon.

Wondering how to get to Skylark 1? Have a look here.

Skylark Galleries new on Facebook

On Facebook? Find the new Skylark Galleries pages now to keep up to date with what's going on at the artist-run galleries on London's South Bank. The latest news, images, contact details... click the 'like' button!

Jane's Skylark Cupcakes

Jane Skinner's special unlimited edition Skylark Cupcakes, which put in an appearance at the recent late opening at the galleries.

Skylark galleries open late Friday

Both Skylark galleries will be open late on Friday 24 June from 6-8pm
as part of the South London Art Map Last Fridays

Come and meet the artists:

Carol Edgar's collages will be featured in Skylark 1 (left, Riverscape),














Michelle Elwell's digital photoworks will be featured in Skylark 2 (left, Red Heart I),









as well as Jane Skinner (left, Made in China, photograph) in Skylark 1,










and artist Gill Hickman
... and see works by all of our 33 gallery artists. Feel free to drop in.

www.southlondonartmap.com

Deana Lee shortlisted for top ceramics award

We're delighted to announce that Skylark artist Deana Lee (left) has been short-listed for the inaugural Potclays Emerging Makers Award. This international competition was open to ceramic artists/potters who had completed their studies within the past five years. The finalists consist of four British artists, one American and one Australian.

Deana and the other shortlisted artists have been invited to the 2011 International Ceramics Festival, held in Aberystwyth from 1-3 July, where they will each give 15-minute presentations to the professional and amateur ceramic audience, who will then select the winner of the award.

The International Ceramics Festival is one of the world's most prestigious biennial events for professional and amateur potters, and features demonstrations, kiln building and firings, slideshows, films and lectures, exhibitions, trade stands and bookstalls. The festival attracts more than 800 visitors from across the globe who gather for the weekend to discuss techniques, watch demonstrations and share ideas. At the 2009 festival, Deana worked for Tom Barnett, the well-known kiln maker, helping to create the Fire Capsule.

We all wish Deana the best of luck — check this blog in July to see how she got on in Wales.

You can read more about the International Ceramics Festival here.

www.deanaleeceramics.com

Pictured: Sensual Abundances I by Deana Lee

Introducing Gina Parr at Skylark 2

Gina Parr is the latest artist to join Skylark Galleries, showing at Skylark 2 in the Oxo Tower Wharf London.

Trained as a fine artist, Gina worked in London for 27 years as a production designer for television, designing and creating sets for studio, stage and location for the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV. Always approached with a painterly eye, her production design credits include Shooting Stars, Goodness Gracious Me, the Brit Awards, the Royal Variety Performance, the Mercury Music Prize and major BBC sports events. She has also lectured and mentored in Art and Design and Design for Television.

Gina is delighted to be part of Skylark, saying: "It's such a vibrant and wonderfully diverse collective of artists, showing in such a prestigious spot in London."

She was born in Devon, where rolling hills and dramatic seascapes played a major part in her childhood, and then lived for the past 30 years in London. Both places seep into her expressive, bold, gestural paintings, which she has exhibited in shows in London, Milan, Brighton and Exeter.

Most recently, while visiting France and travelling in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, she has photographed series of transient forms and marks on walls and surfaces, each with their own pictorial resonance or echo. Many are redolent of things half remembered, some resemble fragments of old charts and maps, others feature overt elements of graphic representation.

You can find out more about Gina's work here, or pay a visit to Skylark 2, on the first floor of the Oxo Tower to see her work and meet her on the regular days she will be attending the gallery.

Above right, Rain and Gorse at Boscastle, and left, Dancin'

Skylark Galleries open late this Friday

By the river Thames at the end of this week? Interested in an affordable, original work of art and in meeting the artist into the bargain? Skylark Galleries are open late this Friday, 27 May, until 8pm, with special presentations by the gallery's artists in both the Gabriel's Wharf and the Oxo Tower spaces.

In Skylark 2, Veta Gorner, whose prints are featured this month...












...Sara Sherwood, whose "Silver Sketches" are on show...











...and Gill Hickman will be present to chat with and share a glass of wine with.


Lucinda Beatty's collages are featured in Skylark 1...







The late night opening is part of the South London Art Map Last Fridays events.

Skylark at the Bristol Affordable Art Fair

There's still time to visit the Skylark Galleries stand - C9 - at the Bristol Affordable Art Fair. Artists including Liz Meier, Clare Johnson, Nicolette Carter, Veta Gorner, Gill Hickman, Steve Yeates, Deana Lee and Trinidad Ball are showing work.

The fair is taking place at Brunel's Old Station, Temple Meads, Bristol, and is open today, Sunday 15 May, from 11am to 5pm. For more information see here.

Trinidad Ball at the Society of Women Artists Anniversary show

Skylark 2 artist Trinidad Ball has been selected to show work at the Society of Women Artists 150th Annual exhibition, which runs from 30 June-9 July. The exhibition at the newly refurbished Mall Galleries, London, is being opened by HRH Princess Michael of Kent, the society's patron, on 29 June.

SWA president Barbara Penketh Simpson said: "The society, with its unique history, is constantly developing as a diverse, vital and forward-looking organisation seeking to promote talented women artists."

Skylark Galleries open late this Friday

Both Skylark galleries will be open late on Friday 29 April as part of the South London Art Map Last Fridays events. Perhaps you've been in the city for a royal event and have time to linger along the river before heading home. The galleries will be open until 8pm, and gallery artists will be on hand to talk about their work, including Eileen Martin (right), Jane Skinner and Gill Hickman.

Deana Lee's smoke fired ceramics (pictured below) are featured in Skylark 2.

Skylark 1's Spring Collection is on show in the window of its Gabriel's Wharf space and a short walk away at Oxo Tower Wharf the Art in an Egg collection will be on view in Skylark 2 - they make the perfect artistic Easter gift.

Come and join us for a browse and a drink.

Find out about directions to Skylark Galleries here.

Farewell to Keith

Today is veteran Skylark Galleries artist Keith Gretton's last day manning the Gabriel's Wharf space after ten years of being part of the artist-run studios. Keith's ceramic works and paintings have become a fixture of the gallery's roster over the years and so it is with sadness that we wish him farewell and the best of luck for the future.

Keith is a former head of art at Borough Road College, and a co-founder of the Battersea Contemporary Art Fair. His work will be on display in Skylark 1 until this Saturday, 30 April, so it's not too late to purchase his work through the gallery. He will continue to exhibit independently at fairs and events throughout the year.

Art in an egg

Art in an egg! An Easter egg with a gift that lasts! From £35

This year Skylark Galleries are offering a selection of original works of art measuring 5 x 5cms that fit inside an Easter egg (some are chocolate some are not). Each unique work was created by a Skylark artist.

The idea was inspired by the "Smaller than a Lemon" exhibition.

After Easter, when all the chocolate has been eaten, your tiny artwork can be framed and enjoyed for years to come.

We're open over Easter and the bank holiday weekends, so pay us a visit.

Coming soon...

Skylark 1 and Skylark 2 will be open until 8pm on Friday 29 April as part of the South London Art Map Last Friday event. Check back here soon for more details on what's going on.

Right: Jane Skinner, Mrs Overall, in Skylark 1

Gill Hickman goes Above and Beyond

Gill Hickman's new show of paintings and prints, "Micro to Macro", which has opened at Toads Mouth Too Gallery, Brockley, London (until 30 April), has turned to worlds beyond ours for inspiration. Gill grew up stargazing through a suburban sky, marvelling at the first grainy images of earth seen from space, and in her teens listening to space-inspired songs such as those by fellow south-east Londoner David Bowie.

The new works range from solar paintings, which erupt with vibrant burnt oranges and blood reds, to the creation of earth, fire and water in her embossed and embellished collages. In the textured paintings, hugely magnified cells conversing in vivid blues with golden mitochondria continue the journey deep into the very essence of life. In her planet paintings we find ourselves “Above and Beyond” (pictured), gazing at the awesome beauty of the earth’s symbiotic relationship to the stars and planets.

“This is an exciting and energising departure for me,” says Gill. “Following a commission to paint the sun last year, I turned my gaze from human cells upwards and outwards and rediscovered the inspiring images of the solar system. It’s happening now, it’s amazing and we are on a fascinating scientific and artistic journey to discover more. It seems limitless.”

"Micro to Macro" is at Toads Mouth Too, Café – Gallery - Bar, 188 Brockley Road, London SE4 2RN until 30 April 2011. More about Gill Hickman here.

Spring comes to Skylark

There's the hint of spring in the air and with Mothers Day drawing near - it's this coming Sunday, 3 April - why not take a gentle stroll along by the river Thames and pay a visit to Skylark 1 at Gabriel's Wharf and Skylark 2 on the first floor of Oxo Tower Wharf? Paintings, prints, ceramics, sculptures, cards: what more do you need for the maternal figure in your life? Works on show are constantly changing, and there's always an artist in attendance to help you out. Where exactly are we? This is where we are. Shown here: landscape by Amanda Averillo in Skylark 1.

Last Fridays at Skylark: 25 March, 6-8pm

This Friday, 25 March, is another great evening of art, wine and conversation at Skylark Galleries as part of the second South London Art Map Last Friday event. The galleries will be staying open from 6pm-8pm.

Two Skylark artists will be talking about their work during evening:

At 7pm in Skylark 2 in the Oxo Tower Wharf, Ruty Benjamini will give a short talk about her new work Trail-scapes (shown right).

At 7.30pm in Skylark 1 at Gabriel's Wharf, Gill Hickman will be talking about her new collection "Micro to Macro".

You can pick up an indispensable South London Art Map at the gallery, or find out more at www.southlondonartmap.com.

South London Art Map launches this week

The South London Art Map, a user-friendly guide to galleries in South London, launches this week and Skylark Galleries are joining in. South London Art Map organises art tours and the late-night opening of galleries on the last Friday of each month. Visit the South London Art Map website for an itinerary of events, or pick up a printed map from art venues.

On Friday night, 25 February, Skylark will be one of the 90 galleries taking part in the first of these Last Friday events. The first 25 visitors to Skylark will receive a badge by Hew Locke commissioned by Tate Modern specially for this event.

The galleries will be open from 6pm to 8pm, so come and have a glass of wine and join us in the launch. Skylark 2's featured artist Gill Hickman will be giving a brief talk about her new series "Micro to Macro" on the evening.

You can find out more about the South London Art Map through its Facebook page and follow it at Twitter.

The South London Art Map is a one-stop resource for the visual arts in South London from Bankside to Greenwich

www.southlondonartmap.com

Follow Skylark Galleries on Facebook and Twitter

Follow Skylark Galleries on Facebook!

New work, videos, the latest information: it's the ideal way to keep up with what's going on in our artist-run galleries on London's South Bank.

Up for a tweet? You can follow us — and we can follow you — with Twitter, too.

"Love Is" pop-up exhibition

Fifteen artists, from Skylark Galleries and others, explode the theme of “Love Is…” creating an exciting, vibrant spectacle of paintings, sculpture and everything in between.

Presented by the London Pop Up Gallery, “Love Is…” is at Franny’s, 11-13 Frith Street, London W1D 4RB, in the heart of Soho.

It is open this weekend only, closing Sunday 6 February at 5pm.

This show will surprise you and inspire you, just in time for Valentines day!

The Lovers' Collection: Trinidad Ball at Skylark Gallery 2

Trinidad Ball is the latest featured artist at Skylark 2, where her work is on show from 31 January to 14 February 2011.

Born in Barcelona, of Catalan parents, Trinidad lived in Spain and Latin America before moving to England where she has lived for many years. Her formal training was at Central St Martin’s, London. The interaction of colour is the basis for her work. “I’m excited by bright, strong colour and the drama created by darkness and light,” she says. Inspired by the Spanish masters and moved by the colours of Van Gogh, Trinidad’s paintings display fine technique, and an assured, heightened sense of colour and form.

“For me each painting is a challenge and an adventure. Observation is the key, working with the composition and background, this compels me to paint. Through the use of thin layers of high pigment oil paint, my aim is to render a translucent and luminous painting that gives the viewer the illusion of high realism”. Trinidad is also a Marmite lover!

Trinidad will be in attendance all day on Sunday 13 February at Skylark 2 Gallery and will be available to meet visitors and talk about her work and that of her colleagues.

Above, Marmite for Lovers, oil on canvas, 60x60cm, £1200.
Right, Cherries Royale, oil on canvas, 40x50cm, £650.

Find out more about her work on her website: www.trinidadball.co.uk.

Last week of Skylark sale

One week to go! The sales at Skylark Galleries 1 and 2 now continue until Sunday 6 February, and there are still great bargains to be found. The galleries are open from Tuesday to Sunday (more details on visiting the galleries here).

All works on display have at least 10% off marked prices, and others have as much as 50% off. Kathleen Dutton's In Green (shown left) was £98, and is now £70, and Nicolette Carter's Pink (right) was £150, and now just £80.

Trinidad Ball portrait unveiled

In December, a portrait by Skylark 2 artist Trinidad Ball of Professor Geoff Whitty, the director of the Institute of Education, University of London, was unveiled on the occasion of his retirement. It was unveiled by Lady Elizabeth Vallence in front of Professor Whitty, his family and members of the council. Here is Trinidad with Professor Whitty at the event.

Professor Dylan Wiliam, former deputy director of the Institute of Education, said: "I think the portrait is absolutely stunning. It captures perfectly both Geoff's penetrating intelligence, and also his sense of humour, but also the portrait has a great deal of warmth. I can't think of the words to say exactly what I feel about the portrait—someone once said "Words do not reflect the world, not because there is no world, but because words are not mirrors"—but the portrait is a wonderful and generous illustration of the complexity of the man."

Find out more about Trinidad's work at her website: www.trinidadball.co.uk.

Sale sale sale at Skylark Galleries!

The January sales have come to Skylark Galleries, with great unrepeatable offers, while stocks last, from Sunday 2 January to Sunday 6 February. There is at least 10% off everything in both galleries, with as much as 50% off some works.

In Skylark 1, at Gabriel's Wharf, on London's South Bank, gallery artists have studio clearance works at knockdown prices - items are individually marked, with some items on sale at half price. Among the great offers are Keith Gretton's ceramic brooches (left), which now have a sale price of £18.

It's a great chance to visit the new Skylark 1 space, just a few doors away from its previous location.

In Skylark 2, in the Oxo Tower Wharf, as well as 10% off everything in the gallery, there is a special sale section, with individually marked works offering discounts of up to 50%. Trinidad Ball's Another? (right) is among the bargains, with a sale price of £50.

The sale is on now, and runs until Sunday 6 February. For details on how to find us, see here.