art sale – devizine.com

Small Wonders is up and running again this year, an online art auction raising funds for Arts Together, a Wiltshire charity bringing creative workshops to those most in need of social interaction, the vulnerable and elderly.

It was one of my most memorable moments working on Devizine, when some years ago I attended a workshop in Melksham with renowned artist Clifton Powell. At a sheltered accommodation centre for the elderly, I witnessed an art group which far exceeded my expectations. It was about so much more than the art, it was an opportunity for social interaction, and when one chap bought out a guitar and sang, I realised it verged on a party! Said exceeded expectation came via talking to the members and realising how much Arts Together meant to them. One couldn’t help but be touched by the experience.

But moreso, the amazing work Arts Together do covers a wider area, with 72 places within six key centres in Devizes, Melksham, Bradford-on-Avon, Trowbridge, Marlborough and Pewsey.

And here’s your chance to help, and bag yourself some original art too, perhaps it’d make a great Christmas present. There’s over 40 pieces to bid on or buy outright, some for as little as thirty quid. Bidding starts on the 18th of November. All the artwork has been donated by renowned local artists, and there’s an impressive variety.

The gallery is open now, click here to have a browse.

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Wondering where the time goes, it’s been near on a couple of years since we featured Devizes artist Bryony Cox, when she exhibited her paintings in Upstairs at Jacks. At the time Bryony had not long graduated from Falmouth Uni. Since completing her studies, she has travelled extensively throughout Asia.

“I’m now doing an MA in actor musicianship at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama,” she informed me to minor surprise, aware Bryony has performed and sung in local dramatics such as the White Horse Opera and Devizes Musical Theatre in the past. “But I’ve kept my studio in Trowbridge and still produce artwork alongside. Sometimes I have been able to use my visual skills exploring theatre making and performance.”

Personally, I’ve always been taken by her dramatic landscapes and fascination with mountains, yet I’ve always been a fan of Turner, and there’s something equally as expressive and unified in Bryony’s. There is, however, a variety in her enlarged portfolio since we last spoke, some figure and settings work inspired from her travels, sketched miniatures, and she has been using mixed-media, charcoal and pastel for example, and experimentation with college, even animation. And there’s no better time to browse Bryony’s website, as she offers 20% off and 50% on some of her older works, with 20% donated to the NHS. See for yourself on her website, here.

These connections between art and performing arts captivates me, aside the name arts, and primary school drama class where I had to pretend to be a tree! So, I asked Bryony if she thinks there are similar work practices in theatre to art, and in what ways.

“I’m quite interested in the crossover between theatre and performance art,” she explained. “I have started bringing film back into my work and my research on my MA has been about performing alongside film projections of drawings, animations and audio overlays. But I have always kept drawing and painting Wiltshire alongside because of the beautiful countryside and still keep drawing portraits from any travels that I have been on as I love to document different people and cultures.”

We are lucky to live in an area where artists feel their home is an equally inspiring subject as their travels. In this much I see a likeness to Clifton Powell’s work, another well-travelled local artist who documents his journeys through his art, yet returning to Wiltshire often produces some equally outstanding pieces.

It’s worthwhile bookmarking Bryony’s site as she frequently updates it with new work. “More recently I have been to Vietnam and Indonesia,” she told me, “so some of my more recent portraits that I am going to put up today are from that trip.” We look forward to seeing them!