The Shakespeare
Totterdown Arts Trail - 18-19 November 2017

A bit more about our artists.

In the line up this year we have the fabulous Andrew Burns Colwill who has quite a year creating three new exhibitions as well as doing cracking walls at Upfest and Cheltenham Paint Festival. Always a prolific artist Andy has really hit his stride with his take on environmental, social and political issues over the last two years.  Often poignant, sometimes challenging and usually with a fair amount of dark humour thrown in his beautiful soak stained canvasses tell a story with a big message.

We also have the anthropomorphic genius of low brow art Julian Quaye.  His is a collection of weird and wonderful characters with their own back stories have an Edwardian and Victorian feel with political undertones beneath the surface.  Jules has been concentrating on some new black and white designs of his iconic Aviator and Mr Snuggles this year.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the prints that he gives us for this year's trail.

Abstract artist Giles Barwick will be showing us some of his lovely work. His work is ever evolving and changing he says ‘The focus of my work is doing something better.  I look at other artists and I  need to achieve something different.  To me it seems like other people are doing the same.  That’s how my work with faces came about as people were doing works around eyes but not with taking eyes out.  These naturally evolved into the more abstract work I am doing now.’  Painting for him is a form of meditation in dealing with Crones disease.  He says ‘It’s a focus that takes my mind away from what is happening.  When I’m painting I’m not thinking.’   

I'm really looking forward to seeing Mary Rouncefield's new work.   Mary is a Bristol based printmaker and artist working in drawing, textiles and some screen print. I find her art fascinating.  She has a life long interest in mathematics and many of her screen prints feature mathematical graphs or patterns. She also uses the symbol of a corset as a metaphor for the mental discipline imposed by mathematics. The end result, for the mathematician, will often be elegant, concise and beautiful, but to achieve that, she/he must conform to the conventions and logic of their subject.

A new artist to the Shakespeare I'm thrilled to announce that we will be having work from Bristol pop-surrealist Jimmer Willmott.  I've been hoping to feature Jimmer's work for some time so I am really chuffed that we will be showcasing his unique collection of sugar coated irreverent crazy.

Returning we have my favourite gentle giant of Urban art DIFF with his 'different' approach to art. As a roofer DIFF gets an alternate perspective on the world.  He always carries a notepad with him and jots down ideas for pieces.  ‘It is the challenging ones that appeal to me’.  He says it is his practical background which give him his problem solving skills to make it happen.  You can see this in the amazing work he does using the natural shadows of Bristol when night falls.

We will also have a new selection of work from the one man ideas factory that is South African born Neil Roberts who has adopted Bristol as his chosen home.  Neil is a multi-talented artist taking his inspiration from his creative photography and translating it into art.  Over many years Neil has been working on a series of oil paintings which will one day result in a powerful mystical tarot deck.  His photo realistic artworks have often been mistaken for his brilliant photographs - such is is skill.

It will be a feast for the eyes - and I know Josh (Bar Manager at The Shakespeare) will have some surprises for us too. 

See you at the Trail!

Love

Auntie G