New Ashgate Gallery champions the best of contemporary art and craft providing an unparalleled resource in Farnham, Surrey and beyond
Shopping cart0 itemsCheckout
New season of exhibitions and events
Known for selecting art and craft of the highest quality, the gallery team has handpicked artists from across the UK. Our exhibitions present glass, ceramics, jewellery, sculpture, print and painting.
Rising Stars 2022: The Catalogue
Surrey Artist of the Year 2021
We curate a programme of 25 annual exhibitions and events, working in partnership with local and national organisations. Visit us for exhibitions in the Pavilion, Balcony and Maker in Focus Galleries & enjoy the affordable Craft Collection, perfect for unique gifts.
Jack Doherty, Round Folded Rim Vessel
30 April to 11 June 2022
Jack Doherty: Maker in Focus
Jack Doherty's work is concerned with function but not necessarily utility. He is intrigued and inspired by the potency of archetypal vessel forms. Anonymous and uncomplicated pots from pre-history used for storing, cooking and keeping people safe through winters and giving protection in the everyday world can also function in other ways. Jack sees them as figurative objects. As guardians of emotion and connectors with the spiritual, he wants his work to inhabit our domestic spaces in the light, shadow and darkness with qualities that neither painting or abstract sculpture can.
Jack uses one clay, one colouring mineral and a single firing with soda. Over time, the techniques have become simpler but more refined, in the belief that stripping away what is unnecessary can produce work with complexity and depth. His palette of colour is achieved through the versatility of copper. The kiln is a vital creative element in his making process. The long firing alternates between oxidisation and reduction atmospheres, the surface texture is produced by blasting the forms with a sodium solution at high temperature.
Jack was Chair of the Ceramics Potters Association for 10 years, a founder and current Chair of Ceramic Art London and from 2008 - 2013, the first Lead Potter and Creative Director of the Leach Pottery.
Louise Davies, Enchanted Forest, etching.
30 April to 11 June 2022
Louise Davies: From Dawn to Midnight
Louise Davies explores the landscape, nature, light and the time of day. She has a vibrant use of colour and a distinctive line drawing. Her work is based on sketches that she makes whilst out in the Landscape. On returning to the studio, she works closely with these observed drawings which are the foundation of her works on etching plate or canvas. Her response in the creation of the piece is intuitive and also from memories. Louise can spend weeks on a print or painting, reworking the image and experimenting with different colour fields and mark making.
Louise studied Fine Art at St Martins and also has an MA in Printmaking at Camberwell. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. She works full time in her studio in Woolwich in South London and has won many awards for her work.
Alice Sheridan, Poised
30 April to 11 June 2022
Alice Sheridan: Duality
A painting is both a tangible object and also an illusion. Alice creates a sense of depth and space, fabricating a place you can escape to. In these larger scale works she has explored this idea of flipping between two states; a fast energy and slowly controlled sweeps of paint to give dynamic paintings which are deceptively simple.
The paintings are created both vertically and horizontally over many sessions. There is a sense of impossibility as the evidence of the artist's marks and drips contradict the sweeping pools of liquid paint which must lie still. Brights shimmer under layers of softer colour and then spring to life giving areas of gentle transition and bold brush marks.
Alice worked as a graphic designer before making the move to fine art and now works from her studio in West London. Her abstract landscapes are owned worldwide, licensed for John Lewis and used for high-end interiors.
Donna Barry, Green Orchid, Stacey Bentley Photography
30 April to 27 August 2022
Summer Craft Collection 2022: Craft with Local Heart
The Summer Craft Collection presents a curated range of unique, local and nationally renowned craft. Treat yourself to something new for your home or buy gifts for your loved ones. Pop in, browse and shop away from the crowds. You'll be supporting a local gallery and small creative artist businesses if you do, as well as finding something special.
We are delighted present a new collection of:
Ceramics by: Cressida Borrett, Laura De Benedetti, Rebecca Ridley, Helen Rondell and Lesley Nason.
Jewellery by: Donna Barry, Rebecca Burt, Elizabeth Chamberlain, EM Jewellery and M. Kala.
Textiles by: Bonita Ahuja, Eve Campbell and Jennie Jackson.
Laura Quinn, Tacit Dimension, Detail
30 April to 11 June 2022
The Contemporary Glass Society: Joyful Reflections - Celebrating the International Year of Glass
The United Nations General Assembly approved a resolution declaring the year 2022 as the International Year of Glass to celebrate the heritage and importance of this material in our lives. To celebrate this, the New Ashgate is delighted to present two art glass exhibitions this year.
This exhibition is a collaboration with the Contemporary Glass Society to present Joyful Reflections, an exhibition featuring 15 exceptional makers working in a variety of diverse glass techniques.
The Contemporary Glass Society is the leading organisation representing national and international glass artists, designers, and makers. With over 1,000 members, the society champions the work of independent makers through a variety of initiatives including business development opportunities and exhibitions at leading galleries all over the UK.
On their 50th anniversary, we are delighted to announce that the Crafts Council has selected the exhibition as a Make! Craft Live! partner.
In Joyful Reflections, the artists step back from the sadness of the pandemic and embrace the joy of life as we know it now. Vibrant colours and transparent forms reflect the joyful moments we have come to appreciate in everyday life.
Selected makers include Teresa Chlapowski, Hannah Gibson, Jianyong Guo, Laura Hart, Julie Light, Roberta Mason, Wendy Newhofer, Lisa Pettibone, Laura Quinn, Morag Reekie, Amy Skachill Burke, Nancy Sutcliffe, Cara Wassenberg, Frans Wesselman and Sandra Young.
Testing the parameters of the material, the makers highlight their refined craft skills including blown, cast, fused, engraved and stained-glass techniques through a collective of sculptural and decorative work.
The exhibition highlights the luminous, reflective, and often illusional qualities of glass, celebrating its unique ability to express fragility, rigidity, pattern, and form.
Our second exhibition for the International Year of Glass opens on 24th September, presenting stained glass by Jessica Stroud, the Surrey Artist of the Year 2021.
Adrian Bates, Irish White
18 June to 23 July 2022
Adrian Bates: Sculptor in Focus
Adrian's vessels are thrown and built from black and white stoneware clays. Some are simply glazed to emphasise the form, others are unglazed. The glazed forms are biscuit fired to 9700C, then glazed and high fired to 12600C. The unglazed are once-fired to 12000C.
Adrian is largely self-taught although he attended various pottery classes and courses with (amongst others) John Stroomer at Solway Ceramics Centre, who he found to be an inspirational and generous teacher. He previously worked as a graphic designer and craft teacher, but pottery is his real passion and in 2011 decided to become a full time professional maker.
Andrian says:
In all the work I make I am looking to explore the relationship between inner space and outer form; where they meet and merge one into the other. This sprang from an interest in calligraphy and typography, but includes all organic forms; plant and animal, where inner nature describes outer appearance - each is expressed in, and through, the other.
Adrian's sculptures display an inherent understanding of structure and form, managing to simultaneously fool and dazzle the eye of the viewer.
Eliza Southwood: Finale, screen print, edition of 30 on Colourplan 270 gsm, 70 x 50 cm, 2021
18 June to 23 July 2022
Eliza Southwood: The Art of Being Outside
Eliza Southwood is an award-winning printmaker, painter and illustrator originally from London but currently based in Northern Spain. She has exhibited widely both in the UK and abroad. Eliza has been drawing and painting since she was old enough to pick up a paintbrush.
Having spent her childhood in the remote region of Asturias in Spain, Eliza travelled to Italy, where she worked with horses, and then to Scotland, where she studied Architecture at the Mackintosh School of Art in Glasgow. Postgraduate studies followed in London, but after several years in architectural practice, she decided to change career and dedicate herself to making art full time.
Eliza's speciality is silk screen printing, but she also works in linocut, mixed media, watercolour, acrylic, pen and charcoal . As a keen fan of cycling, much of her work is cycling-themed, but other sources of inspiration are cityscapes, sports and people.
4 years ago she moved to Spain, returning to the same remote area she grew up in, and since then has taken inspiration from the surrounding landscapes and rural local activities, whilst continuing with the themes that interest her.
The name of show is a reflection on what it means to be outside, especially after so many were trapped indoors during the restrictions of the pandemic. It is about sports, movement, and simply taking joy in the environment around us.
Eliza's work is displayed with sculptures and miniatures by David Mayne, the creator of the Farnham Sculpture outside the gallery. David's much loved indoor sculptures depict popular activities such as cycling and woodland walks.
Ruth Taylor, Tidal Drift, 82 x 82cm, oil on canvas
18 June to 23 July 2022
Ruth Taylor: Solitude is Bliss
This exhibition entitled, "Solitude is Bliss" is a collection of Ruth Taylor's recent sea, beach and landscapes drawn from memories. With a milky palette of greys, greens and lilacs, they have a dreamy quality. Empty of people, these are places to be alone in where you can enjoy the solitude, walking in the countryside or gazing out to sea, happy in your own company.
Ruth Taylor trained as a textile designer at West Surrey College of Art and Design in the 80s and after many years working with fabric in many forms she discovered a love of oil painting which has become her main form of artistic expression. The influence of her work with textiles is evident in her work, her love of colour, texture and pattern is as much an inspiration as the English countryside. Ruth loads the surface with paint, moving it around with brushes, combs and even her hands looking to capture a particular light or the effect of the weather and seasons on the land.
2 to 23 July 2022
Dan Jones: Pub Walks
The 'pub walk' is arguably a fusion of two great British traditions: hiking the great outdoors coupled with popping in for a rest up and a refreshment at the nearby pub.
In this intimate and evocative show, Hampshire based artist Dan Jones explores this wholesome tradition by painting his favourite local pubs and elements from the corresponding walks around the pub's nearby natural settings.
Through both small and large-scale works, Dan takes us on a leisurely journey across a nature reserve, around a lake, along a canal, beside rivers and through fields and woodland, each with a stop by its nearby pub for a palette cleanser.
Whilst each of these places is local and familiar to him, Dan took the opportunity to re-explore these walks and to investigate the previously overlooked by completing each of the paintings on sight and developing a closer relationship with each of these unique places.
www.danjonesartist.com
Linda Miller Embroideries
17 July 2022
Fun Fabrics: Magic with Beads, Buttons and Sequins with artist Linda Miller
Family Drop-In Crafts
Sunday 17 July, 3-5
Gostrey Meadow
Free, no booking is required
We all need to recycle and reuse more! Sewing is a fun skill and homemade items often last longer and save both money and environment. To celebrate our refound love for sewing, New Ashgate Gallery has teamed up with Linda Miller Embroideries. Using a selection of colorful fabrics, come and try a basic hand stitch to create your unique picture with buttons, beads, and sequins! This drop-in workshop is suitable for all children, attending with a guardian, and is a perfect starter for someone wishing to explore stitching that they can also continue at home.
For the past 28 years Linda Miller has been making one-off, framed and unframed machine embroideries using an industrial Bernina 950 sewing machine and her work is exhibited throughout the UK, Europe and the USA. She has pieces held in the Southern Arts collection and within the permanent textile and dress collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The craft activity is supported by the Farnham Town Council.
Jessica Stroud, The Surrey Artist of the Year
7 August to 4 September 2022
Fused Glass Light Catcher with Jessica Stroud, The Surrey Artist of the Year
Family Drop-In Crafts
Sundays 7 August and 4 September, 3-5
Gostrey Meadow
Free, no booking is required
Join us for a fun and skill developing hands-on workshop with an introduction to the art of glass fusing. You will be making your own Rainbow Fused Light Catcher. All glass will be supplied, no previous experience necessary.
Jessica Stroud is a local stained-glass artist and has a passion for the transmitted light and colours of mouth blown glass and uses it when creating her own work. The natural world, especially her garden and the wildlife that visits, and our rich heritage of stained-glass windows, are an enduring inspiration. Jessica uses traditional techniques to make her panels, the origins of which go back as early as the 7th Century. Jessica is a member of the British Society of Master Glass Painters and The Surrey Artist of the Year.
The workshop is supported by Farnham South Street Trust.
24 October 2022
HALF-TERM CRAFTS: Fabric Applique Workshop for Children with artist Linda Miller
New Ashgate Gallery, 24 October, 10-11.30
This workshop is suitable for children aged 7 - 14
Free admission, max. 10 participants
Booking is required via Event Brite:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/half-term-crafts-fabric-applique-workshop-for-children-tickets-347901461637
Using a selection of colorful fabrics transform your own drawing into a stunning picture of fabric and stitch. Learn a few fancy hand stitches to embellish and finish off your unique picture ready to be hung on your bedroom wall or to be sewn on your favorite item of clothing. Why not add a splash of bling with some buttons, beads, and sequins!
For the past 28 years Linda Miller has been making one-off, framed and unframed machine embroideries using an industrial Bernina 950 sewing machine and her work is exhibited throughout the UK, Europe and the USA. She has pieces held in the Southern Arts collection and within the permanent textile and dress collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The craft activity is supported by the Farnham Town Council.
24 October 2022
Machine Embroidery Workshop for adults with artist Linda Miller at New Ashgate Gallery
Suitable for the beginner or more experienced stitchers
New Ashgate Gallery, 24 October, 12.30-3.30
Booking via Event Brite is required:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/machine-embroidery-workshop-for-adults-at-new-ashgate-gallery-tickets-347908974107
The admission is by donation, min. donation is £1
Working with a sumptuous array of threads discover how to use your sewing machine as a drawing and painting tool and experience the delight of sewing to create a picture taken from your own original idea. Bring with you a photograph, picture or drawing which inspires you and translate it into a picture of stitches.
For the past 28 years Linda Miller has been making one-off, framed and unframed machine embroideries using an industrial Bernina 950 sewing machine and her work is exhibited throughout the UK, Europe and the USA. She has pieces held in the Southern Arts collection and within the permanent textile and dress collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The craft activity is supported by the Farnham Town Council.
