First Impressions Joe Bowes

Friday 20 August - Monday 27 September,

Friends’ Gallery

'First Impressions' is a solo exhibition of black and white hand prints by Joe Bowes.

These powerful and evocative images convey the full drama of their subjects in a way that only black and white imaging can. They stir up the emotion of a landscape in the viewer without the need for colour, leaving the individual with their own impression and view of each scene produced in this ‘nostalgic’ medium.

Travel around the wild and free northern areas of Britain has enlivened the photographers’ enthusiasm and passion for his art and he has, in recent years, successfully exhibited and sold his work widely.

All the images are captured on film using medium format cameras and developed and printed in a traditional darkroom. The use of black and white film and ‘wet’ printing the images on archival fibre based paper give the prints a certain quality and feel that is not easily matched.

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Weathering the Storm: The Experiences of Keswick People

Saturday 21 August - Tuesday 28 September,

Circle Gallery

Cumbrians are a hardy breed. We share an inherent and indomitable spirit which prevails because we love the place we live in. Cumbria’s climate and landscape can be brutal as well as beautiful. We respond to this adversity by drawing strength from one another. To overcome and thrive in the challenges our county throws at us we have developed a strong sense of community built on steely self sufficiency and a readiness to help those in need.

When the unprecedented rains came in November 2009 it was our unparalleled community spirit that saw us through. We drew on our own strength, neighbour helping neighbour, rescue services, councils and volunteers joining together to save lives and property.

Whilst some people just wanted to put the November floods behind them and get on with their lives others felt the need to reflect on the devastating experience in order to begin to draw strength from their ability to survive the ordeal.

For everyone affected by the floods it was an unforgettable experience and this exhibition of photographs and personal accounts gives an insight into the experiences of people living and working in the Keswick area in which hundreds of people were forced from their homes with serious implications for their health and wellbeing, their family life and the education of their children.

The dark sullen clouds of November 2009 can and will have a silver lining for Cumbria so that our beautiful county emerges a better and stronger place.

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Keswick Society of Art

Friday 1 October - Monday 8 November,

Friends’ Gallery

A super exhibition of traditional and contemporary workds recently painted by a group of local amateur and professional artists.  A diverse display of inspirational landscapes, still life, botanical, wildlife and figurative paintings using a variety of mediums e.g. oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel etc.  An enjoyable experience not to be missed.  Click here to visit their website.

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Keswick Photographic Society

Saturday 2 October - Tuesday 9 November,

Circle Gallery

The Keswick Photographic Society are pleased to present an exhibition of high quality pictures from among its members. The Society has a well deserved reputation for excellence in the Northern Counties and although having a strong leaning to landscapes and natural history also produces work of other subjects.

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Felt Horizons Debbie Lucas

Friday 12 November - Monday 13 December,

Friends’ Gallery

Felt Horizons is a collection of Cumbrian landscapes in felt and fabrics, focusing on the connection between the sky, water and land.  Living in Cumbria gives me plenty of inspiration for my work.  The dramatic landscape and skies are constantly changing with the seasons and the time of day.

The medium I use for my pieces is felt.  I use mainly Merino, Blue faced Leicester wool and silk tops.  By carding these together a lovely lustre can be achieved, which is especially interesting when used for sky and water.  I dye a lot of the wool and silk these gives a wider range of colours to work with.  Felt is a versatile medium to work with. By laying down the fibres and adding warmth moisture and friction. The result is an amazing new fabric often with unexpected results. I cut through some of the work which reveals hidden layers, this gives a three dimensional effect.

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Beyond Surface - Photography as Art? Tony Riley

Saturday 13 November - Tuesday 14 December,

Circle Gallery

Surface is a device used to explore the way history is contained in appearance, whether of a human face, landscape, or beneath the surface in a mine, quarry or demolition site. There is also the idea that surface is the outer of many inner layers and earlier history, with photography's ability to provide rich detail making it the perfect medium.

My work explores scenes that seem enigmatic - wondering what happened there helps me configure the image. It's really a way of exploring the values driving imagination, more Found-Scene than Found-Object, and always involving that interaction that occurs between our internal and the external world.

I also reference the work of certain painters and particular paintings, some historical like Duchamp and Pollack, others contemporary like Innes, Beattie and particularly Sean Scully, who has been a major influence. Many of these artists experimented with aspects of photography, exploring colour and eye behaviour. The relationship between colour and feeling seems particularly interesting, since we generate the experience of colour internally, rather than it being a property of an object's surface. So colour seems to me to be quite well described as a feeling.

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Contemporary Open Art Exhibition

Friday 17 December - Saturday 15 January,

Friends’ Gallery

Local artists have been asked to submit contemporary artwork of any media to create an exciting and vibrant display of the region's talent.

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Tom's Midnight Garden - Children's Art Exhibition

Saturday 18 December - Saturday 15 January,

Circle Gallery

Take a look at local school children's impressions of our festive production.

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