Exhibition Programme

Celebrating 10 Years of Eliot Smith Dance

23 February – 29 March 2021

Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) is a leading contemporary dance company, founded by critically acclaimed Artistic Director Eliot Smith FRSA.  The Company is based in Newcastle upon Tyne and rehearses predominantly in Northumberland. 16th February 2021 heralds the start of their 10th Anniversary year.

This 10th Anniversary Celebration Online Exhibition gives a timeline and insight into the 24 contemporary dance works performed by this successful contemporary dance company over the last 10 years and showcases stunning images from their archives

Jamie Elliott Photography

Surf Photographer

3rd April – 3rd May 2021

Jamie Elliott is originally from County Durham and is driven by his passion for surf and wave photography, his image featured on the cover of Real Surfing magazine back in 2018. Moody dramatic seas create the perfect conditions for his work

“What’s relevant about me is that this drives me; this is my saving grace, my redeeming feature, my daydream over a strong brew. It’s what I’ll talk with you about if you’re interested, it’s what I spend my time and money on, it’s what gives me childlike smirks, it’s what I look for and what I look forward to. In fact, I don’t think I’d be very happy without it”  –  Jamie Elliott

Jamie uses a Canon 1DX MKii in a CMT water housing, occasionally with a GoPro hero 7 for behind the scenes work

As well as swimming around surf and shore breaks, Jamie also covers events and surf shoots, commissioned/bespoke work and behind the scenes photos for filming and TV water work

@misfitphotographyclub

Judith Appleby

Inspired by the Coast

4th May – 7th June

Judy has made a new collection of paintings for exhibition this Summer. She has painted the beautiful beaches of Northumberland, and the dramatic rock formations where the Great Whin Sill meets the North Sea Coast. These paintings range from abstracted images of geology and the Farne Islands to calm sunny ‘secret’ bays, and to turbulent North Sea waves and surf.

From a background in architectural education and research, Judy’s work is always carefully designed to follow deliberate geometric composition without loosing vitality and character of place. Her use of colour in the Farne Islands paintings is drawn from microscopic images of local geology.

Judy’s studio is in Newcastle and she is represented by The Biscuit Factory, The Old School Gallery in Alnmouth and The Emerging Artists Partnership (scotlandArt.com) in Glasgow. Her paintings are in private collections in UK, USA, India, and Europe and in public collections in the North East of England.

This Summer one of her Lindisfarne Castle paintings is on show at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead

Farne Islands Rock Study

Graduate Spotlight Exhibition

Luke McTaggart

Landscape Painter

8th June – 12th July

Luke McTaggart is a Landscape Painter currently studying for his BA in Fine Art at Northumbria University, Newcastle. His work deals with his immediate surroundings of his home town of Amble. Working foremostly in Acrylic he seeks to create work steeped in a sense of place, with deep regard for the seasons, elements and natures processes. Luke is known for working on location and can be found outside in all weathers.

“I paint places and views that are disregarded by most. Again and again I am drawn back to the edgelands around my home-town of Amble. These rolling fields, quiet woods and open skies offer up the most spectacular of vistas. But these vistas do not conform to the traditional conception of the English countryside. These vistas were once open cast coal mines, land that has been continually shaped by man. Yet, it is in these places that I have found such an exceedingly rich sense of place.

As Amble becomes ever more popular, housing developers seek to spread outwards onto these fields, concreting over these views. So, to some extent my work is of an archival nature, documenting and preserving these views before the inevitable occurs. Yet the work is also a very personal documentation of my relationship with nature and the elements, I never cease to be amazed by how much, the seasons, the sun and the moon, the tides and the weather can move the soul. But at the root of my work is a desire to convey beauty where at first others are unable to see it. If my work can go some way towards making people value this kind of landscape then I will be able to say with conviction that my work has succeeded.”

Winner of the Alnmouth 2020 Arts Festival Poster Competition

Summer Open Exhibition

14th July – 30th August 2021

Artists are invited to apply to exhibit in our 2021 Summer Open Exhibition.

The summer exhibition is open to both amateur and professional artists with a maximum of 3 artworks that can be submitted for selection. The successful applicants will only then pay a one off fee of £10 per artwork showcased online with NO COMMISSION to pay on their art sales.

How to Apply

ALL work must be submitted online via email for consideration to gallery@alnwickplayhouse.co.uk

Closing date Monday 28th June 2021

Please use OPEN EXHIBITION in email subject heading

Images must be in JPEG format and under 5MB, a maximum of three works can be submitted per artist

Please include title, dimensions, medium and price

The measurement of works must not exceed 3 feet

Pre-selection from online entries will take place initially and artists will be notified by Friday 2nd July

All chosen works must be suitably framed, presented and ready to hang