The illustrator behind Rupert Bear’s official annual and a teenager with a talent for creating striking artworks from glass are both featured in a free exhibition celebrating the talents of artists who live and work in County Durham.
Bishop Auckland Town Hall’s annual Open Art Exhibition showcases a wide range of mediums and subjects including paintings, photography, textiles, jewellery, and sculptures selected by a panel of artists and curators.
This year’s exhibition saw an unprecedented number of applications with 269 pieces of work by 125 different artists now on display in the venue’s gallery until Saturday 15 February.
This includes three works by illustrator, author and publisher of children’s picture books, Stuart Trotter, from Ferryhill. Stuart’s journey as an illustrator began in 1978, and over the years he has worked with many of the major UK publishers on well-known projects such as Postman Pat, Wallace and Gromit, Kipper, Noddy and Winnie the Pooh.
For the past 17 years, he has written and illustrated The Rupert Annual, a task that is particularly meaningful given Rupert Bear’s rich history. Older than Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh, Rupert Bear has been a beloved figure for more than 124 years, never going out of print.
For the second year, the art of eleven young artists from County Durham, aged from 11 to 18, are also on display in the venue’s Young Open Art exhibition.
Callum Wilkinson, from Chilton, has three of his fused-glass pieces displayed. Having recently started his Artist in Residency at Durham Sixth Form Centre, Callum’s practice consists of layering multiple pieces of glass to create imagery or patterns. He then places the glass in a kiln which fires it to high temperatures of more than 800˚C, before allowing it to cool at a steady and controlled rate.
Callum’s pieces can take up to 26 hours, although his bowls and plates can take up to 50 hours as they need a second firing to slump the glass in a mould.
The gallery is open from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday and entry is free.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
