STITCH UNBOUND
& SHROPSHIRE GUILD OF DESIGNER MAKERS
Saturday 4 July to Saturday 29 August
(each exhibition taking up half the gallery space)
Stitch Unbound
Twelve contemporary textile artists challenge the boundaries of fabric and form. Exhibitors are part of a growing movement that is driving innovation and bringing fine-art textiles to a wider audience.
Meet the Artists, Saturday 1 August
11am-3pm
Some of the Stitch Unbound artists will be joining us in the gallery to discuss the inspiration, materials and techniques that define their work.
Artists confirmed so far
Ali Packard, Alison Holt, Alyssa Robinson, Anne Kelly (11am to midday), Isobel Currie, Jan Beaney, Jean Littlejohn, Jill Walker, Suzette Smart
ALL WELCOME
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Shropshire Guild Of Designer Makers
We are delighted to welcome the return of the Shropshire Guild of Designer Makers for their Summer 2026 exhibition. Come and see a great variety of well-designed and beautiful handmade items: exciting ceramics, furniture, glass, jewellery, sculpture, textile art, woodwork and more.
Meet the Artists, Saturday 8 August
(date to be confirmed)
11am-3pm
Meet some of the talented local artists who make up the Guild. Discover exceptional craftsmenship and be inspired by their work.
ALL WELCOME
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A Way of Seeing with Reg Turrell
Summer Glow
 A splash of red in the distance can only be one thing: field poppies!
Getting closer, I noticed that the breeze blew the delicate petals into different shapes. At times a smudge of red was all that was apparent.
Onto damp paper I dropped acrylic Flame Red and let it diffuse and spread. Repeating this technique, I used acrylic Olive Green for the stems and buds. Only wanting to suggest a petal or two, I stuck red tissue paper onto the red smudges. It was an interesting challenge to depict field poppies giving as little information as possible. To centre the front poppies, I used an Inktense water-soluble black pencil. To contrast with the suggested poppy heads, I emphasised the dropping buds with green tissue paper. I like to use gum Arabic when sticking onto water-based paints and inks. It dries slowly, enabling me to move tissue around - and, in this case, create crinkles in the petals.
I learnt from this challenge the excitement that less information to describe a subject leaves the eye to do the rest and fill in missing detail.
Above: Detail shows how Reg uses tissue paper to depict delicate petals
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 June Open Studios - Thanks to all
A big thank you to the 32 local artists and makers who participated in this year's Open Studios in and around Oswestry - including several showing their work for the first time. Thanks also to all friends and art lovers who dropped in to say hello, learn about different creative processes, and buy work directly from the artists.
Using the gallery as his base, watercolourist Graeme Storey (pictured) was really pleased with the many positive responses to his art. Says Graeme: 'This year's Open Studios event was for me an energising two weekends at the Willow, talking to gallery viewers about my work, getting feedback - and even making some sales, which is the icing on the cake. The beauty of the Willow show is that it lets visitors see examples of many of the BVA artists participating in Open Studios, so they can then decide which studios they want to visit, plan their route, and head out armed with a copy of the Open Studios brochure and map.'
Thank you for supporting local art. BVA Open Studios hope to welcome you back next year.
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Upcoming Exhibitions
ReMix Exhibition - ‘Arrivals and Departures’
Textile and mixed-media collective
Saturday 5 September to Saturday 24 October
Textile 21 Exhibition
Contemporary textile/mixed-media group
Saturday 5 September to Saturday 24 October
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Art & Craft Workshops Please see our website for details and booking
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 Our Shop and Café
In our shop, see a wide range of work made by local artists and craft makers. Buy original contemporary art, cards, ceramics, jewellery, prints and textiles, along with work in wood, metal and glass. Also enjoy lunch or a little light refreshments in our café.
Pictured: Stained-glass sun-catcher by SIÂN HUGHES
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Other local events and information
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LLANFYLLIN MUSIC FESTIVAL
GWYL GERDD LLANFYLLIN
The 2026 festival takes place on the evening weekends of 3 to 5 July and 10 to 12 July, with concerts held in St Myllin’s Church, a historic venue known for its excellent acoustics and intimate atmosphere. Visit the festival website for details.
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Enjoy a nostalgic train ride on our local heritage railway, starting from Oswestry's Grade II-listed Victorian station building. The 1.75-mile route takes passengers to Weston Wharf's period station, café, picnic area and children's activity area. Also explore local attractions Stonehouse Brewery and Weston Pools. Back at Oswestry, visit the award-winning Cambrian Railway Museum.
Click here for timetable and here for tickets
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BORDER EMBROIDERIES
Oswestry LibraryBorder Embroiderers meet every other Tuesday throughout the year, except for August. They are a friendly self-help group, working pieces of their own choice. Just drop in or contact Mary on 01691 658651. |
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HERMON ARTS Click HERE for upcoming coming music events
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Oswestry & Borders Repair Café
Bin it? No way!
Llanfyllin Public Institute
Saturday 25 July, 12-3pm
A team of skilled volunteer repairers give their time and expertise for free to help people fix items that might otherwise be thrown away.
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Art World
 David Hockney 1937-2026
Flamboyant art giant David Hockney has left us just shy of his 89th birthday. His death closes a career spanning seven decades.
Born in Bradford in 1937, he attended his local art school before studying at the Royal College of Art in the days of Swinging London and enjoying a meteoric rise in the British pop art movement. But he yearned for the excitement he saw in the work of American artists, and in 1964 moved to Los Angeles. Fascinated by the light, space and Southern California lifestyle, he became known for his depictions of swimming pools, using acrylic paints to achieve bright, saturated colours and flat planes. One of the most famous works in the swimming pool series is Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures), which sold for £70 mIllion at Christie’s auction house in 2018.
Hockney’s work emphasises observation and representation, a deliberate counterpoint to the abstraction dominating contemporary art. His deeply personal style was characterised by self-portraits and depictions of friends and lovers (including pictures of gay love), while more than 40 paintings feature his beloved dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie. He was particularly interested in double portraits. As well as painting and drawing, his work embraced etching, photo-collage, printmaking, stained glass, and stage sets and costume design for ballet and opera productions.
Between 1970 and 2000 he continued to spend much of his time in Los Angeles; he also spent time in London and Paris. Then in 2005 he moved to Bridlington and began to paint the Yorkshire Wolds. Paintings from this time included Bigger Trees Near Warter, an oil painting more than 12 metres wide, made up of 50 panels, which he completed in 2007. He donated this monumental painting to the Tate. Spending much of the Covid-19 pandemic in Normandy, he created a series of paintings using an iPad, exploring the region’s landscapes through vivid colour and modern technology. These iPad pieces did receive quite a mixed response.
With his mop of peroxide hair, owlish glasses and, oftentimes, a cigarette in hand, David Hockney was one of the art world’s most recognisable figures. During his lifetime, he was the subject of several major retrospectives, including one in 2017 that travelled between Tate Britain, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
 He turned down a knighthood, and also declined to paint a portrait of the reigning monarch. However, in 2012 he did accept the Order of Merit, a group of celebrated public figures that is limited to no more than 24 members at any one time. Earlier this year, he became one of the few non-French citizens to receive the rank of Officier in the Légion d’Honneur. He remained an entirely unapologetic smoker to the end.
A statement from Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson praised David Hockney for being an ‘endlessly inventive artist’ who ‘taught us about the joy of looking, seeing things the rest of us failed to notice – his witty and sharp observations a constant presence in his work and in person.’
Pictured above
> David Hockney in 1966 (Photo: Paul Popper)
> Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972)
> Mr and Mrs Clark and Percy (1970-71)
> Bigger Trees Near Warter (2007)
> In his London studio, Nov 2023 (FLO London)
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In this award-winning, Sussex-made documentary, textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years handcrafting a dress from locally-foraged stinging nettles. Through this extraordinary process, Allan learns to live with the loss of his wife and finds a beautiful way to honour her.
Visit THE NETTLEDRESS to view the trailer, watch the film and check out future screenings. |
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 A vibrant, not-for-profit art space packed full of contemporary artworks from local and national artists. We host exhibitions, art classes, craft fairs and other community-focused events - bringing together creative individuals and art lovers from our local communities and beyond.
CONTACT US
Tel: 01691 657575
email: willowgalleryoswestry@gmail.com
Website: willowgalleryoswestry.org
Facebook: Willow
Address: 56 Willow Street, Oswestry, Shropshire SY11 1AD
Gallery/Café open Tues-Sat 10am-4pm (3.30pm café last orders)
Closed: Sundays/Mondays/Bank HolidaysEditor: Hilary Moorcroft
July 2026
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