Martin Maxim, Artist

The Artists & Artisans of Moretonhampstead – a busy and picturesque Dartmoor town with plenty to see and do throughout the year. A town full of art, good food, music, theatre, heritage & walking on Dartmoor

The three studios which will be open open during The Devon Open Studios Trail 2017: 9th -24th September, are marked ***

Some of the other artists/artisans listed may have studios open to the public during September, visit their websites for more details about their work. There is a wealth of creativity in Moretonhampstead and the nearby towns and villages. See the Devon Open Studios Trail booklet

Please tell me if I have missed someone off this list. Only artists with websites are listed at the moment, we know there are several other local artists. This list has been hastily put together and we hope it is both interesting and useful.

Please share and come to see the town during Devon Open Studios

Painters/Illustrators

Christopher Droop Painter *** Ford Street Gallery (no 87)

Owner of Ford Street Gallery. I work in various media, including pencil, conte, pastels, watercolour, acrylics and oils, but I've always felt most at home in oils, where I can take my time getting it right. My subject matter is wide-ranging, from portraits and figure study to still life, landscape, and abstract.

Christine Linfield Painter ***listed on the Devon Open Studio Trail 2017, no 89

Christine Linfield is a landscape painter who lives and works on Dartmoor."My work is inspired by an emotional response to the landscape, in particular by the quality of light which reflects its changing mood"

Emma Sampson Painter *** listed on the Devon Open Studio Trail 2017, no 88

I am interested in exploring our human nature, and understanding our essence. The images I make are anchors for experiences or archetypal energies I have connected to on my life's journey. I mostly use acrylic paint for its immediacy and vibrant colours, although I also love to work with earth pigments and found objects.

Jane Simants Painter

After completing a Fine Art course at Falmouth College of Art, I specialised in Technical Illustration, later retraining in Medical Art, at the Royal College of Surgeons. Throughout my career in Art, I believe the most important area of discipline to be that of life drawing. It forms the basis to so much work and offers good instruction to the eye in recognising perspective, proportion and composition.

Lucy Patrick Mixed Media

My work is inspired by ideas, by the sights and sounds that surrounds me on Dartmoor, by communication, by colour and play. Every time I go into the studio I experience a "carte blanche" feeling and cannot predict what will come out of the session. I work by looking again and again at things, at my paintings at my artefacts and enjoy the moment when something seems to "work"!

Martin Maxim Painter /Illustrator *** at Ford Street Gallery no 89

I spent my early life in Reading before going on to Berkshire College of Art. My four years of study in painting, drawing and sculpture was followed by a period of teaching. I made a change of direction and started working in a commercial design studio for several years, learning layout and printing techniques. This strong grounding in design enabled me to develop a freelance career as an illustrator employed in advertising, promotions and book publishing. After moving to Devon in 1986 I divided my time between commercial illustration and painting.

My preoccupation is with 'seeing' and reproducing light and shadow, design and construction, time and place. Currently exhibiting in Ford Street Gallery

Michael EdwardsPainter/Illustrator

I have a degree in Fine Arts (art history) from Queens' College, Cambridge where I wrote my graduation thesis on Aubrey Beardsley. On graduation, after a brief and fairly disastrous interlude working in magazine publishing, I spent the next 20 years or so travelling and teaching in Spain, the United States and Japan.After a career change to advertising, in the USA and Britain, I have been a freelance artist, illustrator and designer for the last 20 years, my work reflecting my varied and eclectic background. Currently exhibiting in Ford Street Gallery and The Barn in The Horse, Moretonhampstead

Sally Mcanespie Painter

I studied printed textiles at Middlesex Polytechnic and also a PGCE. I taught A/Level art at St Joseph’s College, South London for several years.I also taught art at Kingsway College and Clerkenwell College for six years. I was a self employed artist making hand painted silks and garments,and taking commisions for a wide variety of work including portraits and murals.

Ceramics

Nic Collins Ceramics

Nic has now been using clay for almost 30 years. His first encounters with woodfiring began because he had no other way to fire his work. In his late teens and early twenties he began building kilns and wheels and sourcing his own clay from the local river banks. He experimented with raku, sawdust firings and saltglazing. Since the early 90s Nic's pots have dramatically changed, mainly due to influence from effects of the kiln. For example: when side stoking the Anagama inevitably pots would be knocked over , falling into the fire box areas and be buried in ash and ember. In the early days these pots would be discarded as failures, but now this type of pot is Nic's goal !

Penny Simpson Ceramics

I live and work in Devon, UK, making domestic ceramics from a red earthenware clay with coloured slip decoration. I believe that using hand-made tableware enhances the every day pleasures of cooking and eating.

Sabine Nemet Ceramics

The excitement of staying up all night feeding an ever hungry kiln with wood, the direct impact of when and how much wood to put in the firebox, has never left me. In 2000 I decided to travel to England to gain more experience in ceramics. I met my partner Nic Collins(nic-collins.co.uk) here and in 2001 I moved to Moretonhamstead

Taja Ceramics

All of my porcelain tableware is made from sliced porcelain slab clay. So the shape and size of each work is slightly different. It has an organic ceramic feel to it - gentle and warm! The glazes are made using my own porcelain blue glaze recipe, so called Seiji glaze ( this literally means Porcelain Blue in Japanese ) The tableware is durable being porcelain, dishwasher safe and can be used in a microwave, although it is not ovenproof.I also make small porcelain sculptures inspired by Myth and Life.

Photography

Jonathan Neale Photography

I love to see; to watch clouds race across the sky, water flowing over rocks, trees moving in the wind, the sea drawing over pebbles but best of all I love to see how light illuminates the beauty of creation, the way it warms rocks, glistens in the leaves, dances in the surf and as night falls watch it fade in the clouds. I am a full time professional photographer shooting commercial work, weddings and landscapes.

Nicky Thompson Photographer

I am an artist living on Dartmoor in Devon, these surroundings are a rich source of inspiration and have become an important part of my work. My MA in Photography focused on experimental photography techniques. Recently I have become very interested in Wet Collodion (Ambrotypes), a photographic technique from the 1850's. Completing a Photographic portrait project of the Town of Moretonhampstead for exhibition in September 2015.

And…

Alison Hastie Green Shoes

We make ethical shoes that not only look terrific, but feel fantastic too. Green Shoes give you confident style, colour and comfort, whatever the season.

Greg Abel Blacksmith

Greg Abel took over Moreton Forge in 2000 continuing the tradition of blacksmithing on the site which has been in existence for 150 years. Greg uses traditional hot forging techniques to make a wide range of items including gates, railings, fire grates, fire sets, curtain poles, garden ornaments,light fittings, restoration work, candlesticks, candelabra, house signs, all types of brackets for inside and out.

Jessie Watson-Brown hide tanner

Based in a beautiful Dartmoor woodland, we offer courses in ancient crafts and share our knowledge and passion for living in the woods in a sustainable, resourceful and respectful way.

We love this planet and we love making things from the wild.

Katherine Miles Willow Artist

Artisan Willow is run by Katherine Miles who lives in the moorland town of Moretonhampstead, Devon. She specialises in weaving willow animal sculptures and bee skeps for the home and garden. She is available for commissions and also sells her work on-line.Katherine also has experience teaching willow weaving and will be holding classes in Moretonhampstead throughout the year.

Melinda Schwakhofer Quilter and More

Inspiraculum is a place to breathe, dream, explore, be inspired, find yourself.

Veronica Gould Textiles

Veronica is a textile painter who concentrates on producing cushions and individually-designed scarves, hand-painting with acid dyes on a wide range of silk. Her work expresses her interests in the colour and texture of the Dartmoor landscape and memories of Argentine Patagonia where she grew up. She offers courses in fabric painting in Moretonhampstead throughout the year.

Yuli Somme Feltmaker

I trained and worked as a weaver in the 1980’s, some of that time worked as a researcher at Coldharbour Mill Working Wool Museum. At the end of that decade I switched to felt making when the craft was relatively unheard of. The Devon Guild of Craftsmen had to create the category for me! At that time I made all the felt by hand, using the ancient process of applying water and friction to the wool, to make the felting happen.I made my first shroud in 1999, in response to an exhibition entitled “Treading Lightly” – illustrating how makers can work in a sustainable way within their craft discipline. The question that came up for me was “how can we humans connect with the true natural state if we are so disconnected with the concept of our own deaths”? The thought terrified me, but I found the very physical process of making a large papoose for a human body unexpectedly cathartic.

Plus...

Greenhill Arts Art Gallery and Heritage Centre. Within this imaginatively converted former Primary School there is an Art Shop, and creative workspaces for hire, mixed use offices, a Youth Centre and Heritage Archive.

Ford Street Gallery listed on the Devon Open Studio Trail 2017

Ford Street Gallery is a new art gallery in the centre of Moretonhampstead, displaying and selling fine art and photography. Landscapes, portraits, and much much more.

And further afield we have

The Artisans of Dartmoor a beautiful site created by Suzy Bennett

Blacksmiths and beekeepers, potters and painters, woodturners and weavers - Dartmoor National Park, in Devon, has one of the most diverse and talented artisan communities in the UK.

The Dartmoor Artisan Trail is a self-guided art, craft and food trail that links the moor's finest artist and craftspeople, giving the public the chance to glimpse behind the workshop walls and try their hand at traditional skills.

Food and drink in Moretonhampstead

Try the Cafes

The Gateway Café; Central cafe;

Bertos Pizzeria; The Cross Street Café

And the Pubs

The Horse; The White Hart; The Union; The Bell

Stay for a few nights

Visit Moretonhampstead – a busy and picturesque Dartmoor town with plenty to see and do throughout the year. We have many hotels and B&Bs to suit

Find some local walks on Dartmoor

Listen to some Music in Moretonhampstead:

Bringing national and world renowned musicians to Moretonhampstead, the heart of Dartmoor. St Andrew's Parish Church's medieval acoustics and setting make this a special venue for music. Our aim is to host a small number of events each year bringing the very best musicians to the heart of Dartmoor.

The Horse: OPEN MIC NIGHT On the first Monday of the month from 8.30 pm. Bring yourself or your band and join in the fun (get there early to ensure a spot!)

Drama in Moretonhampstead MED THEATRE MED Theatre is a developmental community theatre organisation based in Moretonhampstead in Dartmoor National Park