Contemporary sculpture in Wales
Have you even thought of creating your own garden features and artwork? Here’s the chance to be inspired at a great art gallery and sculpture garden, and then to get on a design course at Porthdafen Studio to do it for yourself!
Denise Yapp Contemporary Art
A friend just told me about Denise Yapp Contemporary Art, a gallery located within an 18th century mill house in the Wye Valley. The galleries showcase the work of Welsh and British artists, while the mill garden is a stunning setting for sculptures.
Right now, British sculptor, Sarah Tombs, has an exhibition in the mill garden which, I hear, looks amazing. I love the intricacy of her work, much of which was inspired by a period of research she did at the National Botanic Garden of Wales last year. Sarah studied the formation of water lilies at the botanic garden, which inspired her large steel sculptures of lilies which are now sited around the mill pond. In all, she has 11 large sculptures at Denise Yapp Contemporary Art, specially created for the exhibition.
Denise, who is the owner of the gallery, just told us that Sarah’s exhibition looks so wonderful in the garden setting, that they have decided to extent it through the end of the year - - so there’s now plenty of time to visit.
Visit Denise Yapp Contemporary Art gallery, open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 5pm. It’s located deliciously close to The Crown at Whitebrook – a fabulous restaurant well worth booking a meal; it’s one of those splurge-type occasions as even the lunch menu is quite pricey (two courses £25) but it does have a Michelin star after all! www.crownatwhitebrook.co.uk
Porthdafen Studio – create your own sculptures!
And here’s something else that sounds really cool… Sarah opened a purpose-built studio last year located near Llanelli in Carmarthenshire – the Porthdafen Studio. If you’ve ever thought about creating your own garden feature or considered becoming a sculptor, this is your chance, with a range of exciting classes and courses. Porthdafen Studio’s 2009-2010 course program is now available to download: www.porthdafenstudio.co.uk