Over the years the group has produced work in a variety of disciplines and materials: painting, prints, sculptures and ceramics, jewellery, glass, weaving and batik.

There are usually one or two members of the group around to answer any questions.

Work can be commissioned if something is required for a special occasion or place.

All the artists involved, from this years’ and previous years’ exhibitions, can be contacted for commissions and sales using the details against each below.

Quick Links to 2024 exhibitors
Gillian Crossley Holland | Alison Dane | Helen Dougall | Joff Duck | Chris Evans | Mandy Jaggard | Diana Martineau | Peter Rudderham | Mary Jane Toulson | Rob Wheeler

Guest Artists 2024
Rita Browne | Phil Stearn

Quick Links to previous exhibitors
James Deering | Patrick Foster | Jon Stewart

Rita’s paintings are usually watercolour, however, she does enjoy using oils, pen and ink, charcoal, and charcoal with watercolour.

Subjects are often landscapes, river and seascapes, old and interesting buildings, and street scenes.

Trees hold a special fascination for Rita, as do plants in general. Rita loves to observe, sketch and paint.

Painting in oils and pastels, Gillian enjoys painting the fens of Lopham and Redgrave and the salt marshes and empty coasts of north Norfolk.

In her work Gillian is intrigued by crossing places, reversals and in particular, those views when the earth is no more than a mirror to the sky, she often explores these themes and plays with composition, light and reflections.

Gillian works in oil pastels, which allow her to instantly build up layers and textures and even, as illustrated here, create a monoprint from a painting started in Lopham Fen.

Alison makes her necklaces from a variety of papers that she colours to reflect the current fashion trends. They are lightweight, unique, additions to any outfit, formal or informal. The semi-precious beads are robust and enhance the colours. Necklaces vary in length and can be worn as short double strands or singly depending on the outfit you are wearing them with.

Helen paints and draws landscape and seascape, out in the open. She is interested in describing the way light affects different surfaces, e.g. shining barley fields, sparkling grasses in June and perspective patterns of stubble across fields.

Back in her studio Helen uses these observations to compose batik wall hangings (cotton stretched onto a frame). Fabric is successively dyed and painted with molten wax to define the image. This is repeated several times and finally the wax is removed.

Prints available are high quality commercial reproductions of some of her batiks. Greetings cards, also available. More can be seen in Helen’s studio.

Joff has sketched for much of his life, but following studies, moved to Suffolk,where the wildlife and countryside inspired hime to pick up a palette knife.

He enjoys how thick oil paint and palette knife create a range of surfaces, helping to describe the texture of the land. In combination with aerial perspective and the use of half-mixed colours, he tries to express colour, form and beauty. Using a palette knife most of the time, he revisits a painting with a small brush, to tidy and tinker.

He uses paper, stretched canvas and occasionally linen and cradled panels. Also sometimes a drying medium, or a thin undercoat or ‘ground’ to infuse the finished picture with a particular feeling. He recomposes or amplifies particular aspects of a scene to create dynamism.

His paintings can be purchased through his Instagram page or direct from his studio, open via appointment.

As a freelance illustrator the majority of Chris’ work was figurative. Now by contrast, he explores landscape and architecture in his prints. Chris’ favourite subjects are coastal scenes especially the variety of shipping from rowing boats to huge container ships.

Holiday sketches in Italy, France and the British Isles are all sources of inspiration. Etching is his favourite medium but he also likes drypoint and collagraphs.

Hilary worked as a freelance illustrator before exploring the pleasures and surprises of printmaking. The inspiration for her prints comes from the variety of the natural world, building structures and landscapes. Hilary loves colour and patterns and printing gives her the opportunity to explore different colour combinations, and consequently she rarely editions her work.

Mandy is inspired by natural spaces and man-made structures. Earth sciences and the movement of water frequently inspire her work. She likes to combine opaque white glass with clear glass, allowing for visual access inside the piece, adding colour before the glass is cast.

Surface tension, overspill, and the movement of the glass itself, all play a part in what is to be expected within the cast. A certain amount can be predicted, but an element of surprise is always reserved for when the piece is finally removed from the kiln!

Diana paints in oils. Her favourite subjects are landscapes, predominantly in the Walsham area, still life and flower paintings. She is a member of the New English Art Club which is based at the Mall Galleries in London.

Diana particularly enjoys painting landscapes although the changing light and weather can be challenging as she paints on the spot over three or four days, and not from photographs.

Peter designs and makes unique metal sculpture and apply artistic techniques to the production of functional items such as gates, weather vanes, arches etc. He is also developing an unusual method of picture painting.

Phil’s pots are mostly one-off pieces based on traditional pot forms: vases, beakers, dishes and bottles.

Pieces are thrown, slump moulded or slab built in white earthenware and are decorated with slips, carving and transparent coloured glazes before firing to around 1080°c except raku pieces which are fired to 1000°c.

Forms, textures and decoration are mostly intuitive but are a response to the materials and visual stimuli collected in sketchbooks and in photographs.

Artists who have influenced his work include Peter Voulkos, Takeshi Yasuda, John Maltby, Clive Bowen, Anthony Frost and Japanese Oribe wares.

Mary Jane weaves hard-wearing floor rugs using wool and jute. Each one is unique, with colour contrasts and blends being her speciality.

She also weaves small-scale pictorial wall hangings using hand-spun wool and natural dyes.

“The importance of bees has been so much in the news recently as pollinators for the successful growth of our food crops and all living plants. Many of the ideas for my rugs and wall hangings come from nature, and the inspiration for the colour”.

“Mixes for this weaving developed from a small early autumn field which had been sown with sunflowers, Phacelia and other nectar rich, bee friendly plants. The colours were soft but luminous and the field was buzzing in the sunshine with the bees doing their vital work”.

Some of Rob’s work has its roots in nature. The forms and textures often taking their inspiration from fossils and sea life. Other influences antiquities, classic Chinese forms such as balluster vase, Roman and Greek shapes and decoration.

Most of this work is produced in white earthenware and then put through the Raku process. Some of the more sculptural work is fired to stoneware.

Rob also produces a variety of  blue and white earthenware and honey glazed commemorative slipware plates. Commissions are always welcomed.

James describes himself as a ‘hobbyist artist’ and enjoys honing his classical skills in oil painting. His pieces reflect an interest in military history and historical fashion from the late 18th and early 19th Century. He enjoys looking at works by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Gericault, David, Detaille and so many others for both their painting techniques and their historical content and detail.

James and his wife Sarah, are keen Living Historians; creating our own clothing to recreate historical personas of British 19th Century soldiers and their families at public education events across the country. They also perform historical dance displays showcasing dances of the gentry from the 18th to the mid 19th Century having made the relevant attire for these displays. For James these three hobbies compliment one another, creating fantastic learning experiences and inspiration, resulting in a high level of character and clothing references for his portraits

Born Irish but now living and working in Suffolk, Patrick Foster sees himself as a fine art photographer & visual artist.

He photographs many subjects but predominantly landscapes, “in reality” he says, “I just photograph what’s in front of me”.

Patrick became a member of The Royal Photographic Society in 2000. He is a member of and exhibits regularly at Beyond the Image Photographers’ Gallery in Thornham Magna, Suffolk.

Patrick’s work blurs the borders between still life and landscape photography and is both compelling and thought provoking, but he manages to leave room for the viewer, to put their own narrative to his intriguing and atmospheric photographs.

Jon creates quirky little ‘upcycled cutlery critters’ for your home or garden.

Each one is hand crafted and tig-welded from stainless steel cutlery and makes a perfect and unique gift as no two critters are the same.