OVER 100 exhibitions, 400 different artists, thousands of artworks … the Somerset Art Weeks festival kicks off this Saturday.

With Grand Designs’ Kevin McCloud, pictured, SAW’s highprofile patron, dubbing it “invaluable” and “glorious” in its “cultural exploration”, art spots range from well-worn art venues and community spaces to open houses.

Taunton Deane is being treated to 15 pop-up projects.

At King’s College, the striking ‘Surface’ show from Diane Burnell, fellow painter Georgina Conroy and sculptor Sam Martin delves into how the their chosen media influences how their art turns out.

Journalist Rebecca Pow’s garden at Tuckers Farmhouse, near Taunton, has been taken over by giant apple sculptures created by Martock craftswoman Bryony Tidball as part of a National Gardens Scheme cancer charity project.

At the Lamb & Flag, Blagdon Hill, seven artists form a collective, including light sculptor Richard Holt, Napaleonic military chess specialist Mark Bond and introspective formulistic artist Susra Petraviciute.

Heathfield Community School’s finest art stars are bringing a mixed bag of paint, sculpture, print, photography and animation, breaking free of the classroom at Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre.

In West Somerset, landscape and cricket scene painter Marilyn Ewens marks her 19th Somerset Art Weeks with new work at The Church Room, Old Cleeve, near Watchet.

Abstract Google Earth artist Peter Messa, experimental painter Leo Davey and furniture creator Dan Preston will seize the space at The Regal Theatre, Minehead, while at the innovative converted shipping container Contains Art on Watchet’s East Quay the seven resident artists will be on show.

Somerset Art Weeks Festival runs until Sunday, October 6.

 

***SOMERSET ART WEEKS FESTIVAL 2013 – VENUES AT A GLANCE***
For the FULL list visit www.somersetartworks.org.uk.

TAUNTON DEANE
On And Off The Wall: jewellery, earthenware, oriental painting, prints, The Old School, Sand
Street, Milverton.
Caroline McMillan-Davey: coasts and countrysides,Willow Acre Barn, Chipley, Wellington.
Somerset Skills & Learning: Our View of the Blackdowns, fine art, Corams Lane,Wellington.
The Chapel: four friends inspired by nature, Cotford St Luke, Taunton.
Five @107: photography, paper, illustration, writing, documentary, 107 Staplegrove Road, Taunton.
Horn of Plenty, abundance in the 21st Century: Little Yarford Farmhouse, Kingston St Mary.
Summercourt: driftwood, oils,mother-ofpearl, Summercourt, Dosters Lane,West Monkton.
‘The Cream’, Heathfield’s Finest at the Tacchi-Morris: students’ creativity outside the classroom.
Surface: three artists explore the uniqueness of materials, King’s College, Taunton. 

Abundance at Somerset College: graduates, White Space Gallery,Somerset College,Taunton.
Bishop’s Hull House:watercolour, fused glass, encaustics, jewellery, Bishops Hull, Taunton.
Abundance at Stoke St Mary Gardens: a new commission responding to the gardens.
Riverside Kitchens: stained glass lamps, carvings, ceramics, paint geology, The Mission Room, Curdleigh Lane, Blagdon Hill.
Blagdon Hill Artists: work from the sublime to the ridiculous, Lamb & Flag, Blagdon Hill.
White Hart Inn, Corfe: lampwork beads, turned wood, appliqué, botanical art.

 

WEST SOMERSET
Masterclass of Woven Textiles:worldwide educational project, Butterfly Cottage, 37 Castle Street, Nether Stowey.
Contains Art: new artist-run venue, including experiments with digital technology, East Quay,Watchet.
Painting & Sculpture at Old Cleeve: including atmospheric seascapes, free brushwork, The Church Room, Old Cleeve, Nr Watchet.
Regal Four:mixed media, experiments with oils, Regal Theatre, The Avenue, Minehead.
Harbour Studios, PorlockWeir: photography, chased silverware, catwalk jewellery, printmaking.
Number Seven, tails in Trails, Storywalks by Christopher Jelley: 7 High Street, Dulverton.
Dark Starry Skies: ARTlife and Frances Harrison, Community Arts project launch, All
Saints Church, Bank Square, Dulverton.
Roadwater 4: tree images,wet-in-wet watercolours, abstract paintings, inspirations from nature, Darenth, Roadwater.
Abundance Garden Trail inspired by the labrynthian garden:Aller Farmhouse,Williton.
Crowcombe Churchhouse: inspired by local woodlands, semi-abstract landscapes, 3 dimensional textile work, Crowcombe.
Inspired by Westcott Walks, responses to the landscape:Westcott Farm, Brompton Ralph.

 


SOUTH SOMERSET
DR Ceramics & Friends inspired by Somerset’s natural beauty: 11 Popes Cross, Curry Mallet.
SAW Projects, The Company of Cranes: Melanie Tomlinson, pre-cinema objects, Levels Basket Centre, Amphora House,Westover Trading Centre, Langport.
Terrific Toilets: Langport and Huish Episcopi Youth Club, Ridgway Hall, Staceys Court, Langport.
Alchemy: illustration, graffiti and more, Great Bow Wharf, Bow Street, Langport.
Shakspeare Glass and Gallery@Langport: inaugural show, Great Western House, Westover.
The D.B. Group: amazing views of Somerset Levels, The Garden, Priest Lane, Langport.
Pots, Paints, Pencils & Glass: One Moor barn, Henley, Langport.
Monocot Gallery and Studio Group: ceramic art group, Monocot Nursery, Littleton, Somerton.
Life Boutique: etchings,monoprints, vintage, upholstery, London House,NewStreet,Somerton.
Furniture Prize at Somerset Guild of Craftsmen: finalists, Courthouse Gallery, Somerton.
Stitched: modern stitching, The Nook, Broad Street, Charlton Adam.
Flowers,where is the garden: new screenbased work, Tintinhull Gardens, Farm Street, Tintinhull.
Little Street Studio: including figurative scenes and home accessories, Norton-sub Hamdon.
Imagine, Learn and Create: lively show, The Potato Store, Flax Drayton Farm, South Drayton.
Light & Life at Provender Deli and Cafe: inc. atmospheric work,monochrome photography, 3 Market Square, South Petherton.
Rod Page, Pat Garth, Vicky Taylor, Margaret Wall: vivid, quirky, Maine House, Palmer Street, South Petherton.
Abundance X: all about gardens, East Lambrook Manor Gardens, South Petherton.
Westfield Academy Art Park: new commissions for the growing Art Park, Stiby Road, Yeovil

Chilton Cantelo School: range of new, exciting work, Chilton Cantelo, Yeovil.

 

SEDGEMOOR
Garden Studio: stitch-thread textiles, watercolours,wood turning, bags, 212 Burnham Road, Burnham.
2-1’s-Taste: goache, pastels, ink and a few surprises, 47, Rosewood Avenue, Burnham.
Brent View Studio: exciting work by well known local artists, 112 Berrow Rd, Burnham.
Somerset Skills & Learning, Somerset’s Beauty: learners’ work, Princess Street, Burnham.
Spring Farm Arts: Nancy Farmer’s tongue-incheek fantasy art, and co, Spring Lane, Moorlinch.
Wagon House Gallery: stone carving to millinery, Hill Farm, 7 Blacksmiths Lane, Shapwick.
Studio Woolavington Art Group: including illumined batik collage, St Mary’s Church, Woolavington.
4 in Bawdrip: spontaneous prints, tapestry, carvings, Bay Cottage, 2 Greenfield Lane, Bawdrip.
Big Brainwave Art Show: inspiring art from children with disabilities, Brainwave Centre, Marsh Lane, Huntworth Gate, Bridgwater.
Decode, The Art of the Carnival and Fair: digital projections, apps, Engine Room, Bridgwater.