Arts & Antiques

Turnip open

EnTrIESfor the Turnip Prize, Wedmore’s version of the Turner Prize, will open on Monday, november 1st, with the closing date Friday, november 19th.

The winner of the work judged to have taken the least effort to create will be announced at the new Inn, Wedmore on Wednesday, December 1st.

The 2020 winner

View from the Tor

Details: Trevor Prideaux 01934 710004 or 0781 2848011

GLASTOnBury-based landscape photographer, Michelle Cowbourne, has been shortlisted for the royal Meteorological Society's Weather Photographer of the year 2021 award.

The competition attracted 3,300 photographers from 114 countries.

Michelle said it was a bitterly cold January morning when she went on her usual walk up Glastonbury Tor at sunrise and noticed that there was quite a bit of mist forming below her.

She said: “I stood waiting for sunrise and the sky was a lovely colour on the horizon. As the sun rose the mists started to flow across the landscape enveloping trees and buildings as it moved. It was like time went into slow motion.”

A pool of experts have chosen their top three winners, but the competition is now open to a public vote at www.photocrowd.com/wpotyvote

Wild birds on the Levels –a study in stitch

TEXTILE artist Angela Knapp, based near Castle Cary, creates artwork by painting and drawing with fabric and thread. After finding Midsomer Quilting in Chilcompton and discovering the world of textile art, Angela was inspired to buy her first sewing machine in 2012 and started to teach herself how to stitch and create art in this format. Working on an image of a bird of prey Angela has always been fascinated by birds on which all her work is currently based. Increasingly she is drawn to create work that highlights the plight so many birds are now facing, birds that were once common when she was growing up in the 70s and are now on the British Trust for Ornithology red list.

Angela currently has a solo exhibition at ACEarts in Somerton called Thriving and Declining on the Somerset Levels A study in Stitch.

Auctions help us to reuse, recycle and repurpose

AS the internet states, sustainability is the act of avoiding the depletion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance. We regularly hear how crucial this is on the television, social media and in schools, but it is this balance that is needed by all of us after such a long period of instability.

It may not seem like much, but reusing, upcycling or repurposing is one small way in which we can contribute to the ecological balance and one which can give us an enormous sense of wellbeing and, depending on how much paint is spilt on the project, a lot of fun!

Not only that, but as anyone’s grandparents will tell you, furniture, for example, was made to last for generations, not just until the trend in interior design moved to another. It was made of solid wood, with solid joints.

And it is these pieces we should be sourcing to replace the flat-pack and cheaply made, mass-produced items. And if you don’t like the colour, sand it and give it a lick of paint, sew a cushion to go on top, or just enjoy the real wood grain and the knowledge that that item has been loved, appreciated and used by perhaps lots of families over the years.

The history of an object adds to its intrinsic value, and with years of polishing, for example, to its aesthetic value also.

As Tom Killen of Killens states: “Local auction houses are great places to find good value, quality items, whether a vintage dinner service, chairs waiting to be brightened up with chalk paint, or that odd, quirky item that will make you smile whenever it catches your eye. They also provide an opportunity for us to play our part in promoting sustainability”.

With regular sales, the Mendip Auction Rooms will always have something of interest on offer, whatever your taste and style, for you to continue its story. Or give your objects a chance of a new story by consigning them to auction.

Contact the team at Killens on 01749 840770 or email enquiries@mendipauctionrooms.co.uk for further assistance

Bumper autumn crop at Clevedon Salerooms

Clevedon Salerooms held their autumn Specialist Fine Art Sale on Thursday, September 2nd. The sale was the first specialist auction for some 18 months to welcome bidders back into the room on the day. lively bidding was in evidence throughout the day with consistently strong prices, a sale total well over expectations, and an 87 percent selling rate from over 500 lots on offer.

Autumn is lyrically known as the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Appropriately, it was fruit that provided some of the day’s strongest prices: a stunning single-owner collection of Royal Worcester fruit-painted porcelain tea and coffee wares were consigned from a returning Clifton customer.

Intense online and telephone bidding saw the eight lots leave their estimates standing, achieving over £15,000.

earlier, the jewellery section began proceedings. Highlights included £2,450 for a sapphire and diamond three stone ring and a sapphire and diamond pendant sold at £1,900. Watches immediately followed, where the top price was for a Cartier Tank Francaise lady’s wristwatch, which achieved £2,000.

Top of the tree in the silver section was a salver hallmarked for london, 1850, and later five-piece tea and coffee set with a GWR connection recorded in its inscription which steamed away at £2,300. An edward vII oval tray also fetched an impressive £1,950 and a canteen of flatware also exceed top estimate to take £1,900.

The sale featured a particularly strong section of medals. Highlight of them was the group to Wing Commander John Woodburn Gillan dFC AFC, who set a speed record in a Hawker Hurricane. Consigned by his descendants, the lot attracted intense bidding before selling at £6,200.

Amongst the offerings in the Asian Art section, an early 19th century Chinese porcelain baluster vase in “Hundred Boys” style decoration from a north Somerset farmhouse sold for a multiple-estimate £3,400. With CHRIS YEO In the picture section, performing with customary gusto, an l.S. lowry signed print of Berwick-upon-Tweed from a South Bristol property achieved £6,900. of more local interest, a rare three-pigeon oil on canvas by Andrew Beer, the “Thomas Gainsborough of pigeon painters” created a flutter of excitement (some might say a coup?) when it sold for £4,500.

Clevedon Salerooms next specialist sale (for which further entries are invited) will be held on November 25th