Norfolk artist Tony Bellars’ exhibition, Self-Portrait with Flowers, shows the influence of the North Norfolk coast near to where he lives at Kings Lynn.

“This new exhibition is of quirky, cartoon-like painted constructions which predominantly feature women, or stereotypical male myths of women to more precise,” said The Ropewalk’s Exhibition Officer, Richard Hatfield.

“Tony’s vivid colours are reminiscent of the painted canal barges from the Norfolk Broads or a saucy seaside postcard,” he went on.

“The exhibition, which runs until June 3, is full of wit, humour and invention and is full of colour,” Richard continued.  “It is guaranteed to raise a smile.”

The exhibition, which fills Gallery One, has already attracted wide-spread interest.

“I think that at the moment, particularly with the cold weather, rain and heavy showers we have been experiencing in the past few days, people have been enjoying Tony’s colourful palette which puts us in mind of the summer months to come,” Richard added.

The exhibition is open from Monday to Saturday between 10am until 5pm and on Sundays and Bank Holidays between 10am and 4pm.

The exhibition will be held in the Maltkiln Road venue’s Gallery One and Artspace and will feature printmakers from all over the country.

“The aim of the exhibition is to show the very best of contemporary printmaking,” said The Ropewalk’s Exhibition’s Officer, Richard Hatfield.

As in the two previous exhibitions, Melvyn Petterson of the Artichoke Printmaking Workshop in London will be selecting entries alongside artist and former Grimsby School of Art lecturer Alf Ludlam.

“Melvyn was born in Cleethorpes and studied at Grimsby School of Art before going on to  Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts.  His works have been widely nationally and internationally and has many works in public and private collections so we are delighted that once again he has agreed to support us,” Richard went on.

“Grimsby born Alf followed a similar path.  After studying drawing and painting at Grimsby School of Art he too went to  Camberwell under Robert Medley, Frank Auerbach and Euan Uglow and then attended the Royal Academy Schools between 1962 and 1965 as a postgraduate student.  While there he was twice awarded the David Murray Landscape Scholarship, and also won the Arthur Hacker Portrait Prize, the Simon Elwes Portrait Prize, the S. J. Solomon Prize for Painting and a silver medal,” Richard added.

Submission dates are Friday, May 25 to Monday, May 28 and the exhibition runs from June 9 to September 9.

Artists can submit up to a maximum of 4 works with a non-returnable entry fee of £3 for each piece of work.

More details, along with the entry form can be found on www.the-ropewalk.co.uk

Saturday, April 28, is the day to see areas of the one-quarter mile long building not accessible to the general public.

“The Ropewalk’s open day “Access All Areas” will be the first time that the entire building has been open to the public,” said Managing Director, Liz Bennet.  ““We hope that the day will show visitors exactly what goes on day-to-day behind the walls of this Grade Two listed building.

“Although many of you will have visited our galleries, coffee shop and Ropery Hall or perhaps enjoyed some day workshops, April 28 is the day when there is the opportunity to take a close look at The Ropewalk’s artists’ studios, the creative business units or the facilities which are available for hire,” she went on.

For two weekends a year in September, as part of Northern Lincolnshire Open Studios, the artists’ studios corridor is open to the public and in December the Art Market is held along part of the corridors.

“But this time artists’ studios will be open, the creative industries based here will be at work and giving demonstrations, yoga and craft taster demonstrations, live performances and cookery demonstrations,” Liz continued.

It will also be the first time that The Ropewalk’s archive will be available to look at now that cataloguing the collection has recently been completed, thanks to funding from Heritage Lottery.

“Our archive will be open for people to take a look back to the days when the building was a key part of Hall’s Barton Ropery,” Liz went on.

The Ropewalk will be open from 10am until 5pm and admission is free.

The Spring 2012 publication contains a host of information about exhibitions, workshops, films and events at Ropery Hall and other dates for the diary between now and June.

Editor Richard Hatfield said that since the magazine was launched at the beginning of 2011 it had built up a following with readers who enjoy the manageable size of the publication as well as its interesting content.

“The magazine not only reveals what is happening in The Ropewalk’s galleries but also previews the spring season at Ropery Hall which this time includes film, music, theatre and an appearance by Howard Marks, Mr Nice,” he said.

“As well as publicising the coming exhibitions we also like to highlight other things that we feature – such as our large selection of handmade cards, our featured jewellers, evening classes which are held in the building, Cook’s at The Ropewalk evenings and up and coming events which in this edition include our open day on Saturday, April 28 and The Ropewalk’s Diamond Jubilee Tea Party on June 3.”

If you can’t locate a copy of the magazine they will be available from the Barton Tourism Partnership stall at the next Barton Farmers’ Market on Saturday, April 14.

“Brighton based Tucked In will be bringing their most successful play to date, Tim and Light, to Ropery Hall.  It has gained five star reviews and has already been performed at such prestigious venues and festivals, such as Glastonbury Festival, the Lowry and Latitude Festival,” said ST-ART’s project co-ordinator, Janine Knight.

Tickets to see the performance cost £3 for children and £4 for adults.

For those young people aged between seven and 16 years who would rather create a brand new play rather than be in the audience, Duck Egg Theatre, in conjunction with ST-ART, are putting on “Alice in Wonderland Play in a Week” from Tuesday, April 10 to Friday, April 13.

“Following on from the success of Duck Egg’s recent production ‘Alice by Heart’, the company are venturing into Wonderland again for a play which is just right for the Easter holidays,” said Janine.

The project will run from 10am-3pm each day with an evening performance on the Friday at 7pm.  Places are just £25 for the project and all the participants need to do is bring enthusiasm, ideas and a packed lunch each day.

To book onto the Play in a Week either email haley@duckegg.org.uk  with your name, age and contact details or call 07723 371833.

On Easter Saturday, April 7, from 1pm to 3pm, Janine Knight, the charity’s project co-ordinator, will be hosting a free drop-in activity for young people when she will be showing how to make easy Easter baskets using paper and simple weaving techniques.

“These baskets are really effective and suitable for any Easter Egg Hunt,” she said.

And on Easter Sunday there will be a free to enter Easter Egg Hunt at The Ropewalk from 10am to 12 noon.

“In all there will be 10 famous rabbits hidden around The Ropewalk galleries,” she said.  “There will be an I-Spy sheet in the Craft Gallery so write down all the rabbits’ names in the right order and then hand in your completed form at the Craft Gallery to receive your crème egg.”