Two up and coming stars and one with years of live performance behind him are part of next week’s first ever Ropewalk Guitar Festival.
Played out at Barton upon Humber’s Ropery Hall from Thursday, June 2, to Saturday, June 4, the Festival promises something for everyone – from the dizzying heights of Martin Taylor on the first evening to folk legend Dave Swarbrick on Friday and Chantel McGregor on the final evening.
“I think that for the first Guitar Festival staged at The Ropewalk we have been very lucky to attract such a diversity of guitar talent,” said promoter Mark Keable of mtm promotions.
“One band I am particularly looking forward to is the Marcus Bonfanti Trio who spent last year playing his own brand of blues up and down the country,” Mark went on. “He is fast building a reputation as one of the most exciting acts on the live circuit.”
Bradford born Chantel McGregor is making a rare solo appearance at the Maltkiln Road venue. Chantel has been playing guitar – a half-size acoustic – since the ripe old age of three and in her early teens developed rapidly into an incredible rock and blues musician.
Realising at an early age that if you picked up a guitar you got attention, especially from her dad whose guitar it usually was, it was inevitable that she would get one of her own. So at the ripe old age of three, she got her first guitar, a half size acoustic.
After studying at the Leeds College of Music where she achieved a First Class Honours degree in Popular Music in July 2009 she has quickly built up a following playing both solo and with her band throughout the UK and in Europe.
He may not be a guitar player but Dave Swarbrick can certainly play those strings. Described as “the most influential [British] fiddle player bar none” his style has been copied or developed by almost every British and many world folk violin players.
One of the most highly regarded musicians produced by the second British folk revival, his work for the group Fairport Convention from 1969 is usually credited with leading them to produce their seminal album Liege and Lief (1969) which initiated the electric folk movement.
He guided the band through a series of important albums until its disbandment in 1979 and since then he has played in a series of smaller, acoustic units and engaged in solo projects.
“Dave was last at Ropery Hall nearly two years ago with his band Lazarus so we are delighted to welcome him back,” Mark continued.
Tickets for Dave’s appearance on Friday evening alongside the Steve Tilston and Chris Sherburn and Denny Bartley cost £20; to listen to Marcus Bonfanti alongside the Steve Skaith Band and Paul Lidell on the Saturday afternoon costs £18 while Chantel McGregor will be appearing in the final session alongside Walter Strauss and Ezio with tickets costing £20.
The Ropery Coffee shop will be open until 7.30pm on the Saturday evening and will be serving food until 7pm for those who will be at both afternoon and evening sessions or arriving early for the evening session.
Spring Awakening
In the Box Gallery this month we have been inspired by the weather, and have put together a display celebrating spring. The focus is on the rebirth of nature, selecting pieces which represent the bloom of new flowers and joyous animals. The range of work within the exhibition is from a variety of makers working in different crafts all embodying our theme of spring.
Here is just a selection of the pieces we have on display in the Box Gallery.
Paul Collinson | Gary Saunt | Kat Saunt | Steve Upton
This exhibition shows work by a group of East Yorkshire and Hull based painters whose practice involves, either incidentally or wholly, the used of photography or computer software.
This can be in the organisation of the idea, the capture and use images as subject matter, or in the very creation of the artwork itself.
What all the painters do have in common is that need, the “agitation”, to produce something that has a presence.
Obviously my specialisation is in ceramics, but over the last 3-4 years I have diverged into 2D abstract and flitted back and forth between the two often combining techniques across both. A constant theme throughout has been the printed letter/text and the interplay between positive and negative space therein. The older letter bottles are relief printmaking in clay and from them blossomed the larger industrial 2D abstracts onto old metal shelves and disused wooden pallets. Another ever present has been my trusted blowtorch, which has enabled me to produce interesting surfaces and textures in the clay through forced drying and also letting me introduce dirt into the painted surface in the form of trapped carbon. It is important for me to be true to the material and allow it to be inherent in the final pieces.
Topics and style vary, from heavily textured, distorted pots, to letters bottles discussing elements of jazz, to political and social commentary and stuff about bikes? The large abstracts initially explored the rhythms between the letters but then began to migrate into the self-portrait in the form of big selfies and some of these themes then translated back into the pot form.
Throughout my career my work has cycled back to the same themes – surface and form – and these are essentially what this exhibition is about.
Customisable jewellery by Jackie Selcraig
Jackie Selcraig does not abide by the taught rules of creative design, for her it is very fluid and unstructured. Governed instead by play Jackie begins by siting down and experimenting with the composition of the bits and pieces she has collected over the years. Enjoying mixing colours, textures and materials, the aim is always to create something different, unique and unusual.
Modjool started with the Build Ring, since then, it has grown into a whole family of interactive jewellery, attracting fashion conscious customer eager to take advantage of the versatility of the range. Modjool is a system of statement jewellery, which features ranges which can be worn individually, mixed and matched or combined magnetically. The wearer can adapt the appearance by simply changing colour, shape, size, material or style all within the same jewellery collection.
Shape is bold, geometric, statement jewellery. The pendants can be magnetically attached to any of the colourful Click Range using a special bail.
Build is fun customisable jewellery. The silver ring and necklace base pieces can be transformed by adding a variety of colourful beads and stoppers. You can create a different look every day. Mix the colours up or choose a neutral palette for something more sophisticated.
There’s something about the contrast of textures of the different metals and etched parts that is so compelling. Metal is not always a hard shiny intractable thing – it can have a softer look, have variable colours created by the act of heating, can be a way of drawing in the air.
Jill Stewart was brought up in rural Northumberland, surrounded by nature and colour, always noticing the tiny details that surround us. After city adventures and unsuitable jobs, she started to make things, and developed unique ways of working in brass, copper, silver and titanium. The clocks developed after she was challenged to make larger items than jewellery, and to really develop a colour palette using the effects of heat on different metals. After cutting out the shapes, a large flame is used to solder parts of the design together, but also makes copper go beautiful unpredictable shades of dark red, and changes the look of other metals, especially the etched parts. The handmade look is important, that you can tell an actual person worked closely with their materials here, not absolutely sure how each process would turn out.
Harrison’s Garden
If John Harrison had a garden, how might it have looked?
In 2017, artist Luke Jerram took that thought and turned it into an amazing and imaginative exhibition that has been touring the UK. His idea was to create a ‘an imagined garden’ of clocks clustered into species, forming ‘flowerbeds’, ‘islands’, ‘pathways’ and borders’. Luke’s array of around 3000 timepieces has now visited the beautiful National Trust properties of Nostell Priory, Gunby Hall and Penrhyn Castle.
And in January 2019, Harrison’s Garden will reach its final destination at The Ropewalk. Bringing Harrison’s Garden home has been organised by the Better Barrow Community Project and Luke has kindly offered to donate the clocks to their fundraising cause to erect a statue of John Harrison. The clocks will be auctioned at the end of the exhibition – for further information visit betterbarrow.org
Harrison’s Garden was originally commissioned by Connect! and presented over 5 days at Devon’s Thelma Hulbert Gallery in 2015.
