Just in time for Christmas, the prolific and highly skilled, Wendy Sullivan is bringing us another epic Great Big Pottery Sale!

Grab yourself a steal or your loved ones an elegant, timeless gift and let us wrap it for you x

14th & 15th December, 9.30am - 1.00pm, this is the last pottery sale for 2024, don’t miss out.

Travis Mitchel Evans is a self taught artist and sign painter from Tamworth. His work is influenced by the traditional nature of vintage signs, tattoo culture and country and western - bringing these styles to life with both modern and contemporary techniques.

His first collection, All of the Ways That I Love You, is a series of hand painted and gilded pieces exploring romance, heartbreak and all the little things in between.

With a background in traditional sign painting, Travis brings an eye for detail and craftsmanship to his art, blending classic techniques with a modern edge. His work is known for its striking use of bold lines and colours, gilding and lettering, bringing a handmade quality that makes it both timeless and personal. 

This joint exhibition showcases the works of two experienced and talented artists; Michelle's pieces on paper and Sasha’s ceramics beautifully combine and complement each other to create a cohesive dialogue between their mediums.

Michelle Hungerford is a full-time practicing artist who lives and works in Tamworth, New South Wales. Landscapes are her preferred genre and she is inspired by the New England region. Michelle commenced her formal Art Education in 1987 when she enrolled in a Fine Arts course at Tamworth TAFE. Later, she returned to study and in 2003 graduated from the University of Newcastle with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) and was the recipient of the University Medal.

In 2006 Michelle held her first international solo show at New Hall, Cambridge University and in 2009, she had her second solo show at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge UK. Michelle has also exhibited widely in regional and commercial galleries and has been a finalist in many art prizes including Country Energy Art Prize for Landscape Painting, Norville Art Prize, Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize and the Gallipoli Art Prize. In 2018 she was the winner of the Defiance Gallery Award, Paddington Art Show.

Michelle’s work is held in many private and public collections in, Australia, UK, Europe and America.

Sasha Jury-Radford grew up in Walgett, Born in an ambulance ‘19 Miles North of Coonamble’. She now lives in Tamworth, NSW. Growing up in a small country town was the building block of her interest in making the most of the simple things in life. She feels there was a harsh, imperfect beauty to living in an environment usually engulfed by drought, isolation and the elements of nature. 

In Tamworth, Darren (Sasha’s husband) and two children, Sage and Xavier, live in a Romanesque inspired home. Sasha enjoys immersing herself in developing her own ceramic work whenever possible. Her work is organic in nature and the surface treatment is bold in colour, juxtaposing pattern and texture in each piece. Her beakers, bowls, shards and sculptures celebrate irregularity, imperfections and simplicity. “There is something humanly pleasing about the tangible, tactile process of creating handmade objects. I like to think that each piece I make I have held and shaped with my own hands, passing it on to someone who is attracted to the slight irregularities of each piece.”

The book left on a train, the memory of her, the smell of home, the road you didn’t know you were meant to take, the cave in the hillside only you know about. These are the lost and found.

Poetic postcards in steel and found objects ponder the lost and found in new works by Alex Scheibner and Katy-May Maurice.

Alex Scheibner’s work explores ideas of home and one’s place in the landscape through repetition of the arch motif, that is both hill and valley and the delineation of the interior exterior divide. Whether an ecological, psychological or an architectural reference these sweeping curves combine with weighty nuggets,either fabricated or found, charging the negative spaces with a forceful presence. Fabricated in mild steel and Corten steel, Scheibner’s works range from petite to large scale outdoor sculptures.

Book covers, the guardians of tales, keepers of knowledge, have their own private stories to tell. Objects held by countless hands unknowable times; they have had a relationship with the outside world in a way their interior tales could never. If they could talk how would their stories intertwine with those in their employ. Katy-May Maurice has been working with found objects and in particular an extensive collection of book covers for nearly two decades. Part collage part drawing, these mixed media works have an intimate scale appropriate to the relationship one has with a book however in some instances they stretch to larger ‘Gascoigne-esque’ works.

Scheibner and Maurice share both a home and a studio and the relationship between their independent art practices is clear.

The gallery will only be open on Saturday of the long weekend, we will then close for some family time on the Sunday.

Sorry if this is disappointing news! We will be back in action on the following Wednesday.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe holiday, Kate and the Wessy team x

Weswal Gallery, in conjunction with sponsors Kookaburra Koncepts and First National Real EstateTamworth , is thrilled to announce the launch of the inaugural Interior Art Prize.

A $4000 prize, the ‘Inty’ invites entries from Australian based artists working in any medium, of an interior themed artwork up to 60cm sq. In addition to prize money, the winner will have the option of holding a solo exhibition at Weswal Gallery.

The prize aims to celebrate artists embracing this much loved genre and provide recognition for the contribution interior themed art makes to the contemporary art scene in Australia. We also aim to elevate Tamworth’s profile as an arts and culture destination by creating a prize open to practitioners from all across the nation.

Selected finalists will be invited to exhibit at Weswal Gallery from 18 September until 13 October 2024

Find out more about how to enter HERE

Introducing Stephanie Creigh with her debut solo exhibition, Southern State of Mind, a show referencing the young artists recent journey to South Australia's Flinders Ranges and Eyre Peninsula.

Stephanie was one of the recipients of the HeadstART artists grant, created in collaboration with and funded by Talking Threads Tamworth. HeadstART provided two artists with a mentorship and funds towards creating their first body of work for exhibition.

Join us to celebrate the opening event on Saturday 21 September @3pm

Ariella Friend is a Sydney based artist. Working in an expanded practice Friend’s work challenges the boundaries between painting, sculpture and space. She is particularly interested in the way art can engage audiences in public spaces. Her practice reflects the tensions that exist between humans and nature.

“By combining the traditional artist techniques of painting, cutting and assembling with non traditional artist materials such as found wood and discarded materials, I create sculptural forms and installations that are bold, multi layered, contemplative and dynamic.”

Marilou Palazon is a contemporary Australian artist. She has been painting large-scale botanicals, Australian Birds, and water themes for over 20 years. She treats them more like dramatic landscapes — exploring textures, ranges, light play and folds.

Choosing to eliminate a “feminine” reference, Palazon instead emphasises the theatrical and sculptural play of form in a contemporary and monumental scale. Adopting a realistic style, Palazon employs expressive and loose brushwork and unfinished areas that allow the viewer to fall into the work and to travel across the surface. Yet, within her love of realism, there is no desire for hyper-realism — not needing to explain every detail. Instead she keeps the surface texture full of painterly brush strokes and glaze work. Ragged markings are used to lift the energy of the piece, rather than the stillness and precision of a still life.

Palazon acknowledges layered emotional and historical content for water, florals and birds – a long recognised passion in art – from Renaissance to Impressionist masters or classical platforms. Exploring universal themes of beauty, time, fragility, life, death, decay and birth.

Marilou is a graduate of COFA, UNSW, Sydney and holds a degree and Graduate diploma in Visual Arts. She lives on the North Shore of Sydney, Australia with her family.

Prominent New England based artists Stuart Boggs and Rowen Matthews come together to present ‘Wild Rivers’, a powerful exhibition of dramatically structured, semi abstract landscapes.

Join us for the opening event on Saturday 6 July @3pm

“ This show continues my exploration into the landscape in the New England region. Each piece is an emotional reaction to the land but unlike my earlier works that reflected a deeply personal journey, this show contemplates the value the land has in forging collective identify. Alongside the landscapes there will be a fibre instillation, depicting Mary Ann Bugg. Most often referred to as “Thuderbolt’s Lady,” Mary Ann was a bushranger in her own right and by many accounts was the driving force behind Thunderbolt’s Robin Hood persona. n folklore and how this is bound up in our relationship with the land and identity. I’m particularly interested in Australia’s celebration of the larrikin, or people who choose to defy social conventions because on the whole we are actually a fairly conservative culture and it’s an odd few who get celebrated for stepping outside of the box” Janna Hayes

Please join us for the opening event on Saturday 8 June @5pm.

Introducing Phoebe Hillard for her debut solo show, Detritus, in the Stockroom Gallery.

Based in Armidale, Hillard has developed an incredibly beautiful series of pastel on paper artworks which use leaf litter - ‘Detritus’ - as a vessel through which to explore themes of regeneration and the perpetual cycle of death, life and rebirth.

Join us for the opening event on Saturday 8 June @5pm

Leslye Cole studied graphic design at Randwick Technical College, graduating in 1981. During her last year of tertiary education, she accepted an invitation by the college and the Royal Alexandria Hospital for Children, Camperdown Sydney, to work in a casual position as a medical Illustrator. In 1982 she took up a position at Buchanan Bullpitt & Grey advertising agency in Milsons Point, Sydney, working as an assistant art director, and quickly promoted to art director. 

Cole changed direction in 1986, taking up a position working as a senior graphic designer at Stone Davies Alley Marketing Design, Crows Nest, Sydney. Here she was introduced to the concept of the psychological effect of colour.

In 1988 she commenced a freelance career as an illustrator and graphic designer working chiefly for international publisher, Simon & Schuster, providing book illustrations for eight non-fiction titles. Cole joined Alexander Lavroff & Associates, Rushcutters Bay, Sydney, in 1994, an agency representing a stable of Australia’s best illustrators.

In 1997, after that business folded, she joined new agency Every Picture Tells a Story, Cremorne, Sydney, which consequently took over the representation of her artistic peers. During their sixteen year association Cole provided artwork for all of the major international advertising agencies and designers working on the world’s leading brands.

In 2012 Cole relocated to a farm east of Tamworth, NSW to establish a career in fine art. 

Adored local artist Joanne Stead presents her solo exhibition ‘A Touch of Gold’ in the Stockroom Gallery.

All welcome to join us for the opening event on Saturday 11 May @2pm

Elouise Roberts lives and works in Armidale, New South Wales. She has held several solo exhibitions of her landscape paintings and drawings since graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Newcastle in 2001.

Her further studies in textile design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology influenced her painting style with its strong focus on attention to detail.

Elouise has received a number of awards for her art and design work including the Maitland Tertiary Student Art Prize (2000), New England Art Prize (2002) and the International Dyers and Colourists design competition (Australasian winner 2011).

Roberts' subject matter is predominantly the landscape- dramatic clouds, light through trees, deep shadows, reflections on water and undulating grasses. The New England provides endless inspiration, from its picturesque farmlands to wild gorges. 

Over the years her practice has evolved from semi-abstract and expressive techniques using mixed media, into a more representational style mostly using paints.

West Australian artist Kiandra Buchanan’s focus is still life and figurative works. The work is representational, leaning into realism, though texture and expressive brushwork are at the forefront. The artworks are mostly completed in the Alla Prima or wet on wet method, allowing greater manipulation of the paint layers and textures. Buchanan’s subjects are chosen to build a story around a thought or feeling. They are a glimpse into ones inner world, and state of mind, soft and intimate they look at the beauty and banality of the everyday.

This is her first solo show with Weswal, it will be held in the Stockroom Gallery

Weswal Gallery and Deva Chocolate Cafe will be closed for Easter long weekend folks. Wishing all of our supporters a wonderful holiday, and we look forward to seeing you next week x

Predominantly working with oil paint on canvas, I see my paintings as illusory abstract landscapes where the landscape emerges as an imagined place, or the in-between space that connects memory and place, rather than representing somewhere specific. Through layers of various marks: squiggly lines, shapes, broad brush strokes, and veils of paint I hope to build an image that cannot be understood in a simple glance. The various paint marks aren’t representative of anything in particular. Instead, like points on a map they guide toward the memory of a place and will resonate differently for each person that engages with my paintings. 
 
I grew up in the county surrounded by a lot of open space. As an adult I have lived in Melbourne and whilst loving the urban environment I am always seeking to find that feeling of space I had around me in my childhood. Through my paintings I am trying to recreate that feeling of space for myself and hopefully for others too. I am also trying to create a feeling of calm when I look at my work.  I feel that life is chaos so I want my paintings be a counterpoint to that.  My hope is that others can find a moment of quiet and space to breathe when they are viewing my artwork.

Amber Hearn and Katie Harvey / Looking Forward, Looking Back

‘Looking Forward, Looking Back’ surveys reflections, perception and memories of internal and external landscapes experienced by artists Amber Hearn and Katie Harvey. A visual dialogue is apparent in their paintings, exploring notions of architectural and agricultural integrations into the environment through colour, light and abstraction.

Exhibition runs February 14 until March 10

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This exhibition was developed with the assistance of a Regional Arts Quick Response Grant Regional Arts Australia

‘Hey! Thats My Guitar’ is an ode to the Guitar Shaped World exhibitions originally created by Reg Lynch and Michael Rolfe for Tamworth Regional Gallery.

We will be showing kitsch, fun and guitar themed artworks from multiple artists across multiple mediums. We will also be borrowing a work from the Tamworth Regional Gallery collection for the show.

‘Hey! Thats My Guitar’ is our contribution to the reknown Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Weswal Gallery will be closed for Christmas break from Saturday 23 December and will reopen on 17th January 2024.

Any Stockroom purchases made during this time will be shipped after the gallery reopens.

We want to wish all of our supporters a wonderful, safe and restful holiday season.

See you in 2024!

Marie Larkin returns to Weswal with‘Landmarks’ an exhibition that explores the intersection of the material landscape, and the world of memory and emotion that exists within us all.

These works are defined by tactile, painstakingly rendered surfaces that reference natural elements, yet remain elusively abstract.

‘Landmarks’ will be our final exhibition of 2023.

Jamie-Lee Garner is an interdisciplinary Artist that lives and works in the Northern Tablelands, on Ngarabal country in NSW, Australia. She received her BA in Architecture from the University of Sydney in 2018. In her arts practice Jamie-Lee works with ceramics, painting and film photography. Through all her works she explores the relationship between our inner world and our external reality, dealing mostly with the energetic integration or dissonance of our memories. 

Utilising upcycled textiles and an exploratory ceramics process Jamie-Lee is focused on optimising sustainability and creative expression. She plays with the senses through materiality and form, building sandy raku clay vessels and meticulously wrapping them in offcuts from vintage bath towels that evoke a sense of nostalgia. 

Each towel is individually sourced from a range of interesting characters across Australia and each of these towels has had a journey all its own. The towels are then handmade into one-of-a-kind hats at Sydney based fashion label Re/lax Remade, after which the colourful offcuts are diverted from landfill and into Jamie-Lee's hands, ready for the alchemy of the ceramics studio. 

"Through the process of warmly wrapping these stone like vessels I am reminded of the true expanse of human imagination and collaboration across time and mediums. This fabric has travelled across decades, been held in many hands, loved in many homes and is now living anew. These nostalgic patterns have a third chance at life and it is something quite special to know that many artisans have worked with them along the way."