Tasting the Coyam

Our recent Wine Tasting at Montagues Art Gallery was a high spirited event!  ‘ Taste’ was an evening designed to challenge your creative juices in many ways. Run by the team at Montagues and our wine buffs, delightful Quentin Ross-Smith (sounds like a wine expert?)  and  man about town, John Brecon, guests sampled 6 differing wines ranging from a light Pinot Gris 2008, from Alsace to a more Classic Chateau Picard 1995 from Bordeaux and then on to the newer non-conformist wines such as a Chilean Coyam and a Priorat from Catalonia in Spain.  The Art complimented the wines.  Alongside the lighter wine selection was work by artists  David Gainford, Barry Hilton, Chris Bourne and up and coming star, Ben Jeffery, all known for their complex detailing of light within their work.  David Gainford was in attendance and described his love of the Provence whislt Ben Jeffery spoke about his media and what inspires him to paint. Not the wine then, Ben?!

With the more modern wines came the directional art, with works by Kerry Darlington, whose unique resin finished work is so in demand at the moment and Sue Barlett, known for her wax and glass finish.  Also joining  us for the

evening was the  artist and rather lovely Adam Barsby.  Adam’s latest work on perspex is available for viewing exclusively at Montagues from

today…….Well done to Ciaran, Ellie, Suzanne and Ben for putting on such a great night!

Summer Sizzlers from Kerry Darlington

Finalist for the ‘Best Selling Artist Award 2010′ at the Fine Art Trade Guild Kerry Darlington is without doubt one of the most popular living British artist of the now.

And we’re lucky enough to have a few of her pieces available at the gallery. The pieces really have to be seen up front for the full experience. True impact art, tasteful yet provocative.

Kerry worked for years in pen and ink perfecting her drawing skills before diversifying into watercolours and later, a variety of mediums, acrylic and oil. Following her experience with the clay murals, she became interested in painting upon heavy textures and experimented widely to produce original effects.

Her acrylic paintings are uniquely formed upon board or canvas first, using textures and gesso. The colour is then built with several transparent layers to create depth. Her abstract pieces were initially based upon satellite photographs of Earth which created the ‘Volcanic’ Collection in 2005/2006. This has since diversified to include contemporary landscapes and figure-work, all carrying her unique style.

It’s well worth googling ‘Kerry Darlington’ to see just how popular she is. Naturally you should end up at our website -Montague’s Gallery- because it’s safe to say that we’ve got the best selection of her work available at the very best prices.

tl;dr Montague’s exhibits work by the UK’s number one artist.

Out of left field and causing a stir in the gallery we now have a couple of amazing pieces from Bath based “digital artist” Tom Bagshaw. They’re limited edition prints (of just 50 worldwide) from his Yokai Dreams series.

We managed to grab 5 minuted with Tom for a quick Q&A session in which he reveals that he’s self taught! Wowza.

When did you first realise you wanted to be an artist and when did you realise you WERE an artist?

Hazy memories of being 4 or 5 and spending an awful lot of time drawing, I don’t know if I will ever get to the point where I ‘call’ myself an ‘artist’, but I knew that its what I wanted to do, pretty much to the exclusion of all else when I was 8 or 9 and got given my first airbrush.

Tell us about your training. Was there anyone in particular that was an influence on your work and career.

Im self taught, my father was a commercial artist at one point and I would occasionally turn to him if I felt I had a specific problem. Other than that I had one art teacher at school who was a big influence in terms of encouraging me to do the work I wanted, after leaving school I went on to college at 16 to study graphic design (which was the only way I could do a course with an element of illustration at that point) but very quickly found it wasn’t for me. I discovered digital art about 8 years ago and taught myself photoshop, painter etc everything I know now.

What are your inspirations – Art & artists and the wider world?

I have always been drawn to anything visual, design, fine art, illustration, architecture, photography, film, tv so I have a lot of inspiration from a variety of sources. In terms of art- im particularly influenced by figurative based work, certainly portraits and have a fondness for realism over abstracts.

Take us through the process – Where do you start?

Basic stories, ideas for a narrative- sometimes the story isn’t evident but I need to be able to conjure a story to spark my imagination enough to capture a scene. Doesn’t always work though. Then it’s a series of basic thumbnail sketches to play with composition and primary elements. Once ive picked the strongest or what im happiest with- it’s a matter of refining everything to a working drawing and then through to painting. Everything is done digitally with the possible exception of the thumbnail stage.

What’s the biggest challenge you face when producing your art?

My own critical nature and knowing when to stop.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?

Probably better off financially but likely not as happy!

Do artists suffer from “writers block”? How do you overcome it?

A creative block is a real problem and I think everyone does different things to overcome it. Personally I find its best to get away from the computer for awhile, completely take a break from it all and come back with a clear head.

What advice, specific to your style of art, would you give to an aspiring artist?

Dont worry about investing all your money in the latest software and hardware, just buy what you can afford at the time but make sure you buy a Wacom tablet- it’s the one thing that will be totally invaluable to being a digital artist.

What does the future hold for you? What art can we expect to see?

Most of its under wraps at the moment but a few group shows on the horizon, a small continuation of my Yokai body of work and hopefully some time to get back into traditional media.

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Both Kuchisake-Onna and Hito-Dama from Tom’s Yokai Dreams series are available at the gallery at the moment. Framed and double mounted with mount embelishment for the “quite frankly you’re mad” price of £295.

tl;dr Uber-talented digital artist shaking up Kings Langley with the dark arts.

Montague’s Gallery are proud to present this impressive and unique original artwork by artist Timmy Mallett.
Timmy’s reputation as a collectable fine artist has grown considerably over the last couple of years with prices for his originals doubling between 2009 and 2010. This painting. representing a satellite image of the United Kingdom during the winter of 2009, provides something totally unique, not only because of it’s interesting subject matter which is completely different to the majority of Mallett’s work but it is also an orignal acrylic on paper, a format that Mallett rarely uses, preferring canvas or board.

WHITE OUT: A true one off original.

We’d love to see this go to a good home. So please get in touch. info@montaguesgallery.com

So, the opening night of our summer exhibition was last night and on all accounts we can safely say it was a bit of a success. Despite being hotter than the sun there was a fabulous turn out of art lovers and artists themselves. Unfortunately Nagib Karsan didn’t make it in the end after a motorway crash (he wasn’t involved!!) forced him to return home. Fletcher Sibthorp, Dave Lee Travis, Andy Ash and Oksana Leadbitter made it to the gallery though and it was a pleasure to here them talk about their work.

While we sift through the photos from the night (discreetly deleting the less flattering ones) we thought it might be nice for everyone to get to know one of our newest artists a little better with this interesting and revealing interview with Oksana Leadbitter.

When did you first realise you wanted to be an artist and when did you realise you WERE an artist?

I was 4 years old and my father was recording my voice on a tape recorder, I was reciting a couple of children’s songs and poems that I had learned in kinder garden, after the recording my father asked me “who do you want to be when you grow up?” I replied “who is the greatest artist in the world of all times?” He said “I think, Leonardo Da Vinci” I said “daddy I’m going to better than him”… True story..!

When I was 10 years old I was told by my art teacher that I have the talent to be a great artist, it was then I realised ‘I am an artist!’ and decided that this is what I want to do.

Tell us about your training. Was there anyone in particular that was an influence to your work and career?

My father is also an artist, so he was my first influence, from the age of three I spent several hours a day learning from him and painting in his studio. At the age of eleven I was offered a place at the Lithuanian state school of Fine Art for gifted children, where I was privileged to be taught by Prof. Lukshis and Adamkus, who are some of the most celebrated artists in Lithuania.

What or who are your inspirations?

When I was a child my inspirations came from Da Vinchi, Rafael, Botichelli, Michenangello, Renbrandt and other many wonderful artists of the Renaissance Period. As I grew up I also became inspired by the French artist, William Adolphe Bougereau.

Take us through the process – Where do you start?

Before I begin a painting, I construct every detail of the painting in my head and I think about what materials I will use for each project individually. I do not do any sketches as I do not feel the need, once I see the finished painting in my head, I start painting.

What’s the biggest challenge you face when producing your art?

Finding beautiful models.

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?

An Art Teacher.

Do artists suffer from “writers block”? How do you overcome it?

Yes. I overcome it by taking a brake for a few hours, and then re-approach the painting with a different solution for the problem. Sometimes I restart the painting all together in different colours, composition, size etc. I never give up, I merely change my approach.

What advice, specific to your style of art, would you give to an aspiring artist?

Focus on conveying the emotions through movement and colour contrast, this is the most important part of my style of painting, keep practicing and don’t give up until you have mastered your style.

What does the future hold for you? What new works can we expect to see?

More charcoal paintings, as well as charcoal and oil on canvas in large scale.

Desert Island Question – One artwork, One book, One Album.

Whispering of love by the artist William Bouguereau (1825-1905)

War and Peace by the author Leo Tolstoy

Music by Nina Simone

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Three of Oksana’s original charcoal paintings can be seen in the gallery right now as part of our summer exhibition. Elizabeth (pictured), Beach Babe and Ballerina.

Exciting news!

We’ve got our first exhibition coming up at the gallery, featuring new art from Fletcher Sibthorp, Nagib Karsan, Kerry Darlington, Timmy Mallett and many, many others.

On the night (kicking off at 7pm) Fletcher Sibthorp and Nagib Karsan will be at the gallery which is a super opportunity for people to talk face to face with them about their art and career.

It’s been all hands to the deck for the past week to get things ready and it’s not likely to let up until 6.59pm on Thursday. We hope it’ll be worth it (it’ll be worth it!).

Did someone say sold out? No?

Well someone said Sarah-Jane Szikora fo sho…

Cos, if they did, they’d be right but we’ve managed to get hold of one of the most sought after limited prints of 2010. It’s Damien’s Dress by Sarah-Jane Szikora, and yes, it’s sold out everywhere else but Montague’s. Originally available on both canvas and paper. Our edition is on stretched canvas which is box framed with multi-coloured studs running around the edge mimicking the dots shown in the picture (they’re Damien Hirst’s dots – Do ya get it?).

A Little About SJS (in her words)…..

There you go.

More HERE

Even more HERE

Ok, so there’s art that flies off the wall, and then there’s art by Lee Tyler. His range of paintings, so energetic, so vibrant, so immense have been so, so popular. The instant effect his paintings have on people is really interesting to witness. When talking to customers day in day out we often have conversations about them not exactly knowing what they want, but knowing that when they see it, they’ll know. And when people see the Tyler’s, and stare at it for a few minutes, then move to the side slighly, then move closer, then further away and stare at it for a few more minutes. I know, that they know.

Measuring at a metre square the Tyler’s seem to have the right mix of contempoary abstract, energy, colour and a envolping depth that people really dig. If you’ve got the wall space (and you’ve got the bottle) these paintings can bring a room alive.

Born in 1969, Lee grew up in north London, he became interested in art after spending many hours watching his grandmother paint;
His art education began with an Art foundation Diploma at the Herts college and in 1999 he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Art and Design from Hatfield University.

Lee draws his inspiration from all that is organic, natural and accidental, these fundamentals can be seen in his latest works where to some degree he has no control .

To see some of the Tyler’s we currently have in stock please visit our website HERE but to get the real effect and to see it under different lighting conditions (where his chameleon like art comes into its own) you should really pop into the gallery.