Mona Behzadian is Evenley’s exhibitor for September. Mona was born in Tehran and now lives and works from Byfield. She is an impressionist and abstract painter who is also interested in historical tiles and rug patterns.

Mona has worked with watercolour and acrylic mediums for 5 years with master watercolour painters.

This year’s Northants Open Studios event sees Mel Beacroft’s art on display at Culworth. Her work is inspired by nature, notably trees, flowers and field margins.

When landscape painting, Mel use oils, acrylics or watercolours, often taking inspiration from rural Northamptonshire. By employing a range of tools including palette knives, mop brushes and large rounds, this allows her to create gestural marks, washes and expressive brushwork.

Stepping out from Mel’s home studio takes her directly into the garden where she can sketch and experiment with compositions for lino designs and drypoint plates. Home-grown flowers and seed heads are fun to carve and incise as they provide exciting lines, shapes and forms - perfect for printmaking. Mel’s artwork is certainly a result of her passion for gardening and nature.

Mark Cooper is a sculpture, photographer & product designer. Having grown up in New Zealand to the age of 27, he currently resides in the picturesque UK countryside where he works from his studio rurally tucked away on a working grain & cattle farm in Northamptonshire.
‘Pesce fuor d’acqua’ is a sculptural body of work and is named as such for the mixed foreign influences, inspirations and layered meanings to the artist. The saying found both in Italian and in English (‘a fish out of water’) can be read in a literal sense as the marine inspired forms are immediately evident in the sculpture but are nuanced in context having been created far from the waters edge in middle England. Distanced from the sea, his home shores and culture, this is a foreign place for the artist as much as it is for these sculptured creations.
If the idea for the series was born on the beaches of Italy's south coast, ‘Pesce fuor d’acqua’ is a body of work very much spawned back on the beaches of Eastbourne, Wellington N,Z where Mark grew up. Spending most of his early life in the sea and sand dunes of his home, years were spent playing with beach treasures and being enchanted by the creatures of the oceans and rockpools of wellington harbour and heads.
Formative experiences and emotions of this life period, the love of time spent in small fishing boats with his farther, nets full of fish, crabs, sea-weed and starfish combined with a childhood fascination of sparkling fishing lures is a resource of inspiration for this series.
These sculptures are very much artefacts from his childhood and take the form of museum like pieces from a once rich culture now lost.

Here’s what to expect from Joanna’s exhibition from the artist herself:

I am a local artist, craftsperson and photographer and I have lived in Brackley for 12 years. I studied woven textiles at the Surrey Institute of Art and Design and was awarded a Licentiate of the Society of Designer Craftsmen on graduation. I have exhibited my artwork in a number of galleries over the past 25 years, including the Mall Galleries in London.

I have been passionate about the natural world all of my life. And I love all things ancient and how they become one with their environment. My photography is a celebration of nature's colours and patterns and ancient buildings textures and form. It’s a bit of joy from the world I see around me. Much of it from our local area of Brackley, Evenley, Badby and Stowe.

Here’s what to expect from Grant’s exhibition in the words of the artist himself:

Words or pictures, when viewed in isolation, often only tell one half of a story.

As a graphic artist, book illustrator, Creative Director of a leading design consultancy and an avid reader, the importance of combining imagery and words has never been lost on me.

The addition of a few, well-chosen words in support of an image or the flourish of the artists’ pen to illustrate selected words, have the power to introduce a new dimension, or ‘read’ to a piece, adding layers of depth of meaning, clarity or mystery.

The challenge of applying a simple minimalistic approach (even though attaining simplicity can sometimes be deceptively complex) via the medium of black ink, both as letterforms in the pages of a book, or the illustrator’s pen in the quest to ask questions of the viewer or provide context for formulation of ideas and thoughts, is a challenge I relish and aim to achieve with every artwork I create.

The images and words are only the starting point…

Here’s what to expect from Melanie’s exhibition from the artist herself:
Trees, flowers, field margins and nature are sources of inspiration for my original paintings and prints. I explore and photograph the land, hedgerows, woodland and coast, seeking out native flowers, gnarly ancient trees and weather worn branches, shaped by the elements.

When landscape painting, I use oils, acrylics or watercolours, often taking inspiration from rural Northamptonshire. Employing a range of tools including palette knives, mop brushes and large rounds, allows me to create gestural marks, washes and expressive brushwork. Furthermore, I love to capture the intense detail and natural textures of trees, using micron pens with inks and watercolours on heavy paper.

Stepping out from my home studio takes me directly into the garden where I can sketch and experiment with compositions for lino designs and drypoint plates. Home-grown flowers and seed heads are fun to carve and incise as they provide exciting lines, shapes and forms - perfect for printmaking. My artwork is certainly a result of my passion for gardening and nature.

Forge Coffee favourite, Paul Wharton, returns for another exhibition of his artwork for the festive period across both our Culworth an Evenley sites.

Paul has always had an interest in artistic expression, from schoolbook doodling at an early age, drawing cartoons or copying record sleeve art through to simply experimenting with various forms of art medium in both landscape and figurative subjects.

Over the years Paul has moved into landscape and seascape painting with oil as the preferred medium developing a loose yet bold feel to his works often utilising the palette knife.

Today much of Paul’s inspiration comes from the former ship building rivers, the rugged coastline and fishing towns of Northern England and Scotland where cliffs, fishing boats and the lure of the sea often create dramatic and foreboding landscapes.

Paul has steadily gained popularity with many works going into both commercial and private collections.

November brings the work of Beverley Spiro, a local artist and teacher, to adorn Evenley’s walls. Beverly’s vibrant work brings energy to her predominantly oil-based still-life and portraits. Her work is well worth a visit to see in real life.

Lindsey Fox and Juliet Nichols-Wood are teaming up for a second year at Forge Coffee Culworth to demonstrate that art isn’t just multi-million Picassos but open to everyone.

We welcome back Tanita Gibbs for a second exhibition at Evenley where she will showcase her other worldly images.

This year’s guest artist for this popular art trail are Lizzie Coulter and Liz Dixon.

September brings the ever popular Paul Wharton back to grace our walls at Culworth.

Paul is a local working artist, based in Towcester painting both landscape and maritime subjects.

He explores the impact of such subjects on our emotions through the use of vivid colour and bold composition.

At heart Paul is a 'painter of pictures', that the viewer can explore and lose themselves in.