Artizan welcomes Yorkshire based artist Ian Brooks as we continue with our series of solo shows at our dedicated printmaking and sculpture gallery on Lucius Street. 'Far Horizons' brings together landscapes ranging from Antarctica to Svalbard by way of hilltops in the Pennines around the artist's Yorkshire home. The locations are mostly remote, many are inaccessible except by sea, and might be considered by many to be bleak and inhospitable. They have, however, great beauty – austere perhaps, but captivating. The polar regions in particular I find enthralling. Something about the light, the often limited colour palette, the contrasts of rock against snow and ice, cloud and water. Landscapes both rugged and fragile. My aim is to capture the distinct sense of place of each location – a combination of landscape and weather – and I hope, something of my response to the place. Achieving this requires a balance between the ruggedness of harsh conditions and a delicacy of execution to capture subtle contrasts and details in the landscape. In the field I draw in a variety of sketchbooks with pencil and acrylic ink – sepia toned, a close match to the etching ink used for the final prints. Back in the studio the sketches, supplemented at times with photographs, are translated into print. I draw directly onto copper plates with a sugar lift solution (neat Camp coffee) and stop-out varnish. The image is built up from many separately etched layers of aquatint – a dusting of resin, melted and fused to the plate, provides a half-tone when bitten by the acid. Tightly-controlled drawing is mixed with more abstract, semi-random marks – applied with sponges, tissue paper, cotton buds, and other improvised tools – to mimic the natural textures of the landscape. The subtle, smoke-like tonal transitions are achieved by painting the acid on with a brush: a spit-bite – so called because traditionally saliva was used to break the surface tension of the acid, although I use a weak soap solution. Etching in general, and aquatint in particular, can be a rather mercurial process. The acid bite is subject to a multitude of changeable factors only partly under the artist’s control – temperature, strength of acid, the density of aquatint resin on the plate. Until printed the result is always uncertain since the artist is working part-blind, judging the depth of bite and final tone as much by experience and intuition as the clock. To make a successful print requires responding to the vagaries of the process, embracing the element of chance, and ultimately leaving the reference material, and perhaps the initial intention, behind and following the needs of each particular image as it develops. Ian’s exhibition will be hosted in our main gallery space whilst in our Courtyard Gallery our seasonal printmaker open exhibition continues. Each space will also feature specially selected 3D works from our seasonal sculpture artists. Opening week Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm Thereafter Thursday - Saturday 10 am - 5 pm

The Artizan Sculpture Season offers a refined exploration of contemporary sculpture, presenting a series of quarterly exhibitions that showcase the diverse practices within 3D art. This Spring Season, we are proud to feature the work of Abi Higgins, Philippa de Burlet, Almut Woolard, Maria Moorhouse and Rosa Wiland Holmes. Each artist brings a distinct approach to sculpture, reflecting a deep engagement with form, material, and conceptual exploration. From intimate, hand-crafted sculptures to large-scale installations, the Spring Season offers a comprehensive view of the sculptural landscape, inviting visitors to appreciate the intricacies and possibilities of the medium. The works displayed in this season reflect the varied ways in which artists engage with human experience, nature, and the complex relationships between objects and space. Alongside the sculpture exhibitions, our Printmaker Opens will offer a complementary program, expanding the dialogue between different art forms and presenting the depth of contemporary printmaking practice. This integration of sculpture and printmaking provides a rich, layered experience for visitors, underscoring the versatility and innovation of both mediums. Whether you're a collector, enthusiast, or simply a visitor with an interest in contemporary sculpture, the Artizan Sculpture Season provides a meaningful opportunity to engage with exceptional works that reflect the breadth and depth of 3D art today. The gallery will be open Thursday – Saturdays 10 am – 5 pm with some additional days during the period. Please contact the gallery if you are looking to visit outside our normal opening hours.

This body of work is rooted in James's time at Torre Abbey, where he explored the building, its grounds, and the surrounding landscape during a month-long residency. The smaller open-air studies provided valuable insights that informed his larger works, blending real and imagined elements. On a larger scale, James envisioned nature dramatically overtaking the abbey, engulfing its structure, and emphasising themes of transformation and resilience. The site supports a unique ecosystem, and James sought to highlight the importance of preserving the architecture while celebrating the natural environment. Without intervention, nature could reclaim the space entirely, blurring the boundaries between the man-made and natural worlds.

Sienna Editions presents their first exhibition 'Swipe Right 4 Art' at Artizan Gallery, opening April 17th for a special two-week showcase. This innovative exhibition is the creative vision of Hannah and Kevin, who combined their artistic expertise and over 20 years of professional print experience to launch Sienna Editions Ltd. While born from their success with Print2Wall, Sienna Editions stands as its own venture dedicated to discovering and showcasing exceptional artistic talent. 'Swipe Right 4 Art' introduces a playful matchmaking concept for art enthusiasts, helping visitors discover pieces that speak to them personally. New and innovative print processes will be showcased in the exhibition taking original artworks and placing them alongside a curated selection of prints featuring new finishing methods including, canvas with resin finish, textured resin applications and aluminium-mounted and acrylic glass presentations. The exhibition will demonstrate how different presentation styles can transform the same artwork, helping collectors envision pieces in their own spaces. Artizan are delighted to be supporting this exciting development for Torquay's evolving art scene, connecting regional artistic talent with new audiences and collectors, with Hannah and Kevin on hand throughout the exhibition to share more about the concept and future plans.

For centuries, Torbay’s landscape has shaped the people, industries, and stories that define it. As part of the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark, this coastline tells a tale of deep time—of shifting continents, lost worlds, and human histories intertwined with the land. But how do we translate these vast and complex narratives into something we can feel, see, and experience? The Geopark Artist Residency Programme was created to explore this question, inviting four artists to engage with Torbay’s Geopark designation through their creative practices. Over six months, these artists have worked closely with geologists, conservators, historians, and local communities, producing new bodies of work that respond to the landscapes, histories, and urgent conservation challenges of this unique region. The residency programme unfolds across two exhibitions, and two venues, each exploring a distinct but connected aspect of Torbay’s heritage. The first at Torre Abbey (18th March - 18th May), featuring James Murch and Laura Segan, responds to Torre Abbey’s place within the Geopark and its ongoing restoration. Through plein air painting, experimental photography, and textiles, these works reflect on themes of degradation, preservation, and the constant tension between nature and human intervention. Coinciding with the Geopark Festival Weekend, the second exhibition hosted at the Artizan Collective Gallery (25th May – 22nd June) brings together all four residency artists: James Murch, Laura Segan, Gill Melling, and Rachael Allain. Expanding on the themes of the first showcase, this exhibition journeys beyond Torre Abbey into marine environments, microscopic ecosystems, and human entanglements with the natural world. Each artist has approached Torbay’s landscape from a different perspective, producing work across painting, print, photography, textiles, installation, and digital media. Their residencies have been an opportunity to engage with experts, immerse themselves in local history, and respond directly to the environments around them. Each exhibition invites audiences to see the Geopark not just as a place, but as a living story—one that is still unfolding. Whether through painted landscapes, experimental processes, or digital interventions, the works on display ask us to reflect on our relationship with the land, the fragility of the ecosystems around us, and the future of Torbay’s most historic sites. The Geopark Artist Residency Programme has been made possible by the Torbay Local Heritage Grant Scheme, funded through the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Torbay Council, and the Friends of Torre Abbey. The programme is a partnership between Artizan Collective CIC, Torre Abbey, and the English Riviera UNESCO Global Geopark, working to explore new ways of interpreting and engaging with Torbay’s natural and cultural heritage. We invite you to explore, reflect, and engage with these works—and to see Torbay’s UNESCO Geopark through an entirely new lens.

‘Salt and other stories’ (2024/5) is a series of photographs and textile works all developed during or in response to time spent as an artist in residence at Torre Abbey in 2024. All of the works were created with a major theme of Torre Abbey’s restoration in mind. I was fascinated to learn about the challenges Torre Abbey faces due to its proximity to the sea and how the salt air erodes the plaster. I was interested in this particularly because salt is often used as a preservative in my artwork whether through fixing photographs as the final step or in the process of creating natural dyes to colour textiles. I wanted to play with the concept of erosion and preservation as a theme. I was drawn to the beautiful gardens at Torre Abbey and the abundance of flowers while I was there on residency. I wanted to capture them with my cameras as each day and each week that I spent there, more of the flowers came and went. Having experienced a significant bereavement recently, grief and loss is ever present in my work. Working with the garden at Torre Abbey was a visual reminder of change, of new life, death and decay. My photographic method is unusual because I don't use traditional chemicals to develop my photographs. I collect plant matter from the area I am photographing and use this along with some natural ingredients to create a site specific developer. This is a hugely important part of my process as it allows the place I am photographing to make its mark on the images I am producing. No two developing solutions are the same and because of this some of the control of what the images will look like is taken away from me. The process becomes unique to the plants I am photographing and the strength of the developing solution that I have created from them. The textile works that I have created for the exhibition are a response to the drawings, paintings and photographic studies I made of the garden while I was there. I have created these pieces in my studio over the winter and it has brought me great joy to be reminded of the beauty and colour that I experienced in my time in the gardens. The textile pieces are informed by my photographs and yet are boldly different in their aesthetic. They compliment each other, boundless colour and joy so obvious in some of the pieces and calmer more sombre and reflective scenes in others. In this way the art that I have created for this exhibition reflects my initial theme strongly and acknowledges that two things can be true at once. We cannot have life without death, we cannot have beauty without the inevitable knowledge that at some point there will also be decay. In the same way that I use salt in my work to preserve it for the future, it also acts as a destructive force in other ways. Seeing my work altogether reminds me that there is always balance.