We have a wide range of work by independent artists and artisans on exhibition at the Kemble Gallery. We display contemporary, modern & traditional art, illustration & graphic art prints & gifts, photography, sculpture, textiles, ceramics & glass handmade artisan gifts.
The Martin Brothers Artists, Cambrooke
Since 1983, artist brothers Philip and Glyn Martin have been touring Britain. They have painted detailed watercolour paintings of towns, villages and favourite places of England, Scotland and Wales. From these paintings, the limited edition of 850 prints are printed on 100% cotton, acid-free paper made especially for them by an English Mill, which gives an exceptional quality. Philip and Glyn Martin formed Cambrooke Fine Art Publishers Limited, established 2 years ago, to publish and market prints of their watercolour paintings.
F. Theys, Artist
F. Theys has been producing limited edition etchings, for many years, in his home in Belgium. His award-winning work has been exhibited internationally. The National Portrait Gallery in London has in its collection, his portrait of the poet and novelist George Mackay Brown (1921-1996) "The Bard of Orkney".
George Taws, Artist
George Taws paints from his home studio based in South Shields. His watercolour seascapes & cityscapes are influenced by JMW Turner.
John Home, Artist
John Home has exhibited his work with the Kemble Gallery for many years. John is a highly-skilled artist and creates remarkable architectural paintings in both watercolour & acrylic. His realistic paintings and have often been mistaken for photographic works, which is a credit to his skill.
John Sibson paints in his studio on the Norfolk & Suffolk borders and from a base in Appleby, Cumbria, U.K. John’s work is best described as a traditional style of watercolour painting and has exhibited in the U.K. and Internationally. In particular, John has exhibited in London at the Royal Society of Marine Artists Open Exhibition and in the Houses of Parliament. John says, “I just paint what I see and how I see it, and let the paintings speak for themselves.”
Stephen Ward is an award-winning watercolour painter and designer based in Durham. Originally from the south east, Stephen studied Fine Art at Newcastle University, fell in love with the area and stayed. Since graduating he has continued to pursue his passion for painting and drawing. His paintings of architecture capture light and shadow perfectly and his work is held in private collections, including that of Bill Bryson, and has produced work commissioned by the TUC. Stephen’s paintings are created by overlaying transparent washes of colour on to acid free watercolour papers.
Stephen says, ’My main objective while working is to stay true to the initial inspiration for the painting and to preserve the immediacy and transparency of the medium.’
Stuart Fisher worked as an architect for 34 years before he became a full-time artist. His background in architecture shows his love of buildings through his watercolour paintings.
Denise Straughair, Artist
Denise is a local artist, born in Sunderland and now lives and works in Durham City, U.K. Her work is inspired by the natural world and architecture, especially Durham Cathedral.
Geoff Lockey, Contemporary Artist
In 1987 Geoff became a full-time artist and sells his original watercolour paintings and prints in the U.K. & Internationally. Geoff paints in his studio at home, which over-looks the open countryside of the North East of England. His work is instantly recognised by his signature quirky style, choosing to paint Northern towns & cities, capturing the feel and atmosphere of a location.
Janet Jordan lives and works in Taunton situated in Somerset, in the South of England. she studied at Somerset College of Art from 1970-1972. She obtained a B.A. in Fine Art at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in 1972-1975. In 2006 she produced over 200 black and white illustrations for a book published in 2007, 'Learning Chinese Characters', written by local authors Laurence and Alison Matthews.
Janet worked as the Manager of Lutyens Gallery, at Hestercombe Gardens, a famous visitor attraction near Taunton, from 2009-2013, organising a continuous programme of art exhibitions. Janet has sold her etchings through Selfridges Art Department, in Oxford Street, London.
Janet’s etchings are inspired by the natural world with added delight and humour. She is influenced by place, culture, the natural world & poetry and often combines her imagery with text. Janet enjoys the unpredictability of the etching process, as each piece although printed from the same plate is unique.
Jenny Ulyatt is a local watercolour artist based in the North East of England. Jenny’s vibrant watercolour paintings are inspired by sketches, photographs, memory and imagination. She loves sharing her enthusiasm for watercolour painting through teaching school children and adults.
Jonathan Wheeler is an artist living in Findhorn, in the Highlands of Scotland and is particularly inspired by Scottish castles and Durham City. His unique, bold colourful style is unmistakable.
Lisa House, Contemporary Abstract Artist
Lisa House works from her home studio in the North East of England. Lisa's work is inspired by her local surroundings and is famed for her atmospheric and textured landscape paintings. Her work is a vibrant combination of hue, texture and form. Painting with a mixture of instinct, emotion and skill, she has a great understanding of colour and its impact on the viewers' conscious and subconscious. Through her still life range she uses contrasting colours and vintage fabrics to create collections filled with character and charm.
Linda Vine is based in Durham City in the U.K. She predominantly works in acrylics in an impressionistic style. Linda’s work features in many private collections in the U.K. and Internationally. Linda’s paintings capture the wonder of our natural surroundings, reflecting the peaceful tranquility of inland and coastal Britain.
Robert Permain, Artist
Robert Permain lives and works in Northumberland, in the North of England. Robert is inspired by the Northumberland coastline and nature.
Sarah Hill is a watercolour painter & tutor who works and lives in Durham City, U.K. Sarah trained as a medical research scientist and took a career break to bring up her three children and never returned to the field of science. Sarah took up painting when she found herself completely incapacitated with an asthmatic condition, which is now, thankfully, under control. She enjoys team teaching her love of watercolour with Jenny Ulyatt, to school children & adults. Sarah’s style of watercolour is loose and expressive and is inspired by every-day life.
Manuscript Maps - Kevin Sheehan, Cartographer
Kevin Sheehan is a cartographer who lives and works just outside Durham City, U.K. Kevin's work is inspired by antique maps and he studied Map-making Culture (AD1200 - 1700) for his PhD at the University of Durham in 2014. Kevin loves the traditional form of map-making and hand draws all of his maps, some of them are drawn on real calf-skin vellum, as was the practice in Medieval times.
Adam Westerman - Morksy Studio
Morsky Studio is run by Adam Westerman, originally based in Durham, moved to Falmouth in Cornwall with his wife and little girl. Adam’s work reflects his skills as a computer game builder, creating spaces where magic and adventure take place. As well as his love for digital art, he enjoys creating hand-carved lino blocks for printing and painting watercolours.
Darren Cairney, Artist & Illustrator
Originally from the Scottish Borders, Darren Cairney now currently lives and work in Hebburn, South Tyneside, U.K.. He studied illustration at Newcastle College (1998-2000) and at Sunderland University (2000-2001), gaining a degree in Environmental Illustration. Darren worked as a graphic designer for five years until deciding to revisit his art practice in 2014. Darren uses mixed media in his work, including pen, ink and acrylic paint. His work has been exhibited in Fenwick, Newcastle and he has completed an artist’s residency in Jarrow Hall.
Donna Snowdon - Little Grey Illustrations, Artist & Illustrator
Donna Snowdon has a passion for vintage and antique ephemera and fabrics, which she collages in her work alongside delicate little drawngs and paintings. Donna loves collecting vintage ephemera to use in her work, preserving memories of a forgotten past. She selects "pieces with unexpected beauty like torn or ripped edges, are crumpled and worn, or have faded colours of the era". Her work tells a story and evokes ghosts of the past by inviting nostalgic memories and emotion within the pieces.
Hannah Corbett - Lancaster Ink, Illustrator
Hannah Corbett, originally from Durham, is based in Lancaster. Hannah considers herself fortunate for living in beautiful old cities for most of her life. She describes her work as expressing a sence of place and connection to her environment.
"As I have grown I have felt a sense of comfort and belonging in these places and the strong connection to the past they hold. I work using pigment ink and fine liner pens, finding it a striking medium to portray the character and intricacies of historical architecture and places that occupy a space in my heart. I find these are places that make us stop and take in the world surrounding us, giving us a sense of people that have lived before us and places that will continue to stand after we are gone".
Renata Plachta, Botanical Artist
Originally based in Durham, Renata Plachta moved away to Worchestershire in the South of England. Renata has a great love of nature and the natural world, which shows through her delicate watercolour paintings of ferns, flowers, and wildlife. She predominantly works in watercolour.
Richard Briggs, Travel Illustrator
Richard lives in the South West of England and enjoys travelling around the U.K. exhibiting his work across the country. Richard’s work has been published on the front covers of magazine publications, in particular, the Visit Ely Magazine. He has a strong connection with Bath Rugby and The Royal Crescent Hotel, both of which display and sell his work. Richard’s colourful & fresh, illustrative style breathes life into the cities he portrays within his work and remains some of our popular prints, especially with Tourists. He uses mixed media drawing with pen & ink before applying a watercolour wash. Richard’s love of travel inspires his work and has produced many illustrations of popular U.K. destinations.
Sophy Nixon, Artist, Illustrator & Pet Portraitist
Sophy Nixon lives and works in Durham City with her Boston Terrier, Claude. She loves to illustrate animals, pets, nature & landscapes. Her inspiration comes from everyday life, the natural world, books, film & television. Sophy loves drawing pets and her live drawing events of pet portraits are very popular. Sophy works both in traditional and digital art media and she enjoys making animated gifs for the Kemble Gallery.
Neil Tate, Sci-Fi Graphic Artist - Star Traveller Art
Neil Tate lives and works in Darlington, County Durham in the U.K. His work is inspired by sci-fi film, books and television. Neil works with both traditional and digital art media and uses photographic manipulation techniques within his work.
Alice Clark, originally from her hometown of Sunderland now lives and works in Newcastle City in the U.K. Her work is based on themes of feminism and other themes of everday life and is popular with millennials. Alice works digitally in photoshop using vectors and produces work with bold line and colour, which is typical of her style.
Pretender to the Throne - Ellie Tarratt
Ellie Tarratt is based in Shropshire in the U.K. Her ceramic pieces are inspired by medieval arts and crafts. Ellie creates ceramic brooches, hand painted hot pressed and hand stamped. She also makes beautiful handmade sgraffito plaques.
Sarah Dalton is a U.K. based ceramicist and makes beautifully crafted ceramic bowls. her work is inspired by the Pennine moorland with Far-Eastern influences from her time spent living in China. Sarah’s bowls are inspired by the surrounding countryside of her home and studio. She also combines glass with ceramic in some of her smaller bowls, which resemble small pools of water.
Karen Dale - Feltiefings, Handmade Felt Artist
Karen Dale lives in Northumberland in the U.K. and creates hand felted pictures and brooches of fens & fells of the surrounding Durham Dales, dotted with little sheep.
Valerie Nixon works from her studio and home just outside the centre of the historic City of Durham, where she makes her hand knitted baskets. She is an accomplished knitter, originally selling bespoke baby clothing to a small independent many years ago, has been knitting ever since.
Oliver Richardson is a local artist and lives and works in County Durham in the U.K. Oliver grew up on a farm, surrounded by the farming industry and the natural world. As a young boy he would help his dad on the farm and in the workshop hand-crafting pieces and repairing furniture. Oliver’s work is beautifully hand-crafted from carefully selected wood and other natural materials. His wood carving skills are incredible, as you can see in his animal sculptures, which show the detail and delicate textures of fur, claws & paws. Oliver enjoys the challenge of wood carving, each piece is unique and he sympathetically works with the grain and cracks within the sculpture. To quote Oliver from his website: “Sculpting is a skill in which you never stop learning…”
Ian Hunter is a local artist and lives within Durham City. His fused glass pendents are reminiscent of large jewels or pools of water. Fused glass is an unpredictable technique involving many processes. Ian’s pendents are small delicate intriguing worlds trapped inside a glass shape.
Arnie Atkinson
Arnie Atkinson is a local photographer who lives & works in Durham City. Arnie enjoys photographing local scenes in particular Durham Cathedral.
John Erwin lives and works from home in his photographic studio in Bishop Aukland, County Durham. He works in film and digital photography media and his devotion and skill show in his work. John likes to work small and large scale and his large photographic prints are striking. He enjoys photographing landscape, city scapes and architecture. John enjoys experimenting with digital image manipulation and constantly pushes the boundaries of the photographic image.
Philip Nixon, Photographer, Lecturer & Best-selling Author
Philip Nixon has won over twenty photographic awards and his much acclaimed images have been published worldwide. He is the author of fourteen best-selling books. Philip’s work is highly regarded and he is renowned as one of the best photographic instructor and lecturers in the North of England.
Richard & Barbara Gilbert, Photographers
A husband & wife team, Richard & Barbara Gilbert enjoy taking photographs of the Durham Dales and surrounding countryside. Richard’s photography captures the dramatic light and colour of the landscape. Barbara looks for pattern and textures within her photographs.