Visitors to the museum & gallery will be asked to write their two words on a slip of paper and post them into the top of the castle, to be collected by Alan and combined with responses from the local press, social media and key Welsh figures to make a total of around 350 responses.

These responses will then be turned into an art piece to be displayed at the Galley over the summer period. This interactive art approach has become one of the defining elements of Alan’s approach to art – with similar pieces created for Saundersfoot School, Tactile Bosch in Cardiff and a display at the Oriel Joanna Field Gallery. However, none of these pieces have involved responses from what will be a diverse range of sources.

Alan says “one of the submissions will be chosen at random and will get a signed picture relating to their two words, so remember to add your name and address/e-mail if you’d like to be included in the draw”

If you’d like to take part in this interactive art work just send your two words to describe Tenby to alan@elmgrovecountryhouse.co.uk Remember – only 200 responses will be included in this piece and many responses have already been received!.

To find out more about Alan Rees-Baynes’ art please visit:

www.elmgrovecountryhouse.co.uk/alans-artwork/

In her introduction Honorary Curator Kathy Talbot stated that the exhibition was “hugely evocative of Tenby’s maritime life and industrial history” and Doreen observed that it was a “fantastic show, full of movement and life”.  She congratulated David on his “wonderful use of different mediums, including oil and acrylic and watercolour and the movement of light made the viewer just want to keep on looking.”  Overall, Doreen concluded, the exhibition was “gorgeous.”

The exhibition features thirty one pictures, many of which are available for purchase.  David, a fully qualified architect who has always had an overriding passion to paint, has stated that his favourite inspiration is his hometown, in particular the harbour, the curve and lines of the boats and the seasonal moods of Tenby and even though there are such pictures as tankers at the Valero jetty and a plaza in Madrid, this strong native influence is abundantly on show in the exhibition.

The exhibition runs until Sunday 26 May.

 The display featured memorabilia from these two groups dating back to their formation in 1923 and included material from both private collections and the museum’s collection.  On the day of the opening a five foot tapestry from their 60^th anniversary (1983) and a Nature Log Book, dating from 1952 and created by the 3^rd Tenby Brownie Pack was also available for viewing.  The judges of the Nature Log Book called it a “most wonderful effort…A treasure which the Pack must truly be proud to possess.”

The new exhibition 40 Years of Pembrokeshire Contemporary Craft by the Pembrokeshire Craftsmen’s Circle officially opened at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday 23 February.

The Pembrokeshire Craftsmen’s Circle is a select group of craftsmen and women from Pembrokeshire and its borders, producing high quality hand produced crafts.  The exhibition is a celebration of their 40^th Anniversary and features varied and colourful works from eight of its members.   In her poem Makers, written for the anniversary, Gillian Clarke, National Poet of Wales, wrote “Praise they that bear the maker’s fingerprint” and this exhibition does just that.

On show is glasswork by Steve Robinson, objects created from hot forged wrought iron by Roy Thedvall, embroidery including wall hangings by Riitta Sinkkonen Davies, porcelain lanterns made by Sheila Hickey, embroidery and jewellery by Anne Rees, decorative and utilitarian objects made from wood by Jo and Leigh Rihan, Cloisonné and jewellery by Annette Gardener and jewellery by Annie Coombs.  Much of the work has been inspired by the Pembrokeshire coastline and landscape.

Steve Robinson stated that one of the reasons he got into making was being inspired by seeing the early shows by the Circle and one of the founder members of the group, Margaret Redpath, was present at the opening.  He also thanked Mark Lewis and Thelma Mort of Tenby Museum for designing the layout and hanging the exhibition.

Pictured at the opening on February 23rd are the honorary curator Dr. Kathy Talbot with Steve Robinson, artist in glass, Ritta Sinkkonen-Davies, hand weaver, Sheila Hickey, ceramicist, Annie Coombs, jeweller and Roy Thedvall, artist blacksmith.

The exhibition Holidays by the Sea: A Celebration of Primary School Art was officially opened by Laura Tomp, wife of Ed Tomp, General Manager of Valero Pembroke plant.  The exhibition, sponsored by Valero, features the art works of children from St Florence VC School, St Teilo’s Catholic Primary School, Sageston CP School, Saundersfoot CP School and Tenby Junior School.

The opening was extremely well-attended, with staff, parents and children enjoying seeing the art work displayed in the gallery.  The judges of the work, Laura Tomp and artists Elizabeth Haines and David JP Morgan, had an extremely difficult task in choosing the order of prize giving but it was decided that the work from St Teilo’s was  a whisker ahead of the Saundersfoot and Sageston schools, whilst the work from Tenby Junior and Sageston schools were also highly commended.

Elizabeth Haines spoke highly of all the works and praised the varying use of mediums and styles.  The works, she said, were “all so different and all so marvellous” and she gave thanks to the teachers and children for their hard work. Giving out the prizes, Laura Tomp echoed these sentiments, stating that it had been “a difficult but fun task.”

The exhibition is on show at the museum until Saturday 16 February.  The museum is currently open Tuesday – Saturday.  Please contact the museum if you require any further information.  The museum can also be followed on Facebook and Twitter.

Teachers, children, museum staff and judges at the opening of the schools exhibition Holidays by the Sea at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery.

An exhibition of works by 19th century artist Charles Norris was opened by Thomas Lloyd, OBE DL, Wales Herald of Arms Extraordinary, at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery on Friday 16^th November.

The exhibition was in conjunction with the publica­tion of the book “Charles Norris in Pembrokeshire 1805-1841”, which is available at the Museum.

This project  received funding from PLANED through the Rural Development Plan for Wales 2007-2013 which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

Between 1805 and 1841, Norris produced some 1,200 drawings and paintings of top­ographical and maritime inter­est. Of these, over 300 were of Tenby and its neighbourhood and these pictures documented the town as it changed from a medieval trading port in decline to a thriving Georgian holiday resort. The exhibition includes pictures of Tenby, Pembroke and further afield.

The exhibition and book celebrate the bicentenary of the publication of Norris’s etchings of Tenby.

The museum is also grateful to the City of Cardiff Public Library for providing albums of Charles Norris’s work for this exhibition. These folios are available for research by appointment.

Pictured are Cllr. Michael Williams, Chairman of Trustees, Douglas Fraser, Tom Lloyd, Dr. Kathy Talbot, Honorary Curator and John Tipton, a previous Honorary Curator

The  art exhibition, Arfordir/Coast by Mark Raggett was officially opened by Jamie Leonard, Film Production Designer, at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery on Friday 12 October.

In his opening speech, Mr Leonard spoke of Mark as “a man of many creative talents,” stating that “his skill as an artist is evident throughout the gallery.” He went on to say, “Mark was brought up in Solva and he started to paint his natural surroundings whilst he was in school. He loves Pembrokeshire, the light and the colours and the moods of the county and his images are visceral responses to the coastal landscape. Mark is a sensational but unorthodox painter who likes to push boundaries of colour and texture and his work celebrates the natural form, atmosphere and personality of the Pembrokeshire landscape.”

Mark studied Fine Art at Reading University between 1972 and 1976. He worked as a scenic artist/props maker for the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House and the Coliseum and in 1979 he joined the design department at Thames Television. Mark continues to work as Art Director on many well-known film productions and his work on previous films have included the Johnny Depp chiller From Hell, Calendar Girls, the Dylan Thomas biopic The Edge of Love, which was partly filmed in Tenby, Shakespeare in Love and various episodes of Inspector Morse. Mark was recently elected to the Royal Watercolour Society, the only person to have been done so in 2011. He has had several one man art exhibitions both in the UK and abroad.

Honorary Curator Dr Kathy Talbot, artist Mark Raggett and Jamie Leonard at the official opening of Mark’s new show Arfordir/Coast at Tenby Museum.