Welcome to ‘Chambers @ OCG’
‘Chambers‘ is a beautiful space for holding exhibitions. Named after the judge’s private retiring room that would have been adjacent to the main courtroom in our building, it is a light and airy room separate from the larger gallery area.
Below are details of the past and future events that the Old Courthouse Gallery has hosted.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
Details of new exhibitions will be posted here as soon as they are confirmed.
PAST EXHIBITIONS
AVID CEMMICK: Gorilla, from May 29th to June 13th 2021
David is a very well-respected wildlife artist, renowned for his work on endangered species and habitats. This new exhibition was a mix of sculptures, drawings and paintings focussing on gorillas and gave an evocative portrayal of these magnificent creatures.
The exhibition featured three brand-new sculptures alongside three editions of David’s existing gorilla works. There were also 20 new original artworks, half oils and half other media, and around 30 mounted unframed sketches. We also have more of David’s work at the gallery, which can be found here
FAY COLLINS: A Return to Nature, from September 19th to October 3rd 2020
For this exhibition we displayed a beautiful new collection of work by Fay Collins, in her exhibition ‘A Return to Nature’. The exhibtion ran from September 19th 2020 for two weeks. All the paintings were evocative representations of the landscape around the Ambleside area, in oils on board. Although ths exhibition is now over, we still feature Fay’s work in the gallery and you can see her latest paintings here.
Working from her studio in the Forest of Bowland, Fay creates distinctive paintings of both landscape and nature. For this solo exhibition she created a new body of work inspired by the slow return to normality in the Lakes post-COVID.
THE LAKE ARTISTS SOCIETY: Members’ Special Exhibition, August 22nd to September 5th 2020
We were very happy to host this very special exhibition of works by the members of the prestigious Lake Artists Society. Sadly, the Society’s usual highly-regarded Summer Exhibition had to be cancelled due to the COVD-19 outbreak. The Summer Exhibition has been a fixture of the Lake District Arts calendar for many decades and previously only paused for World War II.
Although the normal full exhibition with multiple new works from the Members and selected Guest Artists couldn’t go ahead, we offered our Chambers exhibition room for a smaller event. As long-time attendees of the Societies’ shows ourselves we were keen to do something to help out and avoid a total cancellation. We therefore hosted this exhibition of one or two works from each Member, with all proceeds going to the Society and its artists.
Below is the list of members who exhibited:
Ceri Allen
Christine Baine
Catherine MacDiarmid
Kate Bentley
Angie Mitchell
Marion Bradley
Rebecca Naimski (Darbishire)
Dawn Gabrielle Chandler
Rebecca Payn
Kevin Chester
Annie Peaker
Danny Clahane
Janette Phillips
Fiona Clucas
Vivienne Pooley
Stephen Darbishire
Hideyuki Sobue
Mark Gibbs
Alan Stones
Rachel Gibson
R. Martin Tomlinson
Susan H. Glassford
Graham Twyford
Gordon Griffiths
Elizabeth Walsh
P.L. Hobbs
Ian Walton
Janet Kenyon
Ralph Wardle
Marion Kuit
Michael Wilson
Tracy Levine
Judith L.Wood
David Macaulay
Beverley White
Ambleside, Inside & Out
27th April – 11th May 2019
Dawn Gabrielle Chandler, Philip L Hobbs and R Martin Tomlinson
Dawn is well-known for her ShelfLife paintings but for this exhibition she returned to a medium, pencil, with which she began her art career over twenty years ago.
The gallery has previously hosted an exhibition of Phil’s Venetian work and was excited to show his more local work too. “I’ve lived and worked in and around Ambleside all of my adult life and I’ve watched it change and seen its people come and go. The farms, blacksmiths’ workshops, slate works and boatyards are all among my favourite subjects”.
This was the first time that the gallery had the pleasure of featuring Martin’s work. Like Phil, Martin has lived in Ambleside for most of his life – “this Exhibition has given me a great chance to focus my painting on the familiar landscape and buildings I see every day. Several of the pictures in this collection have been painted within yards of my front door and it has been a wonderful opportunity to fully appreciate what is virtually on my doorstep.”
Daniel Cooper
Northern Sights
A solo exhibition of original art and
limited edition prints by Daniel Cooper
15th September – 7th October 2018
Old Courthouse Gallery
Market Place
Ambleside
Cumbria
LA22 9BU
Left: detail of ‘Play of VioLights’ Daniel Cooper
Phil Hobbs
A Day in Venice
21st October – 5th November 2017
A day in Venice, a Watercolour Journey
“I am always slightly envious when someone tells me that they are planning to go to Venice for the first time. Although I have visited that unique city many times, nothing could have prepared me for that first visit. Nor has anything since come close to that initial revelation” – Phil Hobbs
