IMPROMPTU

IMPROMPTU

4 until 10 September

Open Daily 10.30 - 16.00

Space in the gallery has been in such high demand, we’ve seized the opportunity to invite back a number of our favourite artists whom we hadn’t been able to squeeze into the 2025 programme - but with all of them, had missed the quality of their work and the vibrant energy they brought to the Malthouse. All undertaking new projects and ventures, this week will be a celebration of an IMPROMPTU approach to life - of not over thinking, but just seizing the opportunity to collaborate, exhibit and celebrate the breadth and depth of all their significant artistic talents.

CLAUDIA DHARAMSHI

The focus of my paintings is colour, light, and sensation.  Beautiful gardens and flowers, walks in nature, and patterns of foliage inspire me. I am particularly drawn to jungles and tropical plants..

I work in an impressionistic style using expressive colour and energetic mark making. I often work from observation but include an element of imagination in my work. I aim to capture the uplifting experience of spending time in verdant and tranquil spaces.

I exhibit regularly, my work has been selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and Royal West of England Academy.

JANINE NEEDHAM-KAMM

Janine Needham-Kamm is a textile artist and painter. She lives in Wellington in Somerset. She is inspired by the natural world around her; drawing scenes from walks out and about in the countryside or from still life set ups.

Her textile work is stitched and embroidered using felt appliqué technique. Her painting work is mainly in acrylics or with gouache.

ERICA FAIRHURST

Born and raised in the green hills and valleys of Dorset undulating in their unique patterns over chalk and clay, Erica has always been curious about the landscape around her. At school she painted and found peace in the process of painting and discovered a talent for colour and tone.

After years of dipping in and out of artistic pursuits, in 2006 she came back to painting having returned to Dorset a few years previously. Her first solo exhibition was a sell out, confirming to her this was a direction to follow.

She paints mainly with a palette knife on vibrant backgrounds, covering the bright ground in more neutral tones. She is expressive in her work, conveying the feeling of the place, the light and the atmosphere in her energetic and varied marks.

Her paintings are set in place, or of recognisable still life objects yet are moving towards abstraction and simplification as she experiments more with form and time. She is interested in the practice of observation and what that brings to the whole person, mentally, physically and spiritually.

She tutors art for wellbeing in Sherborne to adults experiencing mental health challenges.

https://www.ericafairhurst.com

MALCOLM GILADJIAN

After a successful exhibition in July, Malcolm returns to the Malthouse bringing some of his impressionistic oil paintings to the Gallery .

Malcolm has been inspired by many artists over the years, Van Gogh in particular because of his sheer bravery towards his work. When asked, Malcolm will still say his inspirations came from his childhood,  with the memories of big skies, meadows the reflections in the river were he would freely play as a child.

Malcolm’s work depicts that of his childhood, full of colour and happiness