The mayor of Bewdley, Councillor Nicole Harper, opened the exhibition in Bewdley Museum on Friday (October 3) with several guests in attendance including Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant.
The exhibition, which is part of Bewdley Festival, features the works of artists Colin Simmonds and Peter Shread.
The different methods of working make for an interesting and challenging exhibition with Colin’s free-flowing oils contrasting with Peter’s sharp lino cuts.
Colin and Peter are both members of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.
Colin Simmonds trained at Moseley School of Art and Birmingham College of Art in the 1950s.
His early works were fairly abstract, but he then went through a phase of naturalistic paintings inspired by the Wyre Forest.
His recent work shows a more expressive approach and a more varied subject matter.
He has always enjoyed working with oil paint and the freedom it gives to picture making.
Work has been exhibited at the John Moores Exhibition, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the London Pastel Society and the Europe Salon in Brussels.
Peter Shread was born in Birmingham in 1940 and trained at Moseley School of Art and the Birmingham College of Art.
He then taught in Dudley until taking early retirement in 1993.
The woodcuts and linocuts in the exhibition are relief prints.
They are made by drawing the design on a block of lino or wood and then cutting away the background with a knife and gouges.
The finished block is then inked with a roller and printed in a press to make a colour print, a separate block is cut for each new colour.
These are printed in sequence, one colour over another until the image is complete.
By adding a transparent medium to the ink, it is possible to overlay two colours to provide a third.
In the works, Peter tries to combine the decorative and topographical aspects of the landscape subjects.
Welcoming the private view guests to the exhibition, photographer Colin Hill stressed the importance of supporting the visual arts.
He said: “In the three towns of Kidderminster, Stourport and Bewdley, this gallery in the museum is the only public gallery where artists may display their works.”
The exhibition is part of Bewdley Festival which takes place over ten days starting on Friday (October 10).
The team are bringing together an exciting and varied range of performers, artists, experts and comedians for the 37th edition of the festival.
Opening the Festival on Friday (October 10) is the young blues guitarist, Toby Lee, hailed as “one of the best guitarists in Britain” who has performed alongside Jools Holland.
Other guests include Coronation Street star Mikey North, top comedian Ria Lina, author Jonathan Coe, The Urban Folk Quartet and many more.
The art exhibition is open daily from 10am to 4pm until Sunday (October 26).
The artists will be in residence Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays throughout the exhibition and will be happy to discuss their working practices.