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Countywide CultureFormerly a biennial event, Somerset Art Weeks has gained such momentum it is now held annually. Every year, Somerset’s artists join together to bring a vast array of exhibitions and demonstrations, working studios and activities in a celebration of work that is fast becoming a key date in the national art calendar.
This year’s event takes place during 13-28 September and includes more than 270 artists offering original works, prints and commissions in a wide range of genres, styles, materials and media. Many live and work in beautiful locations within easy reach of pretty villages, countryside walks, beaches, traditional inns, vibrant cafés and bustling historic towns. READ MORE »  OTHER ARTICLES
Willow WomanBest known for her 40ft-high sculpture ‘Willow Man’, which stands out boldly against wide skies beside the M5 near Bridgwater, sculptor Serena de la Hey has made willow her medium and the Somerset Levels her home. This August she talks about working in willow and the difficulties of large-scale installations. READ MORE » 
Landscapes of the MindKathryn Thomas established her reputation with richly coloured oil paintings inspired by the meeting of land, sea and sky. She builds her work layer on layer, giving it depth and translucency, the colour and tone changing with the light and angle of view. Last year, she began exploring a new world beyond the horizon. Planets, stars and galaxies lend themselves brilliantly to her technique and materials. In the June issue, Bristol artist Kathryn Thomas talks to ‘Somerset Life’ about her landscape painting and her move to capturing the night sky READ MORE » 
Capturing the Spirit of a PlaceRichard Briggs’s vivid scenes, many from Somerset and Devon, others from his travels in Britain and around the globe, are instantly recognisable. Painting in watercolour and ink, his illustrations have a freshness and spontaneity, his bold pen and ink lines giving them a clear perspective. In the April issue he talks about a life of teaching, travel and painting. READ MORE » 
Potty About AnimalsA new chapter opened for Somerset-born Sue Masters 16 years ago when she began pottery evening classes in Wells. Encouraged by her tutor, she commandeered the garden shed to work in and house her first electric kiln. At first, potting was a hobby, but success in selling her work, primarily her distinctive clay animal figures, encouraged her to start potting full-time a dozen years ago. READ MORE » 
Sacred ArtSilvia Dimitrova’s icons can be found in Wells Cathedral and churches around the county. She always knew she wanted to be a painter. "As a child I was captivated by the light that came from icons and the way their gaze followed you as you moved," explains Silvia as we talked in her sunlit studio on the edge of the Mendip Hills at Downside Abbey, Stratton-on-the-Fosse. We are surrounded by the vibrant colours of her paintings and under the benign but watchful presence of many icons. READ MORE » 
Exhibitions Around the CountyThere must be a bigger concentration of artists and makers in the Westcountry than anywhere in the land. It seems a new art gallery opens every week in Somerset. Travel the county and you will be bombarded by art galleries, even in the smallest communities. This October, as every month in ‘Somerset Life’, there’s the chance to find out the latest in the Somerset art scene with our round-up of events taking place around the county. READ MORE » 
| Global InspirationFrom his home in Norton Sub Hamdon, artist Moish Sokal looks over an English idyll of low hills, green fields and gambolling sheep. Moish’s watercolours skilfully capture the tranquillity and gentle hues of the Somerset landscape, but his interests extend far beyond the horizon. India, Australia, Thailand, Israel: his travels throughout the wide world inspire and infuse his paintings. This July he talks to ‘Somerset Life’ about his travels and art. READ MORE » 
A Touch of GlassGlass artist Will Shakspeare talks candidly about a life in glass and inspiration from the Somerset landscape. Working from a studio overlooking the River Tone in Taunton, Will Shakspeare is one of only a handful of professional glassblowers in Britain. Discovering glass in art college, Will quickly decided that this molten material was for him. “I liked the challenge of working in a new medium and fell in love with glass immediately,” he explains. READ MORE » 
Integrating ArtFrom her gallery at Batheaston, near Bath, Internationally renowned textile artist Carole Waller paints on fine cloth to produce clothes or large-scale fabric wall pieces. Her work can be found in the costume collection in the V&A and in galleries and shops around the world. More recently, Carole has developed a new technique for encapsulating her fabric paintings between toughened glass to create installations that can be placed outside as well as in. Carole Waller talks about art in the environment and her move to glass. READ MORE » 
Connecting ThreadsExmoor-based textile artist Gabriella Falk has enjoyed a richly varied career. She began as a theatre designer in London, working on a wide range of productions. Designing costumes fostered her interest in textiles. Moving to Exmoor, she focused for a number of years on weaving brightly coloured tapestries. Gabriella also branched out into teaching and public art consultancy. Her more recent textile work is characteristically vivid, bold and free-flowing, but mainly based on quilting, layering and stitching fabrics. READ MORE » 
The Story of FireLike his father and grandfather before him, John Leach is a household name, and has been fashioning his pots from the Somerset Levels since 1965. Robert Hesketh talks to him about carrying on the family tradition.
Many artists have settled on the Levels. Amongst the most celebrated is the world-famous potter John Leach, grandson of Bernard and son of David. “I love the Levels and Moors, indeed all Somerset, which I think has more topographical variety than any other county,” says John Leach when I meet him at his pottery just south of Langport.
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Somerset Walks
Whether you choose a woodland trail, a stroll through Lorna Doone country, a walk centred around impressive geological features or on spectacular viewpoints, our wonderful selection of Somerset walks, which feature monthly in the magazine, will bring you chance encounters with Exmoor ponies, feral goats, rabbits, kestrels, buzzards, red deer and butterflies.
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Garden Visits
Inspirational visits to gardens across the county feature in Somerset Life every month and here we give you a taste of just six of them, most of which are open to the public and guaranteed to enlighten and enthral.
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Celebrity Interviews
Characters from the county talk to us every month about their lives and loves, and this selection captures the flavour and variety of six of these celebrity interviews. You can catch up with the latest interview in the current issue of Somerset Life.
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10 good reasons to visit...
In this popular series which features every month in Somerset Life, we take a deeper look at what there is to see and do in villages and towns across the county.
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