As Oxfordshire Artweeks bursts into life in and around Bicester this coming week and over the bank holiday weekend (18th-26th May), as many as 75 artists, makers and designer-makers welcome you to enjoy their pop-up exhibitions and open studios in the town and surrounding villages.
In the heart of town, Bicester Arts Network are a group of thirty artists have come together to put on a busy vibrant exhibition on Sheep Street in the town centre.
Here you’ll find Polly Rose Pincott who was a Semi Finalist in the 2024 Series 11 of Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, and appeared again on our screens this spring as a demonstrator in this year’s season. ‘Within my portraits I aim to achieve a boldness of character, alongside an offering of contemplative vulnerability. They rely not on apparent narrative but mood and sensitivity. My portraits tend to orbit around themes of nostalgia, sentiment and the human condition, the sitter represented with both a sense of strength and calm. I am searching for a balance and sense of spirit for the viewer to connect with,” she explains.
In the show you can also enjoy illustrations by Cam Hodgkinson that celebrate the everyday pantry. She drew daily from a very young age, and specialised in botanical and scientific illustration contributing to numerous prestigious journals and books, including those published by the Royal Horticultural Society and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Now Head of Design at a local school, she is, for the Artweeks festival, showing illustrations of her second favourite subject after nature – food. What began as a slightly whimsical venture with drawings of cheese, initially conceived for a bit of fun, is now popularly seen at food festivals across the UK. ‘They are so much fun to draw!’ she smiles.
And new to the group this year, look out for Becky Gouverneur’s stunning wildlife drawings and work by Canadian printmaker Valerie Syposz who uses relief print and lithography to create unusual figurative works that reflect on existence and perceptions of self.
Also in Bicester, you’ll find the home studio of craft potter Phil Jolley is a craft potter who creates both sculptural and functional stoneware vessels with a variety of hand building techniques. His pieces are strikingly original and have a wonderful surface quality, with intriguing patterns and hidden detail. He. “Fragments are a key starting point,” he explains. “My focus is on the contrasts between heavy texture or a smooth surface of with a more controlled and perhaps recognisable sprigged or printed decoration. The contrasts continue with the vibrant gold or pastel interior, the soft exterior colour and the hint and reflection of the gloss glaze hidden in the added architectural detail.” Phil’s studio will be open each day new work in progress on show and visitors will be invited to ask questions about his construction methods.
Alternatively, talk to stained-glass artist Col Maw, one of four artists at Gypsy Barn which is nestled down a leafy lane in Chesterton. He explains how, when he was at school, he wanted to go to art college but his father, ‘coming from classic Yorkshire working class stock’ was set against it and encouraged him to university instead. He finally returned to this plan after 30 years in the corporate world and now creates art in glass for the home and garden. His inspiration comes mostly from his love of nature, travel and the simple enjoyment of life and he makes colourful pieces of all sizes to catch and transform the light in both home and garden. Col is exhibiting Sue Ashdown who makes rustic silver clay jewellery inspired by nature, and Bicester resident Casimira Mostyn whose quirky animals always raise a smile.
Other venues in extraordinary settings, include the Art Barns at Bernwood Pottery, Old Arngrove Farm near Horton-cum-Studley, one of Artweeks’ most stunning locations. Here seven artists are showing a variety of ceramics alongside upholstery, paintings and work by award-winning photographer Georgina Weston whose equine portraiture captures the spirit of the animal and the special places they hold in our hearts.
Alternatively, the perennially popular Art More Lovely at Lower Heyford House, has a variety of art from ethereal charcoal animals to contemporary design in metal for garden. Here Katherine Pout is another newcomer to Artweeks for 2025. Inspired by the natural world, and birds, plants and life under the ocean in particular, her signature style is precision cutting. Each of her stunning pieces is meticulously hand-cut and sculpted from paper with creative flair. She is excited by intricate texture, and she teams fractal patterns and repetition with bold colours and abstraction to produce uplifting and playful artwork with a sense of dynamism and high energy.
To see more on these artists and venues, and hundreds more showcasing their art as part of the Artweeks festival, visit www.artweeks.org