Radley College is exhibiting some fine work - from paintings to pots, jewellery to jerseys, rags to riches. Janet Cross has perfected the traditional art of rag rugging, recycling fabrics for her vibrant and useful objects. Her lime green chenille handbag threaded through with padded cerise silk was sold the moment the doors opened. Who would imagine using material to weave a cornflower blue bowl highlighted with burgundy? This treasure basket is ideal for toddlers with little fingers.
Each of Eleanor Clutton-Brock's cockerels is a character with an ironic view on society. Simply made from bits of paper on a wire armature, the strong, brightly painted sculptures each has a story to tell. Take the chicken standing proud, secure in knowing that "All the world's a stage" for him alone, while the aquamarine and yellow feathered friend who is "A bit of a lad" may, all too soon, fall off his perch. With her witty titles and a few telling details, she adds another witty dimension to her clever sculptures.Claire Fyfe-Jackson uses unusual stones: unpolished quartz, chalcedony and combinations of gold and silver for her dramatic and romantic jewellery, like her pair of silver lilies suspended on an almost weightless necklace of black larva beads. Her pink sapphire ring decorated with 18ct gold roses and leaves in a bezel setting is exquisite.
Inspired by her South African homeland, Hazel Gearing paints kingfishers on canvas stretched on to small wooden frames. These tiny birds hover over riverbanks and are soon hidden from view so she concentrates on just the head and beak of each bird. She has also updated the notion of stitched samplers and now paints quaint animals on handmade river-reed paper to create charming pictures for children.
Windows on to streets form natural frames for some of Frank Newhofer's striking photographs. In Nepal, a young woman dressed in vermilion is caught behind viridian shutters, while the dangling wires hang below, barely attached to the wall below her. Another picture is divided vertically by an aquamarine wall the one side and, on the other, the window where a shy Indian girl hides some wrought iron, embarrassed by the stranger with his camera.
Don't miss Ben Drew's clay and stoneware pots that can withstand frost. Influenced by the West Africa, his huge dotted urns would look lovely in any garden, as would his celadon-coloured birdbath.
The show is at the Sewell Centre Gallery until November 22 and again between November 27 and December 12, from 11am to 4pm.
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