BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.7//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:11183@artinliverpool.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20251112 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London;VALUE=DATE:20251225 DTSTAMP:20251109T130601Z URL:https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/arthouse-gallery-festive-cheer/ SUMMARY:ArtHouse Gallery: ArtHouse Gallery: Festive Cheer DESCRIPTION:FESTIVE CHEER\n\nSouthport Contemporary Arts Members Christmas Collection Exhibition\n\n12th November – 24th December 2025\n\n \; \n\nIt is always a sign that Yuletide is just around the corner when South port Contemporary Arts opens its door at The ArtHouse in Eastbank Street to welcome in the festive season with its eagerly anticipated SCA Members Christmas Collection Exhibition.  An annual highlight of their calendar i t always proves to be the largest SCA Members Exhibition of the year and  offers a celebratory platform for the network of local artists and makers that SCA represents.\n\n \;\n\n“Give a gift made with love\, soul a nd passion built in this Christmas\,” advises SCA Director\, Norrie Be swick-Calvert.  “The ‘SCA Members Christmas Collection' always exudes real soul through the pieces that our creatives have hand produced\, imbu ing them with the love and passion that make the pieces particularly speci al to give as presents at Christmas. Shopping in Southport for locally mad e products supports our community in so many important ways\, economically \, ethically and sustainably”.\n\n \;\n\nThe Southport Contemporary Arts (SCA) network started in 2009 with the aim to promote and support th e broad range of artists in the area\, no matter at what level or in whic h discipline they worked.  SCA subsequently opened The ArtHouse in 2012 providing a permanent gallery space to showcase local artists.\n\n \; \n\nAble to draw on the diversity of SCA members’ wealth of different ap proaches\, the gallery will be overflowing this Christmas with an eclectic mix of tempting seasonal crafts and artwork from the unusual and individu al to more traditional and classic designs.\n\n \;\n\nNorrie goes on t o explain: “Our town center gallery\, ArtHouse\, is the sort of space t hat can take on the character of the work being shown. Whether that’s th e work of an individual artist having a solo exhibition or an active creat ive organisation having a group show\, every one is different! When it com es to Christmas\, we love dressing it up in all it’s finery\, and going all out to pack it full of the fabulous pieces that the SCA Members have b een creating”.\n\n \;\n\nChristmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a welcome appearance by that most ubiquitous emblem of the festive season - a robin proudly showing off his striking red breast. Angela Birchall\, wh o grew up in Africa and now lives only four streets away from where she wa s actually born in Southport\, has beautifully captured this iconic garden visitor with her wistful drawing: “I was out in the garden a few weeks ago doing a bit of tidying up and within a few minutes of being out there my little robin friend arrives singing his head off. When he hopped down onto the rockery I got my phone camera out and took a few quick snaps of h im. Looking at them later on I decided to do a soft pastel drawing to give the texture of the robin's feathers\; soft and fluffy on his red tummy co ntrasting with the stiffer wing and tail feathers”.\n\n \;\n\nJen Ro gers\, who also lives in Southport\, has been busy knotting yarn to make b right and colourful snowflake tree decorations: “During the COVID pandem ic I discovered macramé - the art of creating with lots of different knot ting techniques. I taught myself the skill and enjoyed losing myself in th e creativity. My macramé work is a contemporary take on a classic design. I love how much a simple twist can have such an effect”.\n\n \n\nJen\, who has recently started hosting workshops to teach others the addictive technique\, has also been experimenting with found and reusable materials:  “My work is rarely planned out and I work intuitively with what feels right for me at that moment. \n\n \;\n\nHenrietta Joyce\, who gets pl easure from working across several areas of the visual arts\, has recently been enjoying experimenting with fluid art: “This technique involves t he use of a pouring medium mixed with acrylic paint. The acrylic paints re act with each other when combined to make interesting and visually organic motifs”.  Henrietta will have two examples on show: “”Spiralling in Green” is an artwork in which I employed fluid Art technique to sugg ests an upward movement. I created the effect by firstly pouring a green b ackground with splashes of bright colours and while the background was sti ll wet\, I used combs to generate upwardly flowing\, wavy leaf like spiral s”.\n\n \;\n\nOrigami maestro\, Zulay Sayalero\, who prefers to defi ne herself as a 'Creativity Engineer'\, is a British Venezuelan community artist now living in Birkdale and currently undertaking an Art &\; Des ign Foundation year at Southport College: “My own creative journey star ted 15 years ago\, by chance\, after I rediscovered the art of origami whi le a patient in hospital.  Later I became a volunteer teaching origami an d arts and crafts within the NHS”.\n\n \;\n\nA strong believer in th e healing power of the Arts\, her Zen-like approach guarantees an aestheti cally rewarding outcome as in her elaborate paper folding explorations cur rently out on display: “I enjoy sharing my origami and arts &\; craf ts skills by creating artworks that evoke feelings of hope and positivity. I have facilitated over 1\,000 workshops in the public and private sector s\, including some to the most vulnerable in society. I have worked at ven ues including the Sefton Park Palm House\, Tatton Park\, Liverpool Museums \, Sefton Libraries and delivered art workshops in Merseyside Community Ce ntres\, Care Homes and learning disabilities charities such as Mencap and PSS”.\n\n \;\n\nFresh off the easel\, SCA newcomer\, Paul Booth\, wh o enjoys working with oils and acrylics\, is submitting a stirring seascap e painting from his recent series vividly capturing the rocky north coast of Devon between Ilfracombe and Combe Martin: “I have altered the persp ective to make the land a feature. Its strong texture is achieved by app lying paint thickly. This view also captures the beautiful greens as the sea reaches the shallows. The sky is textured\, but uniformly coloured\, t o focus the eye on the land and sea as they are the stars of the show”.\ n\n \;\n\nAnother recent SCA member\, Marion Bayliss\, who moved up fr om Somerset to Lancashire in 2022\, is often found beavering away in her s tudio in Much Hoole:\n\n \;\n\n“Having recently bought a Gelli Plate to try and experiment with\, I am finding it quite exciting as I play wit h the many different methods of working. In the words of Forrest Gump ‘ it’s like a box of chocolates!’ You never know what you’re going to get’.”\n\n \;\n\nOn display is the latest of Marion’s Gelli prin t and pastel combinations inspired by photos she took on a recent family t rip to the Lake District: “I wanted to create an atmospheric image of a lake in the depths of winter with its murky clouds and hazy shine on the water. To get this effect I had to use the multiple layering method where parts of the plate were ‘inked’ with acrylic paints before taking a p rint. I then had to repeat the same steps but using different colours and areas of the plate to complete the print using pastels to add a bit of dep th.”\n\n \;\n\nNorrie concludes: “We’re hoping our Christmas Col lection will delight visitors\, enable them to connect with us and enjoy t heir part in helping our creative community thrive”.\n\n \;\n\nPromi sing “special gifts for special people”\, this year’s SCA Members ’ Christmas Exhibition will be on display at the ArtHouse\, 65 Eastban k Street\, Southport PR8 1EJ from 12th November – 24th December.  The gallery is open Tuesday – Friday 10.00-15.00.  Saturday 11.00-16.00.\n \n \;\n\nGuaranteed to provide more than a sprinkle of Christmas magic \, this latest showing by members of SCA is certainly not one to be missed .\n\n \;\n\nFollowing the Open Evening from 5-7pm on 12th November\, at which all are welcome\, there will be a festive Christmas Lights switch -on between 5-7pm\, on Tuesday 2nd December and a late night shopping eve nt (3-7pm) on Saturday 13th December. ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.artinliverpool.com/wp-content/upload s/2025/11/Jen-Rogers-knoting-snowflake-decorations.png CATEGORIES:Exhibitions LOCATION:ArtHouse Gallery\, 65 Eastbank Street\, Southport\, Sefton\, PR81E J\, Southport\, United Kingdom GEO:53.645169;-3.004323 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=65 Eastbank Street\, Southp ort\, Sefton\, PR81EJ\, Southport\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TI TLE=ArtHouse Gallery:geo:53.645169,-3.004323 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251026T010000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:GMT END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR