Anja Penger-Onyett
Anja Penger-Onyett’s work is inspired by nature, particularly natural forms such as flowers and seed-heads. Using mostly thrown and sculpted clay, Anja emphasizes recognizable shapes like the large crowns of poppy seed heads, enhanced with vibrant glass-frits. Her recent work takes a more "painterly" approach, using slips, engobe, and ceramic crayons to decorate slab-built vases and altered pieces. Anja works with white stoneware clay, firing her pieces to high temperatures to allow the glazes’ colours to shine through. Her pieces are frost-proof and suitable for outdoor display. Passionate about experimenting with raw materials, Anja’s glazes tell a story of nature, travel, and the environment, creating a dialogue between minerals and fire.
Beginning by working from life, Joanna makes allegorical drawings, paintings, and sculpture based around themes that interrogate the portrayal of women in literature and folklore; examining the influence of stories deeply rooted in our culture and our evolving relationship with nature.
These ideas resolve into very individual collaborations with model or sitter in which they “act out” the character within a created or curated setting. Every element of the work has meaning - objects are symbolic, for example, and composition structures the narrative. Colour is used to evoke emotion and atmosphere as well as indicating certain social and historical associations.
Joanna Stone
Jill Taylor Jill Taylor’s series Beyond The Surface is a direct emotional response to her experiences in the Australian Bush, aiming to capture the force and energy of the landscape she found breathtaking. Working on multiple paintings at once, she uses mixed media to build layers of meaning, often beginning with bold colour and rough texture to reveal intricate surprises that give each painting its own identity. Jill’s approach is spontaneous, allowing the work to evolve organically while still maintaining the energy and freedom she felt during the initial stages. For her, painting is a journey of discovery, with each piece requiring honesty to express a mood or feeling. Jill studied Surface Pattern Design at Jakob Kramer College, Leeds, and Fine Art at the Academie Minerva, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Jill Taylor
Louise Wooldridge
Louise Wooldridge’s artistic journey began with large abstract works in the 1970s, but over time, her focus shifted to nudes, portraits, and still life. She is fascinated by the interplay of reflected colour, light, and shade on form, often using bold colours such as orange, purple, green, and blue to capture the effects of light on her subjects. Louise’s approach is spontaneous, embracing the fluidity of the process and allowing her paintings to evolve naturally. Her works are characterized by a vibrant energy and emotional depth, revealing the dynamic relationship between light, colour, and form.
Jill Goodyear is a painter, printmaker, and mixed media artist whose work is deeply influenced by her background in textile design. Her strong sense of colour and form is evident in the bright, fresh images she creates using paint, ink, collage, and print. Drawing is central to her practice, with portrait and life drawing being key components of her work. Jill draws inspiration from the landscapes and seascapes surrounding her, particularly the woods and the sea near her home. Her work, which spans both formal and abstract forms, evolves organically through layers of paint and texture. Jill has exhibited widely and is currently showing her work at the Woburn Gallery.
Jill Goodyear
Sue Melville has been a practicing artist for over 25 years, viewing painting as a life journey rather than just a craft. She compares the creative process to poetry or music, where each piece takes her to unexpected places. Sue works intuitively, allowing the painting to unfold organically, and considers a work finished only when it surprises her. She is driven by the excitement of discovery and the moment when a piece takes on a life of its own. Guided by the belief that "magic happens when we get out of the way," Sue’s process is an exploration of new ideas, forms, and possibilities, with each painting being an adventure.
Sue Melville
Maxine Owen is a mixed media and fine artist with over 30 years of experience, based in rural Bedfordshire. Specialising in vibrant textile art, she uses recycled materials—often discarded, vintage textiles—to create richly textured surfaces through a variety of techniques, including paint, stitch, knit, print, and embellishment. Maxine’s work is deeply inspired by her life experiences, travels, and the world around her, with each piece telling a unique story. Constantly exploring new techniques, Maxine pushes the boundaries of her craft to produce dynamic, thought-provoking art. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and she is also an active lecturer, workshop leader, and commission artist.
Maxine Owen
