Congratulations to Wendy Riddick who won our first prize in the VAN Winter Exhibition competition at the University Centre Shrewsbury.  The winning work entitled 'Through The Eye of the Needle', is a complex intricate textile piece.  Wendy received her £250 first prize at the Private View event on 11/10/2019.  Wendy  trained at Goldsmiths and subsequently worked as an archaeological illustrator. Now a Shrewsbury based textile artist, she has had several solo exhibitions and has produced work for exhibitions at Powis Castle 2015 and Berrington Hall, 2017.  The competition was judged by Jonathon from The Soden Collection Contemporary Art and Sculpture gallery, 80 Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury.

Leona Thomas has been inspired to make these puppet characters using traditional papier mache methods of construction. She rekindled her fondness of puppets having recently come across puppets made by the artist Paul Klee.   He had made his to amuse his children grandchildren.  With their rawness and individuality Leona was struck by the fact that they seemed to break through preconceptions of what a puppet should be. She set about making these characters that can be used for a variety of story plots.  The puppets are on show at the VAN Street Gallery, Shrewsbury with further information about the inspiration behind them.

Amanda Hillier - I’m a designer and illustrator based in the Ironbridge Gorge. I’m fascinated by industrial and architectural landscape and enjoy representing my surroundings in a powerful and dynamic way through the exploration of carving and printing lino.

My current work is inspired by iconic structures and includes a piece being exhibited at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) as part of the Print Prize Exhibition.