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Marlborough Open Studios: Rabley Gallery
Marlborough Open Studios
1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th July (11.00AM – 17.00PM)
Rabley Gallery / Studio 29
Rabley Drawing Centre, Mildenhall, Marlborough, SN8 2LW
Rabley Gallery is opening its doors for two weekends this July for the annual Marlborough Open Studios. Open Studios is a rare opportunity for the public to visit the hidden world of local artists in their studios, workshops or pop-up galleries. It is free of charge and focuses on artists across Wiltshire and the North Wessex Downs.
Rabley Gallery will be hosting the work of two local artists in Rabley Gallery’s East Gallery:
Meryl Setchell Ainslie
&
Simone Dawood
No booking required.
Inside the on site studio of Meryl Setchell Ainslie.
Simone Dawood stands with artworks in Rabley Gallery’s East Gallery.
Meryl Setchell Ainslie
In silver-work sitting between sculpture and adornment, Meryl Setchell Ainslie explores ideas through small endeavours. ‘I rise, I rise’ is a gathering of flower pieces that become counterbalances to teetering towers of soft formed building blocks. The title of this series is taken from Maya Angelou’s poem ‘Still I Rise’.
Meryl combines lost wax casting and recycled precious metal with other gathered elements. Her sketchbooks take 2D and 3D forms and in the studio these are developed into brooches and experimental makings.
In the Gallery: “The pieces I have made may at first glance to defy a single ‘Style’. They are my statements: expressions of self, my concerns and interests. These adornments and sculptures are tribal amulets for the 21st Century.” – MSA.
In the Studio: See the makings and beginnings, sketchbooks and tools.
Special Event: Sand-Casting Demonstration. Spaces in the studio will be limited to 8 on a first come basis. No booking required. Noon on Sunday 2nd & 9th July.
Meryl Setchell Ainslie – I Rise, I Rise I, II, III. 2023, Silver and textile, Variable dimensions.
Simone Dawood
Simone Dawood – Slow. 2023, Oil on linen, 48 x 64 cm.
As the Ridgeway National Trail reaches its 50th year Simone celebrates with new work inspired by this prehistoric road. Travelled by herdsmen, soldiers shamans and seekers she finds the rhythm, patterns, shapes and colour that are so unique to this ancient landscape.
Using multiple layers of oil paint on hand stretched Belgium linen, vibrant colour and intensity pulse across the picture plane. From hillforts and white horses to overgrown woodland paths or a solitary tree on the horizon.
In the Gallery: As well as paintings Simone will be showing mixed media work linked to collections in the Archaeology Department of the (now closed) Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. Also Limited Edition Giclée Prints and Greetings Cards.
In the Studio: Simone will gladly talk you through how she makes her paintings and will have some rough sketches and sketchbooks to illustrate the process.
Simone Dawood – Hackpen Harvest #3. 2023, Oil on linen, 85 x 55 cm.
Japanese Woodblock - Mokuhanga Dimensions - 24.4cm x 31.6cm Paper - Echizen Kozo, 55gsm Edition of 12
Hand-finished Monotype with collage, Ink on BFK Rives paper, Mounted on linen canvas on a wooden frame, 92 x 66 cm, 2026
Mezzotint, Paper 51.5 x 50 cm, Plate 40 x 40cm, Edition 30, Unframed
Mezzotint Engraving, Image 20 x 20 cm (7.87 x 7.87 in), Paper 30 x 30.5cm, Edition 20, Published 2026, Unframed
Mezzotint, Plate 20 x 14.5 cm (7.87 x 5.71 in), Edition 25, Published 2026, Unframed
Mezzotint, Image 51.5 x 50 cm, Plate 40 x 40 cm, Edition 30, Unframed
Hand-tinted lithograph, 70 x 80 cm, Edition 50 Published 2024 Signed and editioned by the artist Unframed
Hand tinted lithograph, 76 x 112 cm (29.92 x 44.09 in), Edition 50, Published 2024, Unframed
Collagraph and Hand Colouring, Printed on 300 gsm Somerset paper, Paper 32 x 40 cm, Image 20.2 x 29.5cm, Edition 25, 2026, Unframed
RABLEY GALLERY
Rabley Drawing Centre
Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 2LW
T +44 (0)1672 511999
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