News
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.
Pastel, Conte and ink on paper Paper size 54 x 38cm Framed
Pastel, Conte and ink on paper Paper size 54 x 38cm Framed
Escape, 2025 Monotype Printed on 280gsm BFK Rives, Grey 32 x 24cm Mounted on linen
Daphne, 2025 Monoprint Printed on 280gsm BFK Rives, Grey 81 x 59cm Mounted on linen
Collagraph and block print on paper, Paper size: 40.4 x 32.2cm Plate size: 22.5 x 16cm Edition 25 Printed by the artist in her studio. Published 2023
Collagraph and block print on paper, Paper size: 33 x 40cm Edition 20 Printed by the artist in her studio. Published 2024
Collagraph and block print on paper, Paper size: 33 x 28cm Plate size:20.4 x 26cm Edition 25 Printed by the artist in her studio. Published 2025
String Petal, Collagraph and block print on paper, Paper size: 28 x 32cm Plate size: 20.4 x 26cm Edition 25 Printed by the artist in her studio. Published 2025
Hand-coloured collagraph and block print Paper size 94 x 74.5cm Printed to the paper edge on Somerset paper Edition Variable 15 Hand finished and printed in the artists studio. Published 2023
RABLEY GALLERY
Rabley Drawing Centre
Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 2LW
T +44 (0)1672 511999
Rabley News
2025 | October Newsletter
As autumn fires the landscape, October is shaping up with an exciting new sculpture from Peter Randall-Page RA, our October curated collection and The Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair on the horizon.
Oct
Exhibition: Emma Stibbon RA ‘Melting Ice | Rising Tides’
23 Oct – 22 Nov at Cristea Roberts Gallery. Monumental watercolours, drawings and a site-specific installation bring us to the frontlines of climate change.
Oct