News

Recent and Forthcoming Events

CPRE Hedgerow Heroes project, July 2023 to May 2024

I am delighted to be working with CPRE Shropshire on their Hedgerow Heroes project to run walks and workshops, one in each of the four seasons, for people to respond creatively in a series of different arts activities, and learn more about hedgerows, their use in sustainable farming practices and value in supporting biodiversity.

The next event will be on 6th February 2024 at Whitegates Farm, Moreton Wood, nr Whitchurch. Join us for a gentle walk along the hedgerows to gather plants and inspiration to make collages and artist books in a beautiful, warm indoor space at the farm.

Further details including how to book to follow

  • Suitable for age 10 to 65+; young children will need to be supervised by an adult. 
  • No previous art skills or experience necessary
  • All materials will be provided as required
  • Please bring your own lunch/refreshments

In the first event, at New Invention in South Shropshire we made beautiful cyanotype prints.

At the second event at Cheshire Coppice Farm and Admaston Community Centre we made a fabulous array of monoprints.

An ecologist accompanied the group to provide insight into the many plants and living creatures that inhabit the hedgerows.

Participants may take away their own artworks but we would also like to invite you to take part in producing a collaborative artist book or larger work, which will incorporate selected artworks and writings to illustrate the changing life of hedgerows through the seasons.

The final event is planned for April 2024 at Brickyard Farm, Wheathill, look out for details.

Making Natural Inks and Dyes, Rural Art Hub
26th September 2023

I led two workshops in March and September in which participants went on a short walk from the Rural Art Hub into the local landscape to gather materials, learn about making botanical inks, and experiment with mark-making, simple drawing and print making.

Participants learned how to process plant materials to produce dyes, inks and lake pigments suitable for use on papers and some fabrics. We made use of found materials for handmade brushes and tools for making spontaneous marks with ink. There were opportunities to make ink, work with natural earth pigments and try out some simple relief printmaking and monoprint techniques.

Watch out for future workshops

Shrewsbury Art Trail, July to 1st September 2023

One of my monoprints, Shadow and Me III was included in this year’s Shrewsbury Art Trail exhibition at Shrewsbury Art Gallery and Museum.

Two further prints from the Shadow and Me series were shown in the exhibition at the Viewing Deck gallery, upstairs at Shrewsbury Market Hall

Landscape Intensities 1: The Expanded Field, June 24th/25th 2023

Working with Joseph Schneider, artist/director Rural Art Hub, we facilitated this two day event for artists wanting to extend and develop their practice in response to the landscape.

It was a great opportunity to
share existing knowledge, explore a common ground of theory and practice and test out new ideas in a supportive environment, opening out a discourse about the expanded field of art and drawing out the connections between art and ecology.

The event took place at the Rural Art Hub’s Mother Shippon studio near Welshampton, Shropshire, as well as on walks in the local landscape.

Walkspace 23: Contours and Crossings in Creative Walking, 3rd June to 1st July 2023

It was a pleasure to take part in the first Walkspace group show at Artefact Projects:

1464 Pershore Road Stirchley, Birmingham, B30 2NT

My Walking Territory artist book and digital collage Mapping the Pandemic were featured alongside artworks by 20 members with diverse practices and from all across the West Midlands.

My short film featuring the collaborative Roller (Rea Brook) and poem “From non-place to another” by Graham Attenborough was included in the film night on 16th June, hosted by Andy Howlett

Art & Climate Roundtable, 18th April 2023

I joined artists Naiza Khan, Sally Payen and Mark Richards in an Art & Climate Roundtable discussion about how our practices respond to the environment and how art can impact the climate emergency. The event was hosted by Andy Fryers, Sustainability Director for Hay Festival, as part of Meadow Arts’ Watermark series of exhibitions and events.

Worcester Open, 12th January – 17th February 2023

I was delighted to have my piece Sphagnum Magellanicum selected for the Worcester Open (Climate Change Edition).
At the Art House, Castle Street
Worcester, WR1 3HN

Further Details

Exhibiting artists include: Helen Cass, Joe Black Ardy, Isabella Draper, Jamie Banks, Rebecca George, Maria Cristina Gardiner, Dan Holden, Vicky Harvey, Paul Powis, Sara Hayward, Paul Newman, Jain McKay, Lewis Graham, Sarah Jones, Melanie Woodhead, Maureen Heaney-Sykes, Frans Wesselman, Lois Karen Meiklejohn, Andrew Woodhead, Joanne Henderson, Issie Martin, Kurt Hickson, Ella Buchanan, Chris M. Allton, Marta Pedzik, Conrad Judge, Caitlin Carpenter, Tegen Kimbley, Richard Nicholls, Ian Pennell, Jim O’Raw, Jonathan Oakes, Matt Greenhill, Sylvia Wadsley, Shaun Morris, Shona Davies & David Monaghan & Jon Klein, Andrew Howe, Monica Perez Vega, Jeff Orgee, Cameron Scott, Sophy King, Jane Walker, Sharon Baker, Alice Watkins, Lorsen Camps, Jenny Pope, Nick St George, Elaina Arkeooll, Clare Wratten.

Sphagnum Magellanicum, peat on paper made with purple moor grass and reeds

A Charm of Goldfinches, 20th Jan – 17th Feb 2023

A group exhibition featuring over 25 artists who have made work in response to Carel Fabritius’ Goldfinch, which is held in the Mauritshuis in The Hague.  Motivation for the exhibition is related to the trauma of the pandemic, and with the pleasure and nourishment many people have gained from returning to domestic-sized painting and drawing, as well as the joy of watching nature.

The exhibition is co-curated by Bryan Eccleshall and Andrew Howe, and includes work of 15 artists originally shown in Sheffield which will be joined by work created by 10 artists from Shropshire and Birmingham. The artwork will be shown alongside poems by Kate Innes.

Inhabited, King’s School, Worcester, 12th Jan- 16th Feb 2023

I was delighted to be invited to show my Inhabited series of paintings and drawings at the King’s School Worcester. It will be the first time all of these works will be exhibited together. It is wonderful also to reconnect with Kate Innes, novelist and poet, who responded to two of the works with poems. She will be creating new work for this exhibition.

Please contact me if you would like to join us at the Private View event on Friday 13th January 2023

Creative Reflections, AALERT 4DM, 18th November 2022

I presented a paper “Mosses and Marshes: Values. Voices. Action.” at the AALERT 4DM Creative Reflections event at RSA House

The AALERT 4DM project was funded by AHRC and the Landscape Decisions programme to explore and enhance understanding of these contributions. 

The Creative Reflections workshop will reflect on our experiences throughout the project alongside other national and international perspectives. It aims to enhance our understanding of the role of arts research and practice in landscape decisions and explore how creative approaches can be incorporated into policy and practice. 

Monoprint workshop, 15th September 2022

Join me to make landscape-inspired monoprints using a Gel-plate and go on to explore folded books and 3D forms

Choose one or both of two sessions:

Session 1 – participants can learn basic techniques in making gel-plate monoprints

Session 2 – you will explore how to develop the prints into sequences for making folded books and 3D forms.

You will learn about:

  • basic techniques for making monoprints
  • experimenting with mark making
  • how to use stencils/masks with the gel-plate
  • using gathered plant materials to make prints
  • developing the prints into sequences or larger combinations which may be folded into 3D forms

This workshop ran alongside the Wetlands exhibition in the Gateway Gallery 3.

Wetlands exhibition, 2nd – 29th September 2022

I was invited to bring together an exhibition introducing the precious peatlands of Shropshire. I’ll be working with Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England to display a range of information maps, and artwork, featuring new work and some work from the Mosses and Marshes project, including pieces recently returned from exhibitions in Australia, yet to be seen in the UK.

All welcome to an opening evening at the Gallery on 1st September 2022

Gateway Education and Arts Centre
Chester Street
Shrewsbury SY2 1NB

Mon-Fri, 9am – 4.30pm

The Great Paper Caper, 16th August 2022

Come and learn about making handmade paper individually and then and then join in making paper pulp coloured with natural pigments and botanical dyes for a large collaborative artwork. I will be co-leading the event with Joseph Schneider at the Rural Art Hub, using natural materials, mostly foraged in the local landscape. 

The event is part of the Shropshire Love Nature Festival 2022.

Click here for booking and further information

This is a family-friendly event and children under 12 are welcome if accompanied by an adult

Most activities will take place in areas that are fully wheelchair accessible. In the event of wet weather, activities will take place under cover in the studio which is partly accessible for wheelchairs but the floor has different levels and we are in the process of fully assessing how best to make it fully accessible. There is a wheelchair accessible toilet on site.

The Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole

I joined fellow Walkspace artists Andy Howlett and Bethany Kay Hopkins for this participatory community project celebrating the nature and waterways at Bumble Hole Local Nature Reserve

The Roaming Flags of Bumble Hole concludes on Saturday 13th August 2022 with a colourful parade featuring music, readings, rites and of course, flags.

Come and fly a flag for nature! There will be enough flags for everyone. The cotton flags have been coloured with natural dyes and were decorated by the participants of our previous event in July.

Musical accompaniment will be provided by Beth Hopkins who will lead sing-a-long renditions of original and traditional folk songs drawn directly from the soil in which the flags will stand.

Meet at 12pm outside the Bumble Hole Nature Reserve Visitor Centre, Windmill End, Dudley DY2 9HS. No need to book. Suitable for all ages. The event will last no more than two hours and will finish up back where it started. Refreshments and toilet facilities are available at the visitor centre but you may also wish to bring a packed lunch. For other queries please contact Andy.

Click here for further information

This project is supported by Creative Black Country as part of Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places National Portfolio programme, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) and support from CoLab Dudley. 

West Midlands Open, 20 May – 25 September 2022

I was delighted to have two artworks from my Inhabited series selected by the West Midlands Open selectors for the exhibition at New Art Gallery Walsall. I’ve been visiting Walsall to see exhibitions since before the new gallery was built, so its wonderful to be able to see my own work in such a fabulous gallery.

See website for further details and a link to all the exhibiting artists

Mosses and Marshes at Outback Arts Gallery, Coonamble

The exhibition featuring video, soundscapes and 2D/3D work by Kim V. Goldsmith (AUS) and myself from our collaborative Mosses and Marshes project moves into Wayilwan country close to Maliyanga Ngurra / Macquarie Marshes. Includes my new work Whixall Bibles and Bog Sequence using botanical inks, acrylic transfers and rust prints

9th May to 3rd June 2022,

Open Mon-Fri 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
PO Box 28
26 Castlereagh Street
Coonamble, NSW 2829

See Outback Arts for further details

Climate Cultures: Mosses and Marshes: Creative Engagement with Wetlands

Climate Cultures published a new post in which Kim V. Goldsmith and I share our story about our collaborative Mosses and Marshes project, which investigates connections between fragile wetlands and their communities in England and Australia, seeking new interpretations, multiple perspectives and less-heard voices.

Read the post here

Mosses and Marshes at M16 Artspace, Canberra

15th April – 1st May 2022

An exhibition featuring video, soundscapes and 2D/3D work by Kim V. Goldsmith (AUS) and myself from our collaborative Mosses and Marshes project. Includes my new work Whixall Bibles and Bog Sequence using botanical inks, acrylic transfers and rust prints

Exhibition open Weds-Sun 12-5pm

21 Blaxland Crescent Griffith ACT 2603
+ (02) 6295 9438
PO Box 4878 Kingston 2604

See gallery website for further details

Beauty and Utility Showcase, Meadow Arts

Pershore Library

19 March – 16 April 2022 

My work “The River’s Breathing” is included with works by artists Emma Plover, Kate Raggett and Melanie Woodhead in a showcase for the Beauty and Utility project at Avon Meadows, Pershore.

Pershore Library
Church Street
Pershore
Worcestershire
WR10 1DT
01905 822722

Normal opening times:
Monday – Friday: 9am-5.30pm
Saturday 9am-5pm
Sunday: Closed

Please note: Pershore Library will also be closed on Good Friday (Friday 15 April)

For further information visit Meadow Arts

Cinderloo Remembered exhibition

I co-curated this exhibition at the Coalbrookdale Gallery next to the Museum of Iron. The exhibition brings together much of the project work we have been doing over the last 4 years to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Cinderloo Uprising. The exhibition contains paintings, drawings, collage, prints, sculpture and film from 11 artists, school project work, archive materials loaned from Ironbridge Gorge Museums, the illustrated Cinderloo story, maps, family history, banners, poetry, zines, research and hundreds of photographs. I have five of my series of Witness Tree drawings on show, plus a series of 10 canvases entitled “Missing Evidence”, plus the “Bear Witness” film Jill Impey produced with me.

Visit Cinderloo.com for further information.

Mosses and Marshes Project

An exhibition of individual and collaborative work by artists Andrew Howe and Kim V. Goldsmith comprising:

  • 16 minute video in 10 chapters with soundscapes created by Kim V. Goldsmith
  • Collaborative video The Tone of Things
  • Collaborative spoken word piece I am Walking
  • Canvases by Andrew Howe using inks/prints made from natural materials gathered at the Mosses
  • Prints and handmade paper collages by Andrew Howe.

Join Kim V. Goldsmith and Andrew Howe for an ARTIST TALK about MOSSES AND MARSHES (9am UK GMT/7pm AET 14th Oct), while it’s showing at Qube Gallery. Hear about the project, the works, the book and the project’s International Panel Discussion set down for 11 November. ** FREE EVENT, Register on Zoom by 14 October.

As part of the Mosses + Marshes project, an international panel discussion will be held in partnership with Dubbo Regional Council on 11 November, bringing together a group of natural resource managers, scientists, academics, and cultural consultants from Australia and the UK with a wealth of experience in land and natural resource management issues. The panel will be discussing alternative ways of understanding and valuing special environments to help shape their future, with a focus on the Fenn’s, Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses (UK) and the Macquarie Marshes (Australia).

This live, facilitated event on Zoom, will include pre-recorded provocations and audience contributions to the discussion via the event chat. The panel discussion will be recorded for use in ongoing conversations as part of the Mosses and Marshes project.

Further details of panelists and booking information are available on the eco-pulse.art website here .

A publication about the Mosses and Marshes project was launched at the start of the Qube exhibition. The book goes beyond the artworks to expand on the various research themes in texts and an array of beautiful images. 

Edited by Dr Liz Charpleix, with a foreword by Dave Pritchard (Ramsar Culture Network), the book features contributions from curators Gudrun Filipska (UK), Jamie Lea Trindall (AUS), ecological, environmental and cultural writings by Tim Hosking, Fleur and Laurance Magick Denis of Milan Dhiiyaan, Sooty Welsh (Wayilwan Elder/artist), Cathie Sleigh (Shropshire Wildlife Trust), Robert Duff (Natural England), and many other project partners and people from the communities around the Mosses and Marshes.

The book is on sale in UK at £15 (+P+P).

An exhibition of:

  • fantastic display of three 7m long banners and other artworks made by Wem Youth Club inspired by visits to Whixall Moss with artists Kate Johnston, Sue Challis, Andrew Howe and Anna Martin of Shropshire Wildlife Trust
  • prints inspired by the Mosses by Andrew Howe
  • displays about the Marches Mosses BogLIFE project by Shropshire Wildlife Trust/Natural England

There will be an open event at the Gallery on Tuesday 19th October, which will also include a showing of a short film made by MediaActive Projects CIC documenting the project with Wem Youth Club and the making of the banners.

Further details to plan your visit at Wem Town Hall

Mosses Art Trail

An Art Trail featuring sculptures and sounds of the Mosses and Marshes was launched at Fenn’s and Whixall Moss in July 2021, and will be available until the end of October 2021.

You are invited to visit the Art Trail and meet the artists involved Saturday 30th October.

 For full details and how to access the Art Trail.

The soundscapes were edited by Andrew Howe and Kim V. Goldsmith and feature sound recordings of wildlife, water and trees, poetry, history and memories of life on and around the peatbog. The sculptures were created by artists, Elizabeth Turner and Keith Ashford. Read more.

The project was launched on Tuesday 2nd February, World Wetlands Day with video previews from our collaboration. Read more

The Mosses and Marshes project led by me and Kim V. Goldsmith (AUS) brings together artists, land managers and environmental specialists in the UK and Australia questioning how we think about and value natural environments through works centred on the raised peat bogs of Fenn’s Bettisfield and Whixall Mosses NNR on the border between England and Wales and the iconic Macquarie Marshes in New South Wales, Australia.

We are hugely grateful to Arts Council England for public funding from the National Lottery, and for support from UK partners Shropshire Wildlife Trust and Natural England.  This enables us to work with five other artists: Elizabeth Turner and Keith Ashford, Sue Challis, Kate Johnston and Lydia Halcrow, artist/curator Gudrun Filipska of Arts Territory Exchange, Mediaactive Projects CIC and local partners Wem Youth Club and Shropshire Wildlife Trust.

This first phase includes new artworks for public exhibition, workshops, walks and talks, and a project publication due for release prior to the first exhibition at Qube Gallery, Oswestry in October. Australian exhibitions will follow in 2022.

Future of Wetlands Webinar

I spoke about the Mosses and Marshes transglobal arts collaboration project at this CIWEM* event on Thurs 25th March.

Robert Duff, project manager for Natural England talked about the BogLIFE peatbog regeneration project and a Q&A discussion was led by Dave Pritchard, chair of CIWEM’s Art and Environment Network and chair of the Ramsar Culture Network

* Event hosted by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management.

Watch a recording of the event:


Avon Meadows: Beauty and Utility

I was thrilled to be one of four artists commissioned by Meadow Arts to make an artwork and to work with community groups and or schools responding to the seasons and changing environment at Avon Meadows in Pershore.

Meadow Arts is working with the Floodplain Meadows Partnership which represents a number of key organisations and is hosted by the Open University, School of Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences.

My workshop about ecoprinting and markmaking with natural materials took place March 2021 on @meadowarts Instagram IGTV – see further details at https://www.meadowarts.org/events/ecoprinting-workshop

Read about my progress on my blog: No Time Like the Present.

Mapping the Pandemic and Post Covid Dreams – Living Maps

Frankwell Utopia collage by Andrew Howe
Frankwell Utopia

During the Summer of 2020, I was invited to contribute to Living Maps Network’s Mapping the Pandemic project by artist/curator Kimbal Quist Bumstead. I presented my collage of a Frankwell Utopia in an online event on Weds 22nd July 2020.

You can see a recording of the event here

The project featured in an article in Issue 9 of the Living Maps Review here:

https://livingmaps.squarespace.com/dreaming-of-a-postcovid-world

My article Walking Territory: In and Out of Lockdown was also published in that edition, read it here:

https://livingmaps.squarespace.com/walking-territory

Frankwell Books

Walking regularly in my local area of Frankwell in Shrewsbury during the Covid 19 lockdown, I began a process of mapping and creative activities leading to a series of five artist books and a collaborative project with other artists based in or connected with the area.

Four of the books are for sale, and two of them are sold in support of the Shrewsbury Food Hub, an environmental charity which redistributes surplus food from retailers in Shrewsbury to community groups that can make good use of it. This avoids food waste, saves community groups on average 30% of their food budget, helps alleviate food poverty and helps build a resilient community network of food knowledge and skills.

Light!

One of the digital drawings from my Inhabited series is included in this online exhibition.

F50 Festival

f50

I was delighted to join 27 other artists from 7 different countries in taking part in this online festival.  The event was curated by Kim Goldsmith, who I am collaborating with in projects via Arts Territory Exchange.  Some of my digital drawings from a series of work entitled “Where to?” were featured, along with the collaborative work made in 2019 with poet Graham Attenborough in response to our walk along the Rea Brook valley.

Find out more here

ahowe_where to_1

A Stitch in Time

I’m excited that some of my collaborative work with Gareth Jones is featured with 13 other Arts Territory Exchange artists in this show in Beijing.

Bear Witness: The Lie of the Land

A new short film by Jill Impey and myself was launched at the Wellington Arts Festival in October 2019, with showings also at Ironbridge Gorge Festival and to Cinderloo 1821 members. The film explores the story of the Cinderloo Uprising, Shropshire’s Peterloo, which took place almost 200 years ago in Old Park, Dawley, and how it links with the landscape of today.  After brief discussion and refreshments, you are invited to take part in the following fun activities to help create collaborative artworks and song taking inspiration from the film:

Following the film, we held a mapping workshop with Amanda Hillier using collage, printmaking and creative writing, while singer/songwriter Kate Allan pooled ideas to compose and perform a new song on themes related to Cinderloo and Dawley’s untold history

VAN at 20, Theatre Severn Gallery

Three of my Rea Brook Edges paintings are featured in this exhibition celebrating 20 years of the Shropshire Visual Art Network

Rea Brook Edges I, acrylic on wood panel

VAN Winter Exhibition

I have two paintings (“Exit”and “Windows” from my In Parallel series this exhibition at the University Centre, Shrewsbury.

Andrew Howe Windows
Windows

A Walk in Time

On November 9th 2019, I led a workshop exploring Urban Ruins in Worcester in a large collage of photographs and surface textures at the Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum as part of the events for Meadow Arts exhibition Living Ruins

Scaffolds of Nature Exhibition

Three of my paintings “Whixall Forms”, “Rising” and “Biomorph V” featured in this exhibition, curated by Emily Wilkinson.

Encounters 2 Exhibition

I was paired with poet Graham Attenborough for this project.

Scour II Art Walks

I led two walks and art workshops in May and August 2019 for the Scour II: Museum in the Landscape project, led by artists Elizabeth Turner and Keith Ashford. I later used some of the collages, artwork, photographs and writing created during the walks and workshops in a new zine called Arrow , mapping the landscape of the Arrow river valley in Redditch.

Fourth World Congress of Psychogeography

I took part in the 2019 4WCOP by running an event “Acts of Resistance” from Empire House in Dewsbury on Saturday 7th September 2019. Saturday’s events were staged in association with Creative Scene, and my event fits in with their Paper Peace project.

Arts Territory Exchange

In 2019, I commenced two remote collaborations with artists via the Arts Territory Exchange Programme (aTE), which comprises a global network of artists and art practices which respond to the geography of their territory of production.

The first of these is a project which extends an ongoing collaboration with Gareth Jones, artist/academic who is based in Osaka, Japan.

In the second project, I am working with Kim Goldsmith, artist and media and marketing communications consultant, based in New South Wales, Australia.

Both projects are yielding some exciting possibilities for art works over the coming months. Follow progress on my blog.

VAN Summer Exhibition

Three of my Traces laser cut relief paintings from my In Parallel series are on show over the Summer at University Centre Shrewsbury, Frankwell. 

 

Lawn and Meadow, Participate Contemporary Artspace

Three of my paintings inspired by a walk along the Rea Brook Valley in Shrewsbury were featured in this exhibition selected by guest curator Mel Evans and the team at Participate. Read more in my blog here.

The exhibition ran from Tuesday 24th July – Saturday 11th August.

 

Beyond the Pedestrian, University of Liverpool, 26th July 2018

I was delighted to give a short presentation about my walking projects and taking part in a round-table discussion at this one-day interdisciplinary event focused on walking research, practice and culture, organised by Dr Morag Rose.

 

Brownfield Research Centre,
Airspace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

Some of my work was featured in this excellent exhibition and series of artist residencies and related events at Airspace from 15th June to 22nd July 2018.

Further details here.

 

Encounters

Six of my paintings and collages and two poems were on show in the Encounters exhibition at the VAN Gallery, Shoplatch in Shrewsbury from 20th March to 28th April 2018.

 

The exhibition featured around 20 pairs of visual artists and poets, responding to each others’ work.  I was in three pairings:

Working as a painter with:

Kate Innes (novelist/poet)

Ursula Troche (poet/photographer/psychogeographer)

And as a writer with:

Paul Baines (painter)

Publications news

Books are available for purchase as follows:

“In Parallel and Entwined”
Andrew Howe

Available in paperback at £12 + p&p, see here for preview and purchase information.

 

 

theminutes_cover-copy


“The Minutes”
Andrew Howe

Hardback £72.71 + p&p

See here for further details or to purchase.

 

land-in-hand-cover

“Land in Hand – The Making of Coton Hill Allotments”
Andrew Howe & Mairi Turner

Paper back £29.95 or hardback £38.50 + p&p

See here for further details or here to purchase.

 

we-are-not-out-of-the-woods-yet

“We’re Not Out of the Woods Yet”
Andrew Howe & Colin Blundell

A few copies of this limited edition of 25 handmade books are available for £36 by contacting the artist directly.

Further details.