7 February – 14 March
Humphrey Jennings & Charlotte Jennings Humphrey Jennings (1907-50) was a film maker, artist, co founder of the Mass-Observation group and member of the International Surrealist Group, helping to present the first surrealist exhibition in London in 1936. As a film maker, he is best known for the documentaries he made during the war, working as a director, writer and editor for the Ministry of Information, on titles including Spare Time (1939), Listen to Britain (1941), Fires were Started (1943), and a Diary for Timothy (1945). The work in this exhibition is from the estate and includes a number of beautiful watercolours from the 1930’s which have never been seen before. Charlotte Jennings (1935-2021) was the daughter of Humphrey Jennings. Born in London, she spent several childhood years as an evacuee in New York and from 1982 had about twenty years in Australia. She won a Major County Award to the Slade School of Fine Art, 1955–8, having spent 1953–4 at Hammersmith School of Arts & Crafts, and 1954–5 at Chelsea School of Art. She won several prizes at the Slade, and gained a Boise Postgraduate Scholarship. Studied at Atelier 17 in Paris, 1965, and London International Film School, 1976. Jennings’ teachers included William Coldstream, Anthony Gross, William Townsend, Ruskin Spear, S W Hayter, Ernst Gombrich and David Sylvester. Group shows included Young Contemporaries, LG, New Vision Centre, Gardner Centre at University of Sussex and abroad. The Art Stable Child Okeford Blandford Dorset DT11 8HB.
Until 28 February
Shifting Waterscapes: Ellen Wiles and Arun Sood Exhibition created by multidisciplinary artists Ellen Wiles and Arun Sood exploring the value of water in our landscapes including immersive works involving sound, story, moving image, visual art, and mixed media. Tuesday to Saturday, 10 to 5. Thelma Hulbert Gallery, Dowell St, Honiton EX14 1LX. thelmahulbert.com / 01404 45006. Free admission.
Until 7 March
Journey – Two Artists – One Studio – Two New Bodies of Work. Ceramic sculpture and drawings by Clare Trenchard. Paintings of the sculptor’s studio by Binny Mathews. Four years ago, two acclaimed artists embarked on a project which would change the way each of them worked. Successful portrait painter Binny Mathews had the idea of painting another artist at work, observing their most private creative moments and recreating the atmosphere of absolute concentration within the studio. She approached her friend the sculptor Clare Trenchard who agreed for one month on condition there would be no talking and no lunching (they are both tremendous talkers and lunchers.) The arrangement continued for four transformational years. Sculptor Clare Trenchard – whose spirited sculpture in bronze captures the essence of animals and wild hare-humans – gradually began to explore making human figures in ceramic inspired by Moroccan travellers and nomadic people in harsh landscapes. The electrifying ‘Representatives’ are taller than life-size with flapping robes, headdresses and undefined faraway faces. In maquette they are also a delight whether gathering in groups or single. Clare’s drawings revel in the distinctive humorous, decorative qualities of travellers on donkey, old women gossiping in the marketplace, figures in the dust and wind. While other drawings define the thrilling figures she has developed as sculpture. Sladers Yard, West Bay, Bridport, Dorset DT6 4EL Open: Mon to Sat 10 – 4pm. All work can be viewed at www.sladersyard.co.uk t: 01308 459511. e: gallery@sladersyard.co.uk.
Until 12 April
Airborne over Sherborne Quentin Blake’s drawings have always carried lift — lines that leap, figures mid-flight, stories that rise off the page. Airborne over Sherborne invites you into that feeling of flight and freedom with a vibrant new series of works made in 2025: birds, contraptions, and impossible inventions that somehow feel completely believable in Blake’s world. The Sherborne, Newland, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3JG. www.thesherborne.uk.
100 Portraits Created exclusively for The Sherborne, 100 Portraits offers a rare chance to meet Quentin Blake’s imagination now: vivid, warm, and unmistakably his. These are not “likenesses” of specific people, but encounters — characters discovered through drawing, where a tilt of the head, a glance, or a single line can spark an entire personality. The Sherborne, Newland, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3JG. www.thesherborne.uk.
The Folke Altarpiece: The Resurrection Painted in Baroque drama and light, The Resurrection shows Christ rising above the tomb as angels flank the scene and Roman guards recoil below. Known as the Folke Altarpiece, this newly conserved work attributed to Sir James Thornhill returns to view on loan from St Lawrence Church, Folke — a striking counterpoint to Blake’s airborne imagination within the exhibition. The Sherborne, Newland, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3JG. www.thesherborne.uk.
Until 3 May
Grayson Perry: Aspects of Myself A new exhibition of one of Britain’s most influential contemporary artists. Standard ticket – £7, Book online – £6, NUS cardholders and MA Members – £4, ArtFund – £3, Under 19s and carers free. Some works in the exhibition will depict adult themes. The Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery is Queen Street, Exeter, EX4 3RX. 01392 265858.
Until 10 May
People Watching Over a hundred years of British portraiture with The Ingram Collection and Dorset Museum & Art Gallery. Exploring the concept of image and portraiture in British art, ‘People Watching’ will feature approximately 50 works of sculpture, paintings, drawings, and photography from 1915 to the present day. Dorset Museum & Art Gallery, High West Street, Dorchester DT1 1XA. Open Daily: 10:00am – 5:00pm. Last entry to the Museum is at 4:00pm.
Legacy in the Making This new exhibition celebrates the remarkable breadth of contemporary and historic craft in Somerset. Bringing together former members and masters of the Somerset Craft Guild, along with the 2025 Somerset Art Works × Somerset Craft Guild Emerging Maker Bursary artists, the exhibition reveals a vibrant creative community shaped by heritage, experimentation and deep connection to place. Somerset Rural Life Museum, Abbey Farm, Chilkwell St, Glastonbury BA6 8DB
