The Foundry Hosts 3 Little Desks

Wrexham’s Creative Industries business hub, The Foundry, is playing host to 3 resident artists over the coming fortnight, as part of the North-Wales-wide Helfa Gelf Art Trail.

Jo Marsh, Mike A. Jones, and Michael C. Jones will be preparing new and original artwork in the reception area of the Yorke Street building, and the public are invited to pop in and see what they’re up to.

Now in its eighth year, Helfa Gelf invites the public to visit artists at work in their studios. The event spans across five counties with over 300 artists taking part.

For those with an interest in art. it’s a great opportunity to see the creative process taking place, and see how artwork can develop from an original concept to a finished piece of work. It is a unique chance for visitors to experience this normally hidden world and get to chat to the artists and crafts people about their creative process.

Artwork on show this year includes painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, jewelry, glassware, basket weaving, woodcarving, new media and photography.

Jo Marsh

Jo is a visual artist based in Wrexham. Over the past year, in addition to her usual artistic practice she has also organised and curated two large scale group exhibitions, as part of the project Here|There|Everywhere. The first of these took place at a former metal works in Sheffield, the second in the former BBC offices at Oriel Wrecsam, and both shows involved bringing together artists from across Wales and the UK to exhibit together in unconventional settings.

Mike A. Jones

Mike is a founding partner and lead artist of Wrexham’s innovative THIS Project, which currently occupies the former JJB Sports shop on Regent Street, as a pop-up art space. Primarily working in the medium of collage, Mike has built up an impressive portfolio in areas as diverse as self-publishing, brand design, street art and music performance with related design. His work can also be seen at the current Helfa Gelf exhibition in Un Deg Un and in the Wrexham Open currently on exhibition in Oriel Wrexham.

An image of Un-Deg-Un when it opened in July

Michael C. Jones

Also based in Wrexham, Michael was the artist behind last years’ Reimagine Wrexham exhibition at Oriel Wrexham, and currently has a joint exhibition – Paint The Town, with portrait artist Erica Taylor – at Un Deg Un. A landscape painter, Michael’s preferred medium is Oil Paint, but rather than the traditional images that are usually associated with the medium he strives to provide an alternative view on the familiar environments of rural and urban views. After studying Architecture in Bristol UWE he began to document the built and natural environment, focusing on the architectural and social context of the areas he paints.

Jo, Mike and Michael will be taking it in turns to be in the space every Friday, Saturday and Sunday until the end of September, but you can also see example of their work at Un Deg Un, the pop-up arts centre that currently occupies the former JJB Sports shop on Regent Street.