Victoria Fearn Gallery on Heol y Deri is not what you’d expect when you walk into a gallery. On a street full of pretty little boutique shops, finding a couple of hand-made harps and wooden toys on display is not too unusual.
But when you walk into the shop, small paintings and other little items slowly draw you into the gallery hidden at the back.
“I opened nearly ten years ago, June 21, 2004, and I had the front room open as a gift shop gallery and a year later progressed in to the back room and we re-did this [back] room completely and set us as exhibitions,” said Victoria Fearn, the co-owner of the gallery.
Victoria is a qualified silversmith who has been running a successful jewellery line for years now.
“I have my work in about thirty different galleries right across the country, but found that some months I’d have hundreds of pounds back in and other months I’d have very little and I just needed some continuity and something else,” she said.
“I’ve always loved, not just jewellery but pictures, ceramics, glass, sculpture and I really wanted to have a place of my own where I have my workshop and sell lots of different makers. So I set up with my mum 10 years ago and it’s a showcase for my own work and also other people’s work.”
The gallery showcases a different exhibition every six to eight weeks, which include paintings by local and national artists.
The current exhibition, Over the Moon, explores the theme of the moon with different landscapes from the sea-side to the valleys. But it also offers ceramics, glass, sculptures and items of jewellery.
But the exhibition will be replaced with a new spring breeze next week, featuring the theme All Things Bright and Beautiful.
“Every time somebody comes to the gallery they’ll see something new and exciting, and it’s all handmade, handmade British art and crafts.”
