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From potter to sculptor - local artist celebrated

Release Date: 11 June 2012

ALAN THORNHILL Sculptures, Drawings and Paintings

Exhibition showing until Monday 27 August 2012 at The Museum in the Park.

The summer exhibition at Stroud's Museum in the Park shows the work of Alan Thornhill, a sculptor who has a 60 year association with the Stroud Valleys.

Born in 1921 in Bayswater, Alan Thornhill's association with Stroud District began in the 1950s when he set up a pottery in the Toadsmoor Valley, Eastcombe. He worked as a potter for nine years, making teapots, plates and other tableware. In the late 1950s he started experimenting with clay and made his first figurative sculptures.

Moving to London in 1959 he established a studio in Putney where he continued to explore the potential of clay to make abstract and figurative sculpture and evolved a radical approach which embraced spontaneity and improvisation.

In the early 1980s Alan returned to Gloucestershire to live in Chalford and was invited to become a trustee and then teacher at the Frink School of Sculpture, Stoke-on-Trent. An influential and inspiring teacher, he has encouraged many students to discover their own creativity.

The exhibition in Stroud brings together a diverse selection of Thornhill's work, including early pottery and paintings as well as drawings, sculptures and portrait heads. His work is represented in the Museum collections and the exhibition includes five large figurative bronzes, brought together on public display for the first time at The Museum in the Park.

In the year of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, this exhibition not only celebrates the work of an unconventional British artist and his 60 year connection with the Stroud District, but also offers cultural opportunities for all ages. Special events and workshops aim to inspire and encourage creativity in adults, children and families, offering everyone a chance to experiment with creative claywork, movement and drawing.

Opening events include an evening film screening on 15th June of 'Spirit in Mass - Journey into Sculpture', a documentary about the artist by his daughter, Anna Thornhill. On 23 June, Dr Alan Ford gives a lecture on British Sculpture in the 20th Century. On Saturday 23 June, adults and young people interested in trying their hands at sculpture can join Jon Edgar, former student of Thornhill, for a taster clay workshop, using creative excersises as taught by Thornhill.

For further details call the Museum in 01453 763394 or see www.museuminthepark.org.uk

Exhibition kindly supported by Stroud Arts Festival, Ingenuity System Testing Services & The Friends of Stroud District (Cowle) Museum.

www.museuminthepark.org.uk

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