SiteOwner, Author at The Majlis Gallery - Haven for Artists AND Art Lovers.

Summer 2015 Workshops

Summer Workshops

With The hotter months upon us we will moving indoors to our dedicated

Annie Sloan Studio

Run By Jen Nolan all workshops are a single day from 10am – 1pm

All materials provided.

Essential Techniques

May 24th, 31st and 14th June.

All you need to know to get started

450 Dhms per day

Techniques Two

May 25th. June 1st and 15th

Including gilding decoupage and stencilling.

500 Dhms per day

900 Dhms if you sign up for 2 courses.

To book a course simply e mail majlisgallery@gmail.com

or Telephone +9714 3536233

Chalk Paint^TM can be used in numerous ways to achieve a myriad of colours and finishes.

These workshops will get you hooked into transforming your home into just that “your home”

Developed 25years ago by Annie Sloan a painter, designer and homemaker, author of numerous books,

Chalk Paint has become a bye word globally for all that is easy, fun and creative in redecoration

Jo Kearney has lived in the UAE for four years and has made a point of seeking out interesting places to photograph away from the glitz and glamour of Dubai. Jo loves to travel and has done photo projects all over the world.

As well as taking photos Jo is a video journalist working for Associated Press Television. She has covered major global events for the news agancy for the 20 years she has worked with them.

She is married with two children.

The Beauty of Imperfection

Jo Kearney is a photographer with a difference. Through her eyes, details of the ordinary become extraordinary.

The Beauty of Imperfection opens our eyes to the abstraction and romance of something familiar to us all.
The Dhows on Dubai Creek.

These wooden trading boats have long been associated with the Arabian Gulf Peeling paint, old ropes, rusting nails, tide marks all tell a tale of tradition and hard work.

Opening Day

Saturday 23rd of May from 10am-6pm

Please join us and revisit Dubai’s Creek for yourself

Jo will be here here throughout the day

Jo’s work is affordable, ranging from AED390 to AED930.

They make great gifts and mementos of life in Dubai.

Click here to See Her Portfolio

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Judith Holmes Drewry

Judith’s legacy as a sculptor is deeply embedded in the way she lived her life with her husband, fellow sculptor, Lloyd Le Blanc at Manor House Saxby, Her instinct for good hospitality was at one with the self-discipline that underpins what she achieved. Her work enables us to see something of what it is to be that particular girl or boy, young man standing smiling, woman sitting hidden by a hat or whatever, as well as something universal we can recognise, enjoy or reflect upon.

Judith’s clarity of vision shines through in her work. Many people who have encountered Judith’s figures, whether wandering through gardens or in the formal spaces of a gallery, have been inspired to use her pieces to create something special in their own gardens or home. Whether as a gift, a memorial, fun for the grandchildren, an impressive sculpture garden in the Blue Mountains of Australia or a small piece in a corner of a room, people find ways to bring something of Judith’s spirit into their own space and lives.

Judith’s life as a sculptor, wife, mother, friend, mentor and bon viveuer was lived to the full. She and Lloyd loved nothing more than a day spent working in the studio, garden or foundry – capped by an evening with patrons, friends, family and students around a table laden with home cooking and home grown vegetables. Judith also spent a good deal of her time encouraging and supporting young people, especially dyslexic students, through work experience and educational projects. It was alongside the excitement of watching others learn and grow that her own work developed.Judith’s models were drawn from people she knew as well as those she was commissioned to portray. Clients invariably became friends, and Judithís work attracted increasing attention beyond this immediate circle. It is through sensory pleasures, whether from the earth or its produce, and how they help us to feel better about ourselves and others, that we can appreciate how Judithís work contributes to an understanding of ways to live well.

Denise Dutton

Alison first met Denise in the late 90’s when as a very enterprising young artist she brought a collection of her work to the very first Arabian Horse Show. Then as now she came across as a very modest artist with extreme talent and dedication. She was showing the most stunning full sized horse balanced on one foreleg, quite a feat for a horse let alone a sculptor. Sculpture has been an integral part of Denise’s life along with drawing and an admiration of the horse in particular. Committed study is the bedrock of her work. Daily refreshment through observation and drawing assures a familiarity which informs her art. Capturing the life and spirit of the subject, whether horse or human, is her reason to sculpt.

After a foundation course at Cambridge, Denise studied at the Sir Henry Doulton School of sculpture in Staffordshire. Here she studied both the figure and the horse.

The majority of her work is to commission and includes life size pieces such as Amberleigh House, the winner of the 2004 Grand National and the last Maharaja of India, Duleep Singh on horseback unveiled by Prince Charles, on Button Island, Thetford, England. She has just completed a Memorial to honor the work of the Land Girls and Lumber Jill’s of the first and second world wars which is now sited at the Staffordshire Arboretum and was unveiled by the Countess of Wessex last October.

When not working on commissions she returns to the subject of the horse which constantly inspires her, studying the animal anatomically aesthetically and behaviorally. Working on any scale from small to more than life size – attention to detail underpins the processes of sculpting modeling and casting.

Cristiano Alviti

Owning a gallery is a cross between being a fisherman and a gambeler. One never knows what a day may bring. The day Cristiano came through our big wooden door we knew we had a hit lucky. Here was a young man so full of creativity, energy and enthusiasm. He had brought himself to Dubai to explore and discover what he felt would be an interesting multi cultural city. His drawings were so powerful and timeless and the photos of his sculpture so exciting that we just knew that the opportunity to work with him would present itself.

Cristiano was born and still lives in Rome. His youth was spent surrounded and influenced by the beauty and cultural history that personifies this iconic city. He drew and painted from a very young age and used his talent as an artist to pay for his university studies. In 1995, Cristiano decided to drop out of university and established a company with his brother and fellow artist Patrizio, inspired by old-style renaissance workshops. Since 2003, he has a displayed his work through personal exhibitions and with public and private institutions.

His fountain in the Piazza Appio was commissioned by Rome’s City Council. His participation in the Venice Biennale and numerous other commissions have established Cristiano firmly in the lineage of the Italian Sculptors. We look forward to a long relationship with him and with Rome.

Sanna Swrat

We are often asked how we find our artists, Susanna or Sanna, as she prefers to be known, is a very close friend and colleague of Lynette ten Krooden. Lynette often talked of the work and on her last visit brought us some samples of exquisite bronze shells modelled and cast by Sanna. We were entranced by them, their weight, tactility and patina.

Born in Pretoria in 1967 Susanna graduated from the University of Pretoria in 1989 with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree majoring in sculpture and visual communication. She then pursued a four year apprenticeship at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in New Jersey, USA, receiving her technical certifications in all aspects of foundry work in 1994. She also gained valuable experience in working with various materials including bronze alloys, mild and stainless steels, aluminium, cupro-nickel, cast iron and silver.
Europe then beckoned but after working for two years in Belgium, Sanna returned to South Africa and now produces sculpture that encompasses her love of the land and its people. The veld, its metaphysical beings, and the ancient mysteries of Africa are all reflected in her work.

Sanna has been active in showing, guest lecturing, judging and curating competitions in South Africa. She has been awarded the ABSA/Association of the Arts (Pretoria) Medal for Achievement for contribution to the arts. Her sculptures are in private collections worldwide and in the last few years she has completed commissions for the Development Bank of South Africa, the National Archives R.S.A. North-West University, Aardvark Award for Theatre 2012; and the ATKV Awards for the Stellenbosch Woordfees (language festival) as well as the Media and Author’s “Veertjie” Feather Awards.

“Spiritual and emotional elements are embodied by the visual aspects in my work. Such characteristics are intended to function as primal memory triggers opening forgotten internal dialogues within the viewer.The limitless technical possibilities with bronze are an enticing challenge to me as an artist. The durability of a bronze, which when executed and finished will last thousands of years, fuels my feeling of the ongoing connection with the earth. The earth will outlast me and so will my sculptures, the cycles of birth and re-birth will continue.” Roll one of her shells in your hand and you will understand.

Hannes Loots

Hannes Loots is a medical doctor, executive consultant, student in philosophy, traveller and above all a sculptor. He lives and works in Stellenbosch, South Africa. His delightful bronze sculptures have been shown through The Majlis Gallery for many years. An Afghan hound, a Saluki and several Bulls have all moved on to become talking points in homes around the world.

Hannes studied sculpturing techniques by attending evening-classes at the Art School of Port Elizabeth Technicon’s Faculty of Art and Design (now Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa) under the guidance of David Jones and Andriete Wentzel. From 1992 through to 1995 he completed advanced courses in sculpturing techniques, moulds and design using different media. In 2012 he took an art vacation and did marble sculpturing in the studio of the master sculptor, Severino Braccialarghe, in Croce/Caldarola, Italy. He works in different media but prefers to make his art in indigenous woods, bronze, stone and soft metals. A small bronze Maquette will often be enlarged into bigger sculptures to reach life size proportions.

Since 1996 he has taken part in many combined and solo exhibitions in South Africa and Dubai. He was awarded the Dave Macgregor Trophy for sculpturing by the Eastern Province Society of Fine Arts (South Africa) in 1993. His art can be seen in many private collections, internationally and local, as well as selected art galleries.