A Resounding Success!

Thank-you for your patience in waiting for the follow up from the Live and Let Live Gallery..

The event coincided with the launch of the Dudley Warehouse Projects' Harm Reduction scheme and provided an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for the Eleanor Mansell Hardship Fund.

We would like to thank all who attended and participated in the event. The preparation and setup was a monumental task which brought a lot of people together, creating something with lots of love and for a good cause.

The exhibition opened with a private view on Thursday 17th April, Sue Smith (Warehouse CEO) Carl Stanley and myself launched the evening with an introduction to the guests and a big thank-you to all the people who helped to set up and and contribute to the event.

We would like to especially thank the artists who donated a piece of work towards and the guests who took part in our auction in aid of the Hardship Fund. The Grand Total from the auction was £625.00, a fantastic sum, combined with donations from visitors and the donations of 10% commission from sales of artwork; was £848.78,


The Donations for the auction came from,

Dave Bassey AKA Krude - Limited Edition Print.
Paul Gittins/ Ayesha Emerson/ Daniel Godfrey/ Copy'n'Print Stourbridge - Shadow Screen Print
Madeline Goold - Study of Foxes Skull, hand-carved Alabaster
Deidre O'Rourke - Sketch of the Northern Lights, blown Glass
Auntie Smarties - Handmade Silver & Amythyst s Bracelet
Chris Self - "Seff", Prototype Canvas
Carl Stanley - Fish Steel Sculpture Canvas, three Silver & Glass Pendants.

Geoffi a local photographer also donated an original print to auction but was unfortunately missed out as it was mounted on display in the exhibition. >>>>>>

The auction was a great part of the event, even having a telephone bid halfway through! The guests made a real effort to participate and contribute to the evenings success.

Following are some images from the evening taken by Dr Horsborough, a consultant form the Warehouse. We are also collating images from visitors to the exhibition, if you would like to send in your perspective from the event, contact me at the address in my profile.




















Left, Paul Gittins Shadow Screen (Leaf Pattern), right, the auction getting underway.















Additional thanks go to the Warehouse staff who helped us to co-ordinate this event, also to the volunteers who gave their time to open the exhibition to the public during the week.

We are also very grateful for the food and refreshments provided by the French Connection Restaurant, Market St. Also for printing services from Copy and Print, Lower High St Stourbridge www.copy-n-print.co.uk .

Shaping Up

We are now two days away from the public launch on Friday 18th April..

We now have a nearly full compliment of work to present some amazing local talent.

Todays update..


Chris Self a.k.a. “Seff” is a Freelance Artist who experiments with a diverse range of materials and techniques to create vibrant and exciting unique paintings which are created for both commercial and domestic interiors.

“I am very pleased to have been asked to contribute work for the exhibition as I am familiar with the wonderful sentiment surrounding the event and I wish everyone associated with it the very best”.

“A few years ago I became interested in the celebrated group of 1960’s Action Painters and the concept of painting without the use of conventional tools such as brushes and knives and wondered if I could completely eradicate hand tools and still create interesting work”.

“I rose to the challenge and decided to completely divorce myself from familiar techniques and explore a variety of energy forces which I hoped that I could control and use in the painting process”.

“I decided to build a variety of mechanical “assistants” that would help me to experiment with this exciting new idea”.

“The journey was a long and dangerous one but, after solving all of the associated problems, scrapping loads of electrical equipment, suffering a few injuries and starting two fires in my workshop, I finally cracked the “Rotating Bitch”.

“This Mother always excites me when I use her and she demands a lot of respect and attention as she rips around at approx 3,500 revs per minute carrying the panels which, just to make it more exciting, are always trying to escape and turn into things that, when in free flight, could quite easily take the top of your head off”.

“To minimise the risks I have found that the safest way to apply paint onto the panels is to suspend myself from my studio ceiling in a full body harness”.

“All of the paintings that I am showing at this exhibition have been painted with the “Bitch’s” help and speak for themselves”.

“I am constantly experimenting with new techniques and materials and will hopefully be producing exciting new work for a long time to come”.

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David Bassinder lives and works in the Blackcountry, after finishing a diploma at Stourbridge Art collage David went on to Wolverhampton University to gain a Degree in Art for Society(a course that focused on the social aspects of art practice).

After finishing University David as established Himself as a successful artist in the public realm he as helped produce large scale murals in and around the local area. The most recent being at the Russells Hall Hospital an Dudley.

David also regually stages exhibitions and takes part in group shows including shows at the Light house in Wolverhampton, Chameleon Gallery Walsall, Dudley Art Gallery, Summit House...

He also conducts workshops in Streetart and Graffiti teaching students about the positive aspects of these artforms. Working for local councils including Dudley, Walsall, Sandwell, as well as conducting workshops at The New Wallsall Art Gallery, David considers art can be a force for positive change in society.

Fine Art and illustration have helped shape Davids Creative Outlook, along with graffiti and skateboard culture.

Please take a look at his website http://www.krudesign.co.uk

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Deidre O'Rourke

My pieces are sculptural landscape paintings in free-blown glass. I try to express my experience of a place, with special focus on the light of the horizon. I derive the form of the pieces from the landscape and the colours from the sky.

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Margret Pritchard. BA Hons

Born in Dudley, now living and working in Hagley, Worcestershire.

Margaret's main area of work is mixed media incorporating painting, printing, collage and photography. She is inspired by the forms, surfaces and colours of the world around her.
Using the camera as a "third eye", close-up photography enables her to create mixed media images which reflect this fascination.
The Photography is an important aid enabling her to explore ideas, offering another way to study concepts which have already been resolved through other mediums.

1 Week to go!

Paint has started to hit the boards, we are underway with the preparations for the gallery launch at 10am Friday 18th April.

We are receiving more information from the artists who are exhibiting, so, we would like to introduce Sarah Hickman, in her own words,

I studied art at Birmingham UCE and graduated in 1999. Since then i have used my art for therapeutic intervention working with adults with learning disabilities and mental health issues. More recently i have started training staff within the health and social care sector which is where i am at present. Looking back at the self portraits of myself from ten years ago, it has highlighted the healing process i was going through and the journey it took it me on. The self portraints are a series of work highlighting the emotions i was trying to understand as a vunerable young women. My more organic paintings reflect my love of nature and natural forms, the two cave paintings were done a decade between them and hopefully show a less intense and self indulgent side to my work!!


To view more of Sarah's paintings (with prints available to order), come to the exhibition!

More updates on our exhibitors will follow shortly.

Next Up

Last week saw a testing of Paul Gittins' interactive screen which will be installed into the show. We have generated some prints for the auction... You will have to wait and see those, but in the meantime here's a test shot which demonstrates the intensity of the screen. Image c/o Lucy Pryor (Angelfire Photography), model - Ayesha Emmerson.




Bringing a group of artists together to exhibit for the Live and Let Live Gallery, and generate awareness of the creative talent in the local community is part of the aim of the exhibition.

The latest addition to the line up is Juice 126, an aerosol artist from Birmingham. We have a sample of his work, titled Pink, for your love and enjoyment.

Coming Soon... Working with The Warehouse (Dudley Drug Project) we are visiting The Zone to view and select artwork for the exhibition.

Also more artwork from our exhibitors to come.

Get Set

Welcome to the Live and Let Live Gallery blog, this has been set up to provide information about this collaborative exhibition of artists local to the Stourbridge area. The gallery opens to the public at 10 am Friday 18th April, located in the Crown Centre - Stourbridge,


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This exhibition is sponsored by the Dudley Drug Warehouse http://www.dudleywarehouse.org, and is dedicated to raise money for the Eleanor Mansell Hardship fund. This fund was set up in memory of Eleanor, and a lot of the artists have come together especially to make this event what it is - a celebration of creative, independent talent that has not been in such an exhibition since Artbeat and the Live & Let Live Gallery last exhibited in 2000.

So, for a taster of some of the work which will be exhibited in the gallery....
from us - the co-ordinators, Dan Godfrey & Carl Stanley

Upcyled garments from Dan's Alternative Fashion Trends, shot in the recycling yard c/o Gareth Hodgetts (@ Glass House College), All images c/o Tony Hill (www.kinglux.co.uk). Models Ayesha Emmerson, Lydia Carrick, Make-Up / Styling - Ayesha Emmerson.

These pieces will be part of Carl Stanley's contribution to the gallery, his metal fish range have been hand finished with amazing effect, marbling the steel with heat gives an intense surface detail.. Mixing in with his flowers and spirals, look forward to seeing some of his glasswork also to be exhibited.




Coming Soon...... Preview of Paul Gittins, Mac1, Juice, Eclectic, Stelf, Deidre O'Rourke and more!

Also a collaboration between DAFT, Ayesha Emmerson and Paul Gittins.. Live & Let Live Gallery exclusive.

If you have and enquiries about the private view please contact the organisors dan_fashion_man@yahoo.co.uk or enquiries@dudleywarehouse.org