Located in the heart of Bampton, Oxfordshire OX18 2JH, WestOx Arts is open 11.30am - 4.30pm Tuesday to Sunday. Don’t miss out on viewing the fabulous exhibitions they are holding this autumn.
22 August until 19 September (Opening Reception 22 August from 12)
Natural World
West Ox Arts Gallery presents ‘The Natural World’, a vibrant group exhibition celebrating the beauty, diversity and enduring inspiration of the natural world.
Bringing together eight artists working across painting, ceramics and textiles, the exhibition showcases a rich variety of approaches to landscape, wildlife and the changing seasons. From exquisitely detailed wildlife paintings and expressive landscapes to handcrafted ceramics, tactile textiles and works enhanced with shimmering gold leaf, each artist offers a unique perspective on the world around us.
Exhibitors include:
- Jane Peart, whose etchings and acrylic paintings are inspired by the English countryside
- Ann Lowe, creating richly textured textile artworks
- Ceramicists Debbie Page and Kashmira Patel
- Lynn Edward, renowned for her striking photorealistic wildlife oil paintings
- Liming Chen, whose luminous paintings of flora and fauna often incorporate gold leaf
- Debbie Howard, exhibiting both paintings and ceramics
- Dinah Trowbridge, whose charming illustrative paintings capture the character of Britain's wildlife and rural landscapes.
Together, these artists celebrate the colours, textures and remarkable diversity of nature, creating an inspiring exhibition of original work that invites visitors to pause, observe and reconnect with the natural world.
3 October until 31 October (Private View: Saturday 3rd October 2pm. Sundays: Meet the Artists 11.30am – 3.30pm
Holding and Yielding
Holding and Yielding brings together collaborative sculptures by Helen Pakeman (Instagram: @helenpakeman) and Mary Norowzian (@mary_norowzian_sculptor)
The work explores materiality as a way of understanding lived experience: how we hold, change, connect and endure through time. Using ancient stones from the UK and Ireland and ephemeral Carex grass, the works consider shifting ideas of strength and fragility, permanence and impermanence. Stone holds weight, endurance and deep time, while grass carries transience, movement, and flexibility. Sculptural forms become spaces of encounter, evoking gestures of holding, leaning and release.
An installation of flint, chalk and grass maps relationships between solidity and fragility, while monoprints and cyanotypes extend these material dialogues.
Helen Pakeman is a multidisciplinary artist working with soft basketry, foraged fibres, sculpture and installation. Her practice explores grief, migrancy and ecological change, and how material processes can hold attention, memory and lived experience.
Mary Norowzian brings a materially sensitive practice rooted in carving stone as a way of translating emotional and bodily experience into form: ‘the shapes of feeling’. Her work is informed by a background in therapeutic practice and a sustained interest in memory, trauma, repair, and transformation.
7 November until 20 December
Winter Festival A Celebration of Local Art and Handcrafted Gifts
West Ox Arts is delighted to announce the launch of its ‘Winter Festival Show’, opening on Saturday 7 November 2026 and running for six weeks at the gallery in Bampton’s historic Market Square. This much-anticipated seasonal exhibition invites art lovers, craft enthusiasts, and Christmas shoppers alike to explore an inspiring showcase of creativity from across the region.
The Winter Festival Show offers the perfect opportunity to discover distinctive, handmade gifts and to support the talented artists within the West Oxfordshire community. Featuring the work of over 50 artists and artisans, visitors can expect a vibrant mix of paintings, sculpture, glass, jewellery, ceramics, watercolours, textiles, and woodcraft, all beautifully curated to capture the magic of the festive season. With something for every taste and budget, it’s an ideal destination for thoughtful, one-of-a-kind Christmas shopping.
Throughout the exhibition, WOA member artists will also be sitting in the gallery, offering visitors a chance to meet them and learn more about their creative process.
“We’re so proud to celebrate the incredible talent within our community,” said Kay Adamson, Chair for West Ox Arts. “The Winter Festival Show is not just an exhibition — it’s a joyful, festive event that brings people together and celebrates the beauty of handmade arts and crafts.”
So, mark your calendars, gather your friends and family, and join us for a festive celebration of art, craftsmanship, and community. Entry is free, and all are welcome!
