When I got an invitation for the Summer launch at The Biscuit Factory, I couldn’t wait to go. It’s been years since I last visited and this gave me the perfect opportunity to pop down.
When we arrived, it was already really busy with people of all ages milling about. The first thing I noticed was the gorgeous floral display at the foot of the staircase. This was displayed in celebration of British Flowers Week, all flowers were home grown in Durham by Caroline Beck of Verde Flowers.

We started in the gift shop (doesn’t everyone love art gallery gift shops?!) and there were lots of cute things to peruse, a little lace patterned ceramic dish caught my eye & I was in stationary heaven with all of the pretty notebooks.
The event gave us a chance to take a first look at this season’s new artwork which features work from over 200 artists. There’s so much to see, including paintings, prints, sculptures, glass and ceramics. We were there for 1.5 hours and I’m sure I didn’t see everything. The exhibition is headlined by contemporary landscape painter Chris Forsey.

My favourite part of the exhibition was the portraits, I was so drawn in by a few of them and could have spent much longer in this area. Paul Brewster’s Self Portrait in Ill Fitting Bra and Stockings was the winner of the 2016 Open Contemporary Portrait Awards. Karen by Paul Mowat won the People’s Choice Award. My personal favourite was Ananias by Josh Bowe.
A few more of my favourite pieces from the exhibition are shown below. Of course I took loads more photos than necessary, I can’t help it!
There were a couple I would have snapped up on the spot if our walls (and wallets) were bigger. I think I’m going to go back to take another look at some of the ceramics and stoneware – there were some jelly moulds I loved (I don’t ever make jelly).
The Summer exhibition runs until 1st September, with lots of beautiful pieces for sale and so much for you to look at. If you’ve never visited The Biscuit Factory, I recommend making a trip down to Stoddart Street!
I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to visit, or if you’ve already been 🙂
Thanks for taking me along! Still lolling at the moustache man incident!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for coming, the moustache man incident was pretty terrifying 😂 Sad about the lack of tables at Ernest afterwards though!
LikeLike