Maddie Templeton

Category: Artist events

  • ‘Meet the Artist’ Days and Making New Friends

    Since the Pensychnant Open Art Exhibition opened last month, I have been honoured to be invited to attend two ‘Meet the Artist’ days at the centre. These thoroughly enjoyable events give visitors the opportunity to meet the people behind the exhibition pieces, and to chat to them about their work and what inspires them.

    Keeping busy at a recent Meet the Artist event.

    During these days I have met some lovely like-minded people; folk who care about saving the planet, and who put their love of the natural world into the heart of their creations. In particular I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Roger Oakes, a fabulously talented artist with two stunning woodland pictures in the exhibition. Roger and I chatted throughout the day and drank a lot of coffee, and I was delighted when he bought his very own moss person to take back to his home near Dolgellau in Gwynedd.

    Since then, Roger and his wife have been out and about in their magical local woodland with their special moss lady, helping to call her kinsfolk home. Roger has kindly sent in some wonderful photos of their adventures together, and I’m sure you’ll agree that the moss lady looks perfectly at home in this enchanted Welsh forest.

    Content exploring the magical mossy forest, and calling her kinsfolk home.

    Roger Oakes has the ideal surname for a friend of the mosslings, as his own companion has an oak leaf on the hood of her cloak, and here she is happily settled in a mighty oak!

    Thank you, Roger, and I look forward to catching up with you – and your mossling – again at Pensychnant in the near future.

  • Pensychnant’s Open Art Exhibition 2026

    Each summer, the wonderful Pensychnant Nature Conservation Centre in Conwy runs an Open Art Competition and Exhibition, attracting artists from all corners of the UK. The theme is nature, the environment and conservation, and the entries span all genres and mediums, making for an engaging, thought-provoking and often awe-inspiring exhibition.

    This year, I submitted my needle-felted picture, which I’m over the moon to report was given the award of ‘Highly Commended’ by the judges. My piece was entitled:

    2,300 Species: the Oak of Hope

    2,300 Species: the Oak of Hope. My needle-felted picture entry to the 2026 Pensychnant Open Art Exhibition

    …and below is the accompanying text that appeared in the exhibition’s catalogue explaining the title and the meaning behind the piece:

    To sit with an old oak tree is to be offered a portal into another world. Each is a little nature reserve of its own, providing food, shelter, support and a home to an astonishing 2,300 (and counting) species of animals, birds, insects, plants and fungi. Even when they die they become an Aladdin’s cave of biodiversity. And that’s not all; since Celtic times the UK’s oaks have been rooted in our history, culture, literature and folklore. They are part of our heritage, but they need our help. If we can protect these living national treasures and our remaining ancient woodlands, the oak trees will play their crucial part, within our increasingly fragile ecosystem, to protect us.

    The exhibition opened on Saturday 4th July, and will run every weekend until Sunday 27th September, so you’d be very welcome to visit Pensychnant and enjoy all the art, explore the nature reserve and enjoy some delicious tea and cake on the lawn.

    I’d like to thank the judges for giving my picture special recognition, and I’m thrilled to report that 2,300 Species has sold. All of the art pieces that have sold will remain in place until the exhibition closes, so everyone can view the entire collection in the unique and historical setting of Pensychnant House.

    The piece is on display above the fireplace in the sitting room of Pensychnant House.

    Finally, a special thank you to Mark, who bought my picture. I hope it gives you joy and hope for many years to come. We could all do with a little more of that these days!