As 2019 draws to a close, it is a great time to reflect on the year's successes, give thanks to you and our amazing artists.

January to April

The year started with preparations for the May Festival. We started this work at the end of 2018 for the house and gardens, and it continued until the opening in May.

We had a record number of exhibitions in 2019. Instead of our usual five, we hosted seven shows. The 'Out of the Dark' exhibition in February explored art emerging from a place of nothingness, from the dark. On display were works by sculptor Davide Galbiati, ceramics from Lesley McInally and Julie Allan's abstract paintings, inspired by the human form. You can read more about the exhibition here.

With ten new artists introduced to the gallery, it has been indeed a busy year. We also welcomed new collection throughout, with works from Sabina Pieper, Angela Edwards, Mary Jones and Jane Skingley.

In April Patricia Shone, one of our most collected ceramicists, won the Emmanuel Cooper Award organised by The Craft Pottery Charitable Trust. The Trust purchases outstanding ceramics with a bequest of Emmanuel Cooper's estate and donates the pieces to notable museum collections. For 2019 the museum selected was the Victoria and Albeit (V&A). When asked about winning such a prestigious award.

Patricia says;
'The V&A is such an important place of history and reference. I am still coming to terms with the fact of having my work there. It is humbling and a huge honour to be a small part of the ancient story thread of humanity that is pottery'.

May

Objects of Desire

Objects of Desire in Porcelain, an exhibition featuring the work of six UK and international ceramicists, explored the possibilities of working with porcelain. I deem porcelain to be the jewel material of clay. You were invited to understand, through the artists' work, the unique qualities of porcelain, as it is strong yet delicate and translucent enough for colours to be bright and fully shine. The ceramicists involved were Tanya Gomez, Carys Davies, Karen Downing, Su Jameson, Maria ten Kortenaar and Sally Garrett.

During this exhibition, we were delighted to exhibit collage assemblages from Finlay Coupar and vibrant landscape paintings by Kate Richardson alongside the ceramics. It was terrific to welcome Kate, Su, Karen and Sally as new artists to KMA. You can read more here.

Kellie Miller Open House and Sculpture Garden.

May was the first time I opened my house which nestles on the South Downs. Although the focus of the Open House was to feature more significant sculptural works, it was a perfect opportunity for me to showcase some of the gallery's collections in a home environment. Featuring artists from Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic and the UK were Felix Valdelièvre, Klaus W. Rieck, Davide Galbiati, Radek Andrle, Alexia Weill and Ivan Clarke. It was great to include many other artists too, including Barbara Burns, Craig Underhill, Alison Coaten, Jon Barrett-Danes, Paulina X Miranda, Paul Wearing, Andy Waite, Clare Maria Wood, Lesley McInally, Tanya Gomez and Carys Davies. I was delighted that Hassocks Life published an article about the exhibition and my life in the arts.

Though we have been developing the space for more than four years, the house and gardens are a work-in-progress. We are planning another special Open House event for 2021. I wrote a series of blogs about the exhibition, documenting the preparations so, please read more.

• The Log Cabin - Part 1

• The Garden

• Arrivals

• The Log Cabin - Part 2

• Let them eat cake

June to August

in June, I sat on a committee to select artists to decorate the city for the summer, a Brilliant Brighton local businesses initiative. It was exciting that designs from one of our very own artists, Finlay Couper, was used for bunting and banners and adorned throughout the city.

KMA Awards

The KMA awards were in its 4th year in June, and I was delighted to extend the opportunity to degree level students. The awards now operate on two platforms, pre-degree (A level/foundation/diploma) and graduates.

I hosted these awards at several educational organisations, with the view of selecting winning works by students of the University of Brighton and Northbrook Metropolitan College. From those artworks, I curated an exhibition of artworks in the gallery. The show was well-received, we sold a few pieces, and I look forward to the awards in 2020. You can read more about the awards here or watch my talk at Varndean here.

We also received wonderful collections from Andy Waite landscape paintings, Sabina Pieper collages and Elizabeth Price figurative ceramic sculptures

London to Brighton

In July we opened our exhibition entitled London To Brighton. I was inspired to curate an exhibition entitled London to Brighton, based on these two cities close connections. I met both Marc Gooderham and Rik Ward at a similar time, and I was struck by how London and Brighton's scenes inspired both artists. I encouraged them both to continue to develop their work for the exhibition. The response to this exhibition was incredible, igniting the imaginations of all who encountered the show. We were touched by many accounts of stories and experiences of these two great cities. The Evening Argus newspaper published an article about the exhibition.

Rounding the month off, Laurence Wallace notified us that The Sunday Times had selected him for the Watercolour Competition 2019, which is touring now until 2nd January 2020.

In August we were delighted with the arrival of new works by Steve Fricker (fantasy paintings), Adela Powell (sculptural ceramics), Craig Underhill (ceramic vessels), Alison Coaten (ceramic sculpture), Mary Jones (sculptural ceramic heads) and Clare Maria Wood (abstract landscape paintings).

There is also a sunny seaside blog about works inspired by the sea.

Also in August we helped celebrate the gift of art in the gallery with one of our clients. Dagmar. She had purchased a piece from us by Alison Coaten for her mother's birthday, during a tough and stressful time in their lives. While trying to arrange delivery, I suggested that she waits for their challenges to pass. This she did, and they later came to the gallery, where Dagmar presented the piece to her mother as a surprise. Alex, my Gallery Assistant, was there to play host and serve up the champagne, and make buying this piece a truly special occasion for them.

September to October

Urban Life

This exhibition explored how two artists depict urban living. Angela Edwards' paintings deal with people moving through spaces. The main themes in her work are about travel and migration, with the ultimate eventual destination being home. Whereas Italian artist, Marco Minozzi, strives to create a representation of an almost futuristic urban landscape, his palette of monochromatic and earthy tones has an industrial feel and approach. Urban Life exhibition was our first time featured by Latest TV Brighton

In October we also welcomed new collections from Jonathan Smith (landscape paintings), Mélanie Bourget (expressive figurative sculpture).

November to December

Small Wonders

By challenging my artist's practice to produce smaller pieces for this exhibition. We understand jewellery as being small and precious, yet in other art forms, big is good and small seen as less. Yet often small paintings can take more time and consideration from the artists then larger pieces. This exhibition demonstrated that small is never less and can be beautiful.

This exhibition not only celebrated that good things come in small packages but marked the gallery's 6th Birthday at Market Street. You can read more here.

Things got better, with an article in Viva Brighton and the International Times Online wrote about the exhibition alongside the Tate's William Blake exhibition.

Davide di Taranto received honourable mention in The Gold Memorial Award from the Royal Society of Miniature Painters. Davide is fascinated with beards, which he defines as beauty, nature and wisdom. And Jo Wonder, a new artist to the gallery, won funding from the Physics association for Shroedinger's Cat illustrations. The show featured on Latest TV

Once the show was complete, we were pleased to welcome new collections from some of our most loved artists, including Jon Barrett-Danes (animal sculptures), Greg Anston-Race (glass vessels), Barry Stedman (ceramic vessels), Paulina X Miranda (paintings), Elizabeth Price (figurative ceramic sculptures) and Lesley McInally (ceramic vessels). We also received beautiful, small sculptures by a new artist, Chiara Bianchi.

Getting to know more about our artists

I introduced a series of Q&A, in 2017, starting with Jon Barrett-Danes. Q&As give us an insight into an artist/maker's life and an understanding of how they create their work. Hopefully, you'll come to understand why I choose to work with the artists I do. This year I talked with Steve Fricker, Mélanie Bourget and Clare Maria Wood. I hope to be interviewing more artists in 2020

It is all about You

It is always great to hear back from you, and we've had some great feedback and endorsements about every aspect of what we do. Here are a few I would like to share.

One of our clients purchased Helen Phoenix's ' I will Wear My Crown' after seeing the piece on our newsletter. She emailed to say:

These photos don't do the picture any justice but trust me, the painting sits beautifully there, and I absolutely love it! The frame perfectly sets off the painting, which is just so beautiful, so beautiful that even Dan has uttered a few words of praise. It's a hit! This painting will end up in the new rooms we're hoping we get to build next year, which by the way means I'll be looking out for more beautiful pieces which is the biggest plus in my book. Packed so well, by the way, no fear of damage in transit, great job. Thank you! Elaine

Lee came across the gallery and said:

I was very lucky to get a viewing of your excellent gallery on Monday past, which was a great escape from the usual surroundings. It was great to see your new Italian artist (Davide di Taranto) and his new icons which, on a website, are sumptuously tantalising but giving no aspect of scale. The reverence of the details in an almost miniaturist format had me wishing to meet Carey!

Alison Coates always stimulates the cells with a playful possible, and her latest basement piece aroused the pleasure of the stirring encounter to question my taste. I wanted to reach out and remove the cranium to see how fused her joints were. Such a piece, arresting the viewers gaze each time they pass it rather than glibly owning and passing by, is surely worth its creators time.
Yours always appreciatively, Lee

And a recent review

Excellent art gallery. Paintings, sculptures, ceramics – all very refined, rather interesting and sometimes spectacular. A gem of a gallery run by the loveliest people. Chris

I'm incredibly proud of my team, support networks and my artists to what we have achieved this year and I look forward to presenting and creating great art in 2020

Wishing you a very Happy New Year