Masham Gallery

02/09/2026

Some landscapes seem to collect stories.
Stainmoor, that high, exposed stretch of country across the Pennines, has a particularly strange one involving a traveller, an inn, a sleeping household and the rather gruesome object known as a Hand of Glory.
It’s one of the stories behind Ian Scott Massie’s Stainmoor Skyline, currently hanging in The Striding Dales exhibition at Masham Gallery.
I love the contrast between the extraordinary tale and Scott’s sparse, almost empty painting. Just a building on the horizon, a huge sky and the sense that something might have happened here.

01/09/2026

The rowan berries are turning orange and red, rosehips are appearing in the hedges and the fields have that slightly scruffier, seedier look that comes at the end of summer.
This is one of my favourite times of year for walking after work. The light gets lower and more golden, but there’s still enough evening left to wander through the fields.
The rowan is a drawing I made a couple of years ago. I love that these things return and catch my attention all over again.
So, hello September.
Here’s to noticing the season as it gently turns.

30/08/2026

And somehow, here we are at the end of August…
Thank you to everyone who has wandered through the door of Masham Gallery this month, stopped for a chat, fallen for a painting, bought a card, a pot, a print or a particularly enormous bird, visited The Striding Dales, joined us for an event, or supported us from further afield online.
August has been full of sunshine and showers, sweet peas, new work arriving, stories from the Dales and all the lovely conversations that happen in between.
Running a small independent gallery is a very human sort of business, and every visit, purchase, recommendation, comment and share genuinely helps to keep it going.
So, from me in my favourite green corner of the gallery, thank you for being part of it.
September next. I can already feel autumn beginning to creep in…

29/08/2026

The last sweet peas of summer.
I think I’m picking what will probably be the last of the sweet peas today.
They’ve flowered generously for weeks, but the stems are getting shorter now and there are fewer blooms each time I go out. One of those tiny signs that August is nearly over and the year is beginning to turn.
The only decision left is which of the many beautiful handmade vases in the gallery they should spend their last few days in.
One of the particular pleasures of working in a gallery: there is almost always exactly the right pot for a handful of flowers.

28/08/2026

A chance to watch a painting appear before your eyes…
Following Scott’s talk and demonstration on Saturday, he’ll be back in Masham Gallery for another live painting demonstration on Sunday 13th, 2–4pm.
This time there’s no formal talk, just the chance to drop in, watch him work, see how a painting develops and ask questions as he goes. If you’ve ever wondered how those great Dales skies, shifting light and layers of colour find their way onto paper, come and have a look.
It’s free, informal and you can stay for five minutes or settle in for longer.
Sunday 13th | 2–4pm | Masham Gallery

27/08/2026

currently unpacking a great new order from Driftwood designs. We've had their folklore influenced designs in for a few months on greeting cards but we have also got some tea towels in this time around - and they're beautiful! Nice heavy cotton - works of art for the kitchen!

26/08/2026

Here's another story from Ian Scott Massie and our current exhibition "The Striding Dales" about Brimham rocks....

The Rocks have been shaped by wind and weather over millennia and have grown a number of legends around themselves. A favourite of mine tells of an eloping couple who, when pursued by the girl’s angry father, embraced and jumped from Lover’s Leap. However, a provident updraft sent them back up the rock face by inflating the crinoline of her skirt and landing them back at their starting point. Moved by the dedication of their love, the father put aside his objections and everyone lived happily ever after.

the image of Brimham is available as an original and a limited edition print. Pop in or see our website for more details

25/08/2026

What does a gallery actually do for an artist?
It’s a question I’ve been thinking about recently, because quite a lot of the answer happens where nobody sees it.
Of course we hang exhibitions and sell work. But there’s also the long game: believing in an artist when something doesn’t sell straight away, finding the right exhibition for their work, talking about it, introducing it to people, spotting opportunities, making connections and sometimes knowing when an artist might need something that we can’t provide.
Over more than 30 years at Masham Gallery I’ve helped artists find commissions, illustration work, greeting card contracts and exhibitions, as well as selling an awful lot of paintings, prints, ceramics and other beautiful things.
At the heart of it is something much harder to put on an invoice: trust.
I’ve written a little more about the often unseen relationship between an artist and a gallery over on the journal. Please do take a look at share /comment if it interests you...https://www.mashamgallery.co.uk/journal #/

23/08/2026

Make art with sunshine ☀️
We’ve got these rather lovely Sunography (cyanotype) kits in the gallery at the moment, and they feel particularly appropriate for August.
You arrange leaves, flowers, grasses, feathers or whatever else you can find onto the special light-sensitive paper, put it in the sunshine and let the sun do the rest. After a rinse in water, your collected objects leave their ghostly silhouettes behind.
Part science experiment, part printmaking and part excuse to go rummaging around in the garden.
And no artistic ability required. Just sunshine and curiosity. Here's some (in true Blue Peter style) we made earlier!

Sunography kits are available at Masham Gallery while the sun is still willing to cooperate.

22/08/2026