Dr. P. David Ellis
David is formerly a primary school teacher and headteacher, university lecturer and Dean of Education at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He was also a registered school inspector and, before finally retiring in 2019, he inspected over 200 primary schools across Wales. He spent three years working in the United States at the Ohio State University, where he completed his Ph.D in 1984, He is a Llantwit Major town councillor, having served between 1987 and 1995 and being re-elected in 2017 and 2022. He was a governor at St. Illtud’s Primary School for over 30 years and is a member of various local organisations and charities. David studied art history with the Open University and has visited many galleries across Europe and in the United States. He started oil painting in the 1970s and has exhibited at various locations in Yorkshire and South Wales, having held his own exhibition of the twelve churches of the Heritage Coast Ministry Area in 2022.
James Gregory
James Gregory grew up in Derbyshire and Staffordshire and now lives and works in Llantwit Major. He studied at Stoke Polytechnic from 1987 to 1990 attaining a BA (Hons) in Fine Art.
Jane Cook
I live in Llantwit Major and teach Textiles and Art at St Cyres School. I am currently working on a series of mixed media textile pieces exploring the changing landscape of the beach and our local countryside. My work is very textual and I use reclaimed fabrics and yarns and collage these together to create land and seascapes. I tend to work on Calico fabric and start off by mono printing or laying down washes using Inktense blocks. I then use scrap fabrics and yarns to build up areas and use my sewing machine to create the details. The stitches are as important as the fabrics themselves. In some pieces I use hand embroidery too.
Sian Warr is a textile artist whose creative journey is intricately woven with the art of crochet. With nimble fingers and an imaginative spirit, Sian transforms yarn into mesmerizing artworks of texture and colour.
Driven by a passion for both tradition and innovation, Sian continually pushes the boundaries of crochet. Through their exploration, they challenge preconceived notions of what crochet can be, inviting viewers to reconsider its place in the contemporary art world.
As a dedicated advocate for the craft community, Sian shares their knowledge and passion through workshops, demonstrations, and online tutorials, inspiring others to embark on their own creative journeys with crochet.
With each stitch, Sian invites you to experience the beauty and possibility that lies within the art of crochet, weaving threads of connection and creativity that transcend boundaries and unite us all.
Prior to 2018, Stephanie was known to say, “I am not very creative at all! Creativity is just not my thing.” After one important prayer time, this all changed. While a friend was praying for Stephanie, He felt that God may be inviting Steph to more ‘fun’. The friend ask Steph to think about something she had always wanted to try, but never had… and ‘painting’ came to Stephanie’s mind.
That very next week (November 2018), Steph went online and purchased simple watercolour paints, paper and a few brushes. …and she has been painting nearly every day of her life since then!
With still much room to grow in her craft, Stephanie now paints a variety of landscape watercolour scenes. Her favourite motifs include boats, water, trees and green valleys. Having grown up with summers on a sail boat in California and now having lived in Llantwit Major, Wales, these past 15 years, she has learned to see and appreciate the far reaching colours in a sea or skyscape; as well as the various tones and sparks of greens to be found in the wild Welsh hills.
Painting at home in her small corner of the world, or painting ‘en plein air’, Steph simply must paint!
