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who creates incredible pieces by painstakingly<br />
bending and welding together hundreds - or<br />
sometimes thousands - of nails, coins or keys. The<br />
centrepiece of the exhibition, titled The Sorrows<br />
of Steel, was a breathtaking, lifesize sculpture of<br />
Jesus Christ composed of more than 15,000 nails<br />
welded together, while pieces including a stunning,<br />
contemporary rocking chair made from copper two<br />
pence coins are still on display in the ground floor<br />
furniture gallery.<br />
“It’s very simple; if one of us likes it and it’s original,<br />
we’ll give it a go,” says Nigel. “We do have different<br />
tastes and we don’t always agree but that helps to<br />
keep things fresh. Art is very subjective; sometimes<br />
things we’re unsure about sell really well, and<br />
sometimes we love things but no-one else does!<br />
“We’ve got artists from every age group, from people<br />
who are just starting out at college to people like<br />
Roy Abell, who’s 85 and was at college with David<br />
Hockney.”<br />
Birmingham-born Roy Abell was head of the<br />
painting school at Birmingham College of Art and<br />
is a notable landscape painter, while his oils lean<br />
towards the more abstract. Other local artists with<br />
work currently on display include Rachel Tighe,<br />
who has a studio in Tamworth where she creates<br />
interesting and evolving art based on street scenes<br />
and cityscapes inspired by her travels, and Louise<br />
Rawlings, whose walks through Sutton Park inspire<br />
her whimsical paintings.<br />
Nigel himself is an artist, whose mixed-media work<br />
also adorns the gallery walls.<br />
“I’ve always dabbled, and I’ve just progressed over<br />
the years,” says Nigel. “My latest works were inspired<br />
ARTIFEX OWNERS NIGEL<br />
BATES AND ROSS FENN<br />
A SHAUN GAGG<br />
COIN SCULPTURE<br />
by my wife who wanted a piece for the bathroom<br />
but didn’t want any colour. They’re done on two<br />
sheets of glass using a resin which moves from a<br />
liquid to a solid state.<br />
“Other pieces are done using a different type of resin<br />
and dropping other paints and inks into it to create a<br />
sense of depth. Most of my work is happy accidents;<br />
I just play around and work with the different<br />
mediums to see what happens.”<br />
Artifex was established in 1993 as a showcase for art<br />
and design in the West Midlands, and celebrates 25<br />
years in business next year.<br />
Nigel and Ross were both working as greengrocers<br />
and shared a passion for the arts when a conversation<br />
in the pub sparked an idea which inspired a complete<br />
change of direction for the duo.<br />
“Ross and I were both interested in the arts, and we<br />
bought things, but there wasn’t a gallery in the area,”<br />
explains Nigel.<br />
“The centre had just opened and a tiny unit was<br />
available so we did some research. I got more<br />
interested in the idea so I packed my job in and<br />
decided to make a proper go if it. We said that if we<br />
made a penny we’d carry on and if we lost a penny<br />
we’d give up.”<br />
Happily, that first year was promising enough that<br />
Nigel and Ross continued to follow their dream. And<br />
it was after just three years that Artifex moved into<br />
the spacious unit it now occupies.<br />
“We were lucky enough to find a building we could<br />
grow into,” says Nigel.<br />
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