Local Artist Exhibition 2026
Each month of 2026, Riverside will welcoming a local Bristol artist to display in our busy cafe. We are looking forward to see how each one transforms our space!
Riverside offers this space for no fee, helping local artists share their work. For all pieces sold through our exhibtion, 75% goes straight back to the artist and the other 25% gets donated to a local charity. This year we are supporting St Peter's Hospice.
Interested in finding out about creative opportunities at Riverside? Please add your details to our Creative Opportunities Contact List to be notified when we are looking for artists!
Our Artists for 2026!
Kate Bates
Exhibiting in January
Hi, I am Kate, a mixed media artist. After achieving a Degree in Art and Education, I have been teaching for 25 years both in school and running workshops from my studio. My current work explores botanical form, using bold shape and colour.
These artworks are created using Acrylic on board and canvas. I spend my time in my studio on the family farm in Dyrham on the outskirts of Bristol. Here I find inspiration through nature and my natural surroundings, all helping to develop my creativity. If I am not painting or running a workshop in the studio you will find me walking my dogs, riding my horse or spending time with my four boys.
See more of their work at
Melanie Wickham
Exhibiting in February
Melanie is a lino printer based in Bristol. Trained as an Illustrator she has been carving out lino hares, cats, spiders and plants ever since.
Melanie's printmaking is based on drawings and sketches capturing ideas and shapes which evolve into lino prints. Subject matter is largely nature based, plants and animals, but also people and places feature. The drawings are transferred onto the lino block and then carved, inked up and hand burnished onto the paper to create a print - always in limited editions.
See more of their work at
Barley and Mabel
Exhibiting in March
Inspired by her passion for flowers and nature, Tanya uses pressed flowers and foliage to create original artworks and fine art Giclée prints. Whenever possible she sources sustainably grown flowers and foliage from her own cut flower beds or local flower farms. These are then pressed by hand using Tanya’s homemade presses. Every design is unique in its composition, placement and colour and is meticulously handcrafted to show off the intricate and vivid details of the flowers and their structure. Plant species of various forms, shapes and textures are used to instil a sense of depth, movement and interest. Each piece celebrates the beauty of nature and its abundant gifts.
See more of her work at
Emily McCulloch
Exhibiting in April
Emily is a freelance wildlife illustrator based in Bristol. She studied Illustration at UWE in Bristol and her practice combines a love of the natural world and an interest in ecology, resulting in detailed illustrations that celebrate the beauty and complexity of the species around us. She is particularly drawn to creatures that are often overlooked or misunderstood and aims to use her work to shift perspectives and spark curiosity.
See more of her work at
Instagram | @emilymc.illustration
Rossie Henderson-Begg
Exhibiting in May
Welcome to my artistic world, where the beauty of the ocean and abstract expression converge. The ocean, with all its mystery and depth, inspires my work. Full of beauty, power, united diversity, and hope, it also speaks of who we are as people. Using acrylic and silicone oil with paint pouring techniques, applying heat and other elements, from sand to palette knives, I create intricate patterns and textures, allowing the paint to form unique shapes, capturing the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the sea. My mission is to uplift, inspire and bring a sense of freedom and adventure through my art. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, have exhibited in various places around the UK including galleries in Bristol, Chichester, Brighton and London, and have been in magazines such as ‘House and Garden’ and ‘Somerset Life’.
See more of their work at
Lea Lloyd
Exhibiting in June
Lea Lloyd is a designer and screen printer known for her bold, colourful, and geometric works that radiate energy and personality. Her work includes painting, digital composition, and an intuitive approach to screen printing, exploring the interplay of colour, shape, and layering to create vibrant, pattern-based artworks. Lea works as a graphic designer by trade so screen printing and painting provide a grounding contrast to her computer-based day job allowing for a more experimental and hands-on process.
Her work explores the repetitive patterns and rhythms observed in nature, the quiet details noticed on during daily walks. Each piece begins with a single shape, repeated again and again in different colours, transparency and layering the end result showing that simple shapes can evolve into complex patterns.
See more of their work at
Charlotte Murray
Exhibiting in July
Charlotte Murray has enjoyed being the sketchy lady hanging around in corners at Riverside, finding shady spots or sheltered spots depending on the weather and capturing glimpses of the life of this ever-changing oasis. In spring it's been full of colour and leafy freshness, but you're also always aware of being surrounded by the city, whether that's the suspension bridge or cranes or the bonded warehouses.
Her documentary drawing practice embraces a playful and experimental approach to materials. She works quickly with portable materials to produce lively and engaging drawings documenting everyday goings-on. She is a co-founder of Bristol Urban Sketchers, and appreciates this opportunity to exhibit work in the context of the place it was made.
If you are part of an organisation that would be interested in using drawing to document their activities, please do get in touch.
Aee more of their work at
Instagram | @charlottemsketches
Clare Cribb Cyanotypes
Exhibiting in August
Clare loves to explore all things creative and especially enjoys art and printmaking. For the past four years, she has been captivated by the magical process of cyanotype, a traditional photographic technique developed in 1842. Inspired by her love of nature, her work focuses on botanical forms creating unique blue images with flowers, leaves and seed heads.
You can see more of Clare’s work in her studio ‘Out of the Blue’ in the Arts & Artisans Courtyard in Middlecombe Nursery, Congresbury.
See more of their work at @outoftheblueartist
Carolyn Lamb
Exhibiting in September
Carolyn Lamb is a landscape artist painting in oils and based in Bristol. She is a Plein-Air painter which means she always paints in situ directly from nature.
She loves the challenge of wrestling against time and weather to achieve her completed work. She likes to capture what she sees so that it can be enjoyed forever.
She paints landscapes, garden portraits, trees and falling down huts. She often visits National Garden Scheme gardens to paint. The Yeo Valley Organic Garden at Holt Farm, Blagdon is a favourite painting site.
Like many artists she had two careers; painting pictures and restoring pictures. She trained in art at Edinburgh University on the M.A. Honours Fine Art Course. Then undertook further training in Painting Conservation at the Tate Gallery and the Courtauld Institute, London.
Before moving full time to her landscape painting,she was the Painting Conservator at Bristol Museum and Art Gallery.
See more of their work at
MithiMakes
Exhibiting in October
I have been making art since I was little - and after a lengthy detour to be a research scientist, I came back to my first love of creating with my hands. I retrained as an illustrator althuogh would class myself as a maker, designer, and ceramicist. I love collecting skills and the intersections of these skills.
At Riverside this month you will find my original collage work. I am hugely inspired by nature and my work predominantly centers around birds, flowers, plants and insects. I have always been drawn to very graphic imagery, and been fascinated by how an image can be simplified to its most essential shapes. Screen printing, papercutting, mosaics, stained glass and assemblage (3D collage) informs my work. All of these things lean towards simple shapes and lots of parts coming together to make a whole. To me, collage is all about that.
Portfolio https://www.behance.net/mithimakes
Instagram @mithimakes
Facebook @mithimakes
Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/MithiMakes
See more of their work at
.jpg)
Slow Sunday
Exhibiting in November
Slow Sunday is all about slowing down and enjoying the little moments that make life feel special. Each print is inspired by these small, meaningful moments and turned into something to treasure at home. Alongside prints, you’ll also find printmaking kits, handmade magnetic frames, fine silver jewellery, and a carefully curated selection of gifts, homeware, and stationery. Founder and printmaker Liz also runs regular local workshops, giving people the chance to slow down, get creative, and experience the joy of making something by hand.
See more of their work at
Instagram | @slowsunday.studio
LA Mosaics
Exhibiting in December
Wildlife inspired mosaic artist
See more of their work at
Want to see more!
See previous artist exhibition at Riverside from 2024 and 2025 here
