This November a community arts and wellbeing charity in Shrewsbury Town Centre showcases a specially curated exhibition by international comic artist Charlie Adlard.
The Hive, on Belmont are well known for delivering street festivals, wellbeing projects amongst other creative and cultural events and next month their Gallery will feature ‘LIFE’, an exhibition by their Patron with its roots firmly in the building.
Shrewsbury based artist, Charlie Adlard attended Tuesday Life Drawing classes at The Hive before the pandemic, and now he will exhibit a selection of figurative sketches created on both physical paper and digitally using an iPad. In stark contrast to his Walking Dead work, Charlie offers an alternative on his creative process.
‘I’m very excited about it. People know me from comics and zombies but they don’t get to see how I apply my artistry to drawing from life, as well as the different techniques I use and new ways I use to express myself. It’s separate to my drawing of comic books. That’s why I like it. It’s a cliché I know but a change is as good as a rest. Life Drawing classes at The Hive gave me a platform to draw with a different set of tools and follow an alternative process, which was great.’
As part of this special exhibition Charlie will be signing copies of his book ‘LIFE’ on the launch evening in The Hive’s Gallery on Tuesday 15th November. CEO Katie Jennings reflects on the impact of such an event.
‘Charlie is an incredible home-grown talent. We feel proud and privileged to offer the people of Shrewsbury a place they can come and celebrate another side to his artistry. Charlie has also made the generous gesture to donate all proceeds from his book signings to The Hive.’
Charlie’s exhibition ‘LIFE’ can be viewed at The Hive from 15th November – 9th December. Everyone is welcome to attend the launch evening from 6.30pm on Tuesday 15th November with no booking necessary. If you are interested in attending the weekly Life Drawing classes that inspired his special exhibition, then organiser Louise Diggle and Chris Evans have some words of encouragement;
‘Come along and have a go! Your drawing skills will improve, we're a friendly mixed-ability group and everyone is welcome to join us.’
These sessions run from 7pm-9pm, Tuesday evenings during term time at The Hive. For details email: louisediggle@gmail.com. The Hive is a registered charity situated in Shrewsbury town centre, who provide cultural and creative opportunities for children and young people in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. For more information, please visit hiveonline.org.uk.
