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Home Collection

A Collection of Original Oil Paintings by Jac Scott.

An antidote to fast living.

The domestic space has long held a fascination with many artists. Whatever the medium, to transpose the enigmatic and the mundane of home, is an enduring focus. Often drawing our attention to the small and overlooked elements, these still life works form narratives on our way of living.

Here Scott is preoccupied with the celebration of the joy of home comforts and the reflection of her feelings that these simple objects bring. By painting atmospheric vignettes, she focusses our gaze on a few items that capture the essence of the subject.

Her own country home forms the canvas for this unique collection with her love of old crockery, antique books and flowers emanating throughout the paintings. The casual, contemporary format of the compositions, the painterly style of the brushwork and the saturated colour palette, create an inviting window into the artist's world.

"I want to create pictures that are colour baths to wallow in and to soak up the warmth. The cosy style should feel like a wall-based hug".

"I want to enjoy wobbly towers of pretty vintage teacups, rows of mis-matched tea plates, (maybe a butterfly has landed on one?) clusters of quirky old tea and coffee pots, worn squashy sofas, and stacks of well-read books."

The Home Collection is an evolving body of work, so expect nuances and surprises along the way.

1 May - 28 June 2025

Jon Bull's work has evolved over the years, but one thing that has remained consistent is his strong relationship with the wheel.  It has always been at the centre of his creativity and serves as the spring from which his process flows; a process he describes as "form, surface, colour".

A few years after graduating at the University of Wales Institute, Jon made the transition from production thrower to studio potter, when he set up his first workshop and began developing his own work.  Gradually he moved away from making functional pottery, finding himself drawn to the more expressive creation of ceramic art.

For two decades now, Jon has been exhibiting at galleries and ceramic fairs all over the UK and beyond. His fascination with abstracting celestial-scapes, shorelines, the ocean and the earth, inspires beguiling forms with highly textured surfaces. Jon creates his signature, highly tactile stoneware-fired clay forms by using volcanic and barium glazes.

Jon Bull 's ceramic studio is based near Cardiff, Wales.

Spirit of Place Exhibition 1 March - 28 April 2025

The Spirit of Place exhibition aims to be a thought provoking show where the artwork  engages on a deeper level than just the aesthetic. It embraces the notion of 'place' as can be interpreted not only as a location, but also as a way of being.

For this unusual show, Utopia have brought together three artists who responded to the brief in different ways.  They each chose to express what the essence of place means to them through very different media: metal, ceramic and collage.

Jeni Cairns

Jeni Cairns is a Cambridgeshire-based artist whose strong connection to wild nature guides both her inner and outer worlds.

By harnessing the strength and versatility of reclaimed metal, Jeni creates intricate sculptures that reflect complex narratives of her relationship with the wild.

“In metal, as in nature, there’s a delicacy, yet enduring strength and resilience".

She uses a plasma cutter to cut into reclaimed metal such as old gas pipes, oil drums and cans, to create a tracery design of natural creatures and plants. This process harmonises her making skills with her strong passion for nature.

Fran Squires

Fran Squires is an East Anglian storyteller who uses textiles, print making, drawing and salvaged remnants to tell her narratives. She works in a very organic way letting the stories unfold in a loose graphic style with painterly details. Drawn to patterns in the world around her, she transposes these into pictorial artworks that attract the eye and pique curiosity.

After studying Surface Pattern at university, she went on to work as a designer, then technician at Norwich University of the Arts. Fran is now a full-time artist devoting her time to exploring new ways to tell her stories.

For the Spirit of Place exhibition Fran has focused on creating a series of 6 pictures that reflect daily walks around her village.

Jaeeun Kim

Jaeeun Kim's ceramics are personal narratives inspired by the art therapy method House-Tree-Person. Through delicate porcelain vases, she explores healing and self-discovery, expressing connections to home.

Her sculptural vessels are created by the slip cast method using fine porcelain fired at 1220 degrees centigrade. Decorated with glazes, drawings and transfers, her ceramics have a delicate and dainty quality with an ethereal aura.

Born in South Korea, Jaeeun focuses her art practice from her London studio.

Interwoven Forms: The Art of Clay and Lace

1 February - 28 March 2025

Lesley Farrell creates beautiful sculptural forms in ceramic.

Her hand-built vessels employ traditional coiling and pinch construction methods. 

Many of the pieces are double walled, creating the illusion of density, with delicate surface patterns sourced from vintage lace. 

She is interested in exploring how traces of the past can be held and recalled through hand-made objects. The transfer of the surface pattern relies on the touch of the original lace enfolding the ceramic form.  The work alludes to the former life of the lace and the absence of the persons who owned and made it. 

Having obtained a degree in Ceramics from Loughborough College of Art & Design, Lesley now pursues a career in the gallery sector and is an established curator alongside her studio practice.  She also has an MA in Photography and a PGCE Art and Design.

Elaine Peto has spent a lifetime being inspired by the natural world. From her studio in Hampshire she studies animal behaviour, their forms and characteristics. Elaine's current portfolio includes ceramic sculptures of farm and wild animals and even sea creatures. She specialises in creating one-off pieces using textured stoneware and porcelain clay.

“My aim is to capture the essence of the beast”

At Exeter College of Art & Design, Elaine studied animals through research visits to livestock markets and abattoirs, using the media of photography and drawing to record the structure of the carcass. After graduating in 1985, she continued her studies of agricultural animals, setting up her own studio in 1986.

There is a softness about Elaine's sculptures, that despite the hard ceramic form, she manages to create a flesh/skin like quality with the employment of various scratching techniques and impressing textured textiles into the soft clay. This creates a highly tactile surface that demands to be touched. Her use of multiple glazes adds a further dimension that enhances and attracts.

Elaine makes each animal as an individual, determined to suggest character with her enigmatic styling processes. Each creature is made by building the form using clay slabs: rolling out a sheet of clay and forming the body, then gradually adding slab by slab to form the whole animal. The details are then remodelled until the animal is complete. The animal is biscuit fired, glazed and re-fired to stoneware.

We are delighted to showcase the work of this accomplished sculptor at Utopia.

Utopia: The Unexpected Gallery in Holt is holding a special launch party to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, and to celebrate living 10 years in Norfolk and the opening of their new gallery at 9 Fish Hill, Holt.  The Gallery, moved across town after 5 years, from 33 High Street to 9 Fish Hill, this month.

It aims to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Research UK, the charity leading the search for a cure for the diseases that cause dementia, by hosting a charity party with special offers on the night, a raffle and donation box.

The party takes place on 11 October at 4.30 - 7.30pm

Two new solo exhibitions to launch:

Talking Heads

Ceramic tales by famous international sculptor Christy Keeney

Menagerie

A magical animal kingdom sculpted from clay by Elaine Peto

Jac Scott said:

“We want this to be a wonderful evening of art with a strong message that Alzheimers is a dreadful disease that effects half of us in some way. It has already impacted hard on our lives and we treat each day as a new challenge. Supporting this charity is vital to progressing research into dementia."

Lucy Squance, Director of Supporter Led Fundraising at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“If nothing changes, one in two of us will be directly affected by dementia – either by developing it ourselves, caring for someone with it, or both. 

“Fantastic fundraising efforts like this are driving our search for a cure to end the heartbreak of dementia.” 

For further information about Alzheimer’s Research UK, or to find out more about fundraising for the charity, call 0300 111 5555 or visit www.alzheimersresearchuk.org

Painter Colin Kitchener

Suffolk's Colin Kitchener has always had a passionate interest in the beautiful medieval properties of East Anglia.  This fascination has transposed into sourcing reclaimed terracotta peg tiles from reclamation yards, to form the ground for his unique paintings. 

Each piece is an original work featuring architectural details.

Some tiles are centuries old and often bear the original craftsman’s finger print adding to the narrative. Colin paints in harmony with the individual character of the rugged texture, brought about during the firing process and then exposure to the elements, choosing to let the tile direct the details.

He says "Each tile has its own story.."


>> View the work of Colin Kitchener here <<

Pargeter Bill Sargent

Bill Sargent is amongst the highest regarded pargeters in the country. His work can be seen all over East Anglia. Pargeting is the ornamentation of a plastered and rendered building facade. It's origins can be traced back to ornamental lime plastering during the Roman Empire. Henry Vlll is believed to have brought it in fashion in sixteenth century by employing Italian plasterers to decorate Nonsuch Palace.

Bill Sargent began plastering in the 1960s, doing a formal apprenticeship, followed by working with his father continuing the tradition of conservation plasterwork and pargeting. The specialist company was set up by his grandfather in 1926.

This master craftsman can still be seen restoring ancient buildings, but for us he has created a special giant wall panel in a traditional design, ready to adorn a wall outside or inside your home. If you live in East Anglia, Bill will happily plaster this beautiful panel onto your wall using traditional techniques for a small fee. Or you could hang it as a picture.

https://pargettingcompany.com/

>> View the work of Bill Sargent here <<

Mixed-Media Artist Sarah Jane Brown

Sarah Jane Brown specialises in creating quirky sculptures where she cleverly manipulates scale. Her miniature pieces explore narratives centred around houses. Her employment of old newsprint married with wood, rusty metal and tin delivers sensitive creations with great attention to detail. Sarah's pieces are such fun and beautifully executed.

                   >> View the work of Sarah Jane Brown here <<

Woodland Tales

David Mayne has a lifelong passion for nature and landscape, evoked in his stunning sculptures made of steel and wood. He enjoys creating both large scale architectural pieces for the public realm and small scale sculptures for private collectors.

The pieces are refined from a narrative of local landscapes and fauna.

The sculptor works from Holmfirth in Yorkshire, where his love of outdoor pursuits marries happily with the wild and beautiful neighbouring countryside.

“I live near several woods that are a constant source of inspiration. The animals I combine in my work, not only define scale but also remind me of a fleeting wondrous moment when they briefly appeared in the wood".

We love flowers here at Utopia. When we conceived the notion of having a celebration of all things floral it filled us with delight and excitement. Curating the show was interesting, as we didn't want the usual suspects and subjects to feature. So we've taken a more curious route and invited artists who approach flowers from different perspectives.

Firstly, there's famous master architectural sculptor Geoffrey Preston MBE, who finds inspiration in the modelling of flowers and leaves in 18th century plasterwork and their representation in other decorative arts, from the flowers of chintz textiles to the painting of Sèvres and Nymphenburg porcelain. He finds it an enduring challenge to represent the ephemeral and delicate quality of flowers in a concrete, material form.

Geoffrey Preston studied sculpture at Hornsey College of Art, trained as a stonemason and carver, and was a founding director of two of the country’s most respected conservation companies. In 2000 he set up his studio in Devon, where he works with a small team creating beautiful new work commissioned by architects, designers and private clients.

Credited by Country Life Magazine with creating ‘the most inspiring plaster decoration of modern times’, in 2021 Geoffrey was awarded an MBE for services to stucco and plasterwork in Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Take a look at Geoffrey Preston's work, in our online shop

Kelly Swani was originally a jewellery designer, but after being diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder, she now works with paper, from her home in Jersey.  Kelly's delicate sculptures capture the fleeting beauty found in the intricacy of nature.  She combines found and natural materials, with precision and dexterity, using wires and crepe paper, to create intriguing expressions of lasting floral forms. Many of her sculptures feature an exquisite insect, creating an enchanting focal point.

Take a look at Kelly Swani's work, in our online shop

Artist Sarah Luxford, from Brighton, draws in the air with a single, unbroken line of wire to create beautiful, elegant sculptures that resonate her passion for the natural world.  Her intricate compositions illustrate not only her dexterity, but also her insightful eye and attention to the detail of flowers.  She enjoys the challenge of selecting flowers where she can build the wire into strong three-dimensional forms. This creativity reflects her vision of the endless potential of using a single medium.  Whilst the interplay of light and shadow adds depth and dimension, breathing life into her floral sculptures.

Take a look at Sarah Luxford's work, in our online shop

Then we have Norfolk artist Sally Anne Fitter, who is an established international artist of repute. Initially, Sally ran a Textile Design Studio in London, but she now paints professionally with her passion for textiles still shining through her highly textured collaged pictures of flowers.  Sally has exhibited widely in London at: the Affordable Art Fair, the London Art Fair in Islington and the Marie Josie Gallery, Kensington. Recent solo shows include The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle.  Her acrylic collages are vibrant, joyful expressions of her love of flowers.

Take a look at Sally Anne Fitter's work, in our online shop

The Floribunda exhibition will have a vibrant, colour saturated palette with a deliberate counterpoint of monotone to create an unexpected dynamic.

Living near the sea is both a delight and a wonder: a watery world that is continually in flux.  Always engaging and dynamic, the sea's different moods and weathers effect and stimulate a way of being. Creating emotional artistic responses to the sea is as fundamental as breathing for artists who are lucky enough to reside near the coast. In this new exhibition, Fish & Ships, three artists respond in different ways to coastal living.

Dreya Bennett 

Dreya is an artist of the sea. Captivated by the ocean at an early age she went on to kite surf in the world championships and achieve a world record between Cornwall and Ireland. Now retired from competitions, she embraces her passion for the waves through working with fused glass. Read more about Cornwall artist Dreya Bennett.

"The sea is all encompassing: its colours, sounds and smells, its reflections, translucency and constant movement can hold your attention like nothing else. The similar unique qualities of glass, which have captured my heart, form the perfect medium to express water."

Paul Campbell

Paul's love of boats started at an early age - spending weekends volunteering at the Liverpool Maritime Museum, where he helped restore the 3-masted schooner De Wadden and the pilot boat Edmund Gardner.

Norfolk's Paul Campbell's Bath Tap Boats arose from Paul's enjoyment of salvaging wood and other reclaimed materials. His magpie eye has led to a varied collection of items, from copper pipes and old brass hinges to Victorian taps, which he now gives a new lease of life incorporating them into his handcrafted boats. Read more about Norfolk artist Paul Campbell.

Each Bath Tap Boat is unique.

Frances Noon

Frances Noon is fascinated by the manipulation of scale. She creates small playful vignettes of country or seaside scenes, crafted from wood, brass and copper.

In her workshop in the foothills of the Southern Pennines, she carefully makes quirky miniature animals and birds from metal to adorn her sculptures of hand-painted structures. Noon's world is one of delight and she invites us to play. Read more about Yorkshire artist Frances Noon.

Jac Scott

Meanwhile, owner of Utopia, artist Jac Scott, responds to the sea in dramatic sweeps of oil paint, colour and texture.

Well-observed fish studies painted with oils on vintage plates is another way Jac Scott tells her narrative of living by the sea. Read more about Norfolk artist Jac Scott and Utopia: The Unexpected Gallery.

Spring fever has transformed the gallery into a hilarious menagerie of black metal animals all vying for attention. Mick Kirkby Geddes is the gallery's guest artist for May...

>> Click to view & buy here in our online shop <<

Mick is a Yorkshire man. He was born in Sheffield, but now lives with his family in the Pennines. After finishing a Fine Art Degree at Leeds Polytechnic in 1988, he set out to work as a sculptor and metalsmith, combining his passion for 1970s comics and a love of metal. It all started at university when his materials budget ran out. Unfazed he went looking for scrap.

Mick now has a workshop full of discarded junk. He hates waste and spends his days sorting, cutting and welding the scrap together with new steel to create innovative and quirky sculptures. Some of the pieces he galvanises, then powder coats so that they can go outside. Mick also loves to manipulate scale with sizes ranging from a few centimetres up to several meters. He welcomes commissions.

His Animal Crackers exhibition runs until the end of May and has been warmly received by visitors to the gallery. Collectors have arrived from all over the world including Australia, where one of his cheeky little dogs now resides.

So don't miss out! Check out his work >>Here in our online shop>> or pop in and take a look, we'd love to see you. Read more about Yorkshire artist Mick Kirkby-Geddes.