A gallery in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales showcases work inspired by nature

Designer Jonathan Reed and artist Graeme Black have transformed an old cattle shed in the Yorkshire Dales into a contemporary art gallery. Perched above Lake Semerwater in Raydale, the new Thorns Gallery is truly immersed in the surrounding national park.

It was constructed using largely the salvaged remains of an existing cattle shed made redundant by the end of intensive dairy farming in the area, while respecting both the local vernacular and the strict rules that come with building in a protected area.

Step inside Thorns Gallery

Originally from Scotland, Black worked as an international fashion designer for brands including Armani and Ferragamo, before relocating to the UK. In 2016 he embarked on a regeneration project in nearby Upper Wensleydale with his husband, Reed, an interior designer who has created unique homes for private clients for over 30 years.

Here in North Yorkshire, Black found a new purpose creating artworks inspired by the local forests and trees. The pair then decided to open an art gallery (which also houses a professional kitchen and dining space for hosting visitors) to showcase the work of artists and makers who are inspired by the landscape and work with natural materials.

Its inaugural exhibition, ‘From Nature’ (until 14 September 2025) features works by Black, Simon Gaiger, and, in collaboration with Willoughby Gerrish Gallery, ceramics by Janet Leach.

Black presents a series of large-scale tapestries, handwoven by the Stephen’s Tapestry Studio in South Africa. The richly textured works explore the abstract forms and surfaces of trees and are based on his oil paintings, created during the winter in Yorkshire.

'The idea was looking through the panes of glass in window,’ explains Black to Wallpaper* contributing editor Nick Vinson, who attended the gallery's opening. ‘So that's why I did six pieces to complete the composition. I thought that this movement of the trees, and how they were intersecting one against the other, was really interesting.’

For this three-year project, Black travelled to South Africa to work with Stephen’s Tapestry Studio, whose work he discovered after visiting the 2022 William Kentridge show at the Royal Academy in London (incidentally, Kentridge is also currently showing works in Yorkshire this summer).

‘I went to Johannesburg and we started developing this from the six pieces of ink drawings,’ says Black. ‘I had done a black and white ink with washes and some oranges, but I wanted it to be really intricate in terms of colour. You have the greys and the soft kind of blues and the tan colours coming through; I wanted the trees in the front to be stronger, and I had the ability to do stronger, more interesting colourways with the tapestries.’

The collaborators went back and forth with photographs and swatches to create the mohair and wool pieces using hundreds of different colours. ‘They do mélanges and twists with the mohair, so you'll see some of the areas are more intense. You've got more mélanges going, thicker areas to reflect the idea of the bark.’

‘Bosco Blue II’ for example started off as a black and white painting inspired by the idea of moonlight on trees. To create the tapestry, sections of the painting were blown up and then recoloured with some blue tones and light gray rays.

The process helped Black discover some new aspects of his work. In the case of ‘Longwood #22’, he noticed different details coming through in the tapestry: ‘It was really interesting to see. I was taking different photos with my phone, you know, photocopying them, enlarging them and you were getting all these amazing textures coming through them. There's a whole pastel story sneaking out on the 220 colours.’

Black’s tapestries are presented with long-term collaborator Simon Gaiger’s collection of sculptural furniture, crafted in his outdoor workshop in Wales. Influenced by Gaiger’s childhood in Uganda, Sudan and the Pacific, as well as time spent working as a shipwright’s assistant, his pieces are made from raw timber and steel.

Carved, ebonised and polished, held together by hand forged ironmongery, they bring the dynamic nature of the tree to life, coaxed into functional yet sculptural forms shaped by the innate character of the wood itself, and inspired by the sea and mythology.

The ‘Pwca’ table, for example, is named after Puck – ‘It's a sort of spirit, you like,’ says Gaiger. ‘The legs are steel cut, with a slight suggestion of thorns, and are fitted into the underside of these curved pieces. The name reflects that it's like a sort of shapeshifting.’

Meanwhile the boomerang-shaped ‘Cradle – Artefact’ table, is inspired by museum displays: ‘You often see an armature that holds something like a Roman glass. It's supposed to be invisible, with the artefact suspended in the air – but in the end it's very visible,’ says Gaiger. ‘This is like a found object that drops into this cradle that is just designed to display it.’

Other pieces on show include ‘Angular Unconformity’, a table/bowl inspired by the branches of a tree that has an animated, animal-like form; ‘Ystrad’, made from burr oak and Douglas fir; and ‘Trig’, a three-legged console with fumed oak top and ash legs.

Complementing these contemporary works are ceramics by Janet Leach, dating from the 1960s and 1970s and sourced by Willoughby Gerrish, the gallery behind the nearby Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden. ‘The textures work very well together and you know, the glazes on the pottery reflects some of the textures on the bark of my trees,’ concludes Black.

Thorns Gallery is open by appointment only. ‘From Nature’ is at Thorns Gallery until 14 September. Black’s tapestries will then be on view at Howe + Woven Place, from 2-18 October 2025. The collection of Janet Leach pottery will be exhibited at Willoughby Gerrish, from 5-19 December 2025.

Thorns Gallery
Raydale, North Yorkshire
DL8 3DE

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