I’m excited to announce our next call for artists submissions for our penultimate show of 2025

‘Halcyon’ - Exhibition opens 11th Oct - 9th Nov

In a world where conflict, disharmony and doom scrolling feel ever present - are we able to find & maintain our own sense of inner peace? And how might we symbolise or express this felt sense of peace, tranquility and calm via art?

The English adjective halcyon “calm; peaceful; tranquil” is rooted in ancient Greek—and classical mythology. Halcyon ultimately derives via Latin alcyōn from Greek alkyṓn “kingfisher.” In ancient myths, the halcyon named a bird, usually identified with the kingfisher, that was said to breed around the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea, and was believed to have the power to charm the winds and waves into calmness. Halcyon frequently occurs in the expression halcyon days, a period of calm weather in the winter, historically a stretch of fourteen days around the winter solstice connected with (the myth of) breeding kingfishers. Halcyon days evolved to mean, more broadly, “a time of peace and prosperity,” and the adjective halcyon evolved to mean, variously, “calm; rich; carefree.” Halcyon is recorded in English by the late 1300s.

What words are synonymous with Halcyon?

calm; peaceful; tranquil. halcyon weather, joyous, joyful, golden, contented, windless, temperate, stormless, pleasant, mild, balmy, unruffled, still, serene, quiet, placid, pacific. happy; blissful; carefree. halcyon days of youth.

Worried by Mary Oliver

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers

flow in the right direction, will the earth turn

as it was taught, and if not how shall

I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,

can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows

can do it and I am, well,

hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,

am I going to get rheumatism,

lockjaw, dementia?

Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.

And gave it up. And took my old body

and went out into the morning,

and sang.

I would love to receive an array of work which you as artists feel explores the theme of inner peace: pretty much anything that fits seamlessly with this theme: both literally and metaphorically.

Submissions Criteria & Information:

Please ensure that you read all of the information below before submitting your work. Any missing info from the list below will not be considered for the exhibition.

  • Open to all artists resident within the UK.

  • Open to all disciplines including ceramics and sculpture.

  • Open to artists aged 18 and over.

  • All work must be available for sale

  • No reproductions/giclee prints accepted.

  • Maximum number of pieces submitted per artist - 3.

  • Submission to the call out is free/no fee - however if selected to exhibit in the show there will be a £20 per artist exhibition fee payable on selection.

  • If selected you will need to deliver & collect your work to/from the gallery prior to the show or send via courier/post. And this includes any unsold work at the end of the show too. All costs incurred re; delivery/post/collection will be covered by the artist.

  • Artists will be solely responsible for insuring their artwork whilst it is in transit prior to and after the show.

  • A submission form must be completed and emailed to: theoldlockupgallery@gmail.com - you’ll find the form at the foot of this webpage. Along with JPEGS of all work being submitted: please don’t send separate emails.

  • Submission forms can be downloaded, printed off and handwritten/completed - and a photograph sent as a jpeg if you prefer/find it easier. Please make sure any photographs of the application form are easy to read/decipher.

  • PDF’s of your work/embedded into a document will not be accepted.

  • Good quality JPEG’s of your work: with no blurring and cropped to size - with no background showing must be emailed along with your submission form to the above email address: attached in one email only - please don’t send separately.

  • File names for your JPEGS will need to be the title of your work or an abbreviation of the title.

  • Size restriction - 1.5metres square.

  • Price restriction: £850

  • You must be able to deliver work on Sunday 5th September 10-11.30am

  • We accept postal deliveries of work - work must be scheduled to arrive on 2nd October.

  • We are able to return unsold work via post - however this option is only available to artists who live outside of a 1.5 hour travelling radius of the gallery.

  • If selected the gallery commission on any sales is 50%.

  • All artists will be contacted re; selection etc by approx 26th September.

  • All works will need to be framed - unless on a box frame/stretched canvas or board. All pieces ready to hang with D rings and chord as appropriate. No mirror plates.

  • Due to the high volume of submissions received no feedback will be available at any point throughout the submission/selection process.

Any submissions that don’t meet the above criteria will not be considered.

We are now OPEN for submissions to the call out for the show and we warmly welcome you to step forward and submit your work up until the deadline of the callout on 23rd September at midnight.

It’s advisable that you download the form prior to this as this webpage will be removed at 9pm on the 23rd September.