The next Thursday Event:

30 January to 14 March
From Prototype to Production
New Furniture from the Crafts Council Collection.
Many furniture designers working in Britain today create prototypes and then oversee batch production carried out by others. The focus of this exhibition is the fascinating progression of ideas from the drawing board through to the final product.
Work by seven young designers illustrates all stages in the process including finished products in materials ranging from plywood to recycled plastic.
A Crafts Council touring exhibition.

Claire Roberts
Recent Prints.
Claire Roberts was awarded the Gainsborough House Residency Prize in the National Print Open of 1997. Her images are striking and complex, some taking early medical illustrations as their starting point.
She combines a wide range of techniques to great effect. Since graduating from the Slade she has won a number of awards and is rapidly making a name for herself.

20 March to 9 May
Suffolk Art Society Biennial Members' Exhibition.
This thriving art society has had a long association with Gainsborough's House. Exhibitors are drawn from South Suffolk and neighbouring parts of Essex. The quality and variety of work on display demonstrates the high level of talent and commitment to art in this area.

Gainsborough Drawings from the Permanent Collection.
This remarkable collection (one of the most comprehensive in the world) includes work from throughout Thomas Gainsborough's career - from early pencil sketches of corners of Suffolk to the elaborate set-pieces of his mature years. In order to allow as many people to see them as possible, but limit their exposure to light, these drawings will now be exhibited once every year in the early spring.

15 May to 27 June
Kate Malone
The Allotment
Kate Malone's unashamedly decorative, witty and colourful work is enjoyed by the general public and is highly influential in the field of contemporary British ceramics. This exhibition's theme is the fruit and vegetables to be found in The Allotment - from prize pieces such as a pumpkin teapot to rows of individual pea-pods. The exuberant forms in richly coloured crystalline glazes are life affirming and celebratory.
A MAC touring exhibition.

Colin Wilkin
Views of Essex
Colin Wilkin sees strong pattern and simple forms in the landscape of North Essex. There are echoes of Eric Ravillious in his carefully constructed but fresh watercolours which focus on the geometry and repeated patterns of field and copse. Colin completed an MA in illustration at the Royal College of Art in 1996 and this is his first exhibition in East Anglia.

3 July to 29 August
Three Painters
Christopher Northall, Andrew Vass, Hugh Webster
These three painters share a preoccupation with landscape. This exhibition of paintings and drawings explores the similarities and differences in their approaches. They all make pictures which arise from personal response to the subject, an understanding of the language of painting and a questioning of visual perception. All paint in Suffolk - the wide horizons, the earthy arable richness and the eerie coastline live in their work.