Our Artists
Ochre House is built on the belief that community is not a backdrop to creative and therapeutic work, it is the work itself. Like the hag stones that inspired our identity, worn through by water until light passes, ancient folklore held that only good things could pass through a holed stone. We think of our artists the same way: people whose practice creates conditions for something true to pass through.
Mia Barnes runs ArtFlo Picture Framers at Seven Dials and understands that how you hold something matters as much as what it holds. A painter and frame-maker, she came to OH OH OH through her friendship with Laura. Her bold, colourful work brings warmth and joy to the space. The frames she contributes are not incidental; they are part of the art.
Jess Brass — bio to follow.
Helen Dewhurst has worked alongside Ochre House since 2022, helping to rebrand the organisation and design its logo, rooted in themes of earth, circles and the ancient symbolism of hag stones. Her ACE-funded multidisciplinary practice sits at the intersection of sound, data, social justice and the body. During OH OH OH she leads workshops in making art alongside one another, collective over individual.
Catherine Grimaldi is a textile artist specialising in tufting, with a background in children’s book illustration, puppet theatre and working as an atelierista. Bold, playful and full of story, her work is inspired by childhood, nostalgia and the joys of making. Catherine came to Ochre House through sculptor Claire Knill, at whose recent exhibition Sam held a compassion awareness circle. During OH OH OH she works live in the space, inviting visitors to contribute to a growing community tapestry.
Cecily McCarthy de Man is 14 years old, autistic and lives with cerebral palsy. Her work is concerned with identity and the body, with what it means to inhabit a self the world does not always make room for. Cecily is often heard saying that art is everything to her. Her inclusion in OH OH OH is not a footnote. It is close to the reason Ochre House exists.
Maddy McClellan works from a studio at the foot of the Downs, her printmaking rooted in the natural world and the deep stories that run through the land. She is also the art tutor and mentor of our youngest exhibitor. In showing their work side by side, we want to make visible what mentorship looks like; an experienced artist making room for another to grow.
Shyama Ruffell is a Brighton artist whose work has long had a home in Ochre House. She co-owns and runs BouSham Gallery in Brighton’s South Lanes, a space with its own deep commitment to community and the spirit of Artists Open Houses. Her presence in OH OH OH reflects both personal connection and a shared conviction about what art is for.
Laura Seymour is an artist and one of Sam’s longest collaborators in animation, production and the building of Ochre House itself. She helped shape the organisation’s visual identity and became a Director of UMEUS CIC. Her mixed media practice spans paper models, mobiles, painting and film: precise, playful and story-led. She is the co-curator of OH OH OH.
Angela Susini is an abstract artist whose practice draws from Japanese minimalism and the healing tradition of Shinrin-yoku; forest bathing. Her meditative, elemental work in gouache, ink and natural materials creates what she describes as interior sanctuaries: spaces for rest and restoration. She is also training alongside Jess Brass on Rosie Lux’s Yoga Teacher Training at Ochre House, bringing her embodied creativity into the community.
The Lore Project connects us beyond Brighton to a collective of Moroccan women artisans whose hand-knotted rug-making has been passed down through generations. Working directly with makers, using carbon-negative wool and paying fairly, The Lore Project asks us to consider whose hands made what we hold beautiful, and whether our choices honour them.
Create. Celebrate. Explore.
15 Cambridge Grove, Hove BN3 3ED
May 2/3/4 · 16/17 · 23/24/25
info@ochrehouse.org
aoh.org.uk/house/may2026/oh-oh-oh-ochre-house/