From Sunday 20th May to Bank Holiday Monday 28th May, Stody Lodge Gardens will be joined by two local artists: wood sculptor Martin Pigg and painter Tracy Weston.

A graduate from the highly commended "Merrist Wood College" in Surrey, Martin is largely self-taught and carves instinctively. He plays with light, lines and textures in wood to create minimalist style pieces of work with strong contrasts.

The contemporary spirit of his work has secured him commissions from around the world. His pieces can be found in Holland Park, Kensington, and several have featured as centrepieces in award winning gardens at Chelsea flower show (a Gold winning garden by Richard Beales); Hampton Court Flower Show (a silver winning garden by Sadie Stowell) and the International garden show Koblenz (the Norwich Garden.) He has won awards at the Southwold Sculpture Competition in Suffolk as has sold pieces to international private collectors in Dubai, Guernsey and America.

Martin Pigg said: "I’m very excited to be showing my work at Stody Lodge Gardens. I am inspired by nature and the environment and I can’t wait to show my works in this beautiful setting.”

Tracy Weston lives in the village of Stody. Since studying Art at Colchester Art College, painting has been her life-long passion and companion. Describing her work as ‘abstract expressionism’ Tracy uses mixed media - mostly acrylics and pastel - to recreate a wide range of subjects with huge variety of expressions. She is also now working with outdoor paints to create work that can be positioned in a garden to be enjoyed in a natural surrounding all year round.

Tracy Weston said: “I have always been someone who will find colour in the darkest place and I like to paint what I feel or see. Art has no boundaries and no restraints so my paintings are very dependent on how I feel on the day. I'm very excited about my solo exhibition at Stody Lodge open gardens.”