August, collected

The Small Works Exhibition

23rd - 30th august 2026

Through a curated exploration, this display will celebrate the power and influence of contemporary art on a small scale.

Bringing together a diverse selection of artists from across the world, the exhibition explores how works of dimensions up to 60cm, can communicate ideas of depth, intimacy and impact. Through all media including painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media, each piece will invite our audiences to engage closely with narratives that unfold through colour, form, texture and material.

cAROLINE parkes

Caroline Parkes is a painter based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. After a long career in advertising, she began painting seriously in 2021, returning to an ambition she had held since childhood.

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Colour has always been a defining part of Caroline’s visual identity, from the way she dresses and the spaces she creates to the to her paintings. There may even be something of a family inheritance in this obsession: an ancestor owned a factory on Sugar House Island in East London where fluorescent ink was developed.

Today her practice moves between portraiture, abstract florals and paintings of ‘happenings’ : people and moments captured through colour, movement and atmosphere. She works primarily in oils, often introducing fluorescent and metallic acrylics to bring an additional intensity and luminosity to the surface.

Caroline lives and paints in Woodstock, and is the founder of the thriving local Artists in Woodstock community. 

“Life’s too short for beige is my personal mantra which is exactly how I think about my work. I like to live life in full colour, and paint it that way too.

Whether it’s my portraits, abstract florals or happenings’, I’m interested in what colour can communicate beyond what we literally see: personality, emotion, energy and joy.

Flowers give me particular freedom. I love their structure and individuality, but I have little interest in painting them botanically. Instead, their forms become a jumping-off point for colour, gesture and abstraction.

Björk’s Poppies began with spotting Icelandic poppies at the Raph’s florist at Soho Farmhouse. I was drawn to their furry stems and papery petals. Like Björk, they are dramatic and extraordinary. 

I’m especially delighted that this work is part of Banke’s curation for August Collected. Banke and I have gravitated towards one another through a shared love of colour, fashion and warmth, so it feels particularly meaningful to have my work included in a collection brought together through her.”-Caroline Parkes

Björk’s Poppies, Oil on canvas paper 67 x 67 cm inc. frame 2025

Björk’s Poppies, Oil on canvas paper 67 x 67 cm inc. frame 2025

Björk’s Poppies, Oil on canvas paper 67 x 67 cm inc. frame 2025

Björk’s Poppies, Oil on canvas paper 67 x 67 cm inc. frame 2025

jo mitchell long

Jo Mitchell Long is a contemporary British artist based in Surrey, working from Wimbledon Art Studios in London. She paints expressive acrylic still life and landscapes that celebrate colour, light and the quiet beauty found in everyday moments.

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Informed by a background in graphic design, Jo’s work balances bold composition with energetic painterly mark-making. Her paintings are characterised by simplified forms, rich colour relationships and a confident use of shape, creating works that feel both contemporary and timeless. Whether depicting a table set with lemons, cherries or flowers, or the changing light across the British coastline, she is interested in distilling a place or moment into its essential visual rhythm.

Central to Jo’s practice is the idea of connection. Her tablescapes explore the rituals of gathering, conversation and shared experience, while her landscapes reflect a deep emotional response to places that have become part of her personal story.

Through both subjects, she invites the viewer to pause, reflect and find familiarity within the ordinary.

Jo’s work has been exhibited in galleries and art fairs across the UK and is held in private collections in the UK and Europe. She was recognised as a finalist in the Visual Artists Association Art 500 Prize and continues to develop her practice through an ongoing exploration of colour, simplification and expressive mark-making, creating paintings that capture not only what is seen, but the atmosphere and feeling of a moment.

Sip and Savour, Acrylic on Canvas, 40 x 40cm 2025

Sip and Savour, Acrylic on Canvas, 40 x 40cm 2025

Raise a Glass, Acrylic on Canvas, 35 x 45cm, 2025

Raise a Glass, Acrylic on Canvas, 35 x 45cm, 2025

milena Vydrenkova

Milena Vydrenkova is Worcestershire based artist born in Ukraine. Her main inspiration is beauty of nature and English countryside particularly animals, flowers, landscapes. She works with acrylic on canvas in style “realism”.

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Milena loved art all her life and was painting since really young age, back in Ukraine she studied in an art school for 6 years and took part in many art exhibitions which gave her basic knowledge of academic art and developed many skills, that is when her art journey began. She also studied art and design in Stratford upon Avon college and really enjoyed it as it gave her a lot of more art freedom and showed completely different, creative side of art. Now she is part of Chipping Campden art society and takes part of yearly exhibition in Chipping Camden. She also exhibited her work in “Foster Frames” gallery in Stratford upon Avon.

Florist's Choice, Acrylic on canvas, 50x60cm, 2026

Florist's Choice, Acrylic on canvas, 50x60cm, 2026

Florist's Choice, Acrylic on canvas, 50x60cm, 2026

Florist's Choice, Acrylic on canvas, 50x60cm, 2026

Hydrangeas, Acrylic on canvas, 50x50cm, 2026

Hydrangeas, Acrylic on canvas, 50x50cm, 2026

Hydrangeas, Acrylic on canvas, 50x50cm, 2026

Hydrangeas, Acrylic on canvas, 50x50cm, 2026

dom holmes

Dom Holmes is a contemporary oil painter and mixed media artist from London. Following a high-profile career as a tattooer and mixed-media artist, Dom’s principal oil painting practice evolved from a period of self-directed study beginning in 2017. The combination of these experiences has culminated in their approach to traditional painting techniques informed by non-traditional art forms, and inspiration drawn from the under-represented and unappreciated.

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Dom primarily depicts plant life which exists in city settings, producing large-scale paintings of botanical life. Their paintings evolve over a period of weeks and months, starting with detailed, complex under paintings from preparatory sketches and photographs of found subjects, built up with layers of oil glazes using minimal pigments. Close-cropped compositions act as a powerful statement drawing attention to the often overlooked and the influence of botanical drawings comments on the abundance of non-native plants that take up space in our cities as a result of centuries of colonisation and human interference, and the resulting impact on climate crisis and local ecosystems.

Dom’s works are shown regularly in notable galleries, exhibitions and fairs worldwide, including Mall Galleries, Tarpey Gallery, The Old Lock Up, Stolen Space, Swanfall Art, The Other Art Fair and Queer Britain. They were Artist in Residence at WOLF Jaipur in January 2026.

Through my work I aim to explore our connection with the natural world in an Urban environment, studying plant-life which grows in urban areas and cityscapes, where they are often overlooked and unappreciated, but essential to life. Nature does not exist without the environment in which it lives, and like people - the way we view it is often defined by its surroundings.We think of traditional landscape painting as rolling countryside depicting organic climates, pure colours under clear skies and natural light. I try to apply these processes to my city-based plant portraits - from flowers grown in window boxes and community planters outside of train stations or blocks of flats, to the trees and weeds that break through the paved pedestrianised shopping zones, and tropical shrubs in pots outside offices - capturing their lived environment, through the light pollution, the smog and dirt, artificial street lighting and - often neglected - concrete and synthetic surroundings.

I paint multiple layers of oil paint glazes, using minimal colours and focusing on colour theory to create brightness within dark pieces, reflecting the environment, and create compositions that bring the plants to the foreground to highlight their overlooked value and beauty.

White Tulip at York Gardens, Oil on Canvas Board 50 x 40cm Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

White Tulip at York Gardens, Oil on Canvas Board 50 x 40cm Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

White Lisianthus Oil on Canvas Board 50 x 40cm Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

White Lisianthus Oil on Canvas Board 50 x 40cm Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

Red Leaves I & II, Oil on Deep Edge Canvas 30 x 25cm [ x 2 Panels] Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

Red Leaves I & II, Oil on Deep Edge Canvas 30 x 25cm [ x 2 Panels] Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

Red Leaves I Oil on Deep Edge Canvas 30 x 25cm [ x 2 Panels] Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

Red Leaves I Oil on Deep Edge Canvas 30 x 25cm [ x 2 Panels] Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

Red Leaves II Oil on Deep Edge Canvas 30 x 25cm [ x 2 Panels] Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

Red Leaves II Oil on Deep Edge Canvas 30 x 25cm [ x 2 Panels] Finished with a Black Wood Frame 2026

White Tulip at York Gardens, White Lisianthus, Red Leaves I & II in situ.

White Tulip at York Gardens, White Lisianthus, Red Leaves I & II in situ.