PAINTING ON PAPER
Josephine Birch
Mixed-media drawing and watercolour, indigo and aubergine, figures asleep and a dog at the foot of the bed. The 'Midnight' piece sets the palette for the show.
★ Westcountry art · Foss Street, Dartmouth · bespoke framing upstairs
Four generations of Riley fine art on Foss Street.
A Dartmouth gallery and bespoke picture-framing workshop run by Mark Riley, the fourth generation of his family in fine art. Czech painter Milos Jiranek founded the Manes Society in Prague and brought Rodin and Munch to exhibit. Paul Riley was accepted into the Royal Academy summer exhibition at fifteen. Today the work and the bench live above the market square at 20 Foss Street.
Four generationsRiley family in fine art
20 Foss StreetDartmouth, TQ6 9DR
Framing upstairsworkshop above the market square
Rising Starsgraduate show every October
NOW SHOWING · NOCTURNES Midnight, Josephine Birch. Opens Friday 22 May on Dartmouth Galleries Night.
CURRENT EXHIBITION · 22 MAY TO 15 JUNE 2026
Nocturnes. That period of nocturnal activity that comes alive as most of us sleep.
A three-artist show opening on Dartmouth Galleries Night, Friday 22 May, 18:00 to 20:30. The gallery is open and the artists are in.
CARBON ON GLASS
Martin Prothero
Animal-track carbon capture on smoked glass. Real claw and pawprint marks recorded directly on the plate, then framed black-on-black in our workshop upstairs.
DRYPOINT & CHARCOAL
Sarah Gillespie
VIEWING ROOM
"That period of nocturnal activity that comes alive as most of us sleep."
Drypoint, charcoal, and watercolour studies of nocturnal animals and night skies from the Devon and Cornwall coast. Available to view in the room and on request.
OPENING NIGHT Friday 22 May 2026 · 18:00 to 20:30 · Dartmouth Galleries Night · the artists are in
Request opening-night invitation FOUR SIDES OF THE GALLERY
Westcountry artists, the bench upstairs, the programme, the fair calendar.
THE GALLERY
Westcountry artists, Royal Academy names
A roster of around forty artists, hung in considered six-week shows from spring through to autumn. Royal Academicians Sir Peter Blake, the late Sandra Blow, Barbara Rae and the late Sir Terry Frost have shown here alongside Bridget McCrum, Jilly Sutton, the bronze and ceramic sculptors of the South Hams, and a steady current of recent graduates from the annual Rising Stars exhibition each October.
THE WORKSHOP
Bespoke framing, upstairs from the market square
Every piece on the gallery wall is framed in-house by Mark, in a working bench above the market square reached by the exterior staircase. Mouldings selected from the full catalogue range and matched to the piece, not to a house style. The bench has framed textiles, three-dimensional sculptural pieces, glass-on-glass works like Martin Prothero's animal-track carbon-capture. Reasonably priced. Ring 07890 314 715 to arrange a bench visit.
PROGRAMMING
Six-week shows. Galleries Night. Rising Stars in October.
A continuous programme of curated exhibitions. Nocturnes (Josephine Birch, Sarah Gillespie, Martin Prothero) opens on Dartmouth Galleries Night this Friday 22 May and runs to 15 June. The annual Rising Stars graduate show closes each October. Past programming has run from Sir Peter Blake silkscreens (2011) through Animalia, Tree Life, Masters of Silkscreen (2017, Blake and Rae together) to Paul Riley at 80 (2024).
BEYOND DARTMOUTH
Affordable Art Fair, Cheltenham Racecourse, Fresh Art Fair
The gallery roster travels. Most years includes the Affordable Art Fair at Alexandra Palace in January and the Fresh Art Fair at Cheltenham Racecourse in April, bringing Foss Street work in front of London and Cotswold collectors. The fair calendar is a deliberate reach beyond the South Devon coast for collectors who cannot make the drive down to Dartmouth.
FROM THE WALLS
Three pieces currently hanging or on the bench.
FOUR GENERATIONS · PRAGUE TO DARTMOUTH
From Milos Jiranek to a Foss Street bench and a Saturday afternoon gallery.
The Riley family has been in fine art for four generations. The earliest of those was Czech painter Milos Jiranek (1875 to 1911), who founded the Manes Society in Prague and brought Auguste Rodin and Edvard Munch to exhibit. His granddaughter and grandson Cecil and Joan Riley both trained at the Slade. Their son Paul, Mark's father, was accepted into the Royal Academy summer exhibition at fifteen.
Today, Mark Riley, an Art History graduate of Aberdeen, runs the gallery on Foss Street and frames every piece on the wall himself. His sister, Lara Lloyd, runs Coombe Farm Studios at Dittisham with her husband Martin, where Paul still teaches. The gallery is the Dartmouth shopfront of a family that has been at this for the better part of 150 years.
One of the youngest artists ever accepted to the Royal Academy summer exhibition. On Paul Riley, then aged fifteen
1875 Milos Jiranek born in Bohemia. The Czech painter who founded the Manes Society in Prague and exhibited alongside Rodin and Munch.
1944 Paul Riley born. By fifteen he is accepted into the Royal Academy summer exhibition, one of the youngest ever.
1960s Paul meets Tina at Kingston art school. They later move to Devon and open Coombe Farm Studios at Dittisham.
2011 Coombe Gallery on Foss Street programmes a Sir Peter Blake silkscreen show. The first Rising Stars graduate exhibition runs in October.
2017 Masters of Silkscreen brings Sir Peter Blake RA and Barbara Rae RA together on the Foss Street walls.
2024 Paul Riley at 80 (Unseen Worlds) runs in the gallery. Forty-plus years of the family in fine art on the wall together.
Today Mark Riley runs the gallery and frames every piece on the wall in the workshop upstairs. His sister Lara Lloyd runs Coombe Farm Studios at Dittisham.
THE ROSTER
A short roll-call of the artists hanging on Foss Street.
- Sir Peter Blake · silkscreen
- Sandra Blow RA · abstract, late period
- Barbara Rae RA · landscape, North Atlantic
- Sir Terry Frost · print, posthumous
- Bridget McCrum · bronze sculpture
- Jilly Sutton · carved-wood and bronze sculpture
- Paul Riley · watercolour, Dittisham
- Tina Riley · painting and ceramics
- Marcelle Hanselaar · etching
- Rosie Sanders · botanical watercolour
- Chuck Elliott · algorithmic print
- Josephine Birch · painting on paper
- Sarah Gillespie · drypoint, charcoal
- Martin Prothero · carbon-on-glass
- Sue Potter · paper-cut, blind emboss
- Will Shakspeare · studio glass
- and around twenty-five more · full list at the gallery
ENQUIRE · THE GALLERY OR THE BENCH
Tell us what you have in mind. We will come back within two working days.
For a piece on the wall, for a private viewing of a roster artist, for a framing job upstairs. Walk-ins welcome during gallery hours. For the workshop specifically, ring 07890 314 715 first because Mark is often at the bench.
- Reply within two working days
- For framing, an indicative quote against the piece
- For the roster, private viewing arranged Tuesday to Saturday
- For Nocturnes, an opening-night invitation for 22 May
VISIT · 20 FOSS STREET
The gallery
20 Foss Street
Dartmouth, Devon
TQ6 9DR
Gallery · 01803 835 820
Framing · 07890 314 715 (Mark's mobile, the bench is upstairs)
Email · mark@coombegallery.com
Find us · Foss Street is pedestrianised, a short walk back from the Boat Float. Park at Mayors Avenue or the Park & Ride from Townstal.
OPENING HOURS
When the gallery is open
- MondayClosed (framing by appointment)
- Tuesday08:30 to 16:00
- Wednesday08:30 to 16:00
- Thursday08:30 to 16:00
- Friday08:30 to 16:00
- Saturday12:00 to 17:00
- SundayClosed (framing by appointment)
Saturdays are afternoon-only. Mark is at the framing bench upstairs through the morning, and opens the gallery for the visitor footfall after lunch. For the workshop on a Monday or Sunday, ring 07890 314 715 to arrange a bench visit.
FAQ · FIVE QUESTIONS WE GET MOST
Short answers, then ring or write for the rest.
Do you frame everything in the gallery yourselves, or send it out?
Everything in-house. Mark frames every piece on the gallery wall himself, in the workshop up the exterior steps from the market square. The framer is also the buyer, which collapses the usual gallery-to-framer hand-off. The framing line for the public is 07890 314 715 because the bench is upstairs and the gallery phone is rarely staffed when Mark is framing.
What can you frame? Textiles, three-dimensional pieces, framed glass?
All of those. The current Nocturnes show alone includes Martin Prothero's carbon-on-glass work and Sue Potter's blind-embossed paper-stitch piece, both framed in-house. The workshop has framed textiles, antique tapestry, three-dimensional sculptural pieces, prints with conservation glass, and standard solid-wood frames for watercolours and oils. Mouldings come from the full catalogue range, matched to the piece. Ring 07890 314 715 to arrange a bench visit.
What is Dartmouth Galleries Night?
A coordinated late-opening across the independent galleries on and around Foss Street and Duke Street. Held twice a year, with wine, the artists in attendance, and a programme that runs from around six in the evening to half-past eight. Nocturnes opens on the May 2026 edition, this Friday 22 May from 18:00 to 20:30.
Do you ship work, to London or further?
Yes. The gallery exhibits at the Affordable Art Fair at Alexandra Palace each January and the Fresh Art Fair at Cheltenham Racecourse each April, and ships to buyers from both fairs as a matter of course. International shipping arranged on request. Email mark@coombegallery.com with the piece and the destination.
Can I bring a piece in for a framing quote without committing?
Yes, walk-ins are welcome during gallery hours. For the workshop itself, ring 07890 314 715 first because Mark is often upstairs at the bench. Quotes are given against the piece itself once Mark has seen it, with moulding catalogues to hand. No deposit needed for a quote.