Forget the idyllic cottages tucked beneath a blanket of snow. For Winter, Unvarnished, we invite artists to explore the poetry of darkness — the rawness, the stillness and the hidden beauty of the season.

As the clocks turn back and daylight slips away, the world shifts into a different rhythm. Shadows grow longer, colours fade, and the earth reveals a quieter, perhaps harsher, side of itself. We invite you to look beyond the postcard-perfect winter and explore what lies beneath its surface: the stark, the fragile, the uncomfortable, the overlooked, and the unexpectedly beautiful.

But darkness is never the end of the story. There is warmth in a flickering candle, comfort in the glow of a log fire, and the quiet promise of light returning. Even in the depths of winter, something is waiting to emerge. Perhaps it is a small spark of hope, an inner awakening, or the distant promise of spring.

We welcome artworks that explore the contrasts of this season — darkness and light, cold and warmth, decay and renewal, stillness and transformation. Work that finds beauty in the bleak, warmth in the cold, or a glimmer of light where we least expect it.