Bryan Bale - Oriel Gorwel, Welsh Art Gallery

Bryan Bale is a co-founder of Oriel Gorwel, an online gallery for Welsh art and artists. He is now based in Pontypool, South Wales and regularly works from Cardiff and London.

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Welsh born and bred, Bryan started his retail career in Cardiff before moving to London where his visual flair and keen eye ensured that he found work with prestigious High Street names. In 1970 he began a decade’s work for the Austin Reed Group as the company’s Display Co-ordinator with responsibility for forward planning and the creation and implementation of a visual display corporate image.

Throughout this time he accepted private commissions and in 1980 embarked on a freelance career that saw him engaged by clients such as Aquascutum, Harrods, The Irish Export Board and Honda UK – both in England and in Denmark.

In 1989 in a change of direction, he became Creative Director of Siégel & Stockman, one of Europe’s foremost manufacturers of retail mannequins and fittings. Bryan remained with the group until 1999 when he returned to freelance work.

Increasingly frustrated with life in London, it wasn’t long before he returned to his native Wales where he took on the new challenge of managing the retail outlet of a co-operative of Dyfed artists and craftspeople.

Bryan brings to Oriel Gorwel his passion for art, an unrivalled eye for visual design, enormous charm and networking skills – combined with shrewd business nous, an in-depth knowledge of the retail trade and numerous contacts in the world of Welsh arts and crafts. He set up Oriel Gorwel in 2005 with Michael Hannah a FileMaker Pro database developer based in London and Dundee, Scotland.

You can contact Bryan on bryan@bryanbale.com.

© 2007 Bryan Bale