A Portishead town centre art gallery has closed down.

Tinca Gallery shut its doors for the final time in Portishead High Street at the weekend after almost five years of trading.

With a passions for art, Cath Simons and her sister Marian opened Tinca in 2013 transforming 6-8 High Street with quality artworks, quirky crafts, open minds and bags of personality.

They travelled the UK meeting artists, both established and emerging, building relationships, an understanding of techniques, working methods and inspirations.

Not only did they bring art to the High Street, they brought classes and workshops, opportunities to meet the artists, preview events, pop-up shops, live jazz and a bespoke framing service.

Cath said: “We recognised the need to establish a leading space for contemporary art in the area and our aim was to bring exceptional work and provide the best customer experience.

“We worked directly with all our artists and gained an understanding and knowledge of their work and ideas.

“We were committed to bringing our energy and enthusiasm to providing North Somerset with a great venue exhibiting a broad selection of work by the talented artists.

“We also became an Own Art gallery which makes buying art easy and affordable by letting customers spread the cost of their purchase over a period of time with an interest-free loan. Business was good and we grew steadily.

“We have had a vast amount of interest in our exhibitions over the years.

“Committed art-lovers and lots of artists have supported Tinca, but sadly costs increased faster than profits and we cannot see that changing in the near future.

“Things were made worse by 12 weeks of road works right outside which resulted in a downturn in business for the whole period.

“We had a buyer lined up who planned to develop an interior design service to complement the gallery, so we had hoped this would be an announcement to introduce a new owner, but it all fell through just before Christmas.”

It may be the end of the High Street gallery but it certainly is not the end of Tinca. Cath has plans to open pop up art exhibitions across the South West and is looking forward to the new challenges.