I live in Lancashire, and make my living as an Artist.
Moving from Bristol to Sunderland and then to Preston, I painted and drew all the time, enjoyed primary school education, but disengaged at secondary school in most subjects apart from Art (eternal gratitude to my Art teacher). I carried on drawing and painting whilst working as a barman, hod carrier, cushion stuffer, forklift driver and 32 other jobs until I returned to education.
By 1992 I was in Scotland at the Glasgow School of Art where for the first time, I considered the possibility of being an “artist” myself – painting for a living.
After leaving Glasgow and returning to Lancashire I found a studio and continued painting, and gradually improved to the point where I ended up with the confidence to exhibit at several national Art events.
I am my worst critic with my work and find it difficult to maintain confidence most of the time but the fact that I continue to receive commissions and my work sells must be a validation. I suppose good art speaks to everyone.
I tutor life drawing and painting classes from my studio and offer one to one tuition, contact me if you are interested.
Having studied Art at Oakham College in Leicestershire and attended the local watercolour Artist Alan Oliver’s course, this inspired me to start painting watercolours 35 years ago. A lot of my watercolours were commissioned and received good reviews in the local press.
Having brought up 3 children, helping and inspiring them all with their Art qualifications, I now had the opportunity to continue my creative venture in the form of photographic Art. Inspired by my spring wedding awakening my creativity to illustrate my photographs on canvas, as a progression artistically instead of painting from my photographs, as I had done previously.
Living in Freckleton for the past 30 years, deciding to display my work in Lytham seemed the ideal opportunity as I am developing my portfolio incorporating local scenes, as well as my love for flowers. All with my individual perspective of the scene captured. I participated in Lytham Arts Festival 2015 and won a prize – my work being ‘Highly Commended’, and I also displayed at St Anne’s Music & Arts Festival 2015.
Following on from the local Art Festivals and having created over 200 canvases, I then had the opportunity to curate an exhibition at Park View 4U. My exhibition of 35 canvases reflected a summer feel, personalizing the display with canvases of Park View’s beautiful garden flowers too during September. And being delighted with the vibrant and colourful array of canvases, I was asked to continue my exhibition to reflect all four seasons. Park View 4U brought a great challenge in curating these exhibitions and proved fruitful too in the amazingly enthusiastic comments and resulting sales.
During the past few years I have enjoyed compiling a collection of canvases to display at Warton Hall, Ribble Cruising Club, The Pavilion St. Annes, Dotty Gallery Rutland and for the 2nd time, Lytham Heritage Centre. Here displaying for the 1st time the interesting use of the Oilograph technique on canvas and illustrating the importance of Floriography, the ever present and special significance of the Language of Flowers.
So, Excelsior Arts that was formed when I was a watercolour artist painting and signing my last picture 35 years ago has flourished and matured to the exciting new venture, I share with you locally today. Email: elizabethmcm@outlook.com Mobile: 07866 023919 Landline: 01772 631963
An eclectic mix of colours and styles by members of The Blackpool Art Society, featuring a selection of artwork in differing media on a wide variety of subjects from members of this vibrant group.
The society is 135 years old this year and maintains a consistently healthy membership and a busy studio at Wilkinson Avenue, Blackpool. New members always welcome.
Further details are available from members present at the exhibition or by ringing :
“Nature’s Bounty”By Margaret Rodwell 9 – 28 April 2019 About the Artist
Thirty-one years ago Margaret Rodwell took a walk in her lunch hour break from teaching Home Economics at Elmslie Girls’ School on Whitegate Drive, and passed a sign advertising Blackpool Art Society’s Summer Exhibition in Wilkinson Avenue. Interested and with 10 minutes to spare, she popped inside and bought a folio watercolour painting by local artist, Clarice Kay. Margaret had the painting framed and during that summer holiday was so pleased with her purchase that she was inspired to think about starting to paint watercolours herself as a hobby, despite the fact that she had no idea how to start.
The Gazette supplement for Blackpool and Fylde College adult education courses appeared towards the end of August and as a result, she enrolled on the first course of many. The tutor, Norrie Charlesworth, was very enthusiastic and had a great sense of humour that made painting fun. The main piece of advice to beginners was for them to keep and date their first two paintings so that in future they could see the progress that had been made. Margaret did this and you can see them in the cabinet below. These first two paintings of Kilchurn Castle in Scotland were done in September 1988.
Thirty-one years on and many art courses and art holidays later, Margaret hopes that you can see the progress, and that if you can, maybe you will be interested to have a go yourself.
Margaret is a member of Lytham St. Annes and Blackpool Art Societies and has had several solo exhibitions here at the Heritage Centre in Lytham and was very pleased to be invited to exhibit here again this year. She has had solo exhibitions also at the Williamson GaIIery in Lancaster and at the Arts Centre in Garstang. She has received several commendations and prizes for her work over recent years.
Her passion for watercolour painting still continues but she believes that if you love painting then you can paint on any surface and use any materials, hence the pastels painted on sandpaper, or acrylics and oil pastels used together. Margaret hopes that you will gain as much pleasure from looking at this exhibition of her paintings, as she has had in doing them.
The 300th Exhibition at Lytham Heritage Centre opens on Tuesday 12 February.
A Selection of Paintings from Lytham St Annes Art Collection will be placed on show to celebrate 300 exhibitions at Lytham Heritage Centre.
This exhibition shines a spotlight on the unsung heroines of the Lytham St Annes Art Collections and celebrates the work of local women artists.
Work by women artists makes up only 3–5% of major permanent collections in Europe. The top three museums in the world, the British Museum (est. 1753), the Louvre (est. 1793), and The Metropolitan Museum of Art (est. 1870) have never had female directors. Only 32% of the winners of the Turner Prize, one of the most well-known visual art awards, have been women.
For this exhibition, we present a selection of works by women artists from the Lytham St Annes Art Collection. Testament to the historic tendency to disregard the expertise and efforts of women artists, there is much mystery surrounding the provenance of many of these works; there are mysteries to unravel and stories to be told. Join us in not only recognising the talent of our local women artists but also on our exciting journey of discovery as we uncover clues that tell us more about these women, their lives, and their art.
We will be holding Curator Tours on selected Fridays throughout the exhibition. Please see dates below:
Dave Price writes about his mother Mr G Price and her long term collection of dolls.
My mother continued to love her dolls and added to her collection over another 20 years. As with the article details, she continued to both buy dolls and make dolls from kit form individually styling them in clothes she gleaned from many sources such as:
Her imagination, her past, Fashions she had seen in books and magazines, representative of Characters off TV, Film Opera, etc
Everybody was roped in to some degree… Dad for his woodwork skills and the kids, me included, for the “Blue Peter” sticky backed plastic, cardboard and painting brigade.
If the local press had run a follow up article years later they would have found her family of dolls had grown to number over 750 and evident within 5 rooms of our house.
Some of the dolls are for sale at Lytham Heritage Centre. Pop in to have a look.
Latest Exhibition: “Art for your Home”
Paintings in different media by “The Brentleigh Group” from 15 August to 3 September at Lytham Heritage Centre
The Brentleigh Group was formed in 2013 and consists of 4 artists:
Anne Taylor, Beryl Davenport, Liz Ellis and Vivien Unsworth.
Whilst differing in their styles and inspiration they all share a common interest in contemporary art and this is their 3rd joint exhibition and their 2nd time in Lytham.
Their varying styles of work range from landscape to abstract, and from water colour to mixed media.
This wonderful new exhibition at Lytham Heritage Centre is open Tuesdays to Sundays including Bank Holidays from 10am to 4pm. Closed from 1pm – 2pm for lunch.
Joan grew up in Wrea Green, where her creativity was nurtured from a young age by her parents who were writers and painters themselves, and who encouraged an appreciation of the natural environment. These artistic leanings were also supported by teachers at Queen Mary’s School and she went on to study Art along with Education at Warwick University, with a specialism in ‘Creative Work with Fabric and Threads ‘ – she made huge textured embroideries and tubular wall hangings, always with natural materials.
Joan’s art then took a back seat for a number years, whilst she enjoyed exploring and encouraging creativity as a wife, mother, teacher and singer. Turning her hand to Amateur Operatics and Dramatics, Joan is probably better known in the Fylde area as Kiss Me Kate, Eliza Doolittle or The Merry Widow.
Inheriting her mother’ s watercolour paints catalysed Joan’s art and the adoption of a new medium. There was something comforting about using that same palette and, whilst spending time in the Lake District and abroad, she found that watercolours were just right for recording and interpreting what she saw.
Her love of the natural world, its colours, textures and shapes, and the smell and meditative absorption of walking in the countryside or by the sea, is what motivates a lot of her painting.
Pictorial pieces are inspired by four main subject areas: ‘In the Hedgerows’, ‘Trees Alone’, ‘Seas and Skies’, and ‘The Feeling of a Place’. Often, her work is a mosaic of different things arranged into a composition.
Her abstracts are also rooted in the natural world but the subjects are more fantastical and interpretation is open-ended. Joan believes we are all wired according to both our nature and nurture therefore we each see and appreciate different things from the same painting, which can also change with our mood. A number of her abstract paintings can be hung in different orientations to allow for shifting perspectives and interpretations.
‘Natural Inspirations’ – Contemporary Watercolours by Joan Aitchison 23 May – 11 June 2017
Latest Exhibition: “Art for your Home”
Their varying styles of work range from landscape to abstract, and from water colour to mixed media.
