PAINTINGS

Subcategories

• Casey Allum

  Casey Allum is a full time professional artist hailing from the Langdale Valley (Cumbria) and specialises in realistic animal portraiture. She primarily draws in graphite pencil but likes to use a range of media to achieve her intended result. 

  “My love of art was apparent right from the start, I was guaranteed to sit quietly when given a pencil and a piece of paper. I was always drawing!… My graphite pencil portraits draw attention to the negative space and light surrounding the subject which is so often discarded; this space is important to help the subject breathe and ultimately draws the eye to the detail in the portrait rather than the overall sometimes complicated composition. I pay close attention to the finer details in my work, construction, form and texture, being able to perfectly describe a subject with a pencil line; that’s truly where my passion lies.”

• David John Almond

  "I began my unique pointillist style in the latter months of 2017. It is a process which I have not deviated from and I continue to learn from each painting. First, I carve out the pencilled image with linocut tools on MDF, then spray paint at a certain angle to pick out the grooves and lay a rough colour scheme, finally tiny acrylic dots are applied with the tip of a small palette knife to add the final colour. The grooves give definition to the pointillist style, first created by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in 1886. I love to be original, and believe that my diagnosis of Paranoid Schizophrenia has opened my mind to be gifted in such a precise technique. Today, I continue to be well and fruitful in all aspects of my life, and look back on my history with mental illness with interest and nostalgia." David John Almond

• Mark Brierley

  Mark Brierley is a Windermere based artist. He spent his school years at Bury Grammar school, where all his energy went into his art classes. After leaving school he went on to study art, followed by 10 years working in the family wallpaper and fabric business, where he acquired skills with clients and their interior design aspirations.

  After having sold his paintings for many years in galleries across the country, his move to The Lake District has been a huge inspiration to the development of his work. He finds living in a such beautiful area with such variety local landscapes and ever changing weather conditions and skies a constant observation process.

  His studio is based at his Windermere home where he lives with his wife Emma, daughter Ava and their dogs. In his spare time he loves to get out on the Lake, where the surrounding elements feel so much more connected.

• Harry Brioche

  Harry was born in the Seychelles in 1965 of Creole and American parentage. The freedom and sense of adventure island life offered to him as a child was idyllic and wonderful. However this was brought to an abrupt end when his family was forced to flee the island and the Coup d’etat in 1977. Harry finally moved to England in 1980 with his parents and sister, and embraced his new land and culture. He has since happily settled in Cheshire with his wife Catherine and two little boys.

  Harry considers himself a self-taught artist despite attending College of Art. Following an ultimatum by his college lecturers to conform to the institutions style and methods of painting or leave, he made the brave move to go it alone. Harry went on to carve out a highly successful career as an illustrator and graphic designer with his company Tom Dick and Harry, working with world renowned brands including Dr Martens, Coca Cola and BAE Systems.

  From an early age Harry was captivated by the beauty and drama of the great British landscape and it’s ever changing skies, which are in sharp contrast to that of the Seychelles. This inspiration at such an early age was and continues to be ever present in his expansive, lyrical, majestic landscapes, which are a joy to behold.

  With his total commitment and passion for his art, and the creation of such beautiful pieces it is no surprise that his original paintings now hang in private and corporate collections around the world. Harry is undoubtedly assured of continued success and longevity.

  Harry’s work is regularly exhibited at the Mall Gallery in London through the NEAC, ROI and the RBA annual exhibitions. He has a full calendar of national and international exhibitions and shows planned for the year ahead.

• Alistair Brookes

  Alistair was born in a mining village in County Durham,  surrounded by imagery of mining and the community life which gives him a rich source of inspiration.
  
  Living in the Dales, Alistair says that he “finds the rural life full of characters.” Raku pottery is his main interest but he is also developing stoneware pottery.

• David Cemmick

  David Cemmick has been a freelance artist since his first sell-out solo exhibition in 1974, at the age of nineteen. Over the past four decades he has travelled extensively, gathering field experience and documenting scientific expeditions in some of the world’s remotest habitats. He has painted the ethno medicinal plants of Madagascar for Dr David Bellamy’s Conservation Foundation, illustrated two books focusing on the endangered Kakapo Parrot and Black Robin and the ground breaking conservation work of the New Zealand Wildlife Service and studied coral and fish communities on Jamaica’s Morant Cays coral atoll, whilst painting under water.

  These, and many other field expeditions, have helped fuel his deep respect and fascination for the animal world and given him the thirst to make ‘art’ from what he has seen in nature. From field sketch to finished painting, sculptures in bronze and clay, figurative sculptures and café sketches, this site explores the broad spectrum of David’s work.

  Living just outside the Lake District National Park, in the foothills of the Cumbrian Pennines of England, David is constantly inspired by the changing dramatic landscape and the abundance of nature he sees every day.

  
  
  

• Richard Clare

  Richard Clare is known for his colourful and dynamic paintings of Northern England, Italy and France. Many paintings are created from memory or sketches.

  An integral part of Richard's creative process involves walking and sketching within the landscape; soaking up the atmosphere. Back in the studio, inspired by his sketches and emotions he paints very quickly to get them down on canvas. Despite being colour blind, he sees this as an advantage and not a disability. “Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out on the colours that most people see, so I create my own world of colour in my paintings”.

  He has received significant media attention in both national and international magazines. In 2006 he became a finalist in an art competition organised by the International Artist Magazine. In 2001 he was a prize winner in The Laing National Landscape Painting Competition. Richard’s paintings are included in many private collections both within Britain and abroad

• Sophie Coe

  “I find inspiration almost anywhere but particularly in nature. Whether it’s the power of the sea, the wind through a grove of bamboo, sunlight through a canopy, the detail and structure of a leaf... There’s so much beauty around us, both the big views and the details, I’m in awe of it. I try to capture the mood, the wonder, the feeling of being there, the elements perhaps less visible with a passing glance.”
  
  Sophie works with various drawing, painting and printmaking techniques to create images largely inspired by nature. The freedom in her mark making gives an immediacy and energy to her work which itself exudes the simple calmness and beauty of the subjects that inspire it. After studying fine art, design and architecture Sophie worked in the UK, Asia and Australia before settling in London. Alongside a successful career in architecture, fine art remained a passion which over the years grew to take over as a full-time occupation. Having a background in architecture gives her an in depth understanding of buildings, interiors, client/designer relationships and collaborative design. Her work sells worldwide for both private collections and commercial interiors.
  
  “I have always loved design, creating things, and sometimes work collaboratively to solve a design brief for artwork specific to a project. Mostly though I work alone inspired by the beauty in nature, often with my own creative enquiries: How to express the rain? or the wind as it blows sand along a sea drenched beach... as it makes botanical shadows dance on a wall. How to express the movement of a wave, or the still timeless eternity of a mountain. There’s inspiration everywhere”

• John Connolly

  John studied Fine Art at Leeds College of Art before training as a Drama teacher. Since graduating in 1976, John has enjoyed an illustrious career in ‘the arts’ dividing his time between acting, writing and painting. John describes himself as a ‘Derbyshire based, Cornish artist’ - an expression of frustration at being a landlocked artist, whose first love is to paint the sea.

  John works mainly in acrylics and mixed media utilising a variety of found materials. Beach sand may be used to create an interesting texture in a landscape or to represent itself in a seascape. Dried grass, twigs, leaves and ferns have been known to appear (as themselves) in John’s landscape paintings.

• Malcolm Dobbins

  Malcolm is a professional artist and has painted since childhood. He describes himself as a contemporary painter and his work ‘Abstract Realism’. Notable inspirational influences include his mother and artists such as: Hans Hoffman, Howard Hodgkin and Keith Vaughan. Malcolm graduated in 1996 from The University of Sunderland with BA (Hons) in Fine Art and went on to gain a Masters Degree in Art & Design (2005).

  Time spent on colour combination and designing palettes is important to his process. He mostly uses analogous palettes on each collection and says “paintings look good hung together, when the colours in them relate to one another”. 

• Peter Dworok

  Born in Nottingham, Peter studied at Nottingham College of Art and then at Leeds Polytechnic Faculty of Art and Design. After leaving college Peter lived and worked on the Isle of Skye and later Edinburgh where he exhibited his work widely. On moving back to Nottinghamshire, Peter was employed by Nottinghamshire County Council to help establish Rufford Craft Centre. Over twenty five years later, Peter retired from his role at Rufford and has begun to put together a new body of work based on regular visits to the Isle of Skye, the North Yorkshire Moors, Derbyshire and the Lake District. 
  
  ‘I have always had an interest in the landscape, especially dramatic landscapes, those that have an underlying threat to human settlement. Where the line of the hills gets lost in a leaden, storm ridden sky and a glimpse of sunshine on the horizon promises a brief interlude to the wind and rain of a passing storm. It's these glimpses that I attempt to capture, the moment in time when the light creates an ephemeral landscape, a landscape in transition that a moment later would have changed completely. The Lakes have all of the landscape characteristics that I look for. They provide the backdrop to this changing drama of light and shade that I attempt to capture.
  The paintings, in oils, reflect the colour and tone that the weather brings to the landscape and the seasonal changes in mood and light. The paintings comprise of various layers of paint, the depth of tone and variation in texture being dependent upon the thickness of application. Other materials are used to create the textured surfaces that both contrast and compliment the areas created using more traditional painting techniques.’

• Derek Eland

  Derek Eland is a Cumbrian born artist who paints his native landscape from his studio in the Lake District. His farming family background and love of the fells gives him a distinctive and unique voice when interpreting these mountains and valleys: rich patterns and colours interspersed with farms and cottages. Derek has an MA in Contemporary Fine Art and has exhibited his work in public and private galleries throughout the UK and internationally. He has been awarded a number of art prizes and was an official British War Artist in Afghanistan in 2011 and in artist-in-residence at Everest Base Camp in 2016.

• Lyn Evans

  Lyn trained at Sunderland Collage of Fine Art in the 60’s. She now lives and works from her home in the Lake District. She has exhibited in galleries both national and international, notable examples include: Pittenweem Arts Festival, Edinburgh, London Mall Galleries, IWS Fabriano Slovenia and Italy. Her art work is also held in private collections in America, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany and the UK.

  “I'm strongly influenced by light, particularly low morning and evening, also the seasons particularly Autumn and Winter. I prefer to paint en plein air, I have been known to sit happily on a plastic bag in the snow to capture it’s beauty. 

  My pastels are impressionistic; I adore their immediacy and the chance to select a colour that is not always obvious. I use Unison, Ludwig and Henri Roché on sanded paper.

  In recent years I have started to explore abstract landscape, primarily using watercolour. I love that I'm not always in control; trust watercolour to do what it does best. I use exclusively Danial Smith pigments for their depth of colour and nonfading qualities.

  My influences are Edward Seago, Arthur Melville and Chien Chung Wei.”

• Martin Evans

  Martin Evans lives and works in Carlisle, he studied Graphic Design at the Cumbria Institute of the Arts; where he developed his eye for colour and composition. A self-taught painter, it's the pure joy of painting that drives his process. Cumbria has some of the most spectacular landscape in the UK, and he's constantly inspired by this. Martin's work has been exhibited widely and most recently has had work selected for the prestigious 2020 Discerning Eye Exhibition. His work can be found in private collections across the UK and worldwide.

  "The main theme running through my landscapes is the exploration of paint and colour to capture the atmosphere of a place and time. My inspiration comes from the changing seasons or shifting light at a specific time. My focus is capturing a contemporary impression and not an exact representation. I always stand at my easel and work fast, because I want my work to have immediacy and energy. Spray paint drips and brush marks are incorporated as I want my work to celebrate the paint itself. The tools I use include: large brushes, spray paint and rollers; these are very fluid so it allows the paint freedom to move around the surface. I explore scale within my work and how my techniques can transfer depending on size. My largest painting is a 5.5m x 3m outdoor mural, and my smaller pieces are 20cm x 20cm."

• Venus Griffiths

  Venus started her creative career with a scholarship to Wakefield Art College after which she was employed as a Technical Illustrator. Until eventually deciding to leave work and became a full-time mother. After her children had grown-up, she returned to her own education; completing a Foundation Fine Arts course at Trent Polytechnic and later qualifying as an art teacher. Venus moved to Keswick in 1988 and started a teaching position at Lairthwaite Adult Education Centre. This led to setting up her home studio and works in varying media which include: oils, watercolours, acrylics and mono-screenprints.

  "I cannot remember a time when I have not felt the desire to draw or paint. I paint with acrylics and watercolours and also produce mono screen prints. Each discipline requires a different approach which is exciting and demanding. I am still thrilled and often amazed how an idea in my mind develops into a finished piece of work.

  Many people have asked where the name Venus came from, I was named after my maternal grandmother, and to the relief of my daughters the name has not been inflicted on the next generation."

• Patricia Haskey

  Patricia loves to absorb the atmosphere of places and the landscapes and landmarks of the North West where she is based provide the stimulus for much of her work. She is inspired and excited by the changing characteristics of the elements, when details of architecture, land and sky emerge as transient moments, caught in shifting patterns of light and colour. 

  Patricia's work is held in the House of Lords Permanent Art Collection, in the Head Office of Cadbury and in private national and international collections in Europe, America and Australia.

  She is represented by galleries in the North West and takes part in exhibitions in the region and across the UK, with shows in N. Yorkshire, Newcastle, Edinburgh and London. In 2004, she represented artists from the North West of England in the Summer Exhibition in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden.

• Philippa Headley

  Philippa is a full time artist who paints contemporary land and seascapes using traditional oil painting techniques. She has a diploma from the Royal Society of Arts, graduating from Christies in 1989.

  Philippa’s art is held in private collections located in: Europe, America and Australia.

  “Nothing can be better than being surrounded by the drama of a landscape. Firstly absorbing the landscape through experience, its surprises and never ending vistas by walking and looking – always feeling a response to the challenge of being able to translate this beauty onto a canvas. Secondly when considering subject matter a myriad of choices are always available for selection, a distant mountain, a solitary tarn, clouds scudding across the horizon or sun glinting off the rocks. Now back in the studio, I consolidate my thoughts using the studies, photos and reference material gathered plein air and planning starts in earnest.  The technique of painting then has to be combined with the source material in a way that maintains the freshness of the initial response. Further studies then ensue to test the composition before considering the colour palette to be selected to best reflect the intention and brush can be put to canvas.  The true creativity starts which is always part mystery part planned.  Adjustments and reactions to the overall compositional image being made as part of the process towards the finished artwork “ - Philippa

• Alex Hinge

• Freya Horsley

  ‘Led by my responses to landscape, light and weather and also by the process of painting itself, I make paintings that refer to both the permanent elemental nature of land and a more ephemeral sense of fluidity and change. In drawings made on the spot and in larger paintings in the studio, I try to capture the intangibility of the changes which rain, mist, sunlight, cloud, snow bring to the face of the land.
  I am increasingly exploring in greater depth the relationship between what is being painted and how it comes about, how much is real place and how much painted space. Drawing and making notes outside in the landscape allows me to instil in my mind a feeling of a place with its sights and sounds. However, the separation involved in making the paintings back in the studio is equally important to allow me to approach the work freely, as a painting rather than as a detailed geographical record. In the first stages of a painting, I pour and drip very liquid paint, manipulating it by tilting and moving the support on the floor and easel. Gradually I refine this process, responding to the marks and to my own sense of the space that emerges. I also often use wax, collage and other media alongside the veils of thin acrylic and oil paint, to explore these different levels of looking and ways of experiencing a place and space.’

• Janet Kenyon

  Janet Kenyon is a multi-award winning watercolour artist, whose gained an enviable reputation for her innovative techiques; which capture both natural and artificial light with outstanding precision.

  In 1975 she studied for two years at Bolton College of Art & Design. In 1977 she moved away from Bolton to study at Leeds Polytechnic and later gained a B.A. Hons. in Graphic Design. It was here she began to experiment in watercolour and ever since as continued to push the boundaries of this challenging medium

  Janet has received an impressive number of accolades, including winner of the Sunday Times/Smith & Williamson Cityscape Prize. Her distinctive landscapes have been exhibited in many notable galleries including: The Mall Galleries, The Royal Scottish Academy and The Lowry Gallery.

• Andrew Kinmont

  Andrew graduated from University of Wales with a Fine Art honours degree, with further training from St Martins College London and West Dean College. Since then his work has met with critical acclaim and is collected both nationally and abroad. He's featured in the notable “Who’s Who in Art’ (Movern Press), is an elected member of the prestigious Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, as well as the Manchester Academy of Fine Art. His work has appeared on the cover of various magazines and catalogues and is regularly selected for the Royal Institute of Oil Painters annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries, London. He currently lives and works in Cheshire.

  'As humans we have evolved from nature and therefore have a deeply ingrained physical and spiritual connection with it. I create paintings as a response to my own experience of landscape. I constantly experiment with a range of techniques to evoke the raw experience of nature. The resultant paintings are as much about my feelings and the atmosphere of a place as they are about how it looks. As a result they are not always ‘realistic’ and can be quite abstract. This is important as it allows viewers to bring their own interpretation and experience to the work.'

• Angela Lawrence

  Angela lives and paints in Scotland, but was born in London and worked in Finland for many years. She has always painted but her training has principally been as a musician: before becoming a full-time artist, she was a professional violinist who worked freelance in London orchestras and full-time in the Joensuu City Orchestra in Finland.

  “Much of my work portrays the beauty of Galloway and the Solway coast of South West Scotland which I have come to know very well through my passion for walking. I aim to conjure up my impressions from being by the sea or up a mountain mainly with attention to light and with naturalistic, vibrantly fresh colours. All of my paintings are about the natural world. Some themes are more abstract, such as “Reflections” and “Sea Spirits”, while the seascapes and landscapes are more representational, aiming for recognition in terms of location and also in a sense of “being there”. I enjoy the changing mood and light and the distant allure of the horizon. Recently I have also been exploring mountain heights in the English Lake District, where giddy viewpoints, rapidly changing atmosphere and cloud shadow are so dramatic.

  In oils, I prefer to paint quickly, “alla prima”, as the immediacy corresponds well to the fresh outdoor subjects. Detail is carefully added in so as not to overwhelm, but to enhance texture and perspective, and I subtly transform locations for an effective composition, to bring out something of interest or to heighten a feeling of connection or mood.”

• Gill Lee

• Howard Levitt

  Howard studied and graduated in art and design, specialising in illustration, at Manchester in the mid 1970's.

  He initially worked as an illustrator of books and advertising agencies in London before relocating to Cheshire, where he continued as a full-time commercial illustrator.

  With the decline of the use of traditional illustration and the advent of CGI; Howard turned his attention to painting and drawing landscapes for his own enjoyment and private commissions. He's a member of the High Peak Artists in Derbyshire.

• Susan Lincoln

  Susan Lincoln was born on the North East coast of England and has had a passion for 'the arts' from an early age. Susan moved to Cumbria over 30 years ago after being attracted by the rugged fells of the Lake District. Her work features creative idyllic elements, which have been directly inspired by her surroundings. Her African Grey Parrot usually sits on her shoulder, offering advice as she paints.

  “I like my work to have a happy or magical element to it. Art should make you smile as well as think. I feel I have the perfect career. When I'm painting everything seems right, the outside world falls away and I am immersed in my own subject and experience. When starting each new painting I visualise in my mind the key elements of the work and paint directly onto the canvas. I use acrylics because they dry very quickly. Every painting is a challenge for pleasure and enjoyment.”

• Delcia McNeil

  As well as being a practising artist, Delcia is a psychotherapist and energy healer; having worked in the field of mental and physical health for over forty years.

  Together with her love for nature and landscape, she's deeply connected to emotional processes which include: movement, form, light and colour of subtle energies. Her paintings are inspired by metaphysical and human themes such as: healing, spirituality and the unconscious mind. She is constantly open to new ways of creating and perceiving.

• Fiona Millar

  Originally specialising in picture framing and hand finishes, Fiona started painting in the early 2000s and currently works in the Scottish Borders.

  Her work is strongly influenced by the rolling hills and coastlines of Galloway, where she spent a lot of her childhood. The subjects included in her still life paintings are a mixture of real objects from her home and accumulated memories of idyllic pastures . Fiona is entirely self-taught and has developed a unique style which people recognize and usually attribute to Art Deco work from the 1930s. 

• Andrea Mosey

  Andrea is a landscape artist who works exclusively in oils, utilising a mix of brush and palette knife techniques. Through her paintings, Andrea aims to tell stories through colour, light and shade. She uses a combination of first-hand reference and imagination to construct her work, leaving something for the viewer to interpret.

  Working from her studio at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire. Andrea focuses on big skies and dramatic landscapes of rural Britain, which capture a special quality of light. She's particularly inspired by the Yorkshire countryside, she paints both land and seascape images which are evocative and peaceful.

  Winner of the British Contemporary Art Award in 2023

• Chris Mouncey

  Chris was born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, in 1954. After starting a family he moved to Durham and has lived there since 1982. Chris is a proficient watercolourist he specialises in land and seascapes; with an interest in ever-changing weather conditions and luminous qualities of light.

  His work has been exhibited widely within the UK and a few notable examples include: Grey College, University of Durham and Warcop Army Field Training Centre in Cumbria. Chris has recently completed a commission for The Duchy of Lancaster.

• Marjorie Park

  Marjorie Park lives and works in Northwest England and has established herself as a Cumbrian artist. Ancient drystone boundaries, shepherds and the fells are intrinsic to her practice and offer a constant source of first-hand inspiration. Primarily sketching and painting en plein air allows a direct connection to the landscape and weather; which inspire evocative and spontaneous expression. 

• Mark Pearce

  Mark trained as a graphic designer before working professionally as a designer. Shortly after this he went on to win a silver award with the D&AD (Design and Art Directors Club of Great Britain) for the first greeting stamps issued by the Royal Mail. During his career as a design director he created and worked on many brands including: Vodafone, the BBC and Unilever. After a stint at night-club ownership, Mark setup a studio on the banks of the Ravenglass Estuary. This is where he practices his passion for painting and printmaking.

• Janette Phillips

  Janette, a member of the Lake Artists Society, is well known for her expressive painting and joyful use of colour. Her distinctive style seems to sum up the optimism and hope of the natural world, with inspiration drawn from the mesmeric Cumbrian coastlines, vast estuaries and majestic fells that surround her studio.
  
  ‘The sparkling abundance of nature inspires me daily as I take my cues from the natural world; flowers, landscape, scents and even sounds. I love to work with a variety of art mediums including oil paint, inks, pastels, watercolours and collage. Colour is always
  predominant in my work, I simply cannot suppress my urge to use it and why would I want to! My use of colour seems to have the power to lift moods and carve positive spaces into people’s homes and this transformative effect still thrills me. Following degrees in Design, Art History and Fine Art my creative practice today is underpinned with time spent drawing, looking, photographing, musing. I’m thankful for the strong foundation upon which I constructed my own creative world. I’ve been a professional artist for 20 years and it still surprises me how much I still have left to do.’

• Nick Potter

  Nick was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire (of 'crooked spire' fame) in 1959. Despite attaining an 'A' in art at ‘A’ Level he was encouraged to go to University rather than Art School. He studied Archaeology at Leicester University followed by a P.G.C.E.   

  He now lives on the Northumberland and works in his garden studio to the background of ‘Audio books’. These are often unabridged and can last up to 17 hours. He is so attuned to this way of working that he cannot paint without them. Whilst Nick is extremely versatile when it comes to media, he prefers to work in acrylics and acrylic inks for their facile temperament and quick- drying properties.

• Eddie Potts

• David Raine

  'Among the great passions of my life, two that pertain to my current body of work are the need for creating, and the love of exploring the natural world. For as long as I can remember, I have found joy playing in rivers, the sea, in woods, and on mountains.
  It has, therefore, only been a very natural progression for me to start to paint the beauty of the English Lake District when I moved with my family to the area in 2020. As a Christian, I believe God made the wonderful things of the world for us to enjoy, and to reflect something of his glory. The Lake District is certainly one of these truly beautiful things. I have been captivated by the splendour of the English Lakes and have sought to celebrate this beauty in a series of works exploring light, reflection, and grandeur. The places I have chosen to paint are all specific places where I have spent hours enjoying the environment before me. Whether is through wild swimming, mountain climbing, scrambling, paddle boarding, or simply by sitting in the sun and basking in the landscape.
  
  Through my painting practice, I enjoy the challenge of pushing my technical skill and mastery of the craft. This has recently been in seeking to describe the reflections and translucency of water with light hitting it, or the varieties of rich textures in vegetation against the smoothness of a still lake through experimenting with the marks I use and the ways I can manipulate the paint on the surface of his works.
  
  The places I have found to be inherently beautiful in the area I live, I have sought to share with others through my paintings. My great hope is that as the viewer spends time in front of my work, through my own practice of careful focus and attention to detail, they are transported to the specific times and places I spent enjoying the scene and they too can soak in the beauty and splendour of the place. Alfred Wainwright said, 'The hills have a power to soothe and heal which is their very own... ...and no one ever came down from the hills without feeling in some way refreshed, and the better for his experience.” I am seeking for an echo of this refreshment to be ever present in my work.'
  
  
  Fine Art BA Hons, De Montfort University Leicester, specialising in painting, graduated 2005
  Swansea Institute Higher Education, PGCE in Art education
  Art teaching in a sencondary school in Peterborough, 2007 - 2020
  Head of the Art department, 2013 - 2020
  Exhibited in group shows alongside my teaching, 2005 - 2020
  Won the Attenborugh prize for contemporary Art in 2012
  Late 2020, moved to the North West to focus on family and devote his time more fully to painting the landscapes of the area.

• Alan Richmond

  Alan Richmond was born in 1960 in the Hertfordshire village of Welwyn, moved to Hawick in the Scottish borders in 1969 and has lived there ever since, and has come to love Scotland, especially the highlands and islands. He's a self-taught painter with a keen eye for transitional weathered textures and capturing the interplay of light and form.

  "A love of paintings and pictures probably goes back to early school days, where our school encouraged play as a way to learn, great fun, but we played more than we learnt. That all changed in Hawick, where fortunately Maths and English were more important. Until third year in high school, when I was able to choose A level art, with 8 out of 40 periods a week, and a great teacher.

  My goal is to create images that are suggested, to give a feeling or impression, rather than literal depiction, giving enough information to be a landscape, whilst aiming to go beyond the immediately obvious, leaving as much as possible to the imagination of the individual viewer."

• Maggie Robinson ASWA

  Maggie’s bold contemporary landscapes are inspired by her early years growing up on the North Yorkshire Moors in a large musical family; despite gaining a Bachelor's degree in Education, she's developed a distinctive style and is entirely self taught. Her ‘Music of the landscape’ series, is a collection of work in which each piece is developed through the exploration of the musical qualities of: melody, harmony and rhythm found in our beautiful countryside.

  Recently Maggie developed an indoors series entitled 'A moment in time' in which she forcuses on still-life subjects. These are both charming and spontaneous using the same techniquse as found in her landscapes.

  Maggie is a member of MAFA (Manchester Academy of Fine Art) recently she been elected as an Associate Member of the Society of Women Artists , she exhibits regularly with The Royal Society of British Artists and The Society of Women Artists both in the Mall Galleries London.

• Mary Sanders

  Mary Sanders is a contemporary abstract painter, whose inspired by the atmosphere and features of rugged landscapes; in particular the fells of the Lake District where she lives and works. It's the emotional response and memory of place which ignites her paintings.

  Mary's work reflects an interest in: colour, texture, movement and mark making. Her practice mainly utilises acrylics and mixed media but experimentation with techiques and materials is fundamental to her art. Her process begins by immersing herself in the landscape and responding with sketches fuelled by a multi-sensory approach.

• Anna Sharpe

  Anna Sharpe is an experienced alpinist and her innate love of the mountain landscape is clearly demonstrated in her work. The Lake District holds a special place within her creative practice and has lived here since childhood.

  Her passion for mountainous landscapes has taken her across the world from climbing peaks in the Alps, to trekking passes in the Himalayas. Each holding a unique power, beauty and personality. Anna's work recongises an interaction between a physical and spiritual connection to our beloved mountain landscapes

  "I now recognise both climbing and art to be ways of interacting with the ‘more-than-human’ world. In a time when the environment is frequently mistreated as a resource, I look to reawaken our physical and spiritual connections to it."

• Rob Shaw

  The story of Rob Shaw’s career as an artist is truly incredible. Rob was born in Derbyshire where he was failed for art at school so he didn’t consider his future to be in painting and instead he chose to became an Interior Architect, - “apparently architects don’t need to draw”

  Rob studied at Newcastle College and Teesside University and graduated in 1997 with a First-Class Honours Degree. He then went on to pursue a successful career in Interior Architecture both here and abroad. Rob’s parents relocated to North Yorkshire in 1994 and bought a cottage high up on Boulby Cliff, overlooking the fishing village of Staithes. Rob fell in love with this absolutely beautiful village and began to paint it. It’s Staithes which has continued to inspire Rob’s art work no matter where he has lived in the country and that’s where his successful career as a professional artist was born. Rob returned to live in Staithes in 2007 and began to paint full time. Since then Rob has also exhibited large Cityscapes in New York, London and Tokyo and exhibited and sold art work at the Royal Academy in their annual Summer Show.

  Until recently Staithes Gallery would be the only gallery who represented Rob in the UK. After recent visits to the Lake District Rob decided to explore landscape in his art as well as coastal scenes and what better place to do it then the Lakes. We are thrilled that he chosen Old Courthouse Gallery to display his beautiful paintings. 

  Rob has also appeared on TV several times.

  The One Show

  Countryfile 

  Robson Greens Coastal Lives

  Antiques Road Trip

• John Sibson

  John Sibson lives in Cumbria having spent his youth in the north of England, earlier in Westmorland and later on Tyneside. An earlier career in mining and quarrying took him to North Wales, Northern Ontario and the Rockies in Canada, the Highlands of Scotland and then Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. It was here that he took up watercolour painting and quickly began to make a name with his distinctive style.
  
  He soon had a number of one-man and shared exhibitions in the Yorkshire area, and became an elected member and subsequently Chairman of the Yorkshire Watercolour Society. This led to exhibiting pictures three times in the Houses of Parliament, and at other times in Westminster, and as far afield as Poland.
  
  John's main subject matter has been the hills and dales of the North of England and the historic market towns and cities of the area. The portrayal of the buildings within their landscape is his particular speciality.

• Geoffrey Smith

  Geoffrey Smith was born in Manchester in 1945 and studied illustration at Cheshire Collage of Art. His preferred medium is oils working on a gesso prepared panel or stretched canvas. He has painted a wide range of subjects, but in recent years has concentrated on hares, barn owls and herdwick sheep; using light to create an atmosphere whether moonlight, sunset or misty dawn. He currently lives and paints in Ambleside. 

• Annie Turner

  Annie holds a BA Hons in Fine Art from the University of Gloucestershire (2004). She's recently held a solo exhibition at the Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal (2017). Prior to that she has exhibited in Germany, Italy and the North of England.

  She currently works as an art teacher and technician.

  ‘There's a balance between letting the materials produce magic moments within the painting and then taking control. The way I work pushes the possibilities of the materials and challenges me to take uncomfortable risks throughout the development of the painting. I do not know how the painting will develop and have to trust the process and make mistakes along the way. Some paintings take months to resolve and go through various stages before they finally come out the other side. I work with collage, paint, stitch, mark making, resin and oil bards and am influenced by my life experiences, the amazing landscapes around me and by maps, networks and symbols.’

  Annie’s latest work has been influenced by the floods which affected Cumbria recently.

• Amanda Watson

  Amanda is a Yorkshire born contemporary artist with a particular passion for rural landscapes and the sea. She attended the Leeds College of Art, before completing her bachelor degree in Fine Art from the University of Leeds.

  "Being mainly inspired by the natural world I seek solitude and wild places, being drawn to the landscapes of the Lakes, Yorkshire Dales, Moors and the sea. I’m particularly interested in the effects passing weather systems have on land and water, setting the mood of a place.

  My paintings and drawings are an attempt to recreate the sensations and experiences I have whilst out, a fleeting moment that etches itself on one’s memory. How to render that in paint is the constant challenge I do actually relish; technically which potions and mediums when mixed with paint and applied to a board or canvas will allow me to create an object that evokes a particular memory. At the moment I’m enjoying pushing the materials to find new ways to represent the fleeting experience. I tend to revisit a place, getting to know it. I find I can then work without visual reference, allowing a way of working which is fully focused on the painting."

• Chantelle Watson

  I was born in Cape Town to my mother, the daughter of a sheep farmer, and my father, an English chef. I grew up in the shadow of the majestic Table Mountain and remember letting my imagination run wild as I conjured up faces and shapes within its contours.

  Since I was a child, I’ve always felt a strong connection to nature, be it with the sea or exploring the mountains in Southern Africa. I always felt I saw more than others with shapes, angles, colours…

  In 1999 I was accepted into an advertising and graphic design college. It turned out 

  I had very strong conceptual design and thinking skills. I won various bursaries and was the top student throughout college. 

  Creativity has always been like a best friend to me and a saving grace during difficult times in my life. I’ve had a wide range of experience in the creative industry, and I’ve dabbled in photography, above and below-the-line advertising, design, conceptualisation, illustration, and packaging… but something was missing. 

  In 2017 I had a go at my first painting of trees on a large canvass for my husband as a Christmas gift. I had never touched a canvas before and I had next to no experience of acrylic paint, other than finger painting as a child! It was an amazing experience, and something happened that inspired me.

  Since then, I’ve found a place in painting where my spirit feels at home. I visit the Lakes and the coast with my husband and 2 sons many times a year, where I feel myself melt into the landscapes and its surroundings. I photograph the beauty I see and feel, absorb the energy from mountains, gasp at the colours, wildness, and power of the natural world I stand within at that moment. These are times when I feel all my senses are at their peak. 

  When I return to our beautiful home in the Surrey Hills, I paint not only what I saw, but I’m inspired by what and how I felt too. I become the mountains, the sky, the clouds, the movement in the water and grass. How they are so different but joined to form a landscape. I feel a freedom and a connection to these elements through the paint and how I put it onto the canvas. It’s not just a painting, it’s a part of me and I love it.

• Simon Whitfield

  Simon Whitfield is a landscape artist born in Bristol. Self-taught, studying works by the romantic painters of the 19th century, such as William Turner. Simon’s life as an artist is one of constant adventure and renewal; an ongoing process of discovery. Influenced by British fell walker and author Alfred Wainwright, Simon aims to discover the many visual aspects of the Lake District, his subjects are inspired by the rocks, crags and high fell views across the Lake District National Park.

• Frances Winder

  "As an artist, the fleeting qualities of light and colour excite me. I am trying to grasp the internal qualities, the essential mood and spirit of place. Sometimes I use a straightforward, representational approach, but increasingly I am exploring the abstract. I love to experiment with texture and colour and follow themes and ideas of work, large and small"