Exhibitions of My Work You can go to in May and June

Along with the opening up from lockdown I am finding that exhibitions are coming thick and fast!

‘As We See It’

On Monday I am at The Old Parsonage, Stenner Lane, Didsbury, M20 2RQ hanging an exhibition called ‘As We See It’. This will be a hybrid exhibition. There is to be a virtual tour online. I will provide a link to this once it is available. The exhibition will also be open for actual eyeball to art viewing on the following dates:- Sunday 22nd May, Saturday, Sunday and Monday 29th to 31st May, 10am to 4pm. We are also able to organise a tour by request on Sundays 9th and 16th May. Please contact me if you would like one of these.

This is a joint exhibition of work with Sara Stabb. Sara has shared a studio with me for two years and we have been friends for a long time. She is now approaching her ninth decade and has decided that now is the time to have a home studio. Her part of the exhibition is a retrospective of her art over the years.

My contribution to the exhibition is almost the opposite. It features work that I have created during since the start of 2019. I have found solace in my art through the hard times of the pandemic and have found a change in my usual focus. There has been more home working for me which has meant drawing rather than painting. I have drawn a large series of drawings of familiar places, mainly in Manchester. I found them quite comforting to draw. Something that was not changing when the world felt somewhat dystopian. There is also a self portrait and two Manchester paintings.

‘Opening Up’

New Solo Exhibition – ‘Opening Up’ at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham, 18th May to 26th June

My solo exhibition called ‘Opening Up’ starts on 18th May and runs for six weeks, Tuesday to Saturday, finishing on Saturday 26th June at Castle Park Arts Centre, Frodsham.

This exhibition responds to the themes of the pandemic. When I have had access to my studio I have found myself wanting to paint more figuratively than I usually do, responding to what has been happening and I am including two of my older paintings which seemed totally appropriate to the theme of the pandemic.

This is an exhibition of expressive and often hopeful art. It features domestic and figurative paintings and external, landscapes. There are drawings and paintings of what I was missing, for example crowds in the street, going out for lunch or to the theatre and of favourite places such as the sea and landscapes that could not be visited but which I hope to return to when restrictions ease.

To those of you who are not familiar with Castle Park it is well worth a trip and can provide you with a lovely day out. There are three art galleries, a covered courtyard where you lunch and refreshments are served and a very nice park, the once private gardens of the Castle Park mansion, for a pleasant stroll.

‘A Year of Wondering’

Last but not least, must be a mention of the very lovely Peak District Artisans exhibition ‘A Year of Wondering’. Many of the artists from this group are showing work, often different to their usual work, that has been made in response to the pandemic. The exhibition is on show at The Mechanics Institute, Eyam, from Saturday 29th to Monday 31st May, 10 am til 5pm. My contribution to this is my five portraits of NHS staff, which I painted as a thank you to each of them, for their work during the pandemic.