The featured artist for October is Christine Taylor.

“I studied industrial design and typography at Dunstable College and went on to work in London design agencies. I then moved to Brighton and became creative director of Choccywoccydoodah, an artistic chocolaterie that featured in several TV series.

Just prior to the pandemic I moved to Alford and rediscovered my love of drawing and illustration. I mainly work in pen and ink on canvas.

My inspiration is my daily life, the woodlands, the Fens, the Wolds, the market towns and the friendly communities of Lincolnshire. There is a wealth of inspiring views, people and architecture here and I have only just discovered it.”

The featured artists for September are SARAH ALLEN and TAMSIN HUNKIN

Sarah and Tamsin met at the Big Skies Arts Festival, hosted here at the Riverhead Theatre last year.

Tamsin had submitted her first fabric collage to the exhibition that Sarah was curating. They realised that they were both entering / re-entering into arts practice in a similar tentative way and they challenged one another to aim for a shared exhibition. This is the result!

Lainy is an artist and musician from Yorkshire who now lives in Louth.

Before painting any subject, Lainy prepares an abstract canvas. She makes many different marks, often with found objects and other unusual tools, using only a few colours.

The subject, be it person, animal or place, is allowed to live within the abstract background without obscuring it. Using the same limited colour palette, both subject and background merge organically together to tell the story.

“A number of the paintings on show are some thirty or forty years old, made at a time when I was teaching Fine Art full time. They are based on encounters with people and places, and in a way make permanent all that is impermanent. There is a kind of objectivity about them painted in a representational and traditional manner.

More recent paintings such as Woodmans Cottage, Bag Enderby and Park House, Hagworthingham are acknowledgments to living and walking in the Wolds. They are responses to places at particular moments in time, abstracting and representing feelings and memories, and attempting to capture a sense of place.”

Originally from Yorkshire but resident in Lincolnshire for seventeen years, Richard has been drawing and painting for as long as he can remember. Largely self-taught but with a foundation year in Fine Art, he more recently completed a year-long diploma in oil painting at the Norfolk Painting School.

Curiosity is central to his work and he likes to paint quickly and to create something that is fresh, arresting and alive. Oil paint is his preferred medium but he also occasionally likes to use acrylics, watercolour and mixed media. This is Richard’s first solo exhibition in Louth and he has therefore included a varied mix of landscapes, florals and portraits to show the range of subjects he tackles.

“I am a Lancashire Lass whose home for the last 27 years has been Lovely Louth. I was allowed to pass my O-Level Art at the age of 12 years and then left doing art altogether. I started painting again many years later.

I love the challenge of trying to capture a scene on board, canvas or paper, with acrylic or watercolour paint. I especially enjoy doing small and miniature paintings. I try and paint every day in my compact and messy studio and would much rather paint than do anything else.”

Claire says “I grew up in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds, surrounded by wildlife, inspiring my love of nature and my passion for horses, which were always around me.

Although I loved painting, I never had any formal art training, studying instead to be a nurse, and when the opportunity arose I took up painting again, turning to watercolours.

I am kept busy with commissions, which often challenge me to do something different.”

Wendy says “I am an experimental artist who works with any medium to reach an end goal, whatever that might be. This body of work in acrylics is worked on box canvases and explores nature, delicacy and detail, questioning perfectionism.

I explore line, form and colour using different techniques giving me a sense of “am I good enough?” I love the bright bold colours, minimalistic style and variety of line work which has slowly begun to emerge in my work.”

“My academic background is in Fine Art, having gained a BA (Hons) in 1982 at Hornsey College of Art, North London, working in a wide variety of media.

My main interests are in capturing images of everyday life, particularly through portraits and figurative work. I enjoy using printmaking and painting as my main chosen media, but I also love to explore other forms of art.

Tony has been drawing all his life. His interest and career in architecture and conservation has led him to pursuing, in later life, his creativity into artistry using different techniques and styles. He has exhibited widely in the East Midlands and undertakes commission work as well as teaching individuals or groups.

He enjoys working in watercolour, oil, acrylic, pen & ink and pastels, and likes to paint outdoors, on site and does a lot of his work on larger canvases.

Tracey is a member of the Lincolnshire Artists Society and her work has been exhibited in the Usher Gallery in Lincoln, the Ferens Gallery in Hull and at the Millennium Galleries in Sheffield.

“My painting journey continues with this exhibition showing both sides of my personality. On the one hand my love of nature and Landscapes, and Lizzie with her emotionally charged Abstracts”

Both established and accomplished artists, Avril and David’s works are well known to Lincolnshire collectors and to many more from much further afield. This exhibition encompasses Avril’s richly painted floral studies and David’s recent ventures into abstract and more impressionist work, in contrast to his familiar architectural works and pictures of local scenes.

The Group was originally started as a sketching group under the umbrella of the U3A over twenty years ago. It has now evolved to include all would-be artists of various skills, sharing their expertise, learning and growing in experience and confidence.

This exhibition is an example of the work done in our sessions over recent times. Although COVID disrupted our usual routines, the group has got back to strength and up to twenty of us meet on Friday afternoons at the Trinity Centre in Louth, to paint or draw in a creative and friendly atmosphere.

“The good painter has to paint two principal things, that is to say, Man and the intention of his mind. The first is easy and the second difficult, because the latter has to be represented through gestures and movements of the limbs”

This quote sums up what inspires me to create the work I do.

Daniel paints a variety of subjects in a range of media (oil, acrylic, watercolour) and for this exhibition, in pastel.

Originally trained in graphic design with a career in web technology, his relocation to rural Lincolnshire reinvigorated his love of fine art.

He now dedicates his free time to painting small collections for personal exhibitions in local galleries.

Mick says “I am a self-taught artist working in oils and pastels. I started painting after taking early retirement from British Gas, in the late 90’s. I paint almost any subject, but not many landscapes.

My favourite subjects are Motor Racing and Rock stars (especially from the 1960s). Oil is my favourite medium although I do a lot of Pet portraits in pastel. I am happy to accept commissions on almost any subject and I also offer workshops in pastels, frequently to art groups.”

Terry says “as a child I was always drawing, particularly boats. At the age of 20, I gained a place at Bradford Art College, however the social and economic constraints at the time precluded me from attending. My parents considered that it was not a serious occupation to become an artist and that I would not be able to contribute financially to the household. I held on to my dream, however, and eventually 50 years later I gained a BA in Fine Art at Grimsby Institute, graduating in 2013.”

“I am a Lancashire Lass whose home for the last 26 years has been Lovely Louth. I was allowed to pass my Art O-Level at the age of 12 years old and then left doing art altogether. I started painting again many years later, as respite whilst looking after my terminally ill father. My family bought me some watercolour lessons in Cleethorpes…and I was hooked! I have now sold over one thousand paintings.

I love the challenge of trying to capture a scene on board, canvas or paper, with acrylic or watercolour paint. I especially enjoy doing small and miniature paintings. I try and paint every day in my compact messy studio and would much rather paint than do anything else. I’m inspired by work that makes me feel emotion and I love paintings that transport me to another place and tell a story.

Jacob is a young practising artist, living and working in Lincolnshire. He recently completed a Fine Art course at Nottingham Trent University and was the runner-up in last year’s Riverhead Art Competition with his painting of the theatre exterior.

Jacob began painting for his own healing from the loss of a loved one. Now, years later, his works reflect the perspective and wisdom he has gained along his journey. In the works that he has painted for this exhibition he is attempting to tap into the invisible and abstract experience of what it is to be human, in all its pain and beauty.