We Meet The Kenilworth Artists

 We appreciate art in all it many forms, so going along to the Kenilworth Artists’ exhibition held in St John’s Church, Kenilworth, was a great morning out. Not least to see people actually getting out and about once more – following Government guidelines, obviously, but because of the amazing talent all in one room. The exhibition is on until Sunday 4^th July 2021.

You’ll find displays of hand-crafted items including paintings, ceramics, glass, mosaics, textiles, prints, cards and much more. And of course, you’ll have the opportunity to meet and chat to many of the artists about their work.

While the majority of the artists in this group have long been involved in their particular craft, the group as a whole only got together a few years ago. As individual artists, the majority of these talented people knew each other or knew of each other’s work, but many hadn’t met or joined together for an art event. 

Thanks to Jo Ricketts who works in fused glass, plus a handful of the artists, they organised the group Kenilworth Artists, which now has a strong presence on social media, and of course come together to put on fabulous exhibitions for the public.

Holding their current exhibition in the tranquil setting of 19^th century St John’s Church, is a perfect venue amid the sandstone arches and stained-glass windows. They have ensured that lockdown restrictions and safeguards are all adhered to, ensuring a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere on the opening day. Visitors could happily browse the artwork, talk to the artists, and even have tea and cake.

The work on display was incredibly varied; paintings included watercolours, acrylic and oils; from the brilliant wildlife and landscape works in all those mediums by Chris R. Saunderson, to the wide variety of photography and artwork created by Natalie Thurman.

As mentioned, Jo Ricketts makes the most beautiful and unique ornaments and decorative pieces from fused glass – working with flat glass and a kiln, her skills produce outstanding work. 

Also, creating artwork that captures the attention is Kevin Alexander whose tools include a credit card and masking tape as much as a paintbrush!

In their normal working life, two artists – Helen Jayne Woodcock and Karen Pittaway, share Karen’s studio in Old Town Kenilworth. Helen creates stunning fine art paintings, often of the streets, buildings and landscapes of Kenilworth amongst other settings. While Karen’s unique paintings have an influence of L.S.Lowry about them yet full of colour, light and fine detail which speaks of the story-teller in her.

Captivated by the unusual perspective of her latest ‘lockdown’ paintings of the Kenilworth street she lives on, Karen explained to me: “These have been such strange times, I wanted these paintings to look a bit strange – a bit disorientating, hence the bending of buildings. And one shows the people out in the street, clapping the NHS. To get the perspective of distance and what can actually be seen far off, I’ve found that looking at Google Earth helps!”

Husband and wife artists Anna and Richard Poynter were both exhibiting their paintings and hand-crafted works. Richard, making sleek wooden clocks and Anna making mosaics of wildlife amongst other things. And while both clearly shared a love of painting, their own personalities shone through in their individual styles of work.

Leanne Simmons’ passion for wildlife and nature is evident in her almost dreamy paintings in oils and watercolours. She says that she strives to produce vibrant, emotion-provoking pieces of art. Something which I have to say, she certainly achieves.

Meanwhile, Louise Hutton exhibited some stunning portraits – not least was her version of David Bowie’s iconic Ziggy Stardust look. She also creates large acrylic paintings of cars such as the Aston Martin and famous celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Amy Winehouse and George Harrison in a pop art style.

Finally, for our visit we chatted to Melanie Dearing, a trained architect who has been painting all her life, but recently has been concentrating on boats and harbours for their shapes and colours. Her striking canvasses revealed the fact that she is currently painting in just five colours – red, yellow, blue, black with a white background.

No doubt your visit will discover your own favourite artists and works of art. All were unique but had two things in common. All the artists lived in Kenilworth at the heart of the Midlands, and all are passionate about art.

This free exhibition which runs until Sunday 4^th July is in conjunction with Warwickshire Open Studios, www.wostudios.org

Discover more about Kenilworth artists on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kenilworthartists

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kenilworth_artists/

This article was first published in B-C-ing-U on-line magazine:  https://b-c-ing-u.com/art/meet-the-kenilworth-artists/

If any Kenilworth artists would like high res copies of any of the images published here or on B-C-ing-U, please email Rob:  robert.tysall@outlook.com   

More images here and at B-C-ing_U.com

Back to Business

 

Ann and Rob here at Words & Images UK hope you are all keeping safe and well. We’re hoping too that the worst of the pandemic is behind us, and we can now move forwards and get back to business!

With very little happening in the outside world these last 15 months or so, we have been following the Government guidelines, staying home and social distancing. 

We have been working remotely, however. This article which appeared in The People's Friend Special during lockdown was on the talented Little Miss Miniature who we'd met and interviewed at a Miniatura Show before Covid. 

We've also been busy producing a series of articles for Collector’s Gazette magazine. The series was called Toys through the Years. Starting with toys from the 1940s, we covered the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.  Luckily, our years of photographing toys through enthusiasts’ collections and toy fairs etc., has resulted in us amassing a large stock of great photographs of toys from all of those eras. So, we were able to get these six double page spreads done and dusted!

Through lockdown, we’ve also managed to get articles published in Dolls House & Miniature Scene and on-line magazine B-C-ing-U (every single week!). 

As authors, we’ve also been busy writing fiction. You may remember our thriller, The Bitter End, published by Bloodhound Books, which became an Amazon Best Seller when it was released in 2018. (Pictured right). So many people wanted to know what became of our characters, that a sequel was soon on the cards. We're hoping that before too much longer you'll be reunited with Paul, Sally and the terrifying Lamia who possessed the witch Petronella in The Bitter End; and some fascinating new characters you'll by dying to meet! Watch this space!

 

 A fun thing to do, during an ease in restrictions, was to create another Lazy book.  Lazy, King of the Castle is our fourth book in our children’s picture book series about Lazy, a British Bulldog cuddly toy. 

We also have: Lazy’s First Christmas, Lazy at the Garden Centre and Lazy at the Motor Museum. Check them out – if you have pre-school children, they will love them. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lazy-King-Castle-Ann-Evans/dp/B08T43TY78

To write this book and get the images, we ventured out to Kenilworth Castle, where true to form, Lazy got into all kinds of mischief. But, best of all, we did find time to have a cream tea! My first one since the start of lockdown!

 

As a reminder – if you have an upbeat story, a fascinating hobby, an incredible collection, or even a charitable event you’d like us to write about, get in touch. We always aim to get our stories published either in a traditional print or on-line magazine; alternatively here on our blog.

 

Email: ann-evans@btconnect.com