Leeds Fine Artists mark 150th anniversary with exhibition of art and sculpture at Blossom Street Gallery, York, until Oct 31

Pink Hair, by Sarah Sharpe, from the Leeds Fine Artists’ 150th Anniversary Exhibition at Blossom Street Gallery

LEEDS Fine Artists is celebrating its 150th anniversary with an exhibition at its regular York host, Blossom Street Gallery, Blossom Street, York.

“For this celebratory exhibition 26 members have come together with an inspirational collection of work demonstrating a wide range of styles and different media,” says gallery owner Kim Oldfield.

“It is very apparent from this collection that the relevance and talent of the group has in no way dimmed and that they will remain a vibrant force in creative circles for many more years to come.”

LFA artist Tim Pearce adds: “About the very same time that the French Impressionists were holding their first exhibition in the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris in the Spring of 1874, a group of Leeds artists were assembling their own show of work in a large public building in Park Row.

“Whereas Monet, Renoir, Degas and the rest ceased exhibiting together after 1886, Leeds Fine Artists continued to survive through two World Wars and on into the 21st century where the organisation still thrives to the present day.

Cherries, mixed media, by Roger Gardner

“As part of a series of exhibitions marking 150 years since Leeds Fine Artists’ inception, Blossom Street Gallery is displaying painting and sculpture by more than 20 of its 60 members who, these days, work from locations right across Yorkshire.”

Among the artists taking part are: Sharron Astbury-Petit; Dawn Broughton; Jane Burgess; Mark Butler; Pete Donnelly; Alison Flowers; Roger Gardner; Margarita Godgelf; Dan Harnett; Peter Heaton; Nicholas Jagger; Michael Curgenven; Catherine Morris; Martin Pearson; Clare Phelan; Trevor Pittaway; Neil Pittaway; Annie Robinson; Annie Roche; Sarah Sharpe and John Sherwood.

Sharron Astbury-Petit is a Yorkshire-born artist who works from her studio in Leeds. Favourite subjects in her paintings are nature, time and mortality/immortality. “Using a subtle layering of different media, my work pays homage to the seduction of the intangible,” she says.

Dawn Broughton, who lives in Tadcaster, has a First Class BA (Hons) in painting and an MA in fine art and has been an LFA member since last October. “I am a figurative artist who works in acrylic for paintings and pencil, pen and charcoal for my drawings,” she says. “My practice is perpetually evolving, as it constantly revisits ideas and themes that always stem from my own experiences and observations.”

Figurative painter Jane Burgess works in oils and watercolours and is particularly interested in the effects of light on the landscape. “When painting in oils, I often paint en plein air, completing a work in one session or creating a piece that I then finish in the studio. Watercolour appeals to me because of its immediacy of use and the luminosity of its colours.”

Allotment Shed With Maize, by Jane Burgess

Sculptor Mark Butler works mainly in cast bronze. “Although I use metal – a markedly permanent material – I harness chance to create imperfect and fractured pieces, mirroring the impermanence and vulnerability of the environment around me.”

Pete Donnelly’s sculpture is generally figurative and he tends to use traditional techniques such as ceramics. “However, I often use the face and expression as a tool to encourage an emotional response from the audience and prompt them to ask questions and form their own narrative and connection to the work,” he says.

Alison Flowers’ paintings are inspired by time spent in solitary natural spaces and the restorative effect that being away from it all has on her interior landscape. “Through colour, marks and combining different media, I work in the studio evoking memories and use photographs, sketches and mixed-media experiments as a springboard for paintings that emerge,” she says.

Roger Gardner usually paints in oil on canvas on a range of themes: chairs, shirts, picnic sets, plates, for example. “These themes continue for some while and may be reinvestigated later in a different format,” he says. His studio is in Wakefield, where a community of 30 artists and makers provides mutual support.

Margarita Godgelf explores contemporary existence and identity within social constructs, placing protagonists in fantastical or realistic spaces to form a world of ironic provocation and metaphor. “Sometimes this metaphor is flowers representing the spring that we all battle for,” she says. “Flowers blossom and we stretch, reach out, explore, dance and communicate.”

Alison Flowers: “Inspired by time spent in solitary natural spaces”

Dan Harnett’s photography is inspired by his time in the Merchant Navy and childhood on the Kent coast. “Ranging from abstract to still life, it explores human relationships with the sea, reflecting the differing perspectives of seafarers and landlubbers, conjuring images, stories and reflections from earlier voyages.”

Landscape often forms the subject matter of Peter Heaton’s work, along with a concern for “spirit of place”. “I am driven to create something that has resonance, feeling and meaning,” he says. “This can manifest itself in complex, layered images or simpler balanced harmonious compositions with internal spaces.”

Nicholas Jagger explores the Vanitas theme, one that considers the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures, exhorting the viewer to consider mortality and to repent.

“Most of my work witnesses the passing of time over a range of timescales, from the brief lives of leaves to the lifespan of sculpture ravaged and eroded by weather,” he says. “My subjects stand in their own light but are also metaphors for own brief lives.”

Michael Curgenven breaks away from his usual  artistic practice of abstract landscapes to focus on figurative pieces for this exhibition. “These are based on my love of drawing,” he says. “They are constructed in mixed media, including ink, pencil, oil pastel and watercolours.”

Mighty Oaks, by Sharron Astbury-Petit

Catherine Morris works in diverse media – oil, acrylic, collage – but the common denominator is layers, allowing colours underneath to peep through and produce unexpected results. “My subject matter is the Yorkshire moors, but not in a literal way, often using just the shapes and colours I see to produce something abstract,” she says.

Since the mid-1990s, Martin Pearson has been exploring a form of lyrical abstraction utilising personal motifs. “I use a variety of mark-making techniques to develop textures and patterns,” he says. “In more recent paintings, still-life elements appear, alongside their abstract counterparts. I hope my paintings are optimistic.”

Award-winning Holmfirth printmaker Clare Phelan is influenced by the post-industrial landscapes of northern England. “I work with mass-produced obsolete materials from the past,” she says. “Through etching and collagraph printmaking processes, these redundant artefacts are given a new life.”

Two of Trevor Pittaway’s favourite subjects are his native North Yorkshire and the “magical city” of Venice. “When travelling, I sketch using pencil, watercolour and an iPad,” he says. “In the studio, I then use these drawings for information. I paint in oil, acrylic and egg-tempera and also produce original etchings and digital prints.”

Wakefield-born printmaker, painter and draughtsman Neil Pittaway’s works reflect ideas from East and Western sources and perspectives such as Anglo-European heritage, transatlantic connections, Asian landscapes, gothic revival architecture, urbanness, satire, illustration and narrative.

Leeds Fine Artists’ 150th Anniversary Exhibition in situ at Blossom Street Gallery, York. Picture: Kim Oldfield

“My work incorporates and explores these identities through direct and indirect observation, creating complex and seemingly agoraphobic, perspective spaces,” says the Royal Academy graduate and New English Art Club, Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers member.

Although Annie Robinson’s work is connected to the landscape, whether visited, studied or remembered, she “tends to work in an exploratory and instinctive way, drawn to the abstract qualities of paint itself and letting the paint evolve and speak for itself.”

After a long career in teaching, Annie Roche has time to explore her own creativity. “Colour is central to my work; it brings me a sense of joy and positivity. Still life, landscape and abstraction all cross over. Compositions are not literal; serendipity allows shapes to sometimes be recognisable but often obtuse, open to reinterpretation.”

Motherhood, angels, birds, woodland and the passing seasons are a constant theme of Malton artist Sarah Sharpe’s work. “Imagination, the land I tread, people and their stories underpin my work,” says this member of Leeds Fine Artists, Manchester Academy of Fine Arts and Society of Catholic Artists.

John Sherwood’s work develops freely over time. “The approach remains flexible and is open-ended in terms of outcome,” he says. “I have no firm preconceptions as to the purpose of what I do, other than perhaps that I see art as being a tool that interacts positively with my life.”

Leeds Fine Artists: the back story

The poster for Leeds Fine Artists’ 150th Annivesary Exhibition at Blossom Street Gallery

FOUNDED in 1874, the Leeds Fine Art Club, now called Leeds Fine Artists, soon became a major player in the intellectual and cultural life of Leeds.

Its meetings and annual exhibitions were popular among the middle-class professionals who had grown up to service the city’s expanding industrial base.

In the course of its 150-year history, the group has been associated with various artists of renown, some of whom have been social reformers, such as Ina Kitson Clark, the prominent campaigner for women’s rights, and Beatrice Kitson, the first woman to be Lord Mayor of Leeds.

The organisation’s members have always embraced a wide variety of subjects and styles. Eric Taylor was renowned for the paintings he produced when he was among the British troops that liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

While some artists evoked the Yorkshire landscape, such as Staithes Group member Owen Bowen, others travelled widely: Frank Dean, for example, painted scenes in North Africa, the Middle East and India.

Triform, by Tim Pearce, on show at Blossom Street Gallery

A blue plaque at Leeds City Art Gallery commemorates Robert Hawthorne Kitson, who, as a gay man, left Britain to live in Sicily, where his villa was much frequented by artistic friends, including Frank Brangwyn and Wilhelm von Gloeden, who was noted for his homoerotic photography.

Perhaps the most famous artist in the LFA ranks is Jacob Kramer, who was born in Ukraine but spent much of his working life in Leeds, becoming renowned for his depiction of Jewish life.

Today, members live throughout Yorkshire with some further afield, from Kent to Scotland, and the LFA continues to attract artists of the highest ability across a variety of media, from painting, drawing and printmaking to ceramics, sculpture and textiles.

To mark the 150th anniversary, LFA has produced a commemorative book, Leeds Fine Artists 1874-2024, featuring the work of 50 current members and an historical introduction to the origins of the group and its 20th century history. Published in hardback, copies are available at Blossom Street Gallery and at leedsfineartists.co.uk/yorkshire/ at £20.

Leeds Fine Artists, Celebrating 150 Years, Blossom Street Gallery, Blossom Street, York, on show until October 31. Opening hours: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10am to 4pm; Sundays, 10am to 3pm.

The cover for Leeds Fine Artists’ commemorative book to mark the 150th anniversary

How do you capture the motion of life forms in static media? Ask six Yorkshire artists to respond at Blossom Street Gallery

Tim Pearce’s poster artwork for Life Forms In Motion at Blossom Street Gallery, York

SIX Yorkshire artists are giving six individual responses to the challenge of interpreting the motion of life forms in a range of static media at Blossom Street Gallery, Blossom Street, York. In a nutshell, time and space condensed into single, dynamic images.

Taking part in Life Forms In Motion are Tim Pearce, painting and sculpture; Cathy Denford, painting; Jo Ruth, printmaking; Adrienne French, painting; Mandy Long, ceramic sculpture, and Lesley Peatfield, photography.

“Fascinatingly, it is the relative scarcity of practitioners working in contemporary fine art who specialise in subject matter that springs from the realms of sport, dance, music and wildlife that makes this exhibition so fresh and original,” says Tim.

Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm; Sundays, 10am to 3pm.

Ceramic sculptures by Mandy Long at Blossom Street Gallery

Tim Pearce’s Cubist revolution in art and sculpture goes on show at Village Gallery

“Movement on a static surface”, as captured in Tim Pearce’s Sprint For The Line

FORMS In Motion, an exhibition by York painter and ceramicist Tim Pearce, opens at Village Gallery, Colliergate, York, tomorrow.

After a career as an arts educator in South Yorkshire schools, Tim moved to York, where he has intensified his creativity on a full-time basis.

“I’ve developed a passionate involvement with what might loosely be described as a Cubist aesthetic in relation to form, colour and rhythm,” he says.

Rotational Relief, ceramic sculpture, by Tim Pearce

Whatever the precise subject of any individual piece may be, the dominant theme of his work, whether abstract or representational, is the rendering of movement on a static surface.

“The frequent depiction of events and life forms in motion where the passage of time – often in seconds – is condensed into a single image is a strand that runs through much of Tim’s 2D creativity,” says gallery owner Simon Main.

“Now, he has seized the opportunity to extend his fascination for geometric fragmentation, rhythmically intersecting planes and the ambiguous articulations of negative space into his sculptural ceramics too.”

“Cubist aesthetic”: Tim Pearce’s Durham Busker

Tim’s sensitivity to a “Cubo-futurist” vocabulary, characterised by shifting perspectives, geometric dislocations and playful ambiguities, is further enriched by his responsiveness to a wide range of stimuli.

Forms In Motion runs from tomorrow to August 27; gallery opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday.

To complement the rolling programme of six-week exhibitions, Village Gallery stocks Lalique glass and crystal and sells art, jewellery, ceramics, glass and sculpture, often by York artists.

Trial Form For Garden Fountain, ceramic sculpture, by Tim Pearce

Leeds Fine Artists relish chance to start exhibiting again at Blossom Street Gallery

Crucifixion, in tropical hardwood, by George Hainsworth, is the undoubted conversation piece of Leeds Fine Artists’ LFA In York exhibition at Blossom Street Gallery. The price? On application only.

BLOSSOM Street Gallery, York, welcomes 24 artists from Leeds Fine Artists in its reopening exhibition under Step 2 of lockdown relaxation.

LFA member and exhibition co-organiser Tim Pearce is delighted at the chance to show work on gallery walls and floors at last, and likewise for gallery visitors to experience art close up once more.

“With so many art galleries having been closed for so much of the past 12 months, and with exhibitions largely appearing as virtual online sets of reproductions, most of us have inevitably been starved of access to original works of art for what seems like an eternity,” he says.


The poster for Leeds Fine Artists’ LFA In York exhibition

“So, it is with genuine excitement that Blossom Street Gallery, next to Micklegate Bar, is exhibiting a splendid mixed collection of work by 24 of our members.

“Such was the success of our 2019 show that Kim Oldfield, the gallery owner, invited us back to launch the reopening as we emerge from lockdown.”

Representing one of Yorkshire’s longest established art groups, the 24 artists are showing a diverse range of subject matter and media: paintings, etchings, montages, woodcarving and ceramics now shown to best effect beneath the Blossom Street gallery’s newly installed lighting.

It’s Pop Art! It’s Pop Art!, by Roger Gardner

Taking part in LFA In York are: Sharron Astbury-Petit, mixed media on wood panel; Malcolm Barton, oil on board; Julia Borodina, acrylic paintings; Jane Burgess, oils; Terry Chipp, acrylics on canvas; Michael Curvgenven, ink, carbon pencil and oil pastels; Alison Flowers, mixed media, and Roger Gardner, mixed media and oil on panel.

So too are: George Hainsworth, tropical hardwood; Lucy Hainsworth, oils; Keith Harris, oils; Inger Huddleston, screened watercolour monoprints; Nicholas Jagger, collagraph and woodblock print; Miriam Laville, acrylic and collage on canvas; Mark Murphy, pencil on paper, and Tim Pearce, glazed ceramic stoneware.

Contributing works too are: Neil Pittaway, watercolours; Trevor Pittaway, acrylics; Annie Robinson, acrylics; Liz Salter, mixed media on paper; Geraldine Thompson, oils on wood; Catherine Warburton, gelli-printed cotton with hand and machine and gelli-printed acrylic with watercolour and pastel, and Emma Whitelock, watercolour, graphite and wax resist.

Ponton de Peche – Moonlit, acrylic on canvas, by Terry Chipp

LFA IN York runs until June 21; gallery opening hours are Friday to Monday, 10am to 4pm. Covid-secure, socially distanced measures are in place under Government guidance.

What is Leeds Fine Artists?

LEEDS Fine Artists (LFA) is an association drawn from across Yorkshire, not only Leeds. Founded in Leeds in 1874, it has more than 50 exhibiting members, working in 2D and 3D, and typically the LFA holds four shows a year, including the annual exhibition at the Crossley Gallery, Dean Clough, Halifax.

The website, at leedsfineartists.co.uk, provides extensive information and gallery pages on each artist’s work and wider activities. Applications to join LFA can be made via this website.

Artworks from the LFA In York exhibition at Blossom Street Gallery, York. At the front are two glazed ceramic stoneware forms by Tim Pearce

No York Open Studios in April, but all that art still needs a new home, so look here…DAY FIVE

A cyclone of cyclists rushing by in Tim Pearce’s painting

YORK Open Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends, has had to be cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event, CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and makers, who would have been showcasing ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture and textiles.

Each day, in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home. Addresses will not be included at this time.

Tim Pearce with one of his sculptural ceramics

Tim Pearce, mixed media

AFTER a fulfilling career in art education in South Yorkshire schools, Tim latterly has expanded his own creativity to include ceramics as well as painting, all supported by academic degrees in the history of art and the visual arts at MA level.

His paintings and sculptural ceramics are both informed by a Cubist sensitivity to form, colour and rhythm, displayed in studio, house and garden.

Since moving to York eight years ago he has held four solo shows, in addition to exhibiting regularly across Yorkshire with Leeds Fine Artists. Head to timp360@btinternet.com for more info.

Fuselage, by Linda Harvey

Linda Harvey, textiles

INSPIRED by frequent trips to the Yorkshire Air Museum, at Halifax Way, Elvington, York, Linda’s latest work explores rustic textures and pattern in framed textile art pieces, wall hangings and handmade cards.

Linda Harvey: Gaining inspiration from days out at the Yorkshire Air Museum

Linda, who studied textiles and surface design, graduating in 1994, often will work on several pieces at a time and enjoys an expressive and experimental way of working. She layers, rust-dyes, prints and distresses her fabrics and adds embellishments to create abstract one-off pieces.

Linda has taught textiles for more than 20 years and is a member of York Textile Artists. Contact her at lindaharvey18@sky.com or via facebook.com/LindaHarveyTextileArtist.

Furniture maker John Watts in his workshop

John Watts, furniture

JOHN has been designing and making contemporary furniture since 1996 for both private and corporate clients.

Working from a 3,000 sq.ft workshop on the outskirts of York, he uses a wide range of materials, predominately sustainably forested hardwoods from both England and abroad, while often incorporating glass, metals and resins too.

Garden furniture by John Watts

Undertaking domestic and commercial projects, he hand-builds pieces of furniture of longevity and value. “My main aim is to create interesting, individual and well-crafted furniture that satisfies customer requirements,” says John, who has a bespoke service available.

“My design influences are many, having a history in antiques, fashion design and design education,” he adds. To knock on wood, head to johnwattsfurniture.co.uk.

“Design should be fun,” reckons furniture maker Wilf Williams

Wilf Williams, furniture

DESIGN should be fun , interesting, practical and beautiful, says York furniture maker and designer Wilf Williams.

Bristol-born Wilf studied furniture design after moving to York in 1996, since when he has produced hand-made furniture inspired by traditional cabinet making, Scandinavian furniture, contemporary clean lines, modernist architecture and minimalist sculpture and art.

Walnut sideboard, by Wilf Williams

Wilf has worked on all manner of commissions, designing and crafting distinctive, bespoke free-standing and fitted furniture, using a diverse range of materials, predominantly sustainable forested hardwoods. Visit his website at wilfwilliams.co.uk.

Galilee No 3937, collage, by Jerry Scott

Jerry Scott, collage

JERRY constructs small and medium-sized abstract collages from printed paper originated by the artist, then pasted on to cartridge paper, using conservation-grade wheat starch paste. Sometimes, he applies hand-colouring too.

“I started making collages about five years ago, in parallel with painting,” he says. “I’ve always been interested in surface pattern and all sorts of decoration. With the freedom and sophistication of modern digital technology, it is now possible to produce single sheets of high quality, crisp and colour-rich printed papers.” Cue collages.

Collage artist Jerry Scott

Jerry moved to York 33 years ago. Earlier he had studied theology briefly at Cambridge University, then fine art at Norwich School of Art and St Martin’s School of Art, London, where he lived and worked before heading north.

He has a variety of abstract prints for sale too. View his work at jerryscottpaintings.co.uk.

TOMORROW: Claire Cooper; Zoe Catherine Kendal; Cathy Denford; Hacer Ozturk and Chrissie Dell.