Art & Contemporary Art

George Hainsworth

George Hainsworth was born in Leeds in 1937. He studied at Leeds College of Art (1955-60) followed by the Slade School of Fine Art (1960-62) where he was taught by, amongst others, Sir William Coldstream. He was awarded the Gulbenkian Scholarship in Sculpture at the British School in Rome (1962-63).

There followed a 40 year career in teaching, initially at Leeds College of Art then Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Beckett University). He retired from his professorship in 2002 and now lives in East Yorkshire with his wife, artist and printmaker, Lucy Hainsworth (nee Rogers). Throughout all this time George Hainsworth has created and exhibited art in a variety of media, notably oil painting on panel and canvas, pastel and sculpture. His work has been exhibited throughout the UK as well as in Holland and the USA. It can be found in corporate and private collections in Europe and the USA.

Art & Contemporary Art

Andrew Farmer

Andrew Farmer ROI was born in 1985 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

He studied Fine Art Painting at the University of Canterbury Christ Church (2005-2008) achieving a First Class Honours, followed by a postgraduate, ‘The Drawing Year’ at the Royal Drawing school, London (2008-2009).

Since first exhibiting with the Royal Institute Of Oil Painters in 2014, Andrew Farmer ROI has been awarded 1st and 2nd prize in the Winsor and Newton Award for painting, and in 2019 the Menena Joy Schabe Memorial Award.

“I love to paint the ordinary, analysing simple subjects that will encourage the viewer to look more closely at the many wonderful and beautiful things surrounding us daily.”

Andrew is a member of the Brit Plein Air group, The Northern Boys Painting Group and most recently he has become a full member of the prestigious Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI).

Andrew ‘s last solo show was called North Landing (October 22). He is currently painting on the Northumbrian coast in preparation for another solo exhibition at Watermark Gallery in June 2024.

Modern British

Edwin La Dell

Edwin La Dell ARA (1914-1970) was born in Rotherham and attended Sheffield School of Art. From 1935, he studied at the Royal College of Art under the guidance of John Nash.

He later became head of lithography at the College until his death in 1970. His place in post-war printmaking was enormously influential and his works are in the Victoria & Albert Museum, Tate and Government Art Collection.

Art & Contemporary Art

Shona Branigan

Shona Branigan discovered the possibility of relief printing wood itself by seeing the work of Brian Nash Gill and she followed his technique of burning the wood.

It is known as Shou Sugi Ban and is used in Japan as a method of preserving wood. Charring burns away the softer wood and leaves a raised surface which makes it relief printable. She clears out all the ash with wire brushes, seals it with shellac and is then able to ink it and print it. The prints are all hand burnished as the pieces are too large and uneven to go through her printing press.

She uses Fine Art Heritage Rag paper which is 100% cotton and archival, and if you look closely you will be able to see the ‘embossing’ which the hand printing produces. Each millimetre of the wood needs to be pressed into the paper to achieve a good print. It takes time and energy! Prints are made to order and as the wood itself dries subtle changes and cracks will appear which will allow the limited edition to reflect the continuing story of the wood.

Shona Branigan knows the provenance of the wood she prints so that you will be able to know its area of origin, and in many cases visit the site where the tree fell.

Shona demonstrates wood engraving and traditional printing at Cherryburn, the National Trust Birthplace Museum to Thomas Bewick, at Mickey Square, Northumberland. She has been featured in Flog It when they visited Cherryburn and Further Tales from Northumberland where she gave Robson Green the opportunity to engrave for the first time.

Art, Contemporary Art & Illustration

Richard Allen

Originally from Newbury, Berkshire, Richard Allen gained a degree in Graphic Illustration at Kingston Polytechnic (1987). After graduating he became a freelance illustrator working mainly in scraperboard for advertising, publishing, packaging and newspapers. Richard’s work slowly drifted towards his main interest of birds and wildlife, especially after winning ‘British Birds – Bird Illustrator of the Year’ in 1993.

Following a move to Essex in 1988, and more recently to Wivenhoe, the bird rich estuaries and marshes of the Essex coast have provided an endless source of inspiration, fuelling a passion for field-sketching. Richard Allen enjoys the immediacy of working directly from nature, trying to capture the life and vitality of wild birds, and the patterns of plumage, light, water and foliage.

This essential field experience has proven invaluable when working on paintings in the studio, illustrating bird identification guides and producing wildlife interpretation illustrations for nature reserves and visitor centres.

Richard lives in Wivenhoe, on the Colne estuary, with his wife Sally and his dog Buster.

In May 2011 he was featured in Country Living Magazine.

Category: Medium

Art & Contemporary Art

George Hainsworth

Art & Contemporary Art

Andrew Farmer

Modern British

Edwin La Dell

Art & Contemporary Art

Shona Branigan

Art, Contemporary Art & Illustration

Richard Allen

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