On The Edge, Amble to Bamburgh
Exhibition
I have always painted and drawn landscapes and have tried to pick subject matter that means something to me. I moved to Northumberland almost four years ago and before that I visited the county on many occasions, particularly the area around Alnmouth. I have always been fascinated by the coast and the transition from one landscape to another. Possibly because where I was born and brought up in Derbyshire is as far from the sea as you can get. My interest in the Northumberland coast has developed into research into how people who reside here have made a living from fishing, farming, quarrying and more recently tourism. All these activities have shaped the way the coast looks today. In this exhibition, I have tried to show my response to living ‘On The Edge.
Artist Bio
John was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire and trained at Derby College of Art and Technology and then gained a BA Hons Degree in Fine Art Painting from Norwich School of Art. John worked for a year as an Artist before gaining a PGCE in Art and Design Education at Leicester Polytechnic. He worked as a teacher of Art and Design in Warrington and Northampton before returning to Derbyshire. John taught Art at Murray Park School Mickleover for twenty-seven years before taking leaving to become a full time Artistin 2015.
John has had a number of solo exhibitions including two at Cromford Mill Gallery, Matlock and two at the Lally Gallery in Ilkeston. He has exhibited work at Studio 62 Holloway, St John Street Gallery in Ashbourne, Suki Gallery in Tutbury, Fresh and Unframed Exhibition at Tansley, Ilkeston Arts Festival, The Little Picture Gallery in Mousehole Cornwall, The Spring Gathering at The Green Man Gallery in Buxton, The Buxton Open Arts, The Remarkable Hare in Matlock, the Factory Kitchen Ilkeston and the Nutbrook Café and Gallery at Shipley Park. Since moving to Alnwick in 2022 he has had a one man show at the Alnwick Playhouse and has exhibited at the Northumberland Open Arts at the Woodhorn Museum on three occasions, the Dovecote Street Arts in Amble and the Wyndham Arts Centre in Barnard Castle.
John’s work is mainly landscapes and seascapes of Derbyshire, Suffolk, Cornwall, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Wales. Many of his paintings are acrylics but he also draws using a combination of charcoal, watercolours and chalk pastel. He has in the past few years also painted using an I Pad.
