Come and meet my wonderful students

Nearly 700 original works of art have gone on display in the annual Sefton Open exhibition and I’m delighted to say that around 1 in every 28 of them are either my artworks or those of my students.

In today’s blog post I’d like to introduce you to those students and our work that is featured in both sections of the Sefton Open.

This annual exhibition of the region’s best artists is divided into two sections: the groups and societies and the Southport Palette Club. The latter is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year so it is quite appropriate that I also had one in that section as it's heading for 50 years since I first exhibited there when I was still an art student.

A total of 13 regional art groups and societies make up the second half of the Sefton Open, and my You CAN draw and paint Academy is one of them.

This features 22 artworks by myself and seven of my tutored students and I’d like to introduce you to them and the works we have on exhibition.

Wendy Dixon has a trio of her paintings one of which, unsurprisingly, also includes some pencil drawing as she has been refining her drawing skills since she retired.

Wendy is renowned in the group for her incredibly detailed pencil drawings but last summer she decided to branch out and start doing more paintings. She is obviously succeeding as her selection has two watercolours and an acrylic painting (pictured above, bottom row, 2nd left) – which we all first thought was one of her pencil drawings!

The “Buff-tailed Bumble Bee” (pictured above, bottom row, far left) does have some pencil in it, but “Transition” (pictured below) is pure watercolour although it still clearly shows her love of fine detail.

Patricia Goudie says: “My casual interest in art was interrupted by an ongoing, long-term illness but I am now getting back to painting after re-training myself to use my left hand.”

She started with me in my taught watercolour classes and while it is still her preferred medium, she finds the tutored classes are ideal for her needs and is gathering confidence and knowledge all the time. Alongside watercolours she is enjoying developing her skills with soft pastels, which is why her trio in the Academy’s group show has one in watercolours, one in soft pastels and another in a mixture of the two.

Pat is one of the pair of my students who also has a work on exhibition in the Southport Palette Club section of the show. She is pictured (above) with her watercolour “Loose Leaves” which features a range of different leaves of varying shapes and colours gathered in her garden last autumn and meticulously painted from life in the class.

Estelle Hall is the newest member of the group and started with me in my taught watercolour class around two years ago to get a foundation as she says that her previous art lessons ended in school in 1980.

“From learning a lot regarding watercolors, I then moved over to Angela’s tutored class where my imagination has been set free,” explains Estelle. Her trio in the exhibition are evidence of that with a highly colourful watercolour of hot air balloons floating across the skies of Mexico alongside acrylic paintings of the local Stanley Gate pub, and one of the Menai Bridge to celebrate its 200th anniversary (both pictured far right in the group photo at the top).

As well as painting “anything that catches my eye”, Estelle is developing a style akin to Pointillism which I hope will be appearing in her selection for our 2027 exhibition.

Janice Hobson (pictured above with her trio of works and the newest Academy member Bernie Whellan who will be exhibiting next year) had dabbled a bit with painting in the past but since joining the group says: “I feel much more confident in expressing myself through art. I have experimented with different styles and media and although I’m still finding my way it’s a fabulous safe space in which to do it. Angela is so, so knowledgeable, so positive, so helpful and with the support of the other group members it’s an experience I really value. I can’t wait to see where my art journey goes from here.”

The subjects of Janice’s art journey follow on from her holidays often to far flung places, and you can see that from “Calleja De Las Flores” (top left in the picture above) one of her three acrylic paintings. Even though this year’s trio are in Janice’s usual very detailed style, she is also having fun experimenting with different painting styles so they may appear in her work in next year’s show.

Alan Proffitt also has a trio of acrylic paintings inspired by holidays, including “Reflections on Windermere” (pictured centre top row in the top photo) because he likes recording events, places and people that have some personal connection.

He’s been an Academy member for around four years now and says: “With valued help and support I have been able to develop my all-round skills and now feel confident in pastels, water colours and acrylic paint which is my favoured medium.”

He adds: “My aim now is to improve my work with pencils on portraits and figure drawing.” He has already started with the painting "Child on the Beach at Formby" (pictured above, far right, top row) and is making great strides in that aim, which I am certain will feature prominently in next year’s Sefton Open.

Val Walmsley is the second of my students to have the full quota of 4 works in the Sefton Open – three in our group show and one (pictured below) in the Southport Palette Club where she has exhibited for the last 3 shows.

This painting “Verdant Tropical Sanctuary” neatly sums up Val’s art journey. She says that she’s had two life-long passions: the natural world and art but had not been able to portray that natural world through her art. She took the photograph for this painting several years ago but hadn’t felt that she had the skills or the confidence to try painting it – until now.

She joined the Academy three years ago and says: “Since then I feel my art has gone from strength to strength, due in the main to Angela's teaching and encouragement which, aside from learning artistic skills, has given me the confidence I always lacked.”

An avid fan of acrylics, Val is venturing into the world of watercolour and all four of her paintings not only feature the natural world – butterfly, rhododendron and gardens – but they skilfully combine the best aspects of both painting media.

Bev Waugh has two acrylic landscapes in the group show, “Pembrokeshire Ponies” (pictured centre bottom row in the top photo) and “Cornish Cove” (pictured 2nd left bottom row in the group below).

Although she’s highly accomplished at using perspective in her work, this year she’s chosen an equine landscape a seascape both of which sum up her philosophy to her art: “What I love about art is the chance to unwind and forget about everything else. I really enjoy having a go at different media and experimenting. It really doesn’t matter how it turns out, it’s all just practice!”

My other two are both watercolours and once again have a common theme: full moons we have had so far this year. In our group show I have “Snow Moon over the Lake” (pictured far left in the group photo at the top) while my painting in the Palette Club features the delightfully named Worm Moon.

Most people have never heard of that moon but it is the name for the March full moon – the time when the ground starts to warm up and earthworms start to emerge. As I couldn’t add worms into a scene of a moon up in the sky, I looked to see what was in evidence at that time and saw trees laden with catkins blowing gently in the breeze giving them the shape of wriggling worms and thus I created “Catkins Blossom Under Spring’s Worm Moon” (pictured below).

The Sefton Open runs until Saturday May 30, at The Atkinson, Lord Street, Southport, so you have lots of time to go and see it as well as chance to buy original artworks by local artists.

I am delighted to not only be showcasing the work of my wonderful students, but also to be joining them in the group show as well as exhibiting with fellow members of Southport Contemporary Arts (SCA) in that group show, while my 4th painting is in the Southport Palette Club.

Two of my works are acrylic paintings; both feature water but in totally different ways. One of them takes me back to where I spent part of my childhood in Africa: “Collecting Water in the Namib Desert” (pictured in the group above, far left), while the second “Raging Rocky River” (below) is in the SCA group show.