In 2022 I took part in a Kettering & District Art Society project inviting artists to paint Kettering’s High Street as part of the KettFest Festival with an exhibition of work at ARTworks Creative Space in the Newlands Centre in the centre of town. This gallery was set up by the Friends of Kettering Art Gallery and Museum as a way of promoting art and culture in Kettering and fund raising for theAlfred East Gallery. My work entitled KettFest was subsequently sold to a Private Collector.
Over the first two weekends in September local artists created their own Views of the High Street across Kettering town centre thanks to support from Historic England and North Northants Council.
I was working in oils and other artists were using a range of media including watercolours, graffiti art, ceramics, digital and interactive art for children and adults alike. This project was part of the High Street Heritage Action Zone to celebrate the architecture, people and heritage of Kettering.
You’ll be able to see my work ‘Gold Street’ in a special exhibition in the town later this year.
I’m thrilled to tell you that at the recent Northants Open Studios ceremony I was awarded the Prize for Artiste Extraordinaire!
My oil painting ‘Allegory’ for the Wicksteed Contemporary Art Exhibition is an allegory of the changing fortunes of the park, using the ebb and flow of light and shadow. The carousel and female figure are a symbolic narrative: not solely rides, attractions and visitors — she’s a harbinger of the destiny of the park, walking away from or towards difficult or optimistic times, which can go either way. Her direct and penetrating gaze challenges us to choose innovation and evolution as the way ahead.