Jane Rafter

Jane's Nottingham paintings capture the movement, life and energy of this vibrant city, featuring the iconic Market square, along with our old friends 'The Lions' and the visiting attraction 'The Nottingham Eye'. They are painted using oil on canvas and completed quickly within 2 to 6 hours, while the paint is still wet, allowing for blending and smudging. Once the oil paint is touch dry, the final details are added.

"Using reference photos and video clips, plus my own memories and imagination, I create a painting that reflects my own style and point of view. I leave a lot of the detail out, which allows the viewer to interpret the painting in their own way, engaging them in the creative process".

Jane Rafter graduated from De Montfort University in Leicester with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She worked in the design industry for 14 years.

Since 2007 she has been painting full time, producing private commissions and selling work through commercial galleries.

All Jane's paintings are available as prints on to canvas, please see www.artbyjanerafter.co.uk for details.

Pericle Zanchetta

Everything that the photographer wants you to know about the subject is contained on one piece of paper. Each of my photographs is a graphic presentation of my vision.

My passion for photography started as a child from watching my father take photographs. I was interested in how he was able to see and capture images that I had not initially noticed. Growing up in southern Italy, I explored the natural Mediterranean landscape, always trying to find new and different patterns in nature as it offers an infinity of views and changing light. Travelling to other countries since I was a teenager (never without a big bag with camera and lenses) has enabled me to expand my view and technique, always trying to capture interesting places and moments in time and make them as beautiful as possible. Since we cant always be in the places that we love, we can at least take the image with us to remember and share with others.

I shoot at the edge of bright light, using incidental or reflected lighting. I choose to work with available light, because it produces such a rich, continuous tonality in the photograph.

I’ve always been attracted by national geographic-style photography, but also from the work of artists I like Ansel Adams and Andy Goldsworthy. Recently, I am particularly captured by observing water and how it can create images in itself through its own movement and interaction with light.

Email: pericle.zanchetta@nottingham.ac.uk
Tel: 07967692997

Maeve Wright

I have always drawn and painted since early childhood. Mostly self-taught, apart from school art lessons, evening classes in oil painting, and a foundation course in art as part of my City & Guilds Embroidery course. As a primary school teacher in London and Nottingham, I taught, and had a position of responsibility for art. I have been successful in selling work since 2005. In January 2009 I was requested to give a talk, demonstration and workshop to members of a UC3A (University of the Third Age) art group in West Bridgford, which was well received.

My architectural paintings have been featured in exhibitions held at the View From The Top Gallery, in 2006 and 2007. I have also exhibited at the Lace Market Theatre, alone and jointly with my husband, in 2006 and 2007. Joint exhibitions with my husband were also held at various libraries in Nottingham during 2007.

I have always been interested in architecture. In my paintings I try to portray an atmosphere of place, either idyllic, mysterious or quirky, whether contrived or naturally occurring. I enjoy producing simplified or impressionistic depictions of real or imagined buildings, in various styles. I like the juxtaposition of old and new, and will often change the arrangement of real buildings in my paintings to give a more interesting composite layout, or to achieve better balance in proportion, or colour.

The subject of the paintings I am entering for the exhibition is buildings around the Sneinton Market area, and those that can be seen from this area. These buildings are interesting in their various construction, design and history. There are old and new buildings, and many of the older ones have changed their use, for example a bank that is now an architects’ office. I was born, lived and worked in Sneinton, and the buildings around the market were familiar landmarks on my journey to town, and later to my homes in other areas. I have witnessed both the decline and regeneration of the area.

My sources are my own photographs, magazine/newspaper pictures, sketches, memory and my imagination. I often use the Microsoft Paint programme to try out ideas. I use watercolour paper, watercolour and gouache paint, and watercolour pencils. I also use fibre tip, ball point and gel pens, coloured pencils, and occasionally various papers for a collaged work. The pens are used to outline, or shade and emphasize areas.
My inspiration comes from places I’ve lived in or visited, particularly Nottingham, London, Lincoln, Whitby, and Cornwall. I hope that people will recognise places they know and enjoy my representation of them. I have been influenced and inspired by 1930s-50s travel posters, the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements, Escher, and Kandinsky.

Maeve Wright. March 2009.
Contact details: yumyscrum@hotmail.com

Charlotte White

I took photography A-level earlier this decade and have tried to continue to work creatively with the camera whenever possible since then. I was thrilled to have 3 pieces from a series of work with mannequins accepted into the View From The Top Gallery Fresh 2 exhibition in 2008. Although I still love traditional film techniques, costs and creative possibilities have led me to begin to work with digital equipment. An eternal hoarder, I have gathered many vintage objects over the years. Recently I have been looking at ways these can be juxtaposed with my photographic images to create new artwork. The View Nottingham brief provided the perfect opportunity to look at one of my favourite places in Nottinghamshire, Newstead Abbey, and utilise an old tourist guidebook from the 1940s.


Contact: info@charlottewhite.net

Jacky Webb

I studied Biology at Manchester University and still work in scientific research. Part of my training was to look at the natural world in detail, which has inspired my artwork. I am interested in the variety of patterns and colours that can be found around us. This includes the abstract beauty that can be found within the more contrived biological samples from the world of scientific research. All my work is textile based, using threads or fabrics to “paint” my pictures. I have exhibited several times over the last two years in the View from the top gallery and with the Nottingham Society of Artists as an affiliate member.


I have recently started working towards a craft and design City and Guilds, specialising in stumpwork embroidery. This has taken me well outside my personal comfort zone and challenged me to create some more conventional work. The picture exhibited, although not technically stumpwork, has come directly from this metier. Hopefully it captures some of the most recognisable images of Attenborough Nature Reserve.


Contact: jacky@j-webb.me.uk

James Webb

I have been taking photographs for 30 years. I favour a naturalistic style and I concentrate on wildlife and the (natural or man-made) environment.

This is my third public exhibition. I exhibited and sold a photograph at the “RESOLUTION” open photography show held in support of PhotoVoice.

I am inspired by the landscape photographs of Charlie Waite and the wildlife photography of Daniel Bedell.


Contact: james@j-webb.me.uk

Davide Taristano

I have explored several areas of photography throughout the years (e.g. studio photography) and at the moment my main interest is ‘abstract photography’. This involves extrapolating details from their overall context and making them the subject of the picture. The result is that everyday objects can produce an interesting artistic design. This can be achieved using macro lens combined with light and shadows and also depth of field.

I tend to bring with me the camera everywhere I go as often the ‘right’ picture is in the most unexpected place. A recurrent question that I am being asked is ‘why do you take pictures?’ or many be what they really mean is ‘why are you so passionate about taking pictures?’ I believe that photography is a very powerful tool as it allows me to catch images that may exist only for a moment and in addition it can give life to objects that otherwise may fade away in the rush of everyday life.



Email: d.tarsitano@gmail.com
Tel: 07868745016
www.davidetarstano.co.uk

Bob Sparham

I have began working as a visual artist fairly recently from a background in Art and Design history. I studied them at what is now Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge and as a postgraduate at Middlesex University. After teaching these subjects for some years I formed the ambition ‘to practice what I preached’ and completed a Fine Art course at Castle College Nottingham. On completion of this course I joined the Nottingham Society of Artists in 2007 being promoted to Associate level and winning a Holbrook Trust prize in 2008. I also have had pictures accepted at the Nottingham, Derby and Rutland Open exhibitions, and at the University of Nottingham exhibition at the Djanogly Gallery.

I became a printmaker because of my interest in Japanese Printmaking, particularly the 20th century Shin Hanga (new print) school represented by artists such as Horoshi Yoshida and Kawase Hasui as well as the 19th century floating world prints of artists such as Hokusai. I also have great admiration for the Colour Beginnings sketchbooks of Turner.

My chosen medium is linocut prints. However I try to make these prints in a more Japanese way than the traditional Black or Dark ink style of British linocuts and woodcuts. Therefore I use a technique called Rainbow Rolling, which is where two or more water based colours are blended together on the inking roller. I also use several blocks to make the image, which are registered and printed on a small printing press.

The subjects of my prints are landscapes I am trying to represent light with colour and am interested in how gradiated tones can give the impression of both reflections and atmospheric effects. I concentrate on places I have visited and like to make serial images of the same location.

In addition I have another painting style which is based upon the representation of shadows of a strong light illuminating the figure. This project is based upon my regard for the art historical theories of E H Gombrich particularly his views of the importance of the philosophical model of Plato upon the visual arts. All of the paintings in this style are made with aerosol paints on black or grey canvases and they are loosely based upon, The Simile of the Cave in The Republic

Together with two friends we are mounting a three person exhibition at the Nottingham Society of Artists gallery in June in which we are calling Three Visions I will be exhibiting both linocuts and paintings and I hope that the former also will be suitable for exhibition at the View From The Top Gallery Open Exhibition.

Danguole Slaughter (Danquella)

Danquella was born in Ukraine then moved to Lithuania. Educated in Siauliai and Telsiai, she worked as clothes designer before becoming a school teacher, specialising, of course, in art and design. In 1997 she decided to seek new challenges, choosing to visit New York. There she sold a few paintings. However, due to her visa expiry she was forced to return to Lithuania. After seven months, in a bid to enhance her career further, she was to finally come to England.

Various jobs allowed Danquella to save money to finance her dream to become an artist and in April 2006 she decided to become a self-sufficient professional artist. In eight months she has developed a unique method of etching, using a mixture of acrylic and oil on canvas. The originals are back-lit using LEDs and photographer David Pratt from Derby backlights the originals for reproducing the prints.

The range of subjects in Danquella’s pictures vary from imaginative and space creatures and planets, to Blackpool Tower, the Liver Building (Mersey) and Spinacher Tower – all using the same creative technique.

David Severn

I'm a young, budding photographer from Nottinghamshire currently working on building a full, extensive photographic portfolio including a range of fine art and documentary works.
I've been a creative thinker for as far back as I can remember but photography really grabbed me when I first ventured into it at the age of 14. My drawing skills were and still are considerably lacking, so photography quickly became my primary method of creative expression.
Over the time I've been exploring photography I've started to acquire my own style, although I'm always willing to give anything new a try as I see everything as a learning curve and an opportunity to progress.
I go to Cornwall once a year on holiday with my Dad and that's where I shoot most of my coastal scenes and waterscapes, which I love. However, coastal views are pretty impossible to come by where I live in central England so when I'm at home, I use a range of cameras including a Holga, a legendary Polaroid SX-70 and a digital SLR to capture urban/street scenes and delve into documentary projects.

www.davidsevern.com
davesevern@gmail.com

Richard Spivey

My name is Richard Spivey

I was born and brought up in a small town in Yorkshire right in the heart of the mining community, where the aged bricks are blackened by the coal and soot and the landscapes are sculptured by the local pits.

It was at these pits that my Uncles toiled for long hours to earn their living ,my uncles were hard men who had little time for self indulgences ,they spent the best days of their lives ,in the darkest and dirtiest of conditions ,long before safety measures and guidelines were even dared to be spoken of ,never mind implemented.

It is with this background in heart that I take great interest and pleasure when I see the pits of old reclaimed and turned into something that is no longer reminiscent of dirt and toil, but something cared for and lovingly returned to us.

Regeneration is at the heart of my pictures and will continue to inspire me throughout my efforts.

Dan Smith

I am currently studying towards a degree in Interior Architecture & Design at Nottingham Trent University, after completing an Applied Art & Design A-Level course at Rawlins Community College, in Leicestershire. I found the course to be very rewarding – I got to attend workshops and lectures by local Graphic Designers and worked with local Artists. Throughout the course I tried many different techniques, worked with a wide range of media and was expected to work in an extremely professional manner. I also learnt how to handle clients and work to a set brief.

I am currently developing an interesting portfolio of 2D & 3D work, which includes the experimentation of line, structure, light, form, tone and colour. Over the past few years I have undertaken several courses to further my artistic skills and knowledge. I have attended Adobe Photoshop courses, life drawing and sculpture classes, and a workshop at the Leicester Print Workshop. I create my own artwork and gifts, which I sell through craft fairs and shops in my village. I also like to take photographs, and have a large portfolio of photographs.

In February 2006 I was part of a group of students that held an exhibition at the City Gallery in Leicester, where I had both 2D & 3D work on display. The exhibition was titled ‘Natural Forms’ and received extremely encouraging feedback. We designed our own promotional material, such as posters and adverts; and made the frames to present the pieces. I also had 2 pieces in the ‘Fresh 2’ exhibition last summer at View from the Top.

I have been able to work with many different people over the past few years, both through college and work of my own, including graphic design projects for local businesses and organisations. Some recent work includes Brand Recognition for local companies; Promotional material for a local car dealership; Internal & External adverts for a bar in Loughborough; In-House promotional material for a Hotel; Mural Design & Construction for Sileby Redlands Primary School; and from February 2006 to May 2007 I worked with the Beacon Players as set designer and also designed their programmes and flyers. I designed sets for ‘Party Piece’ by Richard Harris and ‘Absent Friends’ by Alan Aykbourn.

I have done a lot of research into many historical and contemporary artists, for projects I have been working on and they have inspired and influenced a lot of my work. I particularly like the work of Seb West, a contemporary artist from Cornwall who uses unusual techniques and materials to create unique pieces of work, which he sells from his gallery in St Ives. I am also inspired by the work of historical artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Antonio Gaudi, Nicola Hicks and Marc Chagall. More recently I have been experimenting with colour and lines, and have created some interesting pieces with ink on top of blocks of colour, similar to the style of Christopher Tate. For example painting blocks of colour with watercolour paint, and drawing the detail on top in pen.

For more information:
Tel: 07931 342865
Email: stansmith1@hotmail.co.uk

Adrian Shaw

Adrian uses a mixed-media approach in examining issues of Memory, Identity and Diaspora (in what he terms ‘cultural tourism’), within the ‘Human Environment’.

Primarily, he applies painting, photography, collage/montage, and assemblage in his work. He also uses text, video and modification/inclusion of solid (found/discarded) objects.

He was trained as a scientist (Birkbeck and Imperial Colleges, University of London, and Artist (Central St. Martin’s & Nova Scotia Colleges of Art & Design), hence his interest in ‘Sci-Art’.

He is a member of the Nottingham Creative Network, ArtScape and NAWE, DACS, S/SE Arts and The Nottingham Society of Artists (Affiliate).

Aleck Seddon

Aleck creates Digital Artworks ranging from straight photos to artistic digital paintings and is influenced by the impressionist school and Hopper paintings, the pastel digital photopaints of Irene Froy and the way out work of Russell and Barbie Lindsay.

His aim is to blur the boundaries between tradition art and digital photo printing thus making digital artwork acceptable on an equal footing with painting in the art world. He uses a blend of photography, Photoshop CS2 enhancement and Painter X embellishment to achieve “Digital Artworks” which he prints on an Epson R2400 A3 printer Using Permajet K3 pigment inks and archive quality papers giving a durability of 20 years or more.

Aleck has exhibited in The Chameleon Art gallery, central Nottingham, Hucknall Library, and will shortly be on exhibition in Ilkeston Arts and Photography clubs Annual exhibition at Ilkeston. He is also an active member of Nottingham and Notts Photographic Society scoring quite well in the
bi monthly competitions

Kinny Soni

I Kinny Soni, a student pursing my Post-graduate studies in Architecture at University of Nottingham after having completed my undergraduate study program at the School of Architecture, CEPT, Ahmedabad, India. Along with my undergraduate studies I had also trained and worked under a renowned sculptor Piraji Sagra from India.

Art and Travel have always been my passions which persuaded me to travel a lot to see art and culture of different places. Since the year of 2003 I have been travelling to various places within and outside of my country where I had gain a lot of experiences. Being passionate about sketching, I found it to be the best medium to put forward, the story of my journey and experiences without just mere words which bridged the communication gap between me and people of different cultures.

In the year 2008, during my working with the India Guide Publications as an Illustrator, I produced around 300 sketches of various places in Ahmedabad, India for the tourist map. Though none of my works have been published earlier, this gives me a great opportunity in exhibiting my work for the first time.

Concept
Through this piece of work, I tell about my story that links me to the people and the city of Nottingham. Through this particular work I share my memories and experience of this charming city where I found clouds trying to hide the Sun, the landscape with its tales of Robin hood and his castle. Row of houses with the giant wheel and the sparkling flow, with birds eating my bread becoming my friends brought life in my story.

Process
Experienced the city and its events…
Sketched on paper directly with black ink
Scanned it to high resolution
Added colours through Adobe Photoshop

Inspirations
The tribal and the miniature paintings of the Mughal period in India that were full of artist’s experiences and expressions of their places and occurred events.
The works of Haku Shah an global artist with a rural Indian touch, through his images reflects his close relationship with tribal arts.
Artist Joan Miro, whose works inspired me to play with colours.

Kathryn Priest

Largely self-taught, Kathryn has been a photographer since 2001. Inspired by the chance to use a darkroom at New College, she read and practiced as much as possible and went on to set up her own business, Stinky Monster Photography, in 2002. After working in the photography industry until 2006, she now takes photos with a focus on art rather than commercialism.

Inspired by photographers both famous and obscure, Kathryn’s work covers a wide range of subjects – her only brief is to capture the beauty she sees around her. This can be in a pattern, a shape, striking colours, or a combination of all of these. She collects old cameras and where possible develops her own films. With little to no digital manipulation, Kathryn aims to keep the purity of a shot and show the splendour of the real world as it was at that moment.

She currently shoots portraits, local musicians and travels the county exploring different aspects of the countryside and towns. She is visiting India soon to develop her portfolio and soak up the unique opportunities for photography there.

Her work has been featured in Photography Monthly and Amateur Photographer magazines, and she exhibited in Nottingham’s Wax Bar in February 2008.

She is available for commissions and prints are available of the photographs exhibited here. Please feel free to take a card, and visit her website www.capture-arcadia.com

Valerie Powell

I am 66 years old with 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren.

After retiring at the age of 62 I decided to join a WEA class in mixed media. This was the beginning of my experience in art.

Since then I have attended a drawing class, watercolour class, pastel and acrylic class.

I enjoy trying different mediums and experimenting with the effects.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and have been very fortunate to have pictures recently selected for an exhibition. In December 2008 I had a picture selected for the Derby Open and have more recently had 3 pictures in the Betroot Tree Gallery.

I particularly admire the work of Monet, Mackintosh, Georgia O Keefe and Tamara de Lempicka.

I still attend a WEA class, where I continue to enjoy the challenges this presents.

I am the local church treasurer, a member of a banner group producing wall hangings for the church, and enjoy yoga.

Email: Valerie.powell7@ntlworld.com

John M Pooler

Elizabeth Pearson

To me, Art is life. It restores my soul.

I specialise in Intricate, Jewel-Like, Mixed Media Pieces. In this case I started with a photograph of one of my favourite views of Nottingham. The images are taken from the top flower garden in The Arboretum, a place that makes me feel free and touches my heart.

I hope that I have portrayed to you some of the beauty and joy that I feel when I look at this view. I hope that you are mesmerized by it and I hope that in it, you catch a glimpse of another world.

I finished Art College in 2002 with a distinction but have only recently begun to produce pieces of work for exhibitions and commissions. Since childhood I have been continually influenced by the work of Chris Ofili, Gustav Klimt and the music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.


07799323745
e-mail: elizabeth_pearson@hotmail.co.uk

Marie Peach

Marie Peach graduated with a 1:1 degree from Nottingham Trent University in 2004. Her work during her degree largely focused on ideas of home and was mostly textual and performance based. She won the Geoff Ball travel award whilst at university and travelled to Barcelona to research an exhibition; a museum based on a hybrid of Nottingham and Barcelona, with a tongue-in-cheek look at our often hazy knowledge of the history and legends of our own home towns.

Her work since then has continued to explore our relationships with our surroundings. Look up is a comment on the tendency to stop seeing the streets that we walk down every day, and a slightly whimsical proposal that everyday things have the potential to be more magical, if only glimpsed from the corners of our eyes. She aims to alter the way we think of familiar places by placing an image over a memory, while the place itself remains completely unaltered. And most of all she wants to play with the city; making the place we call home just a little more fun.

Other work includes www.relaywriting.net a website in which four different stories of wildly varying genres run parallel, and Marie invites anyone to participate, moving the stories on in exciting and unusual ways.



Contact details: mariepeach@yahoo.co.uk

Chris Pickup

As we walk the pavements, alleys and passageways of our cities, a constant complex conveyor belt of images scrolls beneath our feet. In order to maintain our focus, maybe even our sanity, this constant image-rich filmstrip has to remain ignored.

The work seeks to expose and reveal the depth and complexity behind a few moments of urban visual experience; to ask the eye to linger on and look harder at, that which has to be habitually ignored. It leaves one to ponder on the infinitesimal complexities which lie within the most mundane of every day objects and activities. The effect is to ‘press the pause button’, stop the world scrolling by and look at what is presented in front of you. In many ways this work fulfils the traditional artist’s prerogative to look longer and harder at the world on behalf of society.

The works presented in this exhibition are two intimate studies of small sections of Nottingham pavement created through a complex process of constructing three dimensional form and texture and then applying colour. The colour is a mix of oil and water based paint which is sprayed on to the surface creating a complex colourfield. More paint is then applied by brush to enhance the three dimensional effect of tone.
The resulting work appears highly abstract but is in fact based on close observation.

Chris Pickup graduated from Loughborough College of Art with a First Class Hons in Fine Art Sculpture in 1985. He has exhibited widely in the East Midlands, Yorkshire and London. The most recent and notable have been: Urban Journeys: a collaboration with artist Mike Bowdidge at the Red Gallery in Hull, where the resultant exhibition described 3 journeys though the city’s streets; INMATES: where the artist created an installation and publication exploring the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield’s early history as a workhouse; Most recently, Imagine a City… in Leicester, where the artist created a site responsive work exhibited in a shop window in relation to the physicality and history of Leicester Market.

To find out more about Chris Pickup’s work go to:

www.chrispickupartist.co.uk
enquiries@chrispickupartist.co.uk
07974 384271

John Oscroft

John is a self taught emerging Nottingham artist who also paints landscapes, abstracts and distinctive stylistic portraits inspired by his interest in contemporary and vintage fashion.

“Crossing” is not intended to represent Nottingham as a city covered with graffiti; it is simply an expression of the artist’s sense of humour.

For further information John can be contacted by telephone on 0115 8407688 or alternatively by e-mail at oscroftjohn@hotmail.com

Tracey Mayfield

‘View from the Very Top’ is inspired by the view from my Nottinghamshire classroom. As a local teacher I have found the view from my room, breathtaking. Being able to see for miles on a clear day make(s) me realise how sometimes insignificant we actually are. Even on a rainy day, as I watch the approaching rain coming across the city, it is nothing short of amazing.

This view is a combination of many photographs, merged together using digital software. Using a sepia technique gives the image an "old" effect questioning the date at which the photograph was actually taken. The tell tale signs of the modern buildings and the vehicles give an indication that it is a recent, rather than a historical image. Much like the subject itself, it is a mixture of old and modern.

This is a limited edition print, this being the first of ten. Please visit my website for more examples, prints, and artwork. Commissions are undertaken.

www.paintedghost.co.uk
info@paintedghost.co.uk
m: 07941 061869

Aaron Lawrence

I am a self taught artist and have fallen in love with painting again after not picking up a paintbrush since finishing secondary school, 17 years ago. After encouragement from my wife after seeing some of my work from school I entered a painting into Patchings Farm Exhibition in 2007 which to my pleasant surprise was selected for the “highly commended category”. This gave me the confidence to paint on a regular basis and try different subjects and medium. I continued to paint on a regular basis and try different subjects and medium. I continued to paint on Saturdays and the odd evening in the week as I worked full time. My work was then on display at Caythorpe Summer Festival in 2008. After setting up my own website I was approached to display my Art at a Christmas exhibition on Rivington Street in London. This year my art will be on display as part of Sherwood Artweek and in Arnold Library.

The painting you see here is my first attempt at Architecture in oils as most of my work to date has been of flowers or seascapes in oils or watercolours.

With most of my art to date I have loved using bright bold colours and used photographs I have taken as subject matter, which hopefully have grabbed people’s attention. This summer I am looking forward to taking my easel outside as myself and my wife live in the lovely village of Woodborough.

Atul Lakra

THE VIEW UP.

“Architecture consists largely of placing something between earth and sky”
Eero Saarinen

Pioneering American architect- Eero Saarinen’s iconic statement forms the conceptual basis for this series of photographic compositions, which try to explore, through the medium of scaling and repetition, the various myriad details, material textures and play of light and shadow on buildings in the city of Nottingham.

WOLLATON HALL STUDY.

Against the backdrop of a late evening sky, fine, subtle details of stonemasonry begin to emerge on this magnificent example of Elizabethan architecture. My intention was to try to capture and magnify, the stark and elemental contrast between the warm sunlit grains of Ancaster stone and the cold, dark and deep blues of the sky.

NOTTINGHAM ROOFSCAPES.

Nottingham presents an eclectic collection of beautiful turrets, domes, gables, finials, parapets and other visually arresting architectural elements and roof forms in its broad palette of architectural styles evident from the Victorian age to the present. A walk around the city centre, with one’s gaze occasionally directed skywards, can often lead to revealing insights on the way we appreciate a building between its immediate neighbours and in the larger context of the surrounding cityscape. As an architect, I also find it interesting to observe how a building connects with the sky, from ground up, in addition to perceiving how it is rooted to the earth.

ICONIC ALIEN TRANSFORMS A ROPEWALK.

In this composition, I have tried to inscribe my gut reaction to a building in the atmospheric conditions prevailing, while I was trying to photograph it for the architects on a cloudy and very windy Saturday evening. The intention was to highlight the tectonic nature of this ‘object’ against the fleeting clouds above. The building, called the ICON, recently completed by Marsh: Grochowski Architects, stands facing a row of Georgian and Regency townhouses on the Ropewalk and houses energy efficient, flexible office spaces. The project has won prestigious awards like the RIBA East Midlands Award (2008) and the RIBA East Midlands award for Environmental Initiative (2008).

A BRIEF PERSONAL PROFILE

Architect, Marsh: Grochowski Architects, Nottingham.

School of the Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Master of Architecture in Design (M. Arch.) 2006
School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India.
Bachelor of Architecture. (B. Arch.) (Hons.) 2002

Although this is my first exhibition as an exhibitor, I have previously designed and built exhibition spaces, museum galleries and curated and co-ordinated an annual exhibition of students’ work at the university level. As an architecture student in New Delhi, India, I also had the opportunity to work with collaborating international artists, architects and designers for setting up the Ninth Triennale India in 1997. I have a keen interest in mobile architecture, material innovations, new media and future transport technologies, technology transfer and cross- disciplinary approaches to art, design and architecture.

Hau Hsie Lim (George Lim)

A clash between science and art.

It is difficult for me to describe about myself as I am from a rather complex background. I am not an art student nor grow up from an artistic family background. I graduated as an Immunologist, where precision and strict protocols in experiments are part and parcel of my life.

But my love for the magical world of photography actually started back in year 2000, with my dad’s old Yashica FX-3 35mm film SLR camera. This camera is full of dials and controls, which the principles of accuracy, technical know-how and metering is applied wherever I want to take a shot. Nevertheless when I look beyond those technicality and stare through the optical viewfinder, that is the part where my artistic right brain started to kick in.

After years of mastering the techniques of photography, in late 2005 I was scouted by Sony Malaysia to be a workshop trainer and specialist in digital imaging. (Yes, that is photography, only in fancy words). I enjoy the work so much so that I keep holding the job until 2 weeks before I flew to Nottingham for my Masters in Immunology & Allergy Courses.

I always think that it is such a pity to be able to get a fantastic shot, but not sharing it to the world. In that context, I published it through my blog (www.georgelim.co.nr) and Flickr photo stream. So far the traffic to the website has been encouraging.

Any constructive comments or praises about my work can be sent to georgelimphoto@gmail.com, or send it through my website. Thank you.

Contact number: 078828 02223
Email: georgelimphoto@gmail.com

Steven Ingman

Born in 1984 Steven James Ingman grew up in a rural farming community near Bawtry, Doncaster. Steven James Ingman lived there until gaining a place at Lincoln University in 2002 to study Fine Art. It is the complete change of lifestyle that influences Ingman's work - being thrust into an unfamiliar environment of bold colours and ferocious sounds.

I spend time at night just wandering around Nottingham, taking in the atmosphere of this industrial environment. I find by day the city is frantic as our cosmopolitan society merges into a gritty greyness of our concrete existence. However by night an obtrusive luminous light blankets its surroundings creating a city awash in bright vibrant colours. The paintings transform these everyday scenes of urban life by using an explosion of paint, creating landscapes of light, colour and movement. The work utilises the tactile qualities of oil paint in conjunction with the mark-making of the pallet knife in creating impasto depictions, entwining the essence of the subject matter and the bold nature of the work

The work is snap shot insights into our reality, split second memories frozen and encapsulated into the surface of the paint, allowing for onlookers a heightened awareness of our urban living.

Recents awards include; Derby City Open 2008 winner – awarded a solo exhibition for 2010 and the University of Lincoln Purchase Prize Winner award in 2007.

Recent exhibitions include; Derby City Open 2008 Derby Museum and Art Gallery; Landscape v Cityscape Open - May 2008 Claire Galleries, (Birmingham); Nottingham Castle Open - November 2007, Angel Row Gallery, (Nottingham); Fresh Open show - August 2007, View from the Top Gallery, (Nottingham); Lincoln University Degree show - May 2007, (Lincoln) and Open plan - January 2007, Group exhibition, Tyler Gallery, (Philadelphia, USA)


Contact Information
Ingman@hotmail.com
www.steveningman.co.uk

Ruth Hunt

I've been painting for ten years now and I love the use of colour and form which shows strongly in all my work

Rachel Heaven

Rachel is a self taught artist, continuing a career in science while painting in her spare time. She has been a member of the Nottingham Society of Artists Trust since 2000, exhibiting regularly in selected and group exhibitions at the NSAT Gallery, Friar Lane Nottingham. In 2004 she took part in the Lady Bay Open Studios event, and has had two solo exhibitions (Wax Café, Broad St Nottingham, 2002 and 2004).

This painting was created for the Kathleen Marchant Award exhibition at the NSAT Gallery on the subject of Watson Fothergill, February 2008.
Watson Fothergill was the renowned Nottingham architect responsible for many of Nottingham’s finest buildings. The painting is of the entrance to the Nottingham Express Offices building on Upper Parliament St, built by Fothergill 1875-76. The corner entrance tower was apparently inspired by the work of the architect Burges and is graced by carvings of the heads of three leading Liberal politicians of the day - Cobden, Gladstone & Bright.

Rachel was awarded the Oil Prize in the exhibition for this painting, which is produced using oil on board.

Rachel’s other work includes a series of cityscapes and landscapes of Morocco; coastal scenery from the west coasts of Cornwall, Scotland and New Zealand; recent work with a mixed media group depicting patterns in nature; plus various commissions and portraits.

Her work is available to view on http://www.imageportfolio.com

Jack Findlater

BA Hons Fine Art – Nottingham Trent University
PGCE Art Education – Scraptoft Campus, Leicester
M.Ed Human Relations Nottingham University
FNSA Fellow of the Nottingham Society of Artists

Recent Prizes
Kathleen Poole Portrait Prize – 2 times winner
Winner of the Kathleen Marchant Award 2009
Winner of the Kathleen Marchant Award 2008


My work is mainly on paper, though not exclusively.

Emma Fawcett

Emma Fawcett has been drawing and painting from an early age and has taken tuition from many artists over the years.

While studying at UCL, she took advantage of the life classes at the Slade School of Art and on graduating went on to attend classes at City Lit and Morley College in London.

She has been a student of Yorkshire artist, Alan Gummerson and Nottingham artist, Josephine Cutts.

In 2007, she started exhibiting and selling her work and had her first solo exhibition 'Energies of Nature' at the Flying Goose Cafe, Beeston in 2008. She has also exhibited at Derby City Gallery, Leicester City Gallery, the Djanogly Gallery, Nottingham and Waterstone's 'View From The Top' gallery.

She paints using watercolour and adds pastel, ink, aquarelle and gouache. More recently she has branched into printmaking with non-toxic inks.

In June 2009, she will be holding a joint exhibition 'Visions, Landscapes and Dreams' with artist and poet, David Wood at the Nottingham Society of Artists.

Emma’s art communicates the magic and mystery of the everyday world taking the viewer away from ordinary consciousness.

Colour and the beauty of the natural world inspires Emma’s work as does meditation, a spiritual practice which helps her relax, heal and connect to her creativity.

Emma has a passion for environmental issues and is an active member of her local Green Party. She has volunteered for the environmental charity Global Action Plan and supplied them with artwork for promotional and educational materials on their 'EcoTeams' project.'

She is about to publish her first book ‘Woodland Haiku’ with poet David Wood. A collection of woodland paintings and Japanese style poetry, it allows the reader to become lost in the woods and connect to the magic within.

www.emmafawcett.com

Mark Darlington

A self-taught photographer of 20 years with an avid interest in all genres of photography. The underlying theme of twistedimages photography is to attempt to capture a feeling in an image that holds the eye and imagination of the viewer, instead of passing by with a casual glance.

To date, achievements include having images published in non-tabloid newspapers, being placed twice in the amateur photographer of the year competition 08, and a monthly photographic feature in a glossy magazine.

Framed and mounted images of various themes are currently on display, and for sale in Finishing Touches, in the Peak Village retail outlet in Derbyshire.

A photographer enjoying the art of digital manipulation to create an impression, in conjunction with, as taken photography.


twistedimages@ymail.com

Marie - Helene Drouin

I am a self taught photographer.

I have gained some recognition by producing handmade cards over the last 2 years that are distributed in 4 places between Derby and Nottingham, I have also participated in charitable fundraising on several occasions since 2001.

Since October, on a voluntary basis I have documented Mental Health Awareness week, a graffiti afternoon organized by Gallery Above and a fundraising evening “Art from the Heart” for destitute refugees.

I have taken part in 2 exhibitions so far, the first at the View from the Top in February 2008 and more recently at the Open exhibition in Derby January 2009.

I enjoy taking pictures of nature and cityscape, where I live and where I travel. I have lived in the Midlands for the past 9 years and find both Derby and Nottingham very inspiring: especially their parks. I try to capture light, textures, magic moments of daily life and quirky places.

I especially like contrasting colours that make the pictures more vivid and cheerful, vibrant colours, back lit leaves or petals work very well that way. I like my pictures to relax the viewer, make them smile. My pictures are mementos of the small moments of beauty in the everyday.

For me, a picture is a piece of art, it does represent actual objects but most of all it conveys a very specific point of view and choice of composition on the part of the photographer.

In terms of inspiration Doisneau is a major influence in his humorous humanity towards his subjects and Tiffany also influences me in his awareness of how light can change the aspect of the objects it hits - on glass for his work. I gain a lot of inspiration from talking with local artists and photographers who are not well known at present.

mariedrouinq@yahoo.co.uk

Jax Checkland

I am a Fine Art student currently in my second and final year studying for a HND at South Nottingham College.

This is my second time entering a piece of Art in an open exhibition, my first being Fresh 2, held here at View from the Top in 2008.

I have also had my art shown in the end of year exhibition at college in 2008 and am currently working towards my final show in June.

I am a multi media artist and enjoy trying different methods of creating art, I am an abstract painter and I am now expressing my ideas and thoughts through photography, I hope to adventure into documentary photography in the future.

My photography is a way of relating an idea or feeling to the viewer, in a way that my painting cannot. I do not take photographs for the sake of taking them, they have a reason and I want the viewer to think about what they are seeing and what feeling this forms.

I would say that the main inspiration for my photography comes from Don McCullin, for the way in which he uses Photography to document his experiences. I am inspired by the way he takes a situation and manages to relay the feeling of his subjects to the viewer. You really feel the pain and sadness of the people being photographed.

Gillian Choo

It has taken me quite some time to find my creative side, having ventured into research, publishing, teaching and martial arts along the way.

I am currently studying HND Design with Textiles at South Nottingham College. I am particularly drawn to print processes and like to experiment with combining traditional techniques such as screen and collograph printing with hand drawing, craft, photography and digital manipulation.

I am fascinated with form and structure, and like to use buildings and close-up views of plants as inspiration. I love learning new methods, and I am equally happy working in glorious colour or stark black and white. I can’t imagine ever settling down to one technique - there’s so much still to learn and too many new ideas still to try out.

I’m inspired by artists such as Lucienne Day (for her line work), and the Austrian painter Hundertwasser for his bold use of colour.

In 2007 I was nominated for a City & Guilds Gold Medal for excellence in rug making, and was subsequently invited to join Living Threads, a Midlands-based group of textile artists.

Recent exhibitions include ‘Fresh Art & Design 2’ – Summer 08 ‘Print One, Stitch One’ Textile exhibition in June 08, ‘In House’ exhibition in April 08, South Nottingham College Creative Studies Shows in 07 & 08, and ‘Resolution’ Photography Show in February 08.


Contact Information
Gillchoo@hotmail.com
0778 8122066

Joseph Burrows

I am a Retired art teacher, and I studied sculpture at Nottingham College of Art and The Royal College of Art in London.

Some of my work is on display at the Rushcliffe Collection, the Nottingham Evening Post building and in Local Collections, including View from the Top.

Jed Brignal

Internationally renowned visual artist based in this city.
She has an intelligent and inherent sense of joy that is evident in her dramatic and vibrant images.

Jed has had many one woman shows in the city and county and has also had her work exhibited around the world in London, Midland Texas, South Korea and Barcelona. Nottingham City Council continues to use her work to promote a positive perspective of our urban surroundings. Cards of her paintings can be found in tourist retail outlets. Jon Collins, Leader of the Council has her Red City Square hanging in his office.

Jed runs curriculum enrichment workshops as a free-lance practitioner increasingly choosing to work with younger children and whole school projects such as the much featured Time Tunnel at Rufford Juniors in Bulwell. Some of these projects have been included in a recent book by Belair called Creativity in Literacy. As part of an urban regeneration programme her paintings appear on road signs in Medan Vale, Market Warsop and Mansfield Woodhouse.

As well as painting she also creates quirky sculptures from found materials – one is of a duck called ‘Ey Up’ – which may be adopted by Nottingham in Bloom as a floral roundabout display.

Jed has designed and created a unique and amazing garden, open to the public as part of the National Garden Scheme and featured in many national gardening magazines. Jed was chosen to show TV viewers her garden and to talk to Dominic Heale about her rare plants on East Midlands Today. Then selected for a special programme about Nottingham gardens where hers was featured on BBC2 Gardeners World presented by Monty Don.


artbyjed.co.uk

Edward Bowness

I have received my art education at Chesterfield College and Loughborough University, graduating in 2008 in Illustration and Animation. Notable achievements so far in my illustration life include winning a Gold star sticker at primary school for my bloody depiction of the crucifixion. I also have an exhibition running in conjunction with the Leftlion magazine looking at different aspects of Nottingham.

Having worked in a bar now for a couple of years I see first hand the importance pubs have on social life. It is the social bedrock of our culture and with as many as 27 village pubs closing every week the pub is an endangered species. I have created some illustrations to emphasize this decline, whoever I have also focused on the positives that the pub can bring and how it is more than just a business, and it’s the heart of a community. By drawing we immortalize our subjects and hopefully in regards to the pub I can do the same.

In terms of medium and execution, I have used pen and ink as I enjoy the energy and speed of the process. I then scan the drawings I have done on location into Adobe Photoshop applying colours and textures digitally

I am deeply inspired by political and satirical art (e.g. Steve Bell, Hogarth, Gillray) past to present especially its ability to combine a thought provoking message with a funny image. I am also inspired by children’s books and comics (e.g. The Beano, Tin Tin)

Please feel free to visit my wider portfolio (see above at bottom of page) I am available for projects big or small and if something catches your eye, please contact me via email or by mobile.

www.eddiebowness.carbonmade.com
www.aoiportfolios.com/artist/edwardbowness

Michael Bell

Mike works almost exclusively in Acrylics and pastels- usually gicleeing the resulting piece in order to be able to play with scale. This can produce amazing results at very reasonable prices! Mike is interested not only in scale but in the simplification of form almost to abstraction, but not quite! He also uses a deliberately limited and often primary colour based palette. Mike believes that the results are both innovative and attractive. His pieces are more considered than they may look!

Mike Bell, MA, BaHons, A.T.D. P.G.C.E.

Robin Badcock

I have been interested in photography for a number of years, especially since the onset of digital photography and on-line critique galleries. However, I am essentially a self-taught photographer. This is my first exhibition, so please be nice!.

I do not have a particular area of expertise in photography, but I have always been drawn to more abstract shots and geometric patterns, whether manufactured or natural, and macro photography. I aim to extract the essence of an object, place or building without revealing too much of its identity – leaving just enough for the viewer to try to imagine the whole.

Although I have no direct influences I greatly admire the work of M.C.Escher for his playfulness and somewhat paradoxical works. My favourite photographer is Sebastiao Salgado, and in the future I would like to try my hand at a more photojournalistic approach to the art.



Contact no: 07793057894
0robin4@gmail.com

Dave Bishop

Dave Bishop (Lord Biro) is a self taught poet and artist, who creates drawings, cartoons and illustrated poems. He works in Pencil, Biro, Crayon, Felt tip and Marker Pens. He is influenced mainly by Andy Warhol and Donald McGill amongst others.

Artwork published
Evening Post
Metro
Stool Pigeon (music magazine)
Independent

Poetry Published
Evening Post
The Guardian
Bad Poetry Quarterly
Long Eaton Topper
Art Review

He currently has work in The Buddy Holly exhibition- a 50’s Art Show at the Credit Crunch Gallery in Nottingham.


www.guncitygallery.org.uk
www.grumpyoldelius.co.uk

lordbiro58@hotmail.com

Ralph Bennett

I have been interested in Photography since I was 14 years old, starting at an after school photo club.

My keen interest started when I was around 21 and invited to join the Newark Photographic Society where I have been a member for 40 years.

I am a member of a small group photographers called, Gamma, who meet at the Media Museum in Bradford six times a year, to develop and progress our interest in photography away from the competitive arena of club photography.

I am Vice President of United Photographic Postfolios of Great Britain, a postal photographic club, with around four hundred members, and have made friends all over the country via UPP. I am also a judge of competitions at various clubs in the region hoping to be constructive and passing on my knowledge to others.

I am often asked what type of subjects I take, and the answer is always the same, I photograph anything that takes my fancy, having tackled most subjects over the years.

I enjoy viewing all types of art and try to learn from it all, we never stop learning.

I hope you enjoy my work and may be decide you would like to own it.

ralph@eyesightphoto.co.uk

Katie Aisthorpe

I graduated my Fine Art Degree at Nottingham Trent University in 1999, and decided that I should try and get a ‘proper’ career.

After years of working and feeling dissatisfied, I came to realise that I felt stifled and frustrated without a creative outlet in my life.

As I have always used photography as a starting point for paintings and mixed media projects, that’s where I have started again, photographing my surroundings and seeing where these images take me.

I carry my camera with me at all times, as you can never tell when these scenes will present themselves.

From icy twigs and leaves, to rolling thunder clouds, from foggy sunrises to flooded rivers, the countryside around Nottingham really is a huge inspiration.

kt.aisthorpe@hotmail.co.uk

Chris Abbott

I was a late starter in most things in life, I got a B.H.(Hons) degree and a social work qualification at the age of 53 and did not start painting until I was 60.

In the last 4 years I have had some excellent tuition from a number of local artists, notably Rosemary Wells and Matthew Swain through the “Workers Educational Association”

Art has given me a fantastic new lease of life and a new way of expressing thoughts, feelings, emotions and ideas that are both challenging and important to me and perhaps my way of seeing things is not so strange after all.

Colour, shape and form have an enormous impact on my art. Artists that have influenced my development are Kurt Jackson, William Selby and Patrick Caulfield. Every day I discover new artists and new styles that inspire me to view things in a different light. It is this continuing discovery that makes painting and art so exciting and challenging.

In the last 18 months I have had work accepted at a number of exhibitions including:

Leicester Open
Chelsea Open
Patchings Farm Summer Exhibition
E.A.C Art Awards The Mall and The Bankside Gallery
View From the Top Gallery

Sadia Ashraf

This is a first exhibition for Sadia Ashraf: a self taught photographer with an eye for detail of the things we tend to pass by in life; things which in the moment may seem irrelevant, but when captured on camera can have so much meaning. Creating stories through photography is a passion of mine. I have wide ranging specialities but some of my favourites to shoot are nature, flowers, and food.

I love to inspire people the way the great photographer Steve Bloom has inspired me. I want to make people stop in order to take a step back, and force them to take a different view on life. Force them to take a step back in order to catch their breath at the beauty of something. A reaction like this is why I live to photograph Life.

The pieces exhibited were taken in The Millennium Garden on The University of Nottingham Campus. The Garden has a Time theme and the idea behind my work is the relationship between Time and Nature.

The Garden is made up of living things: growing plants and trees; flowing water, and as with everything in life, these things will one day come to pass – as have the people to whom plaques are dedicated around the fountain area of the Garden. This circle of Life will continue, as of course it always does, and I wanted to create a photographic representation of the beauty of the living subjects placed together, representing the one thing – Time – that has taken away the people to whom the Garden is dedicated. I like the poignancy of this circular relationship of the living representing that which is passing by or has passed away.

The idea behind the capture of the metal sculpture is a representation of the juxtaposition of the permanency of the numbers etched into the metal, against the fluid passing of Time, which can never be captured or stored by anybody. Therefore, capturing such moments on camera makes them all the more beautiful and engaging – they become a freeze frame of something that can never be recreated.

SADSASHRAF@GMAIL.COM
SADIAASHRAF.BLOGSPOT.COM