Featured Artists

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  Doug Hyde

  Born in Bristol in 1972, Doug became aware of his artistic talent at an early age. Throughout his school and college education he concentrated on the technical side of drawing and painting, but after graduation he was in no doubt as to his chosen career, that of a professional artist.

  Doug prefers to produce his distintive artwork on a large scale, in order to acheive maximum impact with each piece.
  He also enjoys operating in plenty of space, thus allowing himself enough physical freedom to express the creative energy that is the key to his fresh, contemporary style.

  His unorthodox use of pastels applied with fingers and thumbs or even the side of a hand or wrist allows him to create highly communicative and engaging images that make an immediate and lasting impression on the viewer.

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  John Waterhouse

  John Waterhouse. Many things inspire me to paint - from walking the fields and woodlands that surround the area where i live, to simply watching people going about their daily lives. New ideas for paintings constantly enter my head and i note many of them down on paper, so as not to forget them.

  When painting a landscape, alot of the information is there, but more often than not something extra needs to be added, or changed slightly. A cloud formation, a distant figure, or perhaps the way the light is falling. With landscapes i feel it is not so much an idea, but an ability to balance and compose, to a certain extent, what is already there.

  I find the English countryside very romantic. Fields and trees to me have their own character and history, just as a person does. By taking plenty of time to study the view that i am about to paint, helps me decide the areas that require toning down and the areas that need to be made more vivid, if any, in order to emphasise it''s character.

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  Caroline Shotton

  Painting since childhood, Caroline Shotton grew up on the outskirts of London raised by her Grandmother. She was inspired by the surrounding countryside, immersing herself in her work even as a child. During her school years Shotton was strongly influenced by the old master painters, she went on to study Art at Central Saint Martin's and became further captivated by surrealism and impressionism, her current work often combining these two areas.

  Upon graduation, Shotton became a freelance artist in the commercial industry, taking on many commissions from businesses across the country. When her son was born, Shotton decided to focus on her gallery career, working on it ever since.

  Shotton's work is parodical, drawing humour to the old masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, the Girl with the Pearl Earring and many others. She uses an interesting cow design in nearly all of her works, creating a strong sense of comedy within the entire collection.

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  Jeff Rowland

  After studying art at North Tyneside College, I became self employed as a professional artist in 1984. I used this time to experiment with all medium including glass engraving, printing and painting, but always seemed to be drawn back to oil paint. Even as a child I can remember my grandmother using oil paint in a paint by numbers set. This caught my attention and I was fascinated with the medium.

  I always tried other mediums because I found the process of art exciting. At this time, I had a scatter gun approach to art, working in all areas and not really having any one medium to learn my craft.

  Times became difficult and I had to re-train. In 2000 I did a HND in advertising/illustration as a visualizer, studying at Newcastle. While there I worked on many live briefs and was successful in winning a NEPA award (North East Print Association).