Susan Parmenter’s painting of teddy and toys may look familiar to some readers. The image became a popular Horsham Museum postcard. Susan, a former pupil of Forest School for Girls (now Millais) has specialised in portraiture since 1979. She has work exhibited in the national portrait gallery and was John Player Award (a portrait art prize now sponsored by BP) finalist in 1985 and 1987.
David Western’s Back Street Shops dates back to 1977. There are three paintings - depicting the grocer’s shop and cobblers in Trafalgar Road, the fish and chip shop in Spencer’s Road, and the butcher and the baker on the junction of Swindon Road and Trafalgar Road. Western uses pen and watercolour wash to create superb detail.
Geoffrey Sparrow (18871961) was a popular and respected doctor in the town. Having served his country with distinction in The Great War, he moved to Horsham in 1919. He was also a prolific painter and had a good reputation as a caricature artist. The museum has three Town Hall sketches by Sparrow. This one depicts The Causeway without the Town Hall being there!
Aubergines
One of the most eye-catching pictures of buildings in this pretty pen and wash drawing by Gillian M. Hobbs. It captures cottages in the heart of the idyllic village and shows the spire of St Peter’s Church in the distance. The painting was bought at an auction of art at Toovey’s Auctioneers in Washington in 2009.
Back Street Shops
Also currently on display in the Art Gallery is a small watercolour by Nevill Barnett of The Causeway. Barnett’s 1998 painting depicts the Museum, Causeway House and other buildings along Horsham’s oldest street.
Town Hall Collection
Causeway in the Snow Cottages at Slinfold Teddy and Toys
There are a few drawings and paintings in the Diamond Collection that depict Horsham’s historic town centre. The Friends of Horsham Museum donated this contemporary painting of the Causeway in the snow by John Davies to the Art collection as a Christmas gift. A snowy view of St Mary's Church by the same artist was used as a Christmas card sold in aid of Sussex Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (SASBAH) in 2008.
Suzanne Merrikin’s watercolour of aubergines is one of a number of botanical drawings and paintings in the museum’s collection. The Royal Botanical Society has recently awarded Suzanne the silver gilt for her watercolours. She lives in Storrington, where she grows most of her own subjects. Other botanic art includes studies by Enid Alison Western, Graham Rust and Jill Coombs.