Hidden Talents International Arts Magazine - Spring 2022

HIDDEN TALENTS INTERNATIONAL ARTS MAGAZINE Spring 2022

Featuring Catharine Kincome Liz Chaderton Ann Mitchell Steve Urwin Raina Goran William Josephs Radford Elizabeth Crewther Lloyd-Novelle Jones Lorna Buechner Jaana Säisä Helen Worthington Julie Swan Andy Fergusson Nazmin Bashir ●

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Featuring in this issue...

Liz Chaderton Ann Mitchell Steve Urwin William Josephs Radford Catharine Kingcome Elizabeth Crewther Lloyd-Novelle Jones Lorna Buechner Jaana Säisä Helen Worthington Julie Swan Andy Fergusson Nazmin Bashir Raina Goran The Friends Institute

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Designed by Sam Darley The Arches Project Ltd Adderley Street Digbeth Birmingham B9 4EE

Published by The Arches Project Ltd Publishing Director Evette Edmeade Website thearchesproject.org advertising@thearchesproject.org Telephone +44 121-772-0852

Welcome to our spring issue We have some great talents we want to share with you.

With so many uncertainties, be assured we are here continuing to support emerging artists, both local and international, on their journey towards wider recognition and commercial opportunities. Breaking into the art world comes with many challenges and we aim to help creatives navigate through these.

We are also committed to enabling artists to overcome problems they may have faced related to discrimination or mental health. The support we provide is multifaceted, ranging from online publicity opportunities to facilitated access to buyers and collectors to providing gallery space for your exhibitions. Above all, artists are welcomed into an inclusive and supportive community in which they can gain confidence and exposure to global audiences.

Hoping you will enjoy this issue and thank you for your continuing support.

Evette Edmeade A big thank you to all our supporters who help us to keep going!

DISCLAIMER Every care has been taken during the production of this magazine in compiling editorial and advertorial. However, The Arches Project Ltd cannot accept responsibility for material supplied by third parties and excludes all liability relating to any products and services promoted within this publication or arising from any error, omission, or inaccuracy, nor is The Arches Project Ltd responsible for the content of external websites. Finally, the views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily the views of the publisher, no part of this magazine must be copied or reproduced without written permission from the publishers.

Copyright © The Arches Project Ltd 2020. All rights reserved.

www.lizchadertonstudio.co.uk

Spring 2022

LIZ CHADERTON Liz Chaderton’s joyful watercolours reconnect you to nature, leaving space for your imagination to wander.

Liz is an artist, tutor and author working mainly in watercolour and ink. Her motivation is to create paintings that help people see the natural world in a new and fresh light. They are full of vitality and joie de vivre, hoping to capture the beauty and energy of the flora and fauna we often take for granted.

From intimate pieces to dramatic statements, from gentle watercolours to bold golden icons, Liz creates special paintings which bring a sense of wonder into your life. She works on both traditional paper and also on wooden panels or canvases which she specially prepares to accept watercolour.

“I aim for my work to “Much as I want She explains: bring a smile and a “I aim for my to help people work to bring moment to pause no see the natural a smile and matter busy life gets.” world with fresh a moment to eyes, I want pause no matter busy life gets. people to see watercolour in But my deeper objective is that a new way too. It is an easily by reconnecting with nature dismissed medium and by using we will reduce our impact on new surfaces and presentation, the environment and care more I hope to bring it out of the deeply for resources which we shadows.” often ignore.”

“I want to help people see the natural world with fresh eyes”

The blue flash of a kingfisher is a rare but thrilling sight.

This pair is painted in ink and watercolour on a deeply texture canvas (50x50cm) Liz sees herself as a painter who likes to teach, rather than a teacher who likes to paint, however, she runs several popular one-day workshops in Berkshire and also online pre-recorded courses (www. lizchadertonstudio.co.uk). She has written three practical art books published by The Crowood Press with a fourth due for publication in July 2022.

“I get a buzz out of helping people to find their voice. We all have a need to express ourselves in some way and when people can do that through painting you see a light come on in their eyes.”

Though a common garden sight, the humble bluetit is elevated to a golden icon, through this mixed media painting on a wooden panel embellished with gold leaf (50x50cm)

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Working in traditional transparent watercolour, Liz tries to capture the gestalt of the animal rather than every hair and whisker. They are rarely shown in the environment to allow focus on the animal itself. Watercolour on paper (46x46cm)

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“I am also interested in the concept of nature connectedness and the effect it has on our own well being and mental health.”

Spring 2022

Liz lives near the Thames and waterfowl regular feature in her work after kayaking and the occasional unintended dip in the river. This piece is ink and watercolour on canvas, with metal leaf (50x50cm)

Guinea fowl have ancient faces, which are strangely compelling. Finding beauty in the ordinary is a pre occupation. Watercolour on paper, (51x51cm) Hidden Talents Magazine

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www.annie-mae-art.com

Spring 2022

ANN MITCHELL I feel blessed and am so happy others enjoy my art.

My name is Ann Mitchell. I work under the name Anniemae Art. I began this new and wonderful stage of my life, the best actually when I retired.

I am a late bloomer... but better to bloom late than never.

I attended a foundation course in Art and Design in Moate and I also loved creating mosaic art.

I became passionate about creating art using different mediums and played around with them in my studio until I found my style.

I love mixed media using collage, ink, pen, acrylic, gold leaf, and more. I experiment with different mediums all the time.

“I spend every day in my studio creating pieces. It is painstaking work and each piece takes about two to four weeks to finish.”

I love mixed media using collage, ink, pen, acrylic, gold leaf, and more.

I experiment with different mediums all the time.

I create statement pieces, portraits of proud, defiant, wise, courageous people.

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I have had my artwork exhibited in...

Chimera Gallery - Mullingar, Ireland

Luan Gallery - Athlone, Ireland

I am currently creating art to exhibit in the Gallery at NO SIX in Dublin and the Gallery in Burgess Village in Athlone. I have sold my art internationally to the UK, France and Australia.

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Spring 2022

Ann Mitchell

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www.steveurwin.com

Spring 2022

STEVE URWIN Steve Urwin is a full time hard working contemporary artist working with acrylic paint, ink and acrylic mediums. His unique style of work has an emotional connection to his process that obvious to the eye. It isn’t just painted on canvas to him, Steve likes to visualise the effect his artwork has on his clients and visitors to his studio in Newport Pagnell Bucks.

He has a passion for texture in his work, we have all senses to appreciate a painting but touch has been sidelined as not allowed. Steve wants to change that rule and does encourage visitors to his art space to touch the work if the opportunity allows.

He has fallen back in love with the natural world of landscape and seascape after many diversions and believes he is now producing some of his best work.

His passion was ignited again during a time of sickness 20 years ago to paint and draw himself out of sickness.

It was his journey of therapy that is continuing today.

We were created into a colourful world that is why looking to the skies and seas heightens the endorphin release as our eyes receive over 80 per cent of the information that is generated to the brain.

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Like many other artists, he began using watercolour.

A season of over 3 years in Canada introduced him to the acrylic medium, there was no turning back!

The ability to manipulate and change tones is his delight when his organic style begins and remains an adventure to be enjoyed and nurtured.

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Steve has sold work through recommendation and commission and loves the collaboration with clients that brings light and love to their eyes.

His work is becoming popular and wishes to spread the word of his creativity.

David Hockney and Paul Klee, Picasso are just a few of his favourite artists.

Steve is always available to chat with any prospective clients who may consider a commission.

“If he loves the work he hopes that it will also be reciprocated when seen.”

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Steve Urwin

“Art has a power to reach inside our emotions and heart that cannot be denied or ignored. “

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Spring 2022

WILLIAM JOSEPHS RADFORD Please do not mistake tales of woe for trauma. I do not see my past events as traumatic.

Simply put, they were merely character building.

Having grown up in a very unusual environment, I wanted to do a project on the surroundings that shaped my adolescence. So with this in mind, I returned to my childhood home with a camera in hand. The resulting images are a visual exploration of this space, from a retrospective point of view.

Through this experience, I uncovered a lot of otherwise unexplored emotions from this stage of my life, from friendships and relationships to religious beliefs and the way I perceive life and death. The deeper I looked, the more I learned about myself.

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The series takes on a dreamlike aesthetic, finding hidden meanings and messages in each subject I photographed. Colour language also played a key role in this project, as it helped convey such a dramatic and colourful past.

We Are Changing Lives Through the Arts.

Help undiscovered and talented artists become recognised. By donating to The Arches Project, you will be supporting many artists in beginning their journey to a successful career.

To donate, visit thearchesproject. org/donate or scan the QR code

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catharinekingcome@yahoo.co.uk

Spring 2022

CATHARINE KINGCOME Catharine Kingcome is a narrative portrait painter whose work is in collections in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Germany & Japan.

She is dedicated to reviving the true meaning of contemporary art; work that is being produced now, in whatever style each artist chooses to use. Born in Bristol in 1956, she trained as a graphic designer at Bristol Polytechnic before working in London.

In 1979 she returned to Bristol, and in 1981 moved to Devon where, for the next 8 years, she painted and taught canal narrowboat painting. In 1989 she began a fine art course at Exeter College of Art, graduating in 1991 with a BA Hons Steve Bray - Oils on canvas, triptych total size 43 x 69 ins, £6000 degree, and exhibited with the Brotherhood of Ruralists.

Steve Bray is the hero of A numismatist (dealer in rare the Remain / Rejoin the EU coins) he put his business on Irish traditional music & musicians movement. His story is told hold to fight Brexit, selling became a major influence in 1992, from left to right across part of his coin collection to and she immersed herself in the three canvasses: Outside the finance his campaign. The music, moving to Ireland in 1994, Palace of Westminster in the pot of gold at the bottom of and produced three series of evening light, Steve stands the rock symbolises this, and paintings shown as solo touring on a rock with his dog Sally, eventual success, aka finding exhibitions in 1993, 1997 & 2000, his trademark top hat, EUnity a crock of gold in Celtic each opening at the Kennedy flag, iconic megaphone, and mythology.

Gallery, Dublin. placard. Behind him fly EU & UK flags, some illuminated.

To the far right, a deliberate She then spent eight months pun, Johnson has been in London in 2001 researching He appears again in the middle caught and carried away for a series of paintings on salsa distance dressed in black and by a Welsh dragon to an dancers. These were exhibited in grey, with a monochrome unknown fate, whilst a new 2004. A selection was shown at version of his hat and EUnity day dawns, and hope is the Belgravia Gallery, London in flag, the outfit he wore after renewed.

2005. After moving from Ireland the 2019 election, symbolising to Birmingham in 2003, she mourning. has produced many individual paintings on a variety of themes, The ravens flying around him also commissions, both paintings symbolise wisdom, also the and drawings. She lives in ravens of the Tower of London, Birmingham with her husband of whom it is said, if they Howard. leave, the country will fall. The landscape represents Steve’s homeland South Wales.

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Spring 2022 This is primarily a portrait of my bike, set in Galton Cutting, Smethwick on Telford’s Birmingham New Mainline Canal, spanned by his beautiful cast iron Galton bridge, and a tall brick arch. Galton Tunnel is in the background, a modern addition from the 1970s when a dual carriageway was built over the canal.

Portrait of my Bike with Ghosts in Galton Cutting

It took me a lot of courage to explore here as a lone female cyclist. But I gradually became aware of its sombre beauty, and imagined the boats, boat-people and horses, pulling endless loads of coal from Wolverhampton to Birmingham.

Also the hundreds of navvies, who dug down a total of 90ft from the top of the hill to the bottom of the canal, all by hand. The equivalent of a motorway in its day, it’s now eerily empty and quiet. I wanted to re-create that atmosphere, so, as well as my bike, I’ve painted the ghosts of a navvy, a boatwoman, horse and boat, and a motor boat & boatman.

Though the boats in real life would’ve been brightly coloured, I deliberately painted them in black & white because here they are ghosts from the past, contrasting with the present day, and my bike, in colour.

Oils on canvas, 47 x 38 ins, £5000

Manannan Mac Lir is a legendary Irish hero associated with the sea. In some of the many versions of his story, he has a daughter as wild and powerful as himself, though I can find no name for her.

I have used a lot of artistic licence regarding the legend, and pictured her in a Californian kelp forest, calling to a leopard shark, with a ruined castle on an underwater hill. The story is left open to the viewer’s imagination.

Manannan’s Daughter Oils on canvas, 33 x 39 ins, £4000

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Catherine Kingcome

Spring 2022

The Rescue Oils on canvas, 38 x 28 ins, £4000 Sometimes in life, the right person comes along at just the right time, seemingly heaven-sent to rescue us from whatever troubles we have at that moment. This composition symbolises this.

The setting is imaginary, and the story is open to the viewer’s interpretation.

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Catherine Kingcome

Spring 2022

Imagination Oils on canvas, 34 x 28 ins, £4000 In an old Jacobean house in Devon, there is a room with painted panels symbolising various human attributes. The attribute ‘imagination’ is depicted as an angel with a ring of small figures in the shape of a crown on her head. My interpretation is a dancing circle of the model’s own family and friends. The landscape is imaginary but has stonework from National Trust Snowshill Manor, and the Wye Valley in the distance. Small goblins are hiding in the foliage inspired by Arthur Hughes’ illustrations in George MacDonald’s book “The Princess and the Goblin”.

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lizcrewther@icloud.com

ELIZABETH CREWTHER For me, art is a way to express freedom in a boundaryless space without conformity.

Finding inspiration for my work is never difficult, living in North Wales next to the sea surrounded by hills and woodland enables inspiration to pop out every time I look out of the window or go for a walk.

For me, art is a way to express freedom in a boundaryless space without conformity, where a colour and texture encased form exists.

My artwork is an expression of a happy place, memory or thought brought together into the world as a painting. When I am in the studio I find moments of stillness and clarity, with the occasional gust of whimsey.

I work primarily with acrylic, I love the bright pigments and the versatility of its consistency.

Although I use a brush for the outline layer of a piece, palette knives and bamboo sticks are my main tools for achieving the level of texture required to make forms and shapes.

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Spring 2022 Experimentation is one of the best aspects of being an artist, how else can we develop our skills and find new and wonderful ways to conjure our imagination!

In 2021 I decided to start selling my work to give it public exposure, this decision was mainly due to advice given by my hand Surgeon to give up my profession as a Holistic Therapist and find a job that was less detrimental to my hands. Having two pieces of work accepted for the North Wales Open exhibition 2021 was a real confidence booster.

I have also been lucky to find a not for profit gallery where my work is displayed all year, the guys that run Artworks2 in Betws y Coed have been very supportive.

“The use of colour in my work is of great importance” I have always spent time in nature and enjoyed the many textures it hosts, I frequently bring home pebbles from the beach or pine cones and feathers from the woods.

The texture of leaves and petals help me to explore creating a canvas version of their beauty.

The rendered form you see before you is not just a bird or a flower, it is a tangible collection of colour and texture that has been brought together on the canvas.

The use of colour in my work is of great importance, having been born with congenital cataracts which were undiagnosed until my early twenties, I spent my youth without really knowing colour.

Following my first eye surgery the revelation of everyday colours was astounding, blue and yellow I found to be vivid and vibrant. These are the colours I associate with happiness.

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Elizabeth Crewther

Spring 2022

“When I am in the studio I find moments of stillness and clarity, with the occasional gust of whimsey.”

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Express ideas, uncover truths, manifest what is beautiful and tell a story in our ‘Art Speaks’ exhibition

The Arches Project is calling on Artists, Designers and Craftspeople from a diverse range of disciplines to create innovative, artistic responses to our theme 'Art Speaks.' It is a broad theme that should be freely interpreted and give scope for artists to respond in ways that are specific to their practice.

Artists are invited to submit proposals for artworks in response to the ‘Art Speaks‘ theme. to register scan the QR code or visit thearchesproject.org

Submission Guidelines: The committee requests that artists submit a short description outlining their proposed artwork.

The selection process will take place during May and June 2022.

Successful artists should make or supply new and or original work for the exhibition.

The committee reserves the right to refuse work that has been shown in previous shows or does not meet the required standard.

The curator’s decision is final. It will not be possible to respond to non-selection related queries.

Should your work be unsuccessful you will be notified and you will be given a full refund.

Proposal Guidelines: Your proposal should be at least 150 words and meet the following requirements: Explain how you have chosen to interpret the theme ‘Art Speaks’ and apply it to your work.

Describe the artistic media you plan to use.

Outline the approximate size and dimensions of the pieces you are proposing to include. if you are unable to complete the form due to technical issues, your proposal should be presented in a PDF or text document (Word or similar) including images which should be attached to your covering email to submissions@thearchesproject.org Hidden Talents Magazine

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Ivornovelle@gmail.com

Spring 2022

LLOYD NOVELLE-JONES For me, depicting different landscapes, or plates, vases and flowers, is also a distillation of the memories and emotions associated with them.

My name is Lloyd NovelleJones and I live in the Swansea Valley in South Wales and am employed as a Social Worker.

I completed a degree in Fine Art at Exeter College of Art in 1985. It was only six years ago when I took a sabbatical for eighteen months to look after my parents, who had become very ill, that I started painting and drawing again in earnest.

Unfortunately, they passed away within eight months of each other, in 2016, but I was grateful for the time I could spend with them. They were both able to die at home, as was their expressed wish.

I have also had work preselected for the Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2018.

I have work placed with the Ardent Gallery in Brecon and now selling more work with the Queen Street Gallery, Neath, which is my local gallery.

I am submitting work in March to Greenspace Gallery, Ferryside, Carmarthenshire. Most recently, I have had paintings with Life: Full Colour Gallery, Caernarfon, which were included in their exhibition: Hiraeth, which ran throughout December 2021.

In respect of my work, I concentrate on oils, mainly landscapes. It also has a strong figurative base, that relates to drawing and compositional skills, first established in art college.

I have completed a few portrait and landscape commissions, both in oils and pencil and charcoal.

Within the last five years, I have been able to display my work at the Candid Arts Trust, Islington and with Chelsea Arts Society Open Exhibition, where, in total, I had ten paintings selected in their open submissions.

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I’m interested in getting more opportunities to exhibit and sell my work, locally and across the UK. For me, depicting different landscapes, or plates, vases and flowers, is also a distillation of the memories and emotions associated with them.

Certain landscapes remind me of childhood, early impressions.

With certain objects, I know who owned and loved them. In my mind’s eye, I see the tables at which they sat and the meals eaten off them.

Spring 2022

“I paint for the sole purpose of magnifying the privilege of being alive “

“When an artist paints they are seeking to capture light, memories and the elusive truth about themselves and their place in the world.”

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Spring 2022

Lloyd Novelle-Jones

“A work of art that does not begin in emotion is not art. Emotion is the starting point, the beginning and the end.

Craftsmanship and is technique is in the middle.“ - Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)

“All real works of art look as though they were done in joy” - Robert Henri (18651929)

Lloyd Novelle-Jones

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DAVID IRISH

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www.geonimals.co.uk

LORNA BUECHNER Art helped my headspace; can it help yours?

I am an artist and author, but not your neurotypical one.

What does this mean?

I like to think that the drawings make you think, and they have multiple uses. You can wear them on clothes and even colour them in, you can put them up round your house as framed prints or on canvas, or you can buy my book on Amazon.

This means that I do not see the world the way most people do, as I have Asperger’s among other mental health difficulties, including schizoaffective disorder, depression, and PTSD. I started getting into art when my mental health was at its worst almost 10 years ago now. I was sectioned when I was 17 and sent to a psychiatric hospital. This began the process of my art journey.

When I was somewhat more stable only a year later, I started to doodle and draw whilst I was in my first job, to start with it did not look like much. Just shapes and lines, but then they started to have more form, so this led into the first bird, and the second one was a horse.

Over the years my drawings developed and grew more complex, so now I have a couple styles of drawing.

But all related to shapes and straight lines, as that is what makes sense to me. Having learnt how to use Adobe creative suite (publisher and illustrator) I even started to add some context to the drawings as well, so some have backgrounds.

Future projects include my second book which is due to be published and looks particularly round mental health. It will teach you skills that you can use to help and has my art in it for you to use those skills taught.

All drawings are normally 8x12 or 12x8 in size but can be increased. And prints are normally on canvas. For each of the drawings I only use pen and paper, unless they have a background then I use Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator and publisher) as well.

Pufferfish One of my earlier pieces so more abstract.

The First Bird This was the first complete drawing that I did, and it turned out as a bird.

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Trio of cats - This one includes three of my drawings of cats placed on a cat tree.

The Chase in context - The first of my drawings to have a background/context.

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jaana1116@gmail.com

Spring 2022

JAANA SÄISÄ My name is Jaana Säisä and I am 49 years old and live outside Gothenburg, Sweden.

I started drawing around twenty years ago during night shifts when I was caring for a woman who was terminally ill and bedridden.

The three of us got together every couple of months, and after a while, a couple more friends also joined our group.

I mostly used pencils to draw with, but my sister was encouraging me to start painting with watercolours instead, she even gave me a palette with twenty colours from the John Smith range and expensive paper.

Mostly I drew pencil portraits of people and animals. When I left my job as a carer a couple of years later, I gave up drawing.

I didn’t draw again until approximately twenty years later, when a friend of mine, who had been painting for many years and my sister, (who had started taking watercolour classes), suggested that we should get together and paint.

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However, it wasn’t until after I joined a mixed media painting group on Facebook a few months ago that my eyes began opening for media other than just pencils and charcoal.

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Ever since I put the brush on paper for the first time, I got completely hooked, and now whenever I have a minute to spare, I paint.

My very talented sister taught me some basic watercolour techniques and I have also been looking at some you-tube tutorials to learn how to apply the colour on paper correctly.

For some paintings, I mix watercolour, pencils, fine liners, ink and pastels, anything to get my desired result.

I draw most of my inspiration from nature and things that are not necessarily obvious to the eye at first glance.

I try to get my feelings inside my paintings, both dark and light and I love it when I feel that I have accomplished that.

I love bold colours and some of my favourite artists include Frida Kahlo, Gustav Klimt and Matisse, their abstracts show a sense of freedom which I aspire to and adore.

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www.evendawn.co.uk

Spring 2022

HELEN WORTHINGTON I’m a self-taught artist and started my painting career in 2005 with no training, no knowledge, and no mentor or guide.

My work was therefore very much intuition-led and I worked with abstract acrylics forms on canvas. Since that point, I’ve tried to stretch my abilities into a variety of different media, including watercolours, pen and ink, oils, pastels and fabric/ textile arts, and enjoy both traditional and contemporary forms within these disciplines.

One of my favourite inspirations for paintings is the diversity of beautiful wildlife in the British Isles, and I enjoy the challenge of capturing the depths in the eyes of whichever creature I’m working on because I feel that’s where you truly see the soul of the being inside the form.

By exploring different techniques, styles and media, I discovered that mixedmedia is something I enjoy using, as it offers freedom from restrictions and rigid forms of each technique. I use whichever media enables me to reach the best result for the work in progress.

Expression and balance of colour are also very important to me and can create so many different moods.

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I also enjoy creating landscapes, although these tend to be more abstract in style, and include painted and stitched landscapes.

These are ‘built’ on a painted base by adding layers of hand-dyed fabrics and textiles, as well as bought fabrics, wools, fibres and

Spring 2022 other materials, to achieve a scene that is recognisable but of a much more contemporary feel.

In 2021, one of my greatest achievements was being selected for publication in the Bruxelles Art Vue ‘Limitless Nature’ art book, alongside artists from all over the world.

Four of my contemporary acrylic abstract canvases were included, and I considered it to be a remarkable honour.

My first success in 2022 has been the offer to hold my first ever physical art exhibition at a prestigious hotel in North Wales.

This will be a new experience and one which I hope will be successful and give me the confidence to push myself and my work even further in future!

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www.julieswanart.co.uk

Spring 2022

JULIE SWAN The aim of my art is to raise people’s spirit, to light them up and make them feel emotionally lifted. I want to transport people to a place of happiness or joy when they see my work and so I like to think of my work as ‘Wellbeing on the Wall”.

I turned down a place at art college in the 1970’s, because with my immature reasoning, the only future I could see in studying art was teaching and I didn’t want to do that.

Now, in my 60th year I find myself enjoying teaching as much as I enjoy painting. I didn’t do any art from my school days until 2017 and then I became hooked. I attended workshops, learned online, explored mediums, styles and gradually settled into creating mostly in oils and soft pastels.

In early 2020 I invited my friends and family to see my initial pieces of work on display in our local community centre.

Over 60 people attended and the outcome of the evening was that 26 pieces of work sold and the opportunity of a new career was ignited.

I was in a state of elation for weeks knowing that my work was popular.

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The law of attraction teaches that

“when you set the intention, the universe conspires to make it happen”

and I so wanted to be a full-time artist.

Over the next year I painted and sold more work, I developed a busy workshop schedule discovering that I love teaching.

I was honoured to be appointed as an Associate Artist for Unison Colour, the UK’s premier soft pastel manufacturer.

I had work exhibited in The Southend Museums Beecroft Art Gallery and offered for sale via the Munnings Gallery Museum in Essex. In March 2021 I was offered redundancy from a job that was stealing my soul and I jumped at it.

“I am now enjoying building an income based on what I love and I feel so free.“ I have faith that the universe has my back and delight in seeing the new opportunities coming to me.

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Spring 2022

ANDY FERGUSSON I was born in Birmingham in 1963 and on leaving school at sixteen studied Graphic Design at Bournville College of Art.

I came from a working-class background and my father at the time became temporarily unemployed and could no longer afford to pay for materials required daily so I left the college as I was offered paid employment.

the Birmingham area winning many prizes and commendations along the way I have also held several solo exhibitions at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

I moved from Birmingham in I was offered work outside 2008 to the Cotswolds where I of the art industry and have now live. ”I have always been worked since in various fascinated by buildings and occupations mostly in the straight lines” a throwback I carpentry and building field suppose from my short-lived however I have always painted study of Graphic Design, but I in my spare time. also love the way that natural light hits a building. I try and I became an associate concentrate on the colours member of the Royal that this light brings.

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Most of my work is produced from photographs of my travels and the wonderful Cotswold stone in and around the area where I now live.

“My work can be described as realism and I realise that my type of art is not to everyone’s taste but I love to recreate the fabulous workmanship that buildings show.”

I have travelled many times to Venice where I have found inspiration from the incredible colours and reflections in the water and have produced many artworks from the fabulous city.

My work has hopefully improved over the years to the extent that now at the age of 59 I have reached the standard to be able to consider leaving my employment and hopefully becoming a full-time artist.

I have always regretted not following my dream to become a professional artist at an earlier age but I hope I still have time to live that dream.

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Andy Fergusson

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Andy Fergusson

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NAZMIN BASHIR My name is Nazim Basir and I now have a passion for painting Sometimes when I take a step back and look at my art I find it hard to believe these are an accumulation of my creativity and determination.

I was a speech and language therapist before I started a family.

After having my eldest son I developed perinatal anxiety, crippling to a point that I could not do most daily activities. I had lost all my confidence and spark.

I am a mum to two little boys in the day and an artist by night. My boys love waking up to new pieces of art in “Then I found painting. the morning. My youngest Painting has given me the has grown up with my art confidence and courage pieces and my 5-year-old loves that had been dissolved by guessing what’s happening anxiety.” in the abstract pieces, some of his comments became the I am a mum to two little boys title e.g “dragon on the sky”. in the day and an artist by night. My boys love waking When we play in the garden up to new pieces of art in I often get out my paints the morning. My youngest and draft. Although all the has grown up with my art thinking, planning and real pieces and my 5-year-old loves work happen when the boys guessing what’s happening go to bed. Art has taught in the abstract pieces, some me that anyone can achieve of his comments became the anything with peace of mind. title e.g “dragon on the sky”.

When we play in the garden I often get out my paints and draft. Although all the thinking, planning and real work happen when the boys go to bed. Art has taught me that anyone can achieve anything with peace of mind.

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“It’s hard to believe that my art has attracted nearly 600 followers on Instagram”

Hidden Talents Magazine

Spring 2022 I currently have a small exhibition in Malvern art shop "Hunky Dory". During my dark anxiety days if someone had told me I would run small stalls and ship art across the world I would have said "how??" But all these things have happened. I want to share how art has helped me and reach out to others like me.

I harvest my canvas/frames from charity shops and repaint over them, to help out local charities.

Each painting is 100% hand-painted and focuses on the beauty of nature. I use the mixed medium on my paintings and let the painting lead my emotions in creating the finished piece.

Also, a % of all sales is given to a mental health charity online that is close to my heart.

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www.rainagoran.com

Spring 2022

RAINA GORAN I am a contemporary, mixed media artist, inspired by cities and Landscapes.

My training as an illustrator influences my work and my love of travel inspires the vibrant colour palette that appears in my artwork.

I usually work from photos of places that have evoked an interest in either the colours or the shapes that I can see. During Lockdown, I had to find my inspiration from other sources. I discovered a new means of transporting myself to places using Google Earth to travel around magic carpet style visiting sites I wanted to paint.

When I choose a subject, I am often drawn to an aerial view where I see the issue through an abstract lens, transforming the idea into patterns of intense colour and shapes.

Before starting each new piece, I hand paint paper using Acrylics in the colours, textures, and marks I need. This allows me to be more accessible and more intuitive when creating the collage from torn or cut pieces of paper.

My process involves moving the pieces of paper around, looking for the best balance of colour and pattern before sticking them down. As a result, the paper often overlaps and goes off the page, which helps keep the energy and freshness in the work.

“I keep editing until I have recreated the essence and energy of the original place with my abstract interpretation.”

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Hidden Talents Magazine

Spring 2022 Over the past few years, my work has reached a much wider audience by being selected for prestigious open competitions and earning the opportunity of exhibiting in prime London Galleries.

This exposure has led to other opportunities such as prestigious gallery representation and being commissioned by Network Rail UK for a permanent display of my paintings in a railway station for their community enhancement scheme.

Good exposure has been fantastic for me as an artist as it is the best way to reach a wider audience and get more opportunities for my art to be seen.

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Raina Goran

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Hidden Talents Magazine

Spring 2022

Raina Goran

Hidden Talents Magazine

Spring 2022

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Spring 2022

THE FRIENDS INSTITUTE Conserving Heritage of The City Creating Community Compassionate Space

The Friends Institute is a grade 2* listed building and is one of Birmingham's most prestigious heritage buildings. Commissioned in 1898 by Sir Richard Cadbury and designed by local renowned Architects, the Harper brothers. Sir Richard Cadbury was a quaker. The Quaker movement came out of the courageous Christians who challenged the control of The Church that restricted Grace and Worship of Divine Creation to church premises only. The Quakers believed that an individual had the natural right to give thanks and worship Divine Creation freely Sir Richard Cadbury commissioned the Friends Hall and Meeting house to serve this freedom and to offer education to those usually deprived of such a necessity to advance an individual's natural purpose.

Sir Richard Cadbury bequeathed the building to The People of Birmingham in Covenant for education and leisure.

The Love Light Healing Trust is dedicated to reviving The Friends Institute as an international and local community centre concerned to conserve the Covenant of Sir Richard Cadbury. In 2016 The Love Light Healing Community Conservation Trust, began work to restore the annexe of the Friends Institute for community use. The annexe was used to house Barrow Cadburys family who was the overseer for education which had been abandoned some five years before.

The People’s Trust is based at The Friends Institute has evolved out of the volunteers who have contributed to the resurrection of the annexe building and have carefully recreated the overgrown garden and attended to the grounds to accommodate the wildlife that had taken 44

Hidden Talents Magazine

Spring 2022 residency, and are now home to community projects such as Pacha House Kitchen Garden, Down To Earth In The City and art and crafts workshops which encourage intergenerational and intercultural collaborative learning.

Pacha House Garden is a concept of the Love Light Healing Trust creating educational and biophilic spaces for advocating self-sufficiency and positive healthy living with consciousness materia prima used in Pacha Puro recipes. The traditional artisanal Andaluz recipes for natural skin, scalp and hair health are based upon pure water and olive oil of the sierras and advocate the vital benefits of wildflowers and green leaves.

Down to Earth in the City is collaborating with The Arches Project and Hidden Talents Collective in supporting creativity in the City supporting positive mental health in presenting exhibitions of Art in Architecture connecting nature through the active discovery of the archaeology of the local environment. This new project aims to increase local as well as global awareness of our city’s heritage advocating active local and international tourism. The Arches Project continuing its journey in supporting artists and creatives with interest in the theme to participate at a professional level to produce the materials for tour guides and create pathways/ routes around the city of historical and educational value. The Arches Project believes that the links with our past culture and preservation of our heritage will enhance the understanding of the changes to our environment activity and attitudes to influence a holistic and healthy sustainable lifestyle in the future.

A warm welcome awaits you when you visit us at The Friends Institute 220 Moseley Road, Birmingham B12 0DG

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