Connected: the changing face of Britain

The Lots Road Group’s latest exhibition, ‘ Connected: the changing face of Britain, aims to present a microcosm of contemporary British society against the backdrop of Brexit – a time often described as divisive.

Through an eclectic mix of sitters – diverse in age, gender, ethnicity, nationality of origin – we explore how people who live in Britain are connected, using ourselves and our meeting at The Heatherley School of Fine Art as the starting points.

Our sitters are people to whom we have personal ties, those who live in different parts of Britain, both traditionally British as well as residents who have come here from elsewhere.

As usual, our exhibition has a narrative component which introduces our sitters and explains how we are connected to them and their views on Britain today.

The Lots Road Group accept commissions.

When the exhibition, which is staged in association with Children and the Arts launches you will find a catalogue online by googling BLURB Lots Road Group and exhibition title.

PRIVATE VIEW Friday 30 November 2018 6.30-8.30pm

Monday, 26 November-Thursday 10 January 2019
Waterstones Lower Floor Gallery
82 Gower St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 6EQ
Open Monday-Friday 8.30am-9pm, Saturday 8.30am-8pm and Sunday 12-6pm
Closest tube: Goodge Street. Check on Waterstones website for Bank Holidays.

CONNECTED EVENT:

FINDING NEMON with Lady Aurelia Young Thursday 6th December 1 – 2pm

Lady Aurelia Young’s connection: her mother, Patricia Villiers-Stuart attended courses at Heatherleys, where the Lots Road Group all studied, in 1939 and 1940.

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LRG’s Lucinda Rendall exhibiting in Art Wave this August

Lots Road Group announces latest exhibition: Connected

And we’re off!

The Lots Road Group’s next exhibition will be Connected: the changing face of Britain.

At a time often described as divisive, our new show will explore how people who live in Britain are connected, using ourselves, and our meeting at The Heatherley’s School of Fine Art, as the starting point.

Against the backdrop of Brexit, our aim is to produce an exhibition that presents a microcosm of contemporary British society.

As usual, the narrative component of our show will introduce the diverse and eclectic mix of sitters, explaining their background, connection to the artist and views on Britain today.

The exhibition will go on show from the end of November to January in Waterstones’ dedicated exhibition space at 82 Gower Street in Bloomsbury.

Watch this space for more details!

A chat with Maureen Nathan

Maureen Nathan is joining the Lots Road Group for its next exhibition – Connected – which will go on show later this year.  Watch this space for details.

We catch up with Maureen, who studied portraiture at The Heatherley School of Fine Art, to find out about her art.

How did you become a painter? 

I have drawn and made artworks all my life.  Painting became a natural progression of that creative urge.

What drew you to portraiture in particular?  

I love people. There is an exchange of energy when painting a portrait between the painter and the sitter which I find very exciting. Attempting to convey something of the subject’s character invariably leads on to discovering more about them and about oneself. We are always in our paintings and portraiture is no different.

Which other artists or painters do you look to for inspiration and why?

That’s a big question and there are so many! If I had to pick from the past they are  Piero della Francesca, Brueghel and Vuillard. I’m smiling because now that I’ve started thinking about it that’s just the tip of the iceberg but  looking at their paintings often answers my questions about colour, composition and character. Modern painters that I admire include Celia Paul, Jennifer Pochinski, Chantal Joffe, Catherine Kehoe and on and on because there is so much good painting out there right now.

 

What, to you, constitutes a good portrait?

A good portrait has to be a good painting as well.   Likeness, of course, but also something indefinable  that makes me want to know more about the sitter/s and to see more by the painter who painted them.

 

Do you have any current projects that you’d like to tell us about?

I have recently been awarded a fully funded two week artist residency in Ireland at the Cill Rialaig Foundation. A marvellous opportunity of time, peace and space to explore and develop work outside of my usual studio practice, which I look forward to in November.   A recent painting is on show in Bristol in the Royal West of England Academy annual open exhibition 7th October until 25th November and I will be participating in Park Studios Open weekend in May 2019.

Remembered: time in the studio with journalist pioneer Katharine Whitehorn, diagnosed with advanced Alzheimers

It is with great sadness that we read in this week’s Observer that the remarkable Katharine Whitehorn has been diagnosed with advanced Alzheimers Disease.

Lots Road Group member Sarah Richardson writes:

“This is particularly sad for me as I had the great privilege of being able to paint Katharine’s portrait three years ago for the Lots Road Group’s exhibition ‘Portrayed’. Our time together in the studio will be with me always for it was an extraordinary opportunity to share the company of this brilliant, witty and beautiful woman who broke journalistic barriers for the way women were perceived in all walks of life. ”

Katharine Whitehorn’s portrait is now in the private collection of Newnham Cambridge, her old college.

 

Sarah Richardson and Katharine Whitehorn

 

In the news – Hero Johnson’s portrait of Sir Alan Parker

Great painting by Lots Road Group member Hero Johnson of Sir Alan Parker in the news …

Half Moon Putney to stage first exhibition by Resident Artist

‘New Moon’: Good Friday, 30 March, 12-4.30pm, Half Moon Putney 93 Lower Richmond Road, London SW15 1 EU. Free entry.

The Half Moon Putney will be marking its 55th year with ‘New Moon’ – a free one-day exhibition of artworks completed by its Resident Artist, and Lots Road Group member Stella Tooth, on Good Friday, 30 March from 12 -4.30pm.

Throughout 2017 Stella has been busy capturing the creative energy of some of the venue’s best-loved bands – and will be continuing to document the special events planned with legends of the 60s to the 00s throughout 2018.

The images so far – and the story behind them – are contained in ‘New Moon’ an online catalogue which it’s hoped will whet your appetite to see them in the frame.

A proportion of the money raised from their sale will go to Teenage Cancer Trust, whose Honorary Patron is Roger Daltry, in a drive to raise £55k for the charity, celebrating 55 years of live music at The Half Moon.

Visitors to the exhibition will enjoy a complimentary Gin & Tonic from Sipsmith on arrival. Closest tube: Putney Bridge.

 

Heatherley’s at the Bankside

Some Lots Road Group artists – including Hero Johnson and Sarah Jane Moon will have work on display in the annual The Heatherley School Of Fine Art Staff Exhibition which is taking place again next month at the Bankside Gallery.

This is Heatherley’s fifth excursion to the Bankside Gallery and always proves a diverse and interesting show and opportunity for friends and students of the school to get together.

The exhibition runs from Thursday 25th January to Sunday 28th January 11am-6pm.

Bankside Gallery
Thames Riverside
48 Hopton Street
London
SE1 9JH

Two portraits by Katherine Firth unveiled at Cambridge

Two portraits by Lots Road Group member Katherine Firth: of Dr Chris Dobson and his late wife Ann, were recently unveiled at Selwyn College, Cambridge.

The portraits were commissioned to mark the generosity of Dr and Mrs Dobson, whose major contribution has enabled the building of two wings of Ann Court at the College.

Alla Broeksmit – MFA New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture

Lots Road Group member Alla Broeksmit has gained her MFA from the New York Studio of Drawing, Painting & Sculpture.

At her thesis exhibition earlier this year, Alla said, “Memories are central to how I create images. In this new series of paintings, I am referring to incidents from my past as a mean to dissect my own identity as an immigrant. I was among the ones who have lost everything, the disinherited, the poor, the abandoned. Forty years ago, I escaped the repression and totalitarianism of the Soviet Union. I left my people behind, members of my family, my friends.

“Before I paint, I keep my eyes closed and they appear again, as clear as it was when I was lost in Vienna, my child in my arms. These images are behind each stroke of paint. I utilise this particular psychological content and emotion, embedded in my origins, to feed me and to develop — visually — my new iconography within the layers of paint in my paintings.”