Exhibitions

Emily Paine: My name is Emily, also known as @creativelycomplicated on social media. I’m a self taught zentangle artist.

I have no formal training in art like most people. We all do art at school, up until we get to choose our subjects. Art was enjoyable but it was never something I really wanted to do; not when I was younger. It took until I was a lot older to realise that art didn’t have any rules and it could be as free as you liked.

I actually studied performing arts, such as musical theatre & theatre studies. I’ve performed with multiple companies at Highbury Theatre – with my first performance at Highbury being when 15 years old. I’m thrilled to have my artwork on display here as it is one of my favourite places to perform.

My journey of art comes from my mental health struggles. After being diagnosed with OCD, OCPD (personality disorder), GAD & social phobias, I started to express myself with art. It started out as journaling, as it was a creative way to track my mood, my dreams & anything that affected my days as it was helpful to both myself & my doctors.

I started with water-painting, and then over time I learnt new techniques and was able to find what I enjoyed the most! Now I create zentangle artwork, which is basically a form of doodling. That’s the best way to describe it anyway. It’s not very well known and lots of people are extremely curious when I mention it. They tend to ask lots of questions as it’s a very unique form of art. It can be flamboyant or muted, like other art forms; it’s personal preference. My work is pop art inspired – I love bold colours and colours that can both contrast and complement each other at the same time.

As soon as I put that pen to the paper, the patterns and line work just appear on the page. I keep going and going until eventually I have filled the entire page and my art has come to life and I’ve spent hours and hours creating my work. It’s relaxing and helps my brain focus but also gives me release from my very busy mind.

Drawing is my therapy. I have a short period of calm inside my very busy brain thanks to my art. All my artworks are busy and look complicated from an initial viewing, just like me. Art is for everyone and I’m so grateful I get to share my artwork here at Highbury.

Shu Shah: I am a local artist and amateur actor based in Lichfield. When I’m not performing with wonderful local theatre groups like the Lichfield Players, Toffee Hammer Studio, Brownhills Musical Theatre Society, and Lichfield Operatic Society, you’ll often find me creating art inspired by the things I love most – cats, colourful flora and space! My two cats, Muffin and Marshmallow, have become the heart of my creative expression.

I am a self-taught artist who took an unconventional path, choosing Medical School over a creative degree. By day, I work as an eye surgeon, treating emergencies in the West Midlands. Beyond medicine and art, I’ve also explored the world of stand-up comedy!

My art celebrates the joy and personality of cats – their curiosity, independence, and occasional mischief – alongside the vibrant forms and resilience of plants, particularly cacti, and the mystery of our universe. I love combining the soft, expressive nature of cats with the bold, striking shapes and colours of plant life or the sparkling wonders of space.

As an artist, I strive to create pieces that bring happiness and joy into people’s lives. Through my small business, Shu’s Little Art Shop, I share my artwork in the form of prints and greetings cards, making it accessible to those who want to brighten their spaces with a touch of charm and humour or spread the joy to loved ones.

Being part of this local theatre exhibition is an exciting opportunity for me to showcase my artistic voice and connect with a community that values creativity. I hope my work brings a sense of joy, colour, and imagination to the space – much like the spirit of the stage itself!

Kathryn Sawbridge is a local photographer and fine artist who lives in Boldmere, Sutton Coldfield. She undertook a first degree in Photography at the University of Wolverhampton followed by a Masters in Fine Art.

Her work uses different techniques to encourage the viewer to engage with her work and question what they see.

One aspect of her work is to use collage to bring together images from a range of sources and create a new image using the compositional tools of photography. The resulting piece therefore looks normal at first glance, but on closer examination, the viewer realises that the new scene is rather more surreal.

Her photography concentrates more on close up and macro images again providing a different approach for the viewer by using things that are a part of everyday life and capturing them in more detail and at a different angle.

Kathryn is an Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society and an elected member of the Birmingham Art Circle and Birmingham Easel Club. She is also a member of Sutton Coldfield and Walsall Societies and is currently the Vice Chair of the Annual Sutton Coldfield Art Trail where she also exhibits her work.

The work exhibited at Highbury Theatre is part of Kathryn’s photographic collection. Three sets of black and white photographs capture close-up urban and rural images, and also a range of everyday objects that we may take for granted. In addition Kathryn is exhibiting close-up colour fine art photographs which certainly make the viewer question what they are seeing.

My work is a constant search to interpret views and experiences, offering a visual translation through experimentation of media. Predominantly through painting, drawing and printmaking underlined by strong compositional structures, there has to be impact and balance, finding chance and reward in reflecting the moment of subconscious creation.

My studies are underlined by observations of drawing, particularly through timed exercises, accepting the process to completion.

I endeavour to encourage the viewer to look and linger and appreciate my personal responses through the landscape or human form in varying large scale or small detail.

I have been interested in drawing and painting from a very young age. At one point I was going to train as an artist and was accepted to go to Didsbury College of Art and Design, with half an idea of going into teaching art and needlework (my other passion).

Life had other ideas, and I went into business as a HR Manager/Director and a Tribunal Advocate. I managed to maintain my love of needlework and theatre by joining a number of amateur dramatic groups, including Highbury, doing costume design and construction.

To add to my life experiences, I spent 16 years living and working in Gran Canaria with a sewing business, doing upholstery and making costumes for the outrageous and crazy Drag Queens out there.

Coming back to the UK in between the two lockdowns for Covid, I got re-involved with Highbury which re-kindled my love of all aspects of the stage. I joined the Fircone Art Group after seeing an exhibition of their work, which re-awakened my love of drawing and painting. This is where I came up with the idea of the A-Z of animals with a more friendly aspect/outlook. I really enjoyed coming up with the ideas for each letter, Z was a challenge, but I think I managed it. I worked on the basis that if it makes me smile, then hopefully it will make others smile.

I was born in Salford, Lancashire and live in Sutton Coldfield. I started painting seriously about fifteen years ago and have exhibited regularly at many local and national exhibitions since then. I have won some local and national awards including those for best painting, and a Clarefontaine Award in a competition run by the Artist Magazine.

I enjoy trying to capture the interesting effects of colour and light in my paintings and try to find subjects that are a bit different from the usual run of things when I can.

I paint mainly in acrylics but also use oils and pastels. I particularly admire the French Impressionist school of painters.

I undertake commissions where I think I can do the subject justice.

Highbury Theatre is delighted to display an exhibition of Peta’s costume designs from between 1934 and 1963.

Peta was born Doris Holt in 1905 and died in 1999. She married John English in 1934, although they subsequently divorced.

Peta was involved in more Highbury Players productions than any other member.

She was a founder member of the original ILP play reading group that became the Highbury Players and she acted in 90 plays between 1924 and 1984. She helped design the sets for at least 80 productions.

She designed and made costumes for possibly 150 productions and was in her 90th year when she finally retired as Highbury Wardrobe mistress in 1994, having made the costumes for the Christmas production of Pinocchio.

Peta also designed the Harlequin sequence logo that is still used today on all the Highbury Theatre literature and can be seen on the signs at the front of the building.

We are a very friendly and long running group of friends who love painting, drawing and a good old chat. We meet on Tuesday mornings 10:30 – 12:30 at The Methodist Church Centre, Station Road, Erdington, B23 6TX (facing the railway station). We welcome complete beginners as well as more experienced artists. Tea and biscuits are provided! For more details about this group please call our friendly group leader on 07850 221 532.

Fircones are Friends in Retirement and was set up as a charitable foundation in 1966 in Birmingham to support recently retired employees from across the city. Subjects include money matters, health, food and diet as well as interests, hobbies and voluntary services. It quickly became apparent that the organisation could flourish on a self help basis. The first groups were woodworking in Nechells, gardening at Ward End, fitness at The Birmingham Athletic Institute, choir at Dr Johnson House, and chess and car maintenance at Hall Green. There is now a full programme of activities at eight centres across Birmingham. For more details please call 0121 777 7502, email manager@firconebirmingham.org.uk or see www.firconebirmingham.org.uk.

I am a self taught artist who works mainly in water colour and acrylic. My paintings reflect my love of the British countryside and my travels around the Mediterranean. My vibrant use of colour and my fascination with water and its reflections is evident in many of my paintings, from local canals to lakes and the coast.

More recently I have been inspired by Lowry’s work and have undertaken a series of ‘fun’ paintings that reflect what Lowry may have painted had he visited Lichfield and Birmingham in the past.

I am currently an honorary member of the Sutton Coldfield Society of Artists, a member of Walsall Society of Artists, and have held a number of successful exhibitions locally and exhibited at the RBSA and the New Walsall Art Gallery.

Where possible my pictures are painted on location or later from reference sketches and photographs. I also mount and frame my own pictures, as I feel it’s important to personally follow the whole process through from start to finish.

I can be contacted on 0121 323 2694 or by email at
geoff.stubbins@btinternet.com

The importance of the role art plays in our world should not be underestimated. For me, artists are surgeons of the soul. Art can have a profound influence on our hearts and minds and encountering
art can have the effect of dividing one’s life into “before” and “after”.

With such power, I believe art has the ability to save
the world.

My aims and visions in art change from year to year and this is the concept of my approach: change. Our world develops and accelerates farther and faster. We have to live within the crazy waterfall of information, images and messages that we’re attacked by in our daily lives.

I’ve always been interested in themes of time, inconstancy, space, consciousness, nature, body, the meanings of communication in a vastly changing world. Installation, abstract art, either figurative painting or video – all these mediums are good for me if they get to the heart of the idea.

Art for me is part of this universe. This is an international language everyone can understand.

Sharon Phillips is a dynamic artist with an enthusiasm for life, which she reflects colourfully and thoughtfully. Her themes stretch across landscapes, still life, portraits and abstract paintings.

Born in 1956, she has spent most of her working life in education and psychological services in Birmingham before becoming a coach in 2006 supporting school leaders. Sharon is now a full-time artist and uses art as a way to express, react to and appreciate nature, her experiences and people in her life.

As a keen traveller, her landscapes have spanned continents from paintings of a river in a Japanese national park, old buildings in Havana, Peruvian hills and scenes of winding alleyways and ports in old Spanish towns. Some of her landscape paintings take inspiration from closer to home, documenting walks through shadowy pathways in Bournville, strolls across the Malvern Hills, and exploring local parks, canals and cityscapes. Some of these will be exhibited at Highbury Theatre or can be seen on Instagram @sharonphillipsartist.

She currently participates in a number of classes, which she uses to stretch her knowledge of artistic movements and painting techniques. From these classes she has developed her skills in a range of mediums – including but not limited to – ink, watercolours, acrylics and oil paints.

Sharon is thrilled to be showcasing work spanning the past five years here at the Highbury Theatre in January and February offering audiences a window into her creative world. She has exhibited paintings at Ikon Gallery, Royal Society Arts Birmingham (RBSA) and Midlands Arts Centre (MAC). Sharon has also exhibited as part of EXP group and Hall Green Art Society (HGAS).

Sharon has undertaken many portraits, still life and landscape commissions using photographs. She is available to take on commissions in 2024. Her prices start at £150 for smaller studies. Initially she discusses with the commissioner the size, style and then near the completion of the artwork, any adjustments needed. Sharon can be contacted by email phillipssharon@me.com. Some of her paintings exhibited here are also on sale, offering you the opportunity to enjoy them in your home or give loved ones something special.

As a child my mother encouraged the family to draw and paint. We were taught “not to go over the lines and always shade in the same direction”.

After my children left home I had time to pursue my interest, which has led me along wonderful paths. I have not had formal art training and have learnt from observation of nature and other artists. It has been a great pleasure to visit exhibitions and galleries not only in this country but also in America and Australia.

My interests are varied and include portraits, florals, landscapes and abstracts using watercolour, oils, pastels and acrylics. I take my work from nature and also use my own photographs for inspiration. Where possible I like to use movement in my work with sweeping shapes. This comes from a fascination of watching birds in flight and also my love of dance, particularly ballet, where movement is an important expression.

I hand decorate china and ran a china painting group in Sutton. For the Millennium the group presented the Town Hall with a framed work of tiles depicting views of Sutton Coldfield.

I have been a member of the Warwickshire Watercolourists and the Lichfield Society of Artists and currently am a member of the Sutton Coldfield Society of Artists.

One of my happiest moments has been to see my grandchildren interested in art with one of them taking A level art at Bishop Vesey, with the intention of pursuing a career in one of the many aspects of art.

I have loved to garden and draw ever since childhood.  Even at an early age plants and flowers delighted and fascinated me. I was encouraged by my maternal grandfather to help him in the garden, and by my dad who used to draw beautiful sketches of things he planned to make in wood.

Throughout my life I have tried to paint and draw flowers and plants, but have always been frustrated by the two dimensional appearance of my pictures. Taking part in various adult education classes didn’t fill my needs, until prior to retirement I attended a series of workshops at Winterbourne Botanic Garden.

Following this, I enrolled in a one year course in Botanical Illustration at Birmingham Botanical Gardens in 2010 and follow-on courses for a further two years. These were very inspiring courses, and opened up a whole new world for me by introducing me to the Birmingham Society of Botanical Artists.

I prefer working in coloured pencil and sometimes graphite and pen and ink. Having learnt the painterly techniques of using coloured pencils, I like the challenges of working out myself how to recreate these types of things on paper.

I am particularly drawn to specimens that are less than perfect, especially leaves and vegetables. I strive for botanical accuracy, relishing the detail. But above all I enjoy exploring the different aspects of this absorbing pastime, and sharing the love of drawing with the friends I have made attending my monthly pencil workshops.

Recently I have also experimented with drawing glass items, cutlery, and rusty objects of all kinds, trees and rotting wood. During lockdown I spent the time in drawing both of my daughters’ pet dogs – both have white dogs, so this was a very interesting challenge.

I have been lucky enough to have had commissions from people who have seen my work to draw portraits of their pets, flowers with personal significance, an impression of Glastonbury Tor, a favourite whisky glass, and an extra-large drawing of a Porsche car shield.

If you have a favourite flower or something you would like a drawing of, I am happy to take commissions. (The only things I don’t draw are people). I can be contacted via my email address.

goughsandy@hotmail.com

Please put as the subject ‘Drawing Request’ so I don’t miss your email.

Photography has been part of my life for many years.

My career started off in accountancy, and in the 1980s I studied photography at Sutton Coldfield College.

My photography was initially as an amateur, but professional opportunities arose and … as they say … the rest is history.

Major sporting events that I have covered include World Athletics Championships, World Baton Twirling Championships, Davis Cup tennis, World Badminton Championships, All England Badminton Championships, World Para-Badminton Championships, European Power Lifting, Netball Commonwealth Games and Test Matches and England Fencing Championships.

Much of my photography has centred on athletics – track and field, road racing, cross country and sports hall.

Nearly 1500 photographs have been published in sports magazines and books. An uncounted number of photographs have been published in local, regional and national newspapers with another uncounted number of prints and digital files bought by participants of the events and their families.

In addition to the event style of work, my interests include macro and floral work and local scenery.