ArtHouse Gallery: Colour and Collage

ArtHouse Gallery: Colour and Collage

When

28.9.21 - 9.10.21    
All Day

Where

ArtHouse Gallery
65 Eastbank Street, Southport, PR81EJ, Southport

Event Type

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COLOUR AND COLLAGE”

AMANDA CLARK-PRICE SOLO SHOW

ArtHouse, Eastbank Street, Southport PR8 1EJ

28th September – 9th October 2021

No stranger to the local art scene, mixed media artist, Amanda Clark-Price, will finally be stepping into the spotlight with her first solo exhibition that represents her own work in progress to date.

Originally from Liverpool but now living and working in Burscough, Amanda has always been keen to pass her skills onto others at her classes at Southport Contemporary Arts and in on-line workshops. After many years developing artwork in others, Amanda is now really enjoying having the space to focus on producing her own distinctive work for the exhibition.

Amanda explains: “I had always produced artwork to support my teaching practice but now have the time to develop work for myself. Most of the work in this exhibition is abstract in nature. I wanted to explore layers, colours and mixing of media. My style of work ranges from abstract, semi-abstract and realism – often brightly coloured and layered with collage”.

Her toolkit for reinvention is all embracing: “I use drawing, collage, print, acrylic, watercolour, papier-mâché, pencil and pen in my mixed media pieces and I also enjoy ‘just’ pencil”.

Amanda operates like a prospector seeking out the hidden ‘gold’ in the discarded ephemera of life, attacking each project with the serendipity of the unchartered traveller, with open arms to the consequences: “I do little preparatory work. I start literally with a blank canvas then look for scraps of paper amongst my worryingly large collection of discarded music manuscripts, old maps and books to use as collage. The pieces usually develop organically and seem to grow as I work. I stick things on with tape until I like the composition then glue them down. Next, I sometimes look for words or phrases in the text to outline. Some of them relate to the work or have simply made me smile or captured my imagination. The pieces of maps are usually Lancashire, Sefton and Merseyside with certain places highlighted”.

The rhythm of the assembled imagery within her complex compositions runs parallel to her love of music as can be seen in ‘Unfinished Journey’ and her latest composition, ‘Triptych’“I often break up the spaces with a mixture of curved and straight lines. I often use the treble clef symbol in my work either in collage form or as a motif. It has become my signature calling card”.

Colour remains paramount to the development of each artwork: “I take my inspiration from a variety of sources. From the natural world, the changing colours of leaves and sky, rain on metal and painted surfaces. I often aim for contrast of colour and look back to the support of good old colour theory. I work initially with acrylic paint, adding it in washes then more thickly in layers before adding spattered areas of texture. I sometimes add permanent marker to sharpen and highlight shapes or add drawn detail”.

Recently, Amanda joined with the Ainsdale Discovery Centre as part of the national “Back From the Brink” programme with their own “Gems in the Dunes” project along the Sefton coast.

“I ran three online workshops during lockdown designed so that people who had little or no art equipment and materials could take part. One was drawing just using pencil and kitchen roll or tissue, another painting with coffee and the last one scribbling with black pen. We had some great results. I supplied images of the dunes at Ainsdale and we completed the work over Zoom.”

Amanda’s enthusiasm has also recently been directed at the SCA Young Creatives who rallied to her callout: “I ran weekly sessions during term time for ages 7-15 (pretty much full following current guidelines) and they have just completed a mixed media Cubism project and will be looking next at Frida Kahlo, Dia de Los Muertos and self-image”.

This exclusive showing is certainly not one to be missed. Amanda’s distinctive artwork will be on display at the ArtHouse, Eastbank Street from 28th September – 9th October 2021. The gallery is open Tuesday – Friday 10.00-15.00. Saturday 11.00-16.00.

In line with current Government guidance, the SCA team have introduced strict measures to keep visitors to the Gallery as safe as possible: There will be a policy of 2 visitors at a time, with social distancing once inside, and hand sanitize dispensers at the door to use on arrival.