BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.5//EN TZID:Europe/London X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London BEGIN:VEVENT UID:11937@artinliverpool.com DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260616T000000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260704T000000 DTSTAMP:20260501T153145Z URL:https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/the-bright-side-of-life-the-holm eswood-art-group/ SUMMARY:ArtHouse Gallery: The Bright Side of Life: The Holmeswood Art Group DESCRIPTION:THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE\n\nTHE HOLMESWOOD ART GROUP\n\nArtHouse \, Southport 16th June – 4th July 2026\n\nWith only a passing nod at Monty Python’s enduring tongue-in-cheek anthem\, the forthcoming exhibi tion titled “The Bright Side of Life” at The ArtHouse by The Holmes wood Art Group will be “an eclectic display of different subjects and s tyles that captures the little moments of joy and which brings joy to the artist and viewers alike”.   The group’s leader\, Marion Bayliss\, o riginally from Somerset where she exhibited at the Somerset Art Weeks for several years\, also adds: “In these times of troubles in the world\, w e wanted to bring a bit of Joy to the world.”\n\nDuring the event their own distinctive “Flying Circus” of artistic skills\, ranging from ac rylics to watercolours\, will be persuasively revealed under the gallery ’s discerning spotlight. Marion explains “This exhibition will be the first time ever that the group will have displayed their work and are ple ased to be able to take this opportunity to exhibit at The ArtHouse in Sou thport\, so they are very excited but nervous at the same time. The exhibi tion brings a delightful mix of subjects from music and dance to food and street scenes with a bit of poetry thrown into the mix.”\n\nThe Holmeswo od Art Group\, namely Pat Anders\, Rona V Flynn\, Nikki Lindsay and Clare Hyams\, under Marion’s tuition\, over the last 3 years have been gaining in confidence at their regular weekly meetings just north from the Martin Mere Wetland Centre at the Holmeswood Village Hall where the rural landsc ape persistently provides a natural stimulus to their growing artistic end eavours: “We have now reached the stage where we can develop our own sk ills by challenging ourselves to paint using different themes or subjects that Marion presents to us for inspiration”.\n\nMarion\, who can trace h er own fascination with painting back to Secondary School where she was en couraged to go on to Art College\, was only able to pick up her brush agai n after respite from a busy family life and children flying the nest gave her back some ‘me’ time: “I have often visited Devon and Cornwall to paint the sea and could be found sat on the beach with the sand in my toes\, hair and paint trying to capture the atmosphere. I have always had a connection with water through swimming (my father\, an ex-water polo pla yer\, taught me how to swim) and being constantly being surrounded by wate r in rivers\, ponds\, etc and of course the sea. The media I like to use m ostly are acrylics but I tend to use the medium that I feel will fulfil th e effect that I want so it could be anything from watercolour pencils to o ils and anything else in between”.\n\nOriginally from Aintree\, Pat Ande rs\, although she “enjoyed doing art at school but didn’t have that o ption to take it because of the other subjects I wanted to do\, which was a big disappointment. I did no art other than technical drawing\, design s ketching and some presentation drawings\, whilst training as a design tech nology teacher as a mature student”.  However\, a fortuitous encounter later down the line proved a turning point: “A few years ago I had a ch ance to go on a painting holiday with a friend and loved that. The teacher would set us up with a task and show examples of what to do step by step. This trip really reignited the desire to do more although I didn’t real ly know where to start”.  Attending Marion’s weekly classes has been a steep learning curve for Pat: “We started doing watercolour painting which I found difficult at first but enjoyed and I have loved doing all so rts of techniques and different drawing exercises with this group and abso lutely love it. I find art so absorbing and I can get lost for hours doing it. Sometimes I get frustrated trying to get the effect I want and not ha ving the proper skills yet - but hopefully I’ll continue to progress. Th ere’s still so much still to learn and practice but look forward to carr ying on and improving\, though still a way to go”.\n\nRona V Flynn\, who has spent most of her life in Lancashire and Merseyside\, similarly recen tly rediscovered her love of art: “I’ve always been a creative person in one way or another\, but drawing\, painting\, writing and photography have been ever present as some of my favourite things. I picked up my brus hes again a few years ago after a long break and it was like coming home. I had forgotten the pleasure painting brings and the meditative qualities of sitting\, considering\, examining and absorbing. I love the delicacy of watercolours and mostly paint from nature\, appreciating the beauty it ho lds for us and the depth of feeling it brings”. The author of two novel s and seven poetry books\, Rona confirms: “I like my paintings to speak poetry and I like my poetry to paint pictures and stories”.\n\nA gradua te of Leeds University\, Nikki Lindsay\, who grew up near Wigan\, before r etirement worked as a teacher in Liverpool and Southport: “I started pa inting just before the Covid lockdown and found a passion that just gets s tronger and stronger with each painting I attempt. I’m keen to explore d ifferent styles\, from realism to complete abstraction\, as I find them al l fascinating. I love how light works in a painting and often try to make that my focus\, but most of all I have fun. If I don’t enjoy it\, I won ’t do it”.\n\nFully immersing herself in the experience\, Art has beco me a journey of self-discovery for Nichola: “I believe that art matters more and more to me. It helps me to share who I am and what I’m thinkin g. Art gives me a voice from a whisper to a loud shout\, a scream and a la ugh. It matters to me because I love the process of choosing how I spend m y time and I can’t think of anything better than making art”.\n\nWhen Clare Hyams took early retirement as a primary school teacher she soon rea lized that other than making displays for her classroom\, she hadn't done any actual art since the age of 13: “It was time to try new things and learn some new skills\, and top of my list was learning to draw and paint ”.  Attending Marion’s weekly classes has given Clare the opportunit y to develop those ‘new’ skills and discover even more: “I increa singly take holiday photos with future artwork in mind and I am becoming m ore confident at drawing and painting in public”. Clare has enjoyed work ing on the pieces for inclusion in the exhibition and exploring those thin gs that represent the ‘bright side’ of her life.\n\nCertainly not on e to be missed\, “The Bright Side of Life” will be on display at the  ArtHouse\, Eastbank Street\, Southport from 16th June – 4th July 2 026.  The gallery is open Tuesday – Friday 10.00-15.00.  Saturday 11 .00-16.00.  ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.artinliverpool.com/wp-content/upload s/2026/05/Pat-Anders.jpg CATEGORIES:Exhibitions LOCATION:ArtHouse Gallery\, 65 Eastbank Street\, Southport\, Sefton\, PR81E J\, Southport\, United Kingdom GEO:53.645169;-3.004323 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=65 Eastbank Street\, Southp ort\, Sefton\, PR81EJ\, Southport\, United Kingdom;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TI TLE=ArtHouse Gallery:geo:53.645169,-3.004323 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/London X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/London BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260329T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:BST END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR