Artist is in the frame for royal display double
AWATERCOLOUR artist is set to be featured at a prestigious London gallery exhibition.
Geoff Butterworth, from Whitworth, will have two watercolours featured at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours exhibition at the Mall Gallery.
The 70-year-old, who has been painting since he was a teenager, has had his art showcased at the annual event six times previously.
His two pieces this year are landscapes of Bacup at Christmas and of a ‘Road to Nowhere’ over Blackstone Edge.
Geoff said he works from photos of local landscapes to create his watercolours.
“They tend to look at me as a northern artist, which is what I am,” he said.
“If I try and do anything more like a view of Kent they tend to reject it so I’ve learned now to stick to the northern streets that are local to us.
“One of them is a picture of a road over Blackstone Edge and it’s called Road to Nowhere.
“It’s just wild moorland but the light and the clouds racing past give the picture a real cracking atmosphere.
“The sun’s quite low, it’s just rising in the early morning. It’s a big panorama so that must have caught the judges’ eyes.”
Geoff worked as a welder and used to paint motorcycles before a bad accident in the 1980s left him with free time to focus on his painting.
“Ever since I was kid I was drawing and sketching. I’ve had a lifetime of it really,” he added.
“I had a few years off work because I had such a bad leg break and that really gave me the time to focus on another occupation.”
Geoff, who works out of his garage studio, has also won two awards from the Royal Institute for his art over the years.
He said: “I’ve been in six shows over the years which is quite an achievement really because it’s an attraction for the world’s watercolourists.”
The exhibition runs from April 14 to 23 at the Mall Gallery.